Weihrauch HW 97

If you already have a TX200 you may be disappointed. Sorry to say. The AA shoots perfect straight out of the box as though it is tuned straight from the factory. Not knocking the HW97 since I do own both of these models in question. If you are planning to shoot in FT completion, the TX200 gets my vote. You will need to at least install a Vortek kit to get a level playing field if choosing the HW97 or just live with its less than refined shooting characteristics by comparison. You have been already spoiled. JMO...

My experience has been just the opposite of Why's. I have owned three different TX200s and none of them shot as well as the 4 or 5 HW97s I have owned. Buy the HW97 and put a few tins of pellets through it before deciding if it needs a tune. In .177 my HW97s generally preferred JSB 8.44 or Crosman Premier Lite 7.9 pellets. You will need to do some testing to find what works best in your particular gun.

I agree 100% with Why's advice. The TX200 with aftermarket kit is truly the best for Fild Target. Since no spring compressor is required it's easy to install and work on. The trigger block is machined instead of HW97 folded plate. I own both HW77 small piston and TX200. The TX is better by slight margin. IMO

I think you'll find the HW97 to be more reliable and consistent than the TX200. A JM kit running around 12fpe will be a really sweet shooter, but they shoot pretty well out of the box. A little hot for my taste, but alright. Mine like Crosman Premier Lites from the box the best, and I have found them to be most consistent lot-to-lot. 

The TX get's praised for "being great and perfect and ready to go out of the box" and then it gets mentioned "It's so easy to work on it doesn't need a spring compressor"

I have had multiples of each and no longer own any TX200s, and i never will. All of them had issues and didn't live up to the hype. 

Don't worry so much about which one is better out of the box, worry about which one is more consistent in the long run. Get the 97, adjust the T8 screw in the trigger to remove the creep, and have fun. I think you'll like it. 

My experience has been just the opposite of Why's. I have owned three different TX200s and none of them shot as well as the 4 or 5 HW97s I have owned. Buy the HW97 and put a few tins of pellets through it before deciding if it needs a tune. In .177 my HW97s generally preferred JSB 8.44 or Crosman Premier Lite 7.9 pellets. You will need to do some testing to find what works best in your particular gun.

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I can echo this completely. I will add that the Crosmans do really well washed and lubed in my guns. I use White Lightning bicycle chain lube.

I have an HW97k in .177. I bought it because I’m left handed. Sadly I only shoot in my basement but I can aim at pellet holes and poke 5 through the same hole at 39 feet. 

If your HW97K has a lot of vibration, I would buy a spring that fits the spring guide or have someone make a spring guide to fit the spring. I was lucky enough to have the a Vortek replacement spring (12 FPE - 9" length) that fit my HW97K spring guide. When you have taken the HW97K apart measure the spring guide outside diameter with a caliper and purchase a slightly bigger inside diameter ARHQ or Vortek replacement spring. There is no need for a full blown tune kit.

Do you guys know who DonC is? That guy is one of the most accuracy nut cases second only to AZ when it comes to shooting off of their butts.

I think you'll find the HW97 to be more reliable and consistent than the TX200. A JM kit running around 12fpe will be a really sweet shooter, but they shoot pretty well out of the box. A little hot for my taste, but alright. Mine like Crosman Premier Lites from the box the best, and I have found them to be most consistent lot-to-lot. 

The TX get's praised for "being great and perfect and ready to go out of the box" and then it gets mentioned "It's so easy to work on it doesn't need a spring compressor"

I have had multiples of each and no longer own any TX200s, and i never will. All of them had issues and didn't live up to the hype. 

Don't worry so much about which one is better out of the box, worry about which one is more consistent in the long run. Get the 97, adjust the T8 screw in the trigger to remove the creep, and have fun. I think you'll like it.

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This may help with the trigger. http://www.airguns.net/general_rekord_trigger.php

I consider the HW97 to be the best non-recoilless platform to start with for a field target springer; however you need to replace the factory spring that will take a set or break prematurely. In my experience, at the worst possible time (during a match).

I've owned something over a dozen HW springers, about half purchased brand new. The only ones that did not suffer spring failure are those I flipped before putting more than a couple hundred rounds through them.

The TX200 is the closest thing to a factory-tuned springer... the side of a Whiscombe.

I recently bought my fist HW97...Here is my 2 cents.... IT IS FANTASTIC RIGHT OUT OF THE BOX. 

I put in a 12# spring and enjoy the gun a lot more than the FAC spring.

I did not need a spring compressor to remove my FAC spring. They are completely unnecessary. 

Mine twanged out of the box, but it was the spring in the cocking lever not the mainspring. Some grease on the spring, no more twang. 

I have Both..Both are great...the 97 is easier for me to load and seems more powerful,I have both,AA TX bluing is better and more of a gentlemans rifle.....The 97 seems like why the f is it so heavy...Get the 97,I think you will be glad you did.....but truth be told there are better hunting and plinking airguns.....why, because the 97 it is so f heavy , my .20 R9 is a way better hunting break barrel..break barrel I think are faster to load.....

I think you will be ok with a stock 97.....wait a while before tuning it up,It is good to go as is......

I find my HW97 to be more forgiving than the TX200. The TX has less vibration out of the box, but I'm more consistent with the HW. I've tuned both of them.

I have an HW97 but no experience with the TX200. My HW97 is very accurate and nice to shoot. I also have a Walther LGV and an LGU. They are extremely accurate and a pleasure to shoot. Both Walthers are at the very least a match for the HW and often shoot "better" in my hands. Each person will probably have different experiences and almost certainly will have different opinions on any individual gun.

I'm just echoing what a few others have said, but I found my 97 to vibrate a fair amount out of the box so elected to try an ARH 12 ft. lb. spring and guide kit and LOVE it. It's a joy to cock and shoot.

If you have a TX then you're probably already shooting a pretty hot under lever and may be ready for something different.

Mine is drop dead accurate with 10.34 grain AA Field Heavies. It only shoots them at 680 fps and they're more subject to wind than faster pellets because of the slower time to target, but like you, I also have much faster guns to shoot field target with on windy days.

I might speculate, and this is based on what another poster once said about his gun, ordering a 12 ft. lb. HW97 from, say, Krale, may not give you the same smoothness that a gun fitted with a 12 ft. lb. ARH spring and guide will provide. I'm guessing those guns have springs and guides mass produced the same as FAC springs and guides. They may provide less twang than FAC, but not a little as a custom fit spring/guide combination.

I'll add that I enjoy informal target shooting at long ranges with mine and my scope has hash marks on the vertical reticle all the way to the bottom of the FOV for added hold over with the lower MV.

Good luck friend.

ChrisK

My 97K has a twang but that's really calming down as I shoot more pellets through it. By far, it's a better shooter than my HW95L (which surprises and pleases me). Both are excellent guns; but the heft of the HW97K really does make it an easy-to-shoot pellet rifle (.177 for me; no tune at all).



Arch_E

I have both in .22. I found the 97 to be easier to get consistent accuracy out of, but Motorhead tuned it to remove the twang. 

He also tuned the TX so I could get everything possible out of it. But out of the box, the TX was superior. 

I have a Walther LGU thats needed nothing at all except an occasional sploosh of Tune in a Tube. Also easy to get good consistent accuracy.