Walther Century GT .22

[DJP]

Why the Walther Century? Well, over of the years I've had most of the common, and some not so common, springers of all configurations and I'd come to the conclusion that I actually prefer break barrels. The conventional choice would therefore be some model of Weihrauch but that gave me a problem: The HW99 is a fine rifle but I prefer something with a bit more heft. The HW80 is more like it but while they're undoubtedly charismatic, they're not always that nice to shoot at 12fpe. Which should leave the HW95 as the ideal compromise, except that I don’t like the current spec UK version with the silencer.

So I was very interested when Umarex introduced the new range of Walther break barrels. The Century is the mid-range model with the Terrus at the bottom and the various LGVs at the top. I had read a number of reviews that said the Century wasn't that far off the performance of the LGV, while being usefully cheaper. I'd also read that whilst generally well built, some examples diesel badly from new and some come with badly cropped springs. So I decided to strip mine down before it fired a single shot.

Stripping is dead easy: You don’t even need to remove the barrel to get the piston out. Just knock out the two pins holding the trigger block (in any order) and that’s pretty much it. The spring is under relatively little preload - just press the trigger block down on a padded surface as you tap the second pin out. Then withdraw the trigger block, followed by the spring and then the piston. Unfortunately, my spring was badly cropped and there was a lot of grease in front of the piston. It would have dieselled horribly in that state.

So I cleaned everything up, finished the spring properly and polished both ends while I was at it. Of course, in closing the cropped coil I’d lost a few mm of preload off the spring so I chucked in a couple of Air Arms preload washers (which were a surprisingly good fit) then re-lubed sparingly and reassembled, taking care not to get any grease in front of the piston. Job done!

I know that we shouldn’t have to do these things to brand new rifles but these problems aren’t unique to Umarex: Weihrauch have also had their share of similar issues. It seems to be a common thing with German stuff these days: The design is good, it’s just a shame that more care isn’t taken with the assembly.

Still, enough of that. With the issues sorted, the overall build quality is very good: The blueing is deep and there are no sharp edges anywhere inside the action, which is really nice. The spring is a firm fit on the guide and the piston rides on a delrin bearing. The piston seal is like a cross between a Weirauch and a V-Mach item and looks to be of high quality. Then there's the “Force fit” breach lock-up which neatly addresses the main achilles heel of break-barrel designs.

The rifle fires with a nice, solid thwack! Not as smooth as a Prosport or TX200 but on a par with a well sorted HW80 and feels quite similar. It shoots very well with Air Arms Field and after just a handful of zeroing shots it was already printing neat cloverleafs. Power is currently about 11fpe and I’m happy with that.

The trigger is OK, not as good as a Rekord or Air Arms CD trigger but it’s perfectly usable and way ahead of the Gamo type offerings. However, it does have a very long reach similar to an HW98. Not a problem for me, but something to be aware of for younger shooters or the ladies. I don’t know if a set back trigger is available.

And it’s definitely a man-sized rifle: Big & heavy with an enormous compression tube that makes guns with normal sized cylinders look positively weedy! This is the GT model which means that it has a polymer stock and comes as a package with a 6x42 Walther scope included. I do generally prefer wooden stocks but I find this one to be perfectly acceptable: Nice looking and solid feeling with a stippled finish on the fore-end and pistol grip. The included scope is also surprisingly good. It only has a very basic cross hair reticle but it’s parallax adjustable and gives a very clear image. The included mounts are usable but a bit on the feeble side. I replaced mine with a one-piece mount.

I tested the Century with several JSB variants (JSB Express, Falcon Accuracy Plus & Air Arms Field) and RWS Superdome, RWS Super Hollow Point, Accupell and H&N FTT. For power testing, each pellet was individually weighed.

