Other than a quick dalliance with a friend’s GAT gun, my first airgun was a .22 calibre ASI Paratrooper. It belonged to my uncle Trev who, seeing I had a burning passion for air rifles, let me borrow it for as long as I liked.
I eventually saved enough to buy a BSA Airsporter S – this was the early 1980s – and it was gorgeous. However, it didn’t take me long to wonder if I’d bought a dud. It was more powerful than the Paratrooper of course, but its accuracy was questionable.
I knocked over a few squirrels and pigeons with my Airsporter S but my mate Phil, on whose parents’ land we shot, always seemed to do better. He had a Weihrauch HW80 mk1 .22 fitted with an Optima Super Moonlighter 3-9x56 scope – the full John Darling set up. The reality was that his rifle shot further, was more accurate and went through thicker pieces of wood (the classic boyhood airgun power test) than my Airsporter S.
Phil was my best mate at school, but I soon began to hate him a little for having an HW80. Things were made worse by the fact that his little brother, Henry, had one too. But then he went and got a Weihrauch HW77 – one of the first to hit the market – and suddenly his HW80 was surplus to requirements.
I hatched a plan. First, I needed a sucker to offload the BSA onto. With that part of the scheme completed, I bought Henry’s HW80 and fitted it with a Tasco 4x40 scope.
It turned out to be the best thing I ever did and, in terms of my airgunning career, I never looked back.
Unfortunately, as is often the way, the rifle took a backseat when I discovered girls, cars and beer. I’m ashamed to say it was relegated to the back of countless cupboards and shoved under several beds.
Many years went by before I exhumed my HW80. The years hadn’t been kind. Fortunately, there was no pitting and whilst it still shot, it looked awful, sounded worse and, in terms of hitting anything, I’d have been better off throwing it.
Feeling suitably guilty, I packed it off to be repaired, re-blacked and tuned. A month or so later, it came back and once I’d put it back into the stock I’d rubbed down and oiled, it shot better than ever before.
The back story to the Weihrauch HW80 is part of airgunning lore. The story goes that Dr Robert Beeman, widely regarded as the grandfather of modern airgunning in the USA, admired the engineering sophistication of the Weihrauch HW35 but was perplexed by the fact that it was incapable of producing more power.
As far as he was concerned, the future of airgunning in the USA depended on the production of a rifle that was engineered to the same standards but capable of much higher output.
As a result, he started talking to Hans Weihrauch senior and his wife and partner Cristel before presenting computer simulated designs – believed to be a first for an airgun – for what was to become the Beeman R1.
Over the next couple of years, the design was refined and, recognising Weihrauch’s superior tooling assets and manufacturing expertise, an agreement was struck. Weihrauch would make the Beeman R1 which Beeman would market exclusively in the USA. In return, Weihrauch would market an aesthetically different rifle as the HW80 elsewhere in the world. As it turned out, the HW80 launched first in 1981. Delays in securing a supply of the larger stocks designed for the Beeman R1 meant it followed a few months later.
The end result was a rifle that was capable of 1,000 fps in .177 – around 18 ft/lbs – and enough to satisfy the power-hungry American market. Slightly more power was available to .20 and .22 shooters, and slightly more again in .25 calibre.
Ironically, power restrictions in the UK, the HW80’s main market, and other European countries, meant the majority of these rifles were sold at less than their performance potential. Weihrauch didn’t even bother selling it in Germany.
Despite this, both the Beeman R1 and HW80 shared the same design with a 30mm honed cylinder. And whilst the same mainspring was used, it was cut down in the HW80 to reduce power to 12 ft/lbs. The result though was to slow down the stroke which in turn made the rifle hold sensitive and more difficult to shoot, especially in .177, than its full-power sibling.
Introduced in 1985/86, the mk 2 is identical to the mk1 in terms of engineering design, other than, save for a few early rifles, the cylinder was not honed. Rifles made today still have a 30mm cylinder but are fitted with a different, smaller spring to serve up 12 ft/lbs.
Whilst we’re talking about the transition from mk1 to mk2, the principal changes are mainly aesthetic. The early rifle is distinguished by an angled forend and two arrestor pin holes on the top of the action, whereas the mk2 has three holes and a rounded forend more similar to that of the Beeman R1.
