HW45 accuracy

[Hsing-ee]

Obviously a tongue in cheek post there, Al.

The Tempest is / was indeed a fine little plinker. I have one and it's a keeper. Love its very compact nature and old school feel and simplicity.

Had a Scorpion many years ago. A big, big brute and handful of a powerful pistol. Fine trigger too.

But nothing comes close to the HW45. Amazing build quality. Sublime feel. Superb trigger. Fine accuracy once mastered. Something to admire and cherish. But they aren't cheap.

I had one and I absolutely hated it. So you have this great big chunky springer built on the Webley pattern, a pattern which is supposed to be compact and be a trainer for regular firearms. But the 45 dwarfs a 1911. The 45 does have a fine trigger. It’s got a strong spring and a strong surge-bounce firing cycle so it has to be cradled as lightly as a BSF B55 with an Ox spring in it .. nothing like shooting a firearm. In order for normal mortals to shoot it accurately the power (and therefore range) needs to be reduced, thereby making a large expensive pistol unnecessary. It’s basically the same failed idea as the Mars automatic pistol, an oversized overpowered and unshootable white elephant. One of Robert Beeman’s ideas like the R1/HW80 where bigger is better. Sacrilege it might be but the world didn’t need the massive HW80, we needed something like the old HW85 or a higher spec 99 nothing to be gained by a huge rifle for the benefit of 5 or 3 fpe. All the ‘best’ 80 tunes have the compression chamber sleeved down. What’s that except a 85/95 with added weight? Waste of time. If you need an FAC airgun go PCP and do it properly with 30+ fpe, or rimfire.

HW makes a fine springer pistol, the HW70. Quiet, easy to cock, excellent trigger, inexpensive, accurate at 10m and suits all body types and ages.

Just my two cents.

[Biker_Bob]

You have to choose whether you want to shoot at full or half power and zero the sights to that.
There is no way around the basic physics.
The HW45 is the most accurate spring pistol I've shot, but it takes weeks and weeks of practice to get there.
Concentrate on the style of hold, they shoot best with a very light grip - use the 1911 combat hold but don't wrap the thumbs around the gripframe.
Weirdly, the design of the grip on the "star" variants basically forces the shooter to adopt a grip style that doesn't work very well.

[TonyL]

I had one and I absolutely hated it. So you have this great big chunky springer built on the Webley pattern, a pattern which is supposed to be compact and be a trainer for regular firearms. But the 45 dwarfs a 1911. The 45 does have a fine trigger. It’s got a strong spring and a strong surge-bounce firing cycle so it has to be cradled as lightly as a BSF B55 with an Ox spring in it .. nothing like shooting a firearm. In order for normal mortals to shoot it accurately the power (and therefore range) needs to be reduced, thereby making a large expensive pistol unnecessary. It’s basically the same failed idea as the Mars automatic pistol, an oversized overpowered and unshootable white elephant. One of Robert Beeman’s ideas like the R1/HW80 where bigger is better. Sacrilege it might be but the world didn’t need the massive HW80, we needed something like the old HW85 or a higher spec 99 nothing to be gained by a huge rifle for the benefit of 5 or 3 fpe. All the ‘best’ 80 tunes have the compression chamber sleeved down. What’s that except a 85/95 with added weight? Waste of time. If you need an FAC airgun go PCP and do it properly with 30+ fpe, or rimfire.

HW makes a fine springer pistol, the HW70. Quiet, easy to cock, excellent trigger, inexpensive, accurate at 10m and suits all body types and ages.

Just my two cents.

Don't forget though, Al, that when the 80 was conceived, those high-power PCPs didn't exist. If people wanted higher power back in the late 70s / early 80s, it was the 80, Original 45 or the de-restricted pump-ups, like the Sheridan, Setra and Sharp Innova, Ace & Victory.

Yes, for the enlightened, at sub-12, the 25 and 26mm HWs are much more amenable.

The HW70 is a little sweetheart; I love mine. I think they have been discontinued now, though?

But I do love my 45s.....

[Hsing-ee]

Don't forget though, Al, that when the 80 was conceived, those high-power PCPs didn't exist. If people wanted higher power back in the late 70s / early 80s, it was the 80, Original 45 or the de-restricted pump-ups, like the Sheridan, Setra and Sharp Innova, Ace & Victory.

Yes, for the enlightened, at sub-12, the 25 and 26mm HWs are much more amenable.

The HW70 is a little sweetheart; I love mine. I think they have been discontinued now, though?

But I do love my 45s.....

It’s true all they wanted was 11.9 ‘flight pounds’ and the first batch of 80s obliged by giving 16. I chopped a brick in half with my pals .22 over an afternoons ‘testing’.

If you have the skill to use the 45 then I’m impressed at your patience. But for me it’s the equivalent of the 35 for Pete ‘looknohands’ .. an abomination from some other dimension.

I’m glad I’m not into motorcycles any more because well Harley Davison .. I’d get kicked to death by the legion of born again bikers.

[TonyL]

I think my views of Hogs align with yours, Al.

[Hsing-ee]

I think my views of Hogs align with yours, Al.

