The Beeman R7(Weirauch HW30S imp.) gets a TON of good press on the net, and deservedly so. Whenever anyone asks about the the "little-bro", HW30, the standard response is usually some form of
"Spend the extra $ for the R7 and get the Rekord trigger.." Well, I don't really think that's altogether necessarily true.
I recently picked up an HW30, and I thought I'd post my observations.
How does it differ from the R7?
The stock has no real rise on the comb, and a subtle, RH cheekpiece. Overall, it's pretty much the same as the R7, save for no checkering in the wrist. There is no butt-plate spacer, and the butt is hard plastic, vs. dense rubber. I don't notice the difference at all, and I do shoot LH.
The trigger is the stamped steel, blued, non-adj. "Perfekt" trigger. It has a slick, smooth face rather than the serrations on the Rekord, and it's hollow in the rear {like modern S&W's with MIM-triggers}. I may be wrong, but it feels as though the reach for my finger is just a tiny bit less, giving me the illusion it's more comfortable.I don't find it "that" far behind the R7's trigger OTB, however, I know the Rekord is capable of being adjusted far down from that of the factory setting. Bottom line, it's comfortable for me.
The safety is entirely different from R-7/9/1. An L-shaped sheet-metal lever, which is serrated, protrudes straight from the end of the receiver. UP to fire, DOWN to safe, with a red and white dot, respectively. It's more ambidextrous, and better looking, IMHO. It seems like it might have a break-in period all its own. At first, I though it was entirely manual, then the auto-engage feature creeped down enough to block the trigger. So far, it's not yet a positive, FULL-on click unless done by hand. A call to BPI in Kali. got me an answer from one of the techs. There's anywhere from 1/8" - 1/4" of movement from the auto-safe position, to FIRE. Thus, my gun seems to be working as-designed.
They come it at . It chronied 7.4-7.7 grains pells at:
636..44..31..33..35..43..33..34..36..36. Maybe it was the 109° temp that helped them step out that day, LOL? I don't think it had yet hit 100° when I measured the R7, but its numbers were just about exactly the same.
This one doesn't have NEAR the level of annoying twang I experienced with the R7. However, I can chalk that up just to a quirk, as I imagine the internals are likely a near duplicate with one another. I can still tell that there is SOME twang there, vs. dead quiet on some other rifles. However, it is NOT disconcerting at all. IOW, if I weren't listening and feeling for it, it might go unnoticed.
Bottom line, I certainly think that this gun deserves much better press then it gets, and I would heartily recommend it as a less expensive alternative to the R7. The savings add up to a cheap scope, or enough quality pellets to break it in thoroughly.