Hi all,

I’m sure this rifle has been reviewed to death as it’s been around for so long, but just giving my thoughts on it since I’ve had it for about 6 weeks now.

Now this gun was a replacement for a BSA R10 SE that I bought from new. The BSA had problem after problem such as leaking all its air, the pressure gauge not working and only putting out around 10.2 at the muzzle despite the shops test certificate stating it was putting out 11.4. This rifle went back to the shop a total of 5 times in the 6 weeks that I owned it and on the 5th occasion I’d had enough and done a straight swap for a new Weihrauch HW100S in .177

I have to admit, to look at I much preferred the R10. It had nicer lines and better quality stock which was very easy on the eye. That was the only good thing about it!

Although the HW100 is not as nice to look at, it is better in almost every way than the BSA. I chose the longer S model as I was concerned that the shot count on the K in .177 may be a tad low. I’d heard it puts out around 4 Mags of 14 which for hunting would be ideal but for shooting targets, I wanted more. My rifle is happy to get through 8 magazines before it needs a refill which is pretty decent really. I didn’t even get that from the R10 despite the fact that it had a whacking great buddy bottle on the front!

Due to the low power problems I had with the BSA I checked the HW100 straight away using a Skan Chrono. I was pleased to see that it was putting out 11.3 with H&N FTT, 11.6 with H&N Baracuda Match and 11.5 with RWS Superdomes. I tested numerous other pellets such as JSB’s, AA etc etc but none come anywhere near as close with accuracy.

The rifle is zeroed at 30 yards and will happily group around the size of my small finger nail at that range. I’ve used it out to 50 yards which is the furthest the indoor range will allow and the groups are not much bigger. This was tested indoors and using a bipod.

I didn’t think I’d like the side cocking lever compared to the traditional bolt on the R10 but I have to admit, it is very slick in action. Is easy to find without coming off aim and is very smooth to operate. The magazine system is outstanding. Pellets are loaded into the 14 shot magazine with no effort and can even be done one handed. I’ve used various pellets of all shapes and sizes and they all fit perfectly and do not move around at all once pushed in position. My R10 had a constant problem the pellets would be pushed into place but could move backwards and forwards slightly. I quickly discovered that if you tried to cock the gun while pointing the muzzle upwards even slightly, the pellets would have moved backwards in the magazine. When you tried to push the bolt forwards it would crush the pellet causing a jam. This would then cause the magazine to get stuck in the gun and took brute force to remove it. Both BSA Mags were the same and this happened more often than not using H&N FTT pellets. The problem didn’t occur at all using larger pellets such as the Baracuda Match. At the time I just learned to live with it and had to tilt the muzzle downwards when cocking, to avoid the pellets moving backwards. The Mags are made of metal and have no moving parts to go wrong, unlike most other manufactures that seem to use rotating plastic Mags. You also get two which is a nice touch. Another good thing about the HW100 is their system prevents you from double loading 2 pellets into the barrel as the magazine will not rotate until the shot has been fired.

My HW100 is fitted with a Harris bipod and a fairly hefty scope. These both add to the weight of an already heavy rifle and this may be a problem for some. For me this is mainly used for shooting targets so not really a problem. If you were looking for a hunting rifle I’d suggest that the Karbine version would be the better option.

In order to fit a bipod I had to purchase a sling swivel stud. Rather than screw into the wood, you can buy a swivel stud that replaces the front bolt under the fore end of the stock. This worked perfectly and cost a tenner on a well known auction site!

Filling the HW100 is a doddle. Just remove the plug from the end of the cylinder and push the full probe in the hole. Open the valve and fill to 200 bar. The gauge on the gun seems very accurate, matching the gauge on the dive bottle perfectly, unlike the one on my BSA that took days for the needle to move. This was replaced under warranty but was never that accurate even with the new one. The BSA would also leak air around the probe until it got to a certain pressure and then it would seal. The HW100 doesn’t seem to leak any air from the second you open the valve on the dive bottle. No big deal really, but just shows how one company can make things so precise and the other can’t. My friends BSA Ultra does the same thing when filling the gun so it’s certainly not a one off.

I have read that sometimes the power can creep up on the HW100 once it’s run in, but having fired around 2000 pellets so far it seems to have settled down nicely, and having checked this again on the Chrono, the power is much the same as the day I bought it.

Although I am very happy with the HW100 it isn’t perfect. I did take it back to the shop the day after I bought it as the silencer seemed to be stuck on the barrel. I tried all sorts to remove it and ended up taking a load of skin off my hand in the process! The Weihrauch silencer would come apart but the cone refused to come off the end of the barrel. I took it back to the shop and got them to do it for me rather than force it and potentially cause damage. 5 minutes later that sorted the problem and greased the thread to prevent it happening again. I suspect that thread lock and been used for some reason when it was assembled. Not sure if this would have been done by the shop or Hull Cartridge that import the rifles.

The only other slightly annoying thing is there is a very slight amount of movement between the stock and the receiver. You can feel it when handling the gun but it doesn’t have any impact on accuracy. I will probably remove the receiver and put a tiny bit of tape or one of the thin pads that you get inside a tin of pellets, inside the stock to take up any spare room.

This review is in no way meant to dissuade people from buying a BSA rifle. I fully understand that any gun can come with problems and I may get some down the line with my Weihrauch. I really wanted to love the R10 which is why I gave the shop so many chances to put it right but it got to the point that I lost all trust in the gun and started to resent buying it. I’m sure plenty of people out there have a full powered R10 that’s had no trouble at all.

Sorry for the lengthy review and thanks to anyone that’s taken the time to read it, but hopefully it may help someone that’s thinking about purchasing either rifle in the future.

All the best and happy shooting...

Mick