I have my first spring air rifle in the mail right now: an HW50s. I also ordered a 1 piece mount and a hawke airmax 3-9 scope. What do I need to to to properly break this gun in? I was planning to hand tighten all stock screws: should i Loctite them? What product should I use to clean the inside of the barrel before use? thank you all for your help.
Help me break in my new springer.
- Thread starter cgriff20
- Start date
cgriff20,
I'll let the HW owners comment on the rest, as far as cleaning, Patch Worm and Ballistol enjoy a popular following here.
WM
I'll let the HW owners comment on the rest, as far as cleaning, Patch Worm and Ballistol enjoy a popular following here.
WM
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I just securely mounted the scope after cleaning the barrel on mine. I did use blue Loctite on the screws. The one that was coming loose was mainly the one on the trigger guard.Just shoot it and enjoy it.
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I would encourage you to install a Vortek or similar tune kit. Especially on the HW30/HW50 models. Both of these models have a pivot jointed cocking lever. They work fine for a while but sooner or later the spring will take a set. This spring set will put twist and unevenness on the piston when cocking. It causes bind on the cocking lever and that joint. The lever then starts to gull into the receiver. Actually starts eating the metal. By installing a spring guide kit this problem is forever solved. The spring is kept straight and true. Not to mention the gun is a delight to shoot when tuned properly.
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Loctite the stock screws and the scope mounts. Most HW's like H+N FTT pellets, put those at the top of the list to try with Crosman Premiers and JSB 8.4's as backups. Clean the bore with Goo Gone or a normal gun cleaning solvent, just make sure it is swabbed completely dry before shooting. The gun may smoke a little during random shots at first, just keep shooting, and get a couple hundred rounds through it before making any harsh judgements.
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I’ve got an HW97K. I used a SportsMatch Dampa one piece scope mount, as spring air guns can break scopes and the Dampa mount reduces springer two-way recoil. HW actually recommends the Dampa mount in the owners manual of its nitro-piston springer. I also used an SWFA SS fixed power scope - as they were originally designed to military spec and are super rugged. I’d recommend VC-3 Vibra Tite for the stock screws, instead of Loctite. VC-3 is like a rubber coating on fasteners. It prevents loosening due to vibration (every Harley owner uses the stuff, lol) and unlike Loctite, it stays usable without reapplication if you decide to take the stock off and then put it back on. Hope this helps you get “springer ready”. 
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If you take the gun apart be sure you smooth and polish the ends of the spring as it rotates as the rifle is cocked and fired. Getting a tune as soon as possible is never wrong whether a simple tune with factory parts or getting a kit, the sooner the better! After cleaning your barrel, pull an oily patch thru followed by a dry patch. Completely dry barrels can lead up easily but a lite coat of lube can help keep them clean longer! You should consider lubing your pellets, most find this improves accuracy and makes barrel cleaning much quicker. Numerous articles have been posted on pellet cleaning and lubing. Have fun and keep us informed on how it is comming along
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The hw50s is an excellent gun. My favorite among a decent number of HW spring guns that I own, or have owned.
Snug the screws and use some loctite if they come loose. I’d suggest putting 500-1,000 pellets through the gun before you decide whether or not to go with a Vortek or ARH kit.
Congrats!
R
Snug the screws and use some loctite if they come loose. I’d suggest putting 500-1,000 pellets through the gun before you decide whether or not to go with a Vortek or ARH kit.
Congrats!
R
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Does anyone know which specific model of vortek kit I should get? i want the higher output (about 12 fpe), but i see a PG2 and a PG4? also, how hard are these to install properly yourself? I'm not overly interested in getting it sent somewhere for a tune. thank you
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There's a lot of good advice here.
I have an HW30s and did the Vortek tune. Didn't gain any power, so that was marketing BS, but it is a LITTLE bit smoother. Reading above at Bear of Grayling's advice, that is a good enough reason to do the tune. If you do it sooner rather than later, you won't have to break the gun in twice.