Anyway, back to my .22 calibre mk1. Let’s take a closer look.
The first thing you notice about the Weihrauch HW80 is its sheer size and bulk – it measures 1,150mm (45¼ inches) and tips the scales at more than four kgs (8½ lbs) unscoped. However, such salad dodging statistics are hardly surprising given the original design brief.
In fact, the weight has the benefit of countering any recoil, and thanks to the genius of the design overall, the HW80 simply doesn’t feel that heavy when you put it to your shoulder. I used it without any problems as a 13-year-old.
The beech stock is relatively plain, with chequering on the steeply raked pistol grip alone providing any relief. It is beautifully proportioned though. A solid brown shoulder pad is ridged for added grip and curves slightly towards the bottom to aid shoulder fit. For some reason only a 13-year-old would understand, I started cutting notches into it to record every rabbit I shot. Fortunately, common sense reasserted itself after the first couple of bunnies.
A pronounced cheekpiece and high comb combine to deliver good eye alignment down the rifle which came with open sights that I sadly no longer have. Instead, I opted to make use of the 70mm long dovetail rails to mount a scope. And although as a mk1 there are a couple of arrestor holes, I opted to fit a small block at the back to prevent any issues with scope creep.
The underside of the forend is flat, lending the HW80 mk1 to a comfortable artillery hold shooting style. And it’s plenty long enough to accommodate the tallest of shooters.
The 500mm (19¾ inches) barrel, combined with the quality of Weihrauch’s engineering, means the cocking stroke is both smooth and requires minimal effort. A key part of Beeman’s original design brief was for the barrel to lock securely in place once returned but to do away with the HW35’s latch system. As a result, the detent system on the HW80 locks like a vice to prevent movement and maximise accuracy potential.
Cocking also automatically sets the safety system – a cross bolt at the rear of the action familiar to most Weihrauchs. Some shooters baulk at having to push the bolt through from the left to take a shot but having been brought up on the HW80, it is second nature to me even now.
With all of that taken care of, you get to enjoy the Weihrauch HW80’s cherry on top of the ice cream on top of the cake – the legendary Rekord trigger unit. Much has been written about Weihrauch’s trigger system and today, with many other springer manufacturers having been forced to catch up, it’s harder to appreciate just how much of a differentiator it was in setting Weihrauch rifles apart.
Don’t forget, I came to the HW80 having shot a BSA Airsporter S. The difference offered by the Rekord’s crisp, defined and utterly predictable two stages in comparison was other worldly.
Having been professionally tuned, which included sleeving the 30mm cylinder to 26mm, my HW80 mk1 benefits from a faster, more efficient firing action that is less hold sensitive than standard rifles.
As a result, the action is thuddy with none of the twang that even modern day Weihrauchs are prone to. As you might imagine, I have used hundreds of brands and designs of pellets over the decades, including, back in the day, H&N Pointed for no other reason than they were pointy.
Now though, thanks to the quality of the barrel even after all these years, and the foundation of superb engineering, most good quality round head pellets work well. I’ve settled on 15.89 grain JSB Exacts which are good enough to deliver PCP rivalling ragged hole groups at 20 metres that open only slightly at 30 metres.
The chronograph shows a 10-shot string variance of only six feet per second (FPS) for an average of 568 FPS or 11.4 ft/lbs.
An airgun to be used and enjoyed
Shooting and handling my mk1 again for the purpose this review makes me realise just how good a rifle the Weihrauch HW80 is – a real step change in the sport. It’s no exaggeration to say that without it, the world’s air rifle market would not be where it is now.
It also makes me wonder why I don’t use it more often. In fact, that’s a very good question. I shoot mainly to hunt and control pests, and my Weihrauch HW80 mk1 is as good now – better in fact – than it was when I used it for the same purpose 40 odd years ago.
In fact, note to self: get out and use it more often. It’s what Dr Beeman and Herr Weihrauch would have wanted.
The Weihrauch HW80 is still being made today alongside a host of high-quality airguns produced by the German gunmaker. See the Weihrauch and Weihrauch UK websites for more information.
First published 28th January 2025
