After about 5 weeks of waiting, I received my new .22 Walther LGU Varmint from PA about two weeks ago. What follows is a comprehensive review of the rifle and its performance, right out of the box - with no custom tuning. FYI, my frame of reference for comparison are my .177 AA TX200, .22 Weihrauch HW97K, and my RWS/Diana 56 Target Hunter. My TX and 97K have been Motorhead tuned.
Impressions of the rifle itself include:
Positives:
Negatives
Other observations
Set-up
I set this rifle up using Sportsmatch fully adjustable 30mm rings and the included recoil lug. This combination seems to be working very well with the Hawke Airmax 6-24x50 scope mounted on top.
Performance
I am quite pleased with the out-of-box performance. Should you review the images as included below, you will note that the standard deviation of nearly all of the pellets tried was 5 fps or less. At 20 yards, again with nearly any of the eight pellets tried, the 10 shot groups were very acceptable for a hunting rifle.
My own belief is that the maximum range of an air rifle/pellet combination is the point where groups open up beyond 1.5." This rifle proves out to be a solid 50 yard rifle with the most proven pellet combination, with the best two 10 shot groups coming from the JSB Hades 15.89 gr, averaging only 1.35." I believe this is exceptional performance for an out-of-the-box/off the shelf spring powered rifle.
The Data
Following are all of the images and supporting data. I hope this helps some of you with your next airgun buying decision and/or perhaps get more out of your LGU Varmint.
Impressions of the rifle itself include:
Positives:
- Rifle is quite handsome, even with the synthetic stock. The metal finish is deep and very comparable to my TX, and is much better than my Diana.
- The rifle balances as well or better than any of my other springers.
- The rifle is very smooth to cock and the safety is convenient.
- The rifle is very quiet for a springer.
- This is the smoothest of all of my air rifles in terms of what happens after the trigger is pulled.
- Accuracy is very good
- It was advertised to produce +/- 16 ft lb of energy at the muzzle. With the chronograph 1' from the muzzle, mine averaged +/- 15 FPE. Moving the chrono nearly against the muzzle, it produced 15.7 ft lb of energy. As the rifle hasn't had enough firing to have "broken in," I would suggest that the rifle is very close to producing the advertised energy.
Negatives
- The trigger is not nearly as good as on either of my other three rifles. The first stage is very long and upon arrival, the second stage was "mushy." I was able to adjust the second stage to be "nice and crisp" but it appears the long first stage will be what it is as I have the adjustment screw fully at its end of travel. Once I got used to it, it really worked rather well but it is much different than any of my other adjustable triggers.
- The under barrel cocking lever is much harder to get released from its detent than the TX or 97.
Other observations
- Having performed the same evaluations on my other rifles, I can say for certain that all brands of pellets seated much tighter in this rifle than any of my others. It took a little pressure to seat most of them. Compare this to my Diana where once in a while a pellet will slip out if one is loading the rifle with the muzzle pointed up at an angle.
Set-up
I set this rifle up using Sportsmatch fully adjustable 30mm rings and the included recoil lug. This combination seems to be working very well with the Hawke Airmax 6-24x50 scope mounted on top.
Performance
I am quite pleased with the out-of-box performance. Should you review the images as included below, you will note that the standard deviation of nearly all of the pellets tried was 5 fps or less. At 20 yards, again with nearly any of the eight pellets tried, the 10 shot groups were very acceptable for a hunting rifle.
My own belief is that the maximum range of an air rifle/pellet combination is the point where groups open up beyond 1.5." This rifle proves out to be a solid 50 yard rifle with the most proven pellet combination, with the best two 10 shot groups coming from the JSB Hades 15.89 gr, averaging only 1.35." I believe this is exceptional performance for an out-of-the-box/off the shelf spring powered rifle.
The Data
Following are all of the images and supporting data. I hope this helps some of you with your next airgun buying decision and/or perhaps get more out of your LGU Varmint.