The test of the H&N FTT was abandoned at the outset as these are a ridiculously tight fit in the breach to the extent that they are painful to load. So I'm going to say flat out that they are simply not suitable for this rifle. The rest of the pellets were all an easy push fit into the breach and none were excessively tight or loose. Right off the bat, I have to say that the Century has the least pellet-fussy barrel I've ever come across. Capable of sub half-inch groups at 25 yards with all of the pellets tested, so I'd expect excellent accuracy with most ammo.

However, there were surprisingly significant differences in power and velocity. The top of the table is dominated by the JSB variants with JSB Express far and away the winner. Although their published weight is 14.35grn, in practice the Express tips the scales at 14.0grn dead. They gave a highly consistent average of 604fps for 11.4fpe with a spread of just 7fps over a 10 shot string. Coupled with the usual JSB accuracy, this makes the JSB Express the pellet of choice for the Century in .22. At the other end of the scale is the Accupell which, despite a similar weight, managed an average velocity of just 523fps for 8.6fpe! Bizarre...

Having pondered this, I suspect that the Century has a heavily choked barrel. This would explain the accuracy with such a wide range of ammo but could result in some pellets being significantly slowed down as they pass through the choke. Well, that's my theory anyway! Regardless, yet again JSB come up trumps!

So there you have it: It’s a big, heavy rifle which, minor niggles aside, is well built with quality components. It’s certainly worth the money although, as with any spring rifle these days, I’d recommend a strip-down before use just to be on the safe side.

[peddy]

Good review. I have the beech stock in .177. Found the same internally as yourself, can't believe manufacturers turn guns out badly assembled as they do. Its like buying a new car and having to strip the engine to make it run ok!!! Apart from that a fine rifle. Find the 1st stage too long but ok when you get used to it.

[landymick]

I like the Century,its a good package overall especially if you compare it to the Spanish packages.Mine needed the spring sorting but the later batch ones now have finished springs at both ends though a bit coarse linishing used.

[DJP]

I honestly think the Century is one of the best guns out there at the moment.

It's better, IMHO, than the HW99 or 95. In fact the only break-barrel HW that comes close is the 80 and even then the Century is sweeter out of the box (at least at 12fpe).

I owned a Prosport and a well sorted HW80 at the same time as the Century. And the Century is the only one that I still have. I think that tells it's own story (not least about my taste in airguns! ).

I'm still not sure about selling the HW80 (there really is something about them) but it was somewhat pellet-fussy and nowhere near as effortlessly accurate as the Century.

By contrast, the Prosport had effortless accuracy in spades (clinical, one might say) but no soul whatsoever. Once I got the HW80, I hardly ever picked up the Prosport. (And that's the main reason that I never bought an LGV – I didn't want to end up with a break-barrel Prosport equivalent).

For me, the Century hits a unique spot – it manages to combine Prosport style accuracy with a fair dollop of HW80 style character.

And there's nothing else on the market that I'd rather have right now.

[peddy]

I honestly think the Century is one of the best guns out there at the moment.

It's better, IMHO, than the HW99 or 95. In fact the only break-barrel HW that comes close is the 80 and even then the Century is sweeter out of the box (at least at 12fpe).

I owned a Prosport and a well sorted HW80 at the same time as the Century. And the Century is the only one that I still have. I think that tells it's own story (not least about my taste in airguns! ).

I'm still not sure about selling the HW80 (there really is something about them) but it was somewhat pellet-fussy and nowhere near as effortlessly accurate as the Century.

By contrast, the Prosport had effortless accuracy in spades (clinical, one might say) but no soul whatsoever. Once I got the HW80, I hardly ever picked up the Prosport. (And that's the main reason that I never bought an LGV – I didn't want to end up with a break-barrel Prosport equivalent).

For me, the Century hits a unique spot – it manages to combine Prosport style accuracy with a fair dollop of HW80 style character.

And there's nothing else on the market that I'd rather have right now.

I agree once the Spring is sorted and nothing else( no need to fit different guides and polish) there's no break barrel IMO on the market to beat it. I ended up with mine due to returning my first terrus that had been damaged due to the cropped Spring, and glad I did. Though I've got another wood stocked terrus as well now.

