Monday, October 12, 2009
Back to 800
When the HW97 first came out back in 1994 the velocity advertised in the Beeman catalog was only 800 fps. As I remember it, most of the velocities for the catalogs were measured using the Beeman Silver Bear pellets, which only weights 7.1 grains so the actual power level of the original HW97 rifle was only 10 ft lbs of energy.
I remember my first HW97 that I bought for $330 in 1994 only shot about 10.5-11 ft lbs after it broke in and stopped dieseling. However, it was very smooth and accurate. My second HW97 that I bought from Bob Zimmerman a few years later shot much the same. In fact, it is even more accurate than my #1 rifle. I once shot a 60 shot FT match with it shooting at 775 fps with Crosman Premier 7.9 pellets. FT back then didn't have straps or thigh rests and the max distance was 50 yards so the courses were a bit easier than today. At any rate, I shot a 56x60 with that HW97 shooting only 775 fps and was only 3 shots off the top PCP shooter that day. The HW97 Mk1 (the 25mm piston) really shoots well at the 11-12 ft lb energy level.
Over the years I have had my rifles tuned and the power tuned up to get a bit more velocity. When tuned up the rifle would shoot accurately but had pretty sharp recoil. It would shoot accurately but it really required strict discipline to shoot consistently accurate. I shot a match last weekend with a home tune using an OX spring I picked up in the UK last July. The rifle shot hard but had some recoil.
I decided to go retro and re-tune the rifle back down to factory specs. After a little work, I had the rifle shooting right at 800 fps with Premiers with reduced recoil and very smooth firing cycle. The rifle shoots like I remembered it shooting years ago and I am really enjoying it. I am going to shoot it for a good while like this and enjoy the joys of lower power shooting!
I remember my first HW97 that I bought for $330 in 1994 only shot about 10.5-11 ft lbs after it broke in and stopped dieseling. However, it was very smooth and accurate. My second HW97 that I bought from Bob Zimmerman a few years later shot much the same. In fact, it is even more accurate than my #1 rifle. I once shot a 60 shot FT match with it shooting at 775 fps with Crosman Premier 7.9 pellets. FT back then didn't have straps or thigh rests and the max distance was 50 yards so the courses were a bit easier than today. At any rate, I shot a 56x60 with that HW97 shooting only 775 fps and was only 3 shots off the top PCP shooter that day. The HW97 Mk1 (the 25mm piston) really shoots well at the 11-12 ft lb energy level.
Over the years I have had my rifles tuned and the power tuned up to get a bit more velocity. When tuned up the rifle would shoot accurately but had pretty sharp recoil. It would shoot accurately but it really required strict discipline to shoot consistently accurate. I shot a match last weekend with a home tune using an OX spring I picked up in the UK last July. The rifle shot hard but had some recoil.
I decided to go retro and re-tune the rifle back down to factory specs. After a little work, I had the rifle shooting right at 800 fps with Premiers with reduced recoil and very smooth firing cycle. The rifle shoots like I remembered it shooting years ago and I am really enjoying it. I am going to shoot it for a good while like this and enjoy the joys of lower power shooting!