I know they’re out-dated but the epitome of an exciting and beautiful motorcycle is the Ducati Pantah 600. I also love the looks of the Moto Guzzi Le Mans Mk I and some of the Laverdas and the early Moto Moroni 3 1/2s.

If I wasn’t too timid to get back in two wheels I think one of the slightly sportier Guzzis would be great. A middle age bloke just needs a comfortable bit of tourque and 60 bhp or whatever to safely trundle round at the speed limits and chase Astras down country lanes. No need for a hog in the U.K.

[TonyL]

I know they’re out-dated but the epitome of an exciting and beautiful motorcycle is the Ducati Pantah 600. I also love the looks of the Moto Guzzi Le Mans Mk I and some of the Laverdas and the early Moto Moroni 3 1/2s.

If I wasn’t too timid to get back in two wheels I think one of the slightly sportier Guzzis would be great. A middle age bloke just needs a comfortable bit of tourque and 60 bhp or whatever to safely trundle round at the speed limits and chase Astras down country lanes. No need for a hog in the U.K.

Your tastes most certainly align with mine then, sir. I was a huge fan of those bikes you mention back in the day. The little Guzzi V50 Monza was a jewel. My favourite at the time was the Montjuic. I still think some of the prettiest bikes made were the Pantah based TT FII machines. And the slightly later 750 F1 and Santamonica etc.

Love my 900SS; not sure if I'll ever put it back on the road, though.....

One of the later Guzzis would be a nice, mellow road bike. But back up by the Piaggio Group isn't the best. How about a lovely Ducati Monster. The earlier the better, in my opinion.....lovely two valves per cylinder air cooled character and simplicity making awesome sounds and with amazing handling.

And...oh yes, followed an air cooled RD250 for part of my drive to work yesterday.....it sounded and smelled BEAUTIFUL.

[Hsing-ee]

One of the later Guzzis would be a nice, mellow road bike. But back up by the Piaggio Group isn't the best. How about a lovely Ducati Monster. The earlier the better, in my opinion.....lovely two valves per cylinder air cooled character and simplicity making awesome sounds and with amazing handling.

And...oh yes, followed an air cooled RD250 for part of my drive to work yesterday.....it sounded and smelled BEAUTIFUL.

Yes the V35 Imola and the V50 Monza were on my list for a while and I think it got to hovering over the ‘buy it now’ button at one point.. but logic and economics prevailed. Suzuki do a twin 650 that’s roughly in the Ducati layout …

Must work on my Castrol R springer tincture for leather pistoned clunkers like the Milbro G80. I wonder if they’d sell it as a vape flavour? No, that’s mad. But according to the cardew theory of springers a bit of Castrol R should make the 80 and maybe the Relum more paaaaarful. Or at least smell interesting.

[TonyL]

Yes the V35 Imola and the V50 Monza were on my list for a while and I think it got to hovering over the ‘buy it now’ button at one point.. but logic and economics prevailed. Suzuki do a twin 650 that’s roughly in the Ducati layout …

Must work on my Castrol R springer tincture for leather pistoned clunkers like the Milbro G80. I wonder if they’d sell it as a vape flavour? No, that’s mad.

Yep, that Suzuki is the SV650.. Quite a good little engine. They used it on other models also, like the V-Strom 650 and Gladius. Other manufacturers also used it in some of their bikes, like the Cagiva Raptor, in the early 2000s. I always had a soft spot for the SV......until I rode one. Its more over square layout made it revvier and more gutless low down than a 600 Monster and the forks dived like crazy. A little bit of work to the suspension, heating it down a tad and a freer-flowing exhaust would have helped.

Yes, yes, yes to the Castrol R infusion Boinger.....a tiny amount of lube won't hurt and they'll have an awesome aroma!

[MikeHW45]

It’s true all they wanted was 11.9 ‘flight pounds’ and the first batch of 80s obliged by giving 16. I chopped a brick in half with my pals .22 over an afternoons ‘testing’.

If you have the skill to use the 45 then I’m impressed at your patience. But for me it’s the equivalent of the 35 for Pete ‘looknohands’ .. an abomination from some other dimension.

I’m glad I’m not into motorcycles any more because well Harley Davison .. I’d get kicked to death by the legion of born again bikers.

There's a pattern forming here, i love my 45's and my Harley

[Hsing-ee]

There's a pattern forming here, i love my 45's and my Harley

Heavy things that vibrate?

[Segata]

Hands off my Mrs

[laverdabru]

There's a pattern forming here, i love my 45's and my Harley

Love my Hurricanes/Tempest & my Ninja/Blackbird

[rapidresponse1]

i liked the one i owned

[wamf]

I have a couple of 45s and when I shoot them a lot I get very good accuracy out of them.
I have many pistols and the 45 is one of my favorites. I owned a fwb mod80 for a little while and couldn't do anything with it that I couldn't do with my 45s. That may be due to my eyesight and lack of practice with the fwb. The 45 will do everything I want a spring pistol to do, plus mine don't twang like the fwbs I have shot do, so I never felt like mastering the 80. I have a pcp pistol for the finer targets. I can hit 1" spinners at 23yds pretty much every time from a rest with the 45s.
I can almost do the same with my tempest and bsa 240 all have trigger tunes and fettled internals.