If you DON'T do the tune, it will be fine for many thousands of shots before it wears out, so I guess there's no rush. A nice springer like the HW50s is a real pleasure to shoot, and you were smart to not go for a magnum. The lower power ones really hold the interest longer. I think the HW50s was a good choice of power level, too: it's significantly more powerful than the HW30s, so it can be used on small game out to 25 yards or so, but not so powerful that it is going to be really hold-sensitive or heavy or hard to cock.
Break-in pellets can be cheap; I used Crosman Premiers in the past, but I hear they're on the way out. Maybe Excite Hammer (which are a RWS Superdome look-alike).
With the Hawke Airmax scope, you won't need to worry about it breaking, especially under the light recoil of this gun. No need for a Dampa mount and its expense or complexity. Heck, in time, you might end up putting that scope on something that kicks harder and put something lighter duty on the HW50s.
Yes, you should Loctite the stock screws. The two at the pivot and the one big one at the back of the trigger guard. If you don't, you will find your zero moving and you'll have to tighten them again and again. I use blue Loctite or the equivalent from the auto parts store.
As for cleaning the barrel, the easiest thing is a length of stiff weedeater line and patches soaked in GooGone or something similar. The guns have a thick grease (or cosmoline) in the barrel to keep it from rusting in storage and it'll take a few runs to get it out. Push one saturated patch through, wait a couple minutes, then push a dry one through. Repeat until the dry one comes out clean. If you find that's taking too long, you can get a Bore Snake; they make one that's specifically for airguns. (airguns use a softer steel in the barrel than powderburners, so you don't want to use anything too abrasive, like a bore brush with a steel rod)
I have an HW30s and did the Vortek tune. Didn't gain any power, so that was marketing BS, but it is a LITTLE bit smoother. Reading above at Bear of Grayling's advice, that is a good enough reason to do the tune. If you do it sooner rather than later, you won't have to break the gun in twice.
If you DON'T do the tune, it will be fine for many thousands of shots before it wears out, so I guess there's no rush. A nice springer like the HW50s is a real pleasure to shoot, and you were smart to not go for a magnum. The lower power ones really hold the interest longer. I think the HW50s was a good choice of power level, too: it's significantly more powerful than the HW30s, so it can be used on small game out to 25 yards or so, but not so powerful that it is going to be really hold-sensitive or heavy or hard to cock.
Break-in pellets can be cheap; I used Crosman Premiers in the past, but I hear they're on the way out. Maybe Excite Hammer (which are a RWS Superdome look-alike).
With the Hawke Airmax scope, you won't need to worry about it breaking, especially under the light recoil of this gun. No need for a Dampa mount and its expense or complexity. Heck, in time, you might end up putting that scope on something that kicks harder and put something lighter duty on the HW50s.
Yes, you should Loctite the stock screws. The two at the pivot and the one big one at the back of the trigger guard. If you don't, you will find your zero moving and you'll have to tighten them again and again. I use blue Loctite or the equivalent from the auto parts store.
As for cleaning the barrel, the easiest thing is a length of stiff weedeater line and patches soaked in GooGone or something similar. The guns have a thick grease (or cosmoline) in the barrel to keep it from rusting in storage and it'll take a few runs to get it out. Push one saturated patch through, wait a couple minutes, then push a dry one through. Repeat until the dry one comes out clean. If you find that's taking too long, you can get a Bore Snake; they make one that's specifically for airguns. (airguns use a softer steel in the barrel than powderburners, so you don't want to use anything too abrasive, like a bore brush with a steel rod)
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The HW's are easy to break down for the tune if you are a decent mechanic. The rear of the receiver just unscrews after removing the trigger unit. Everyone on here makes a big deal about the spring compressor. I have disasembled and reassembled TX200, HW97, HW30, RWS 34 and RWS 48 without one; just some basic common sense to keep it contained.
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even if you are a terrible mechanic its not that hard!
my only issue is popping out the first side of the square metal parts in the tube. this is the largest struggle for me everytime, never seem to have an allen key or something that is the right angle
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