[TonyL]

Nice little write-up, DJP.

And glad you're enjoying it; sounds good.

[Geezer]

Best review I have read on here in a long time.

:-)

[ivortripod]

Wouldn't criticise the detailed strip down and subsequent power-up but can't help wishing I could view all the action on video. Whilst not wanting to sound too thick, but plinkers [ or praps plonkers ] like me, who are new to this hobby, need all the visual help they can get

[Arthur John Smithsplease]

I'm surprised the Century has been so popular in the UK market.

People have been saying for yonks that large cylinder guns like the HW80 are not so good at our power levels. I once had a HW80k in 177 and wasn't impressed.

I agree with you about the HW95, but I'm surprised you rate the Century higher than the 99s. Is it just a case of better build quality, or is the firing action actually smoother? I know that weight always helps a springer but isn't the lock time a bit lazy leading to increased hold sensitivity?

Presumably not, since you are so taken with the gun, but I would be grateful for confirmation.

[DJP]

I'm surprised the Century has been so popular in the UK market.

People have been saying for yonks that large cylinder guns like the HW80 are not so good at our power levels. I once had a HW80k in 177 and wasn't impressed....

Thing is, it depends, it depends and, er... it depends!

The HW80 was designed for higher power levels.

Whereas there is only one version of the Century that's over 12fpe, the rest are all 16J, and so it appears to have been designed primarily as a 12fpe / 16J gun.

I won't pretend to understand the mechanics of it, but you'd have to do a lot of work to get an HW80 to shoot anywhere near as well as the Century at 12fpe.

I agree with you about the HW95, but I'm surprised you rate the Century higher than the 99s. Is it just a case of better build quality, or is the firing action actually smoother? I know that weight always helps a springer but isn't the lock time a bit lazy leading to increased hold sensitivity?

Presumably not, since you are so taken with the gun, but I would be grateful for confirmation.

I'm not sure that I can give you a full confirmation as I don't have a HW99 here for a back-to-back comparison, and we're entering the realms of subjectivity now (I'm a big chap and the 99 is a small rifle). But, from memory, I'd say that the Century certainly has a smoother firing cycle than the HW99.

However, I have since acquired an old-school HW95k with the (much better) 16” barrel and I'm struggling to decide which of these guns I prefer: Both have superb barrels (accurate with pretty much every pellet), the Walther's smoother and the HW has the better trigger.

They are very evenly matched.

Sadly, this version of the HW95 is now only available in the US (as the Beeman R9) but even if it were available here, it would be a whole price point higher than the Century (and isn't really worth the premium).

Oh, and while I'm on the subject, the last HW99 that I had was nowhere near as well built as the Century and was full of swarf and rough edges.

[Arthur John Smithsplease]

Thanks for taking the trouble to reply.

Very useful comments.

[manxteddy]

Just bought a 'demo' in .22.
Would be good to also get some open sights.
Not a mark on it and shoots so sweetly.
Prefer these to under levers .
Now that I have tried it out . Wow.
Really good and the buttstock is adjustable for height and cast which is a bonus.
Fitted a parker hale mod which makes a quiet rifle down to a whisper.
Stock whilst hardwood is very well stained and really does not look like the 'ordinary' beechwood.
The square section compensator with it's 1/2" and Walther logo is also impressive.
Seems more like a match rifle to adjust and handle.
Graham

[Arthur John Smithsplease]

Are you sure it isn't an LGV?

[Rickenbacker]

Excellent review and follow-up, thanks for taking the time, DJP.

I think you should test a Diana break barrel next!

[manxteddy]

Are you sure it isn't an LGV?

It is a Century GT.
The stock was changed at Armex before delivery from a plastic Century to this upgrade.Demo as such with only 50 shots fired at importers and a trigger adjusted by their gunsmith.
Apparently mine is somewhat custom and is known to be a really good example.It's nice to know a little of it's history from importers.
Bought from Tony's Camo, Chester.