Weihrauch HW98 Review

Overall Rating

Superb looking stock
Cocks smoothly
Brilliant Reckord trigger
Low noise levels
Beautifully balanced
Adjustable stock
Extremely well built
Low recoil

Bull barrel makes front very heavy (not exactly Ideal for younger shooters)

Weihrauchs are expensive air rifles, but being German they extremely well built (In other words, you get what you pay for!)

I have owned the HW98 rifle for well over 12 months and have found it to be quiet, accurate (although my ability is at question on that topic), and a beautiful looking rifle, but a bit on the heavy side.

After a day hunting in the field i have found the bull barrel on this rifle to be a bit to heavy for my liking, keeping it steady when shooting at long range requires it to be rested on an object (not in direct contact though) as it will tend to sway as you struggle to keep it aimed. (Might be my ability to keep the gun steady enough), Not exactly ideal for a young shooter, due to the weight issue.

Although many people/gun shop have stated that it can not have a bi-pod attached, I have found that the Harris universal adapter (no.4, Barrel Clamp) will do the job, but do NOT use the bolts that come with the adapter! unfortunately I did and accidentally ended up marking the barrel rather horribly, the bolts will dig into the side of your bull barrel sleeve, I went to a DIY store and got some narrow longer bolts, and used some small washers and it did the job (doesn't look fantastic but a touch of either a black marker pen or a gun bluing touch-up pen on the bolts and washers soon makes it look better).

With the adapter in place and a Harris bi-pod I found the rifle to be extremely accurate putting pellet after pellet next to each other and sometimes through the same hole in the bulls eye at over 35-40 odd yards, the adjustable trigger is fantastic, allowing you to setup the trigger to what ever tension you wish, and the adjustable stock makes shooting this rifle a down right pleasure as you can set it to your ideal height to see through your scope. Also the rubber butt is also adjustable to fit into your shoulder socket so the gun is well suited to your own requirements. (With the bi-pod deployed it also acts as a brilliant support for the rifle when you have to set it down to climb over obstacles, thus preventing the weapon from getting dirty) Although I haven't tried it, it maybe possible to add a sling to the bi-pod, without causing the barrel to open when being carried.

The rifle is very well built, the cocking action is smooth and although some reviews have stated that it is hard to break the rifle to cock, I have found that a quick tap with the palm of your hand usually does the job a lot easier than just pulling at the barrel. Pellets load and sit in the barrel easily and to my experience i have not found a pellet that it doesn't like, although after reading the reviews about the "Prometheus Pellets" I would NOT recommend using with such an expensive rifle. (Although some may argue)

The rifle should last a life time if looked after! Sadly these rifles are not hugely advertised, and can be hard to get hold of, possibly one sign of how good these rifles are.

I'm currently awaiting the BSA Lighting XL, I am interested to see how these two rifles compare for both hunting and target practicing - If you really can compare a Weihrauch to a BSA!? (I went from a cheap o rifle to a Weihrauch, so it will be interesting to see what a middle range rifle will be like.