Hoping y'all can help me choose a springer.

[peaceful_ruler]

Underlever vs breakbarrel differences from an accuracy standpoint is negligible.

The biggest differences likely will be 1) weight and 2) ease of loading...

You say you want a .22...and that you intend to hunt tree rats and rabbits. I'm personally a .177 fan and I've had outstanding success on headshots on said quarry. IMO, .177 is superior for hunting unless you get above 15 fpe or so...but that's just my opinion.

Accuracy kills...a .177 pellet at 4 fpe to the noggin of a squirrel is lights out every time...1) a .177 in these lower power levels has a much flatter trajectory and 2) the faster speeds of the .177 is going to equal less dwell time in a springer barrel which equals better accuracy....but enough of my rant.

I own and shoot a HW30, HW50, and HW97; all in .177. The HW50 is doing about 10.5 fpe and is my go to if I know I'll be walking around. I'm confident out to about 40 meters. It is definitely my go to squirrel gun.

Your prerequisites...1) .22 2) scoped

My choice would be the HW95 or HW98. Both are moderately powered, very accurate, and not crazy heavy.

If I had to sell all my springers and only have one...it would be the HW98 break barrel in .177 or .20 doing about 14 fpe.

 

[peaceful_ruler]

On another note, if you want the best accuracy a springer offers and don't mind a little weight the HW97 is the one. I personally don't mind the weight of the HW97 too much because I usually hunt ambush style.

Between the HW50 and HW97, yes the HW50 is lighter but the HW97 is actually shorter and balances quite well.

Good luck only buying one Weihrauch...

 

[bckyrdsnpr52]

For power and smooth shooting the HW 90 is hard to beat. All HW springers are "twangy" out of the box which is mostly just annoying so I always got mine tuned but by the time you do that you are at an Hw 90 price. I've hunting with the 97,98,95 (R9) all are good rifles but I think in .22 the hW 90 is hard to beat it will be right around 20 ft lbs so plenty of power to do what ever you need from a hunting perspective.

I think the 97 has the best stock options myself loved my 97 but as others have said very heavy. These guys in the UK https://www.customstock.co.uk/shop/ make some nice aftermarket stocks for the the 90 so keep that is mind for the future. here is a custom one they did years ago. I think the 90 will give the most bang for the buck and years of trouble free operation. Good luck!





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That is a a beautiful Springer, love that stock!

 

[FarmPlinker]

For .20 fans, I think Baker Airguns has some pellets in stock.

 

[jkingrph]

Some argue the virtues of a side or underlever over a break barrel because of the fixed barrel, but having several of both types I honestly cannot tell any difference in accuracy. I still have the FWB 124d I bought back in 1975 and it holds it's own and is actually more accurate than a couple of underlevers, The lockups on the breakbarrels seems to be so consistent that accuracy with a scope or receiver sight mounted on the back of the receiver does not affect accuracy.

For ease of cocking and loading I like my HW35e and the FWB Sport, both break barrels. A break barrel is much easier to load as the breech is pivioted up for ease of access.