HW 77 power to accuracy ratio

[Retnuhtibbar]

I have just bought a HW 77 in .177 second hand. I won't have it for a few weeks. Don't know if it had been tuned or not. I've been thinking through all the options if it needs work. Because of the law where I live I can only have it on a fac. If I was replacing the main spring how many ft lbs should I go for to achieve optimum accuracy at the longest range possible?. Or maybe what I should have asked, is there any point going over 12 ft lbs .I mainly plink for fun @ 25, 40 and 70 yrds and control the occasional vermin that visit my garden.

[p.j.]

I would keep to 12ftlb, the 77 doesn't make the best FAC gun. There is quite a bit of work to get them to 17/18ftlb, and when they are there, they are not that nice to shoot.
Keep the standard spring, get some well fitted guides in there, and just enjoy one of the most successful springers ever made.

[Geezer]

HW77 is designed to work best at 14-15 ft/lbs.

[bozzer]

If it is second hand it could be a 25mm or 26mm diameter piston.

The 26mm pistons made a tad more power.

If it's 25mm 0.177 then it will be very sweet at about 13fp. The 26mm 0.177 would probably be half a foot pound higher.

In 0.22 the old 25mm were very sweet at about 14-15fp. You could push them a couple of fp higher.

So if 25mm 0.177 then not that much more than 12fp.

Remember that that amount of additional power is going to make not a lot of difference regarding useful range.

So if a 12 fp rifle is going to be useful to about 40 yards for 'responsible' hunting ... then at 13.5fp it's going to be about that same max range. It won't give you another 20 yards.

Worth noting because it may be easy for you to buy a UK 12fp tuning kit from Tinbum etc ( other tuning kits available ) and with a polish and washers that kit gives you around 12 or a tad over ( * see note ). If that's the case and it shoots well at that then there's no point messing around chasing an extra 1 or 2fp because it will give you no advantage.

*Note ... The 12fp kits are made to achieve around 11 - 12fp but polishing internals, fitment of piston seal and spacer washers used could make the rifle just over 12fp with some pellets, so the user ( restricted by UK law ... I understand the OP isn't ) has to check the power and set accordingly.

[zephyr]

Had to check where Kilcullen was and the law. Wow, airguns greater than 1 joule (yes ‘one’) are firearms!!!

[Retnuhtibbar]

Thanks for info lads, I have been wondering about this for a while. I previously had a Gamo Shaddow which I believe was above 12ft lbs and shot quite well. But as I've not got a chrony I never knew for sure what power it was.(Think I need to purchase a chrono when funds allow). Does any one know what power the HW77 is which is sold to the American market?. Having seen Huntersvermin in action with his HW 97 12 ft lbs I think that power level will do me....just hope I can achieve his skill level .

[Geezer]

Thanks for info lads, I have been wondering about this for a while. I previously had a Gamo Shaddow which I believe was above 12ft lbs and shot quite well. But as I've not got a chrony I never knew for sure what power it was.(Think I need to purchase a chrono when funds allow). Does any one know what power the HW77 is which is sold to the American market?. Having seen Huntersvermin in action with his HW 97 12 ft lbs I think that power level will do me....just hope I can achieve his skill level .

The 77 and 97 have been sold to the US at 14-15 ft-lbs, the former in .177”.

[FPoole]

HW77 is designed to work best at 14-15 ft/lbs.

I would say this is spot on, because a .177 FAC TX200 is very nice at that power level.

[Retnuhtibbar]

The 77 and 97 have been sold to the US at 14-15 ft-lbs, the former in .177”.

That's what I needed to know, thanks to everyone that replied to my post.