Hugo Schmeisser Vs Wilhelm Foss

[45flint]

Yes collecting vintage and rare airguns isn’t necessarily about comparing but is about appreciating each gun for what it is. But it is fun to go back in time and to see if rival companies did improve on past designs. No question Wilhelm Foss’s rival was Haenel and in Germany their Model 28 sent the standard for firearm looking airguns. He was trying to top a 10 year old design of Hugo Schmeisser a major German gun designer. To compare I want to use the Haenel 28-R, the rarer but the best of Hugo’s innovation.

1. Build quality- though it’s close, Haenel is superior, walnut vs Bakelite grips, milled trigger, superior bluing.

2. Power- Haenel 330 FPS vs. 250 FPS in .177 with pistols in almost like new condition. Given the uses for these pistols I don’t think power is that important.

3. Cocking- Totally different here. Both are not ideal, mainly due to their trying to remain firearm looking. The Haenel is given a bad rap given it’s awkward grip pull. With proper technique I don’t find this much of a challenge? The Tell 3 requires your hand to go over the front sight like the later Walther LP53, but with a short barrel. It is not fun really only kept from being truly painful by the guns relative low power.

4. Sights- Here Haenel is the clear winner. The front sight can be tall and sharp and is Luger like. The Tell 3 front sight has to be low and rounded given it’s part of the cocking lever and this truly compromises its aiming effectiveness.

5. The Look- probably few pistols look as nice as a Tell 3, that simple

6. Innovations: Both Pistols show major innovations but in different directions.

Haenel’s repeating mechanism is innovative and not really matched going forward. The 20 shot magazine had to go through the center of the piston. Borrowing the concentric barrel of the past but using it for a different purpose. A lot of costly machining to get it to all work.

Tell on the other had innovated a complicated internal piston and sear design to reduce the size of the power tube. No one tried to replicate this either going forward.

Conclusion; both these pistols were the best, most expensive air pistols their companies offered. Been fun having good examples of each to shoot. If I take out rarity I would have to say the Haenel 28-R was the most effective: Multi-shot, fixed barrel, far better sights.