Weihrauch HW110 TK Air Rifle Test Review .177 Caliber

VALUE FOR MONEY

The Weihrauch HW110 TK is the latest model from the famous German manufacturer. The “T” in the name stands for “Thumbhole”, while the “K” represents “Kurz” – that’s “short” in German i.e. carbine length.

As with other Weihrauch PCP air rifles, the HW110 TK is well-priced for such a high quality product. At $1,138.00 it represents strong value if you value accuracy, a great trigger, handling and “feel” over shot count.

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Weihrauch HW110 TK

SPEED AND ACCURACY

The Weihrauch HW110 TK tested by HAM was a fast-shooting PCP. Muzzle Velocity peaked at 1,126.94 FPS with the lightest, lead-free GTO Predator 5.5 Grain alloys. It was still well over 1,000 FPS – actually 1,031.74 FPS – with the 7.0 Grain Hobby lead pellets.

This makes it a hot gun in .177 caliber. Muzzle Energy peaked at 20.29 Ft/Lbs with the 10.65 Grain H&N Baracuda Match pellets, which is strong for the caliber. This would make it a good contender for a .177 caliber hunting rifle.

In fact, it was actually a little too strong for the HAM Team! If this was our personal gun, we would want to pull back a little on the power and benefit from a higher shot count. (As HAM Tester Doug Rogers did with his personal .177 caliber HW100).

The tested Weihrauch HW110 TK demonstrated consistently high accuracy with all of the standard HAM test pellets. This is a benefit that we have found before when testing other Weihrauch PCPs, such as the HW100 and HW44. These guns tend to not be very pellet-picky. Of course, there is – as with most airguns – a general tendency for mid-weight and heavier pellets to shoot more accurately than lighter pellets.

Given that HAM Tester Doug Rogers is an enthusiastic HW100 owner, he also tested this Weihrauch HW110 TK with the JSB 10.34 Grain Exact Heavy Diabolo pellets that work so well with his gun. As you can see from this test target, the result was outstanding!

The C-T-C size for a 10-shot group at 10 yards was 0.0 Inches – ZERO – and this held out to give a great result at 25 Yards also – see the second target.

At 25 Yards (and with a different shooter), the group was still extremely small for 10 shots at 25 yards, as we can see below.

TRIGGER AND COCKING EFFORT

Trigger pull weight of the Weihrauch HW110 TK tested by HAM averaged just 8.5 Ounces. Yes, 0 Lbs 8.5 Oz!

Even with such a light setting, there’s a clearly-defined first stage with a fair degree of travel. Pulling back, it’s easy to feel the “wall” – even with such a light pull weight. The smallest amount of additional pressure then releases the sear with a real “glass break” sharpness of definition.

The delicate curve of the trigger blade feels pleasant to the finger and – like everything about the gun – just “feels right”.

As you would expect, the HW110’s trigger is adjustable. Hunters would undoubtedly prefer a heavier pull, but for target shooting, the factory set-up is ideal. This is a great trigger!

The side cocking lever is comfortable and easy to operate. The lever itself has a very good shape for operation.

The effort required to open the lever is light. There’s just a touch more effort required for the final few degrees of swing as the magazine is rotated in preparation for the next shot. (There’s no spring inside the magazine to provide this degree of rotation).

Closing the lever requires a larger, satisfying amount of effort. You’re not likely to close the lever by accident on an HW110! However it doesn’t feel bad, rather we’d describe it as a “definite” action.

Overall, this is not the lightest lever action the HAM Team has experienced, but it is not rough or gritty. It just requires a little determination to close.

The manual safety is conveniently positioned just ahead of the magazine. It’s operational from both sides of the gun and snaps cleanly in and out of safe. As with all the company’s PCPs, the safety cannot be set to “safe” until the gun is cocked.

COMPARISON TO MAKERS CLAIMS

As is normal with high end air rifles, the manufacturer makes almost no “hard” marketing claims for the Weihrauch HW110 KT air rifle.

There is a Muzzle Energy statement of “25 Joules” on the side of the receiver. 25 Joules equates to approximately 18.5 Ft/Lbs. As was saw above, the test gun generates more than 20 Ft/Lbs with heavy lead pellets. So the claim is clearly exceeded here.

Weihrauch says that up to 42 shots are obtainable from one fill of the HW110’s tank. While this is true, as we can see below, that’s about double the number of consistent shots per fill. By shot 42 on the test gun, Muzzle velocity had fallen by around 80 FPS compared to the 20+ consistent first shots.

CONSISTENCY

The Weihrauch HW110 TK air rifle tested by HAM displayed extremely good consistency of Muzzle Velocity. The average Standard Deviation across the range of HAM test pellets was just 2.23 FPS. That’s the lowest figure we’ve ever measured!

This is great performance. However the small HPA tank capacity and (relatively) high power level means that the Weihrauch HW110 TK tested by HAM only achieved 22 shots before falling off of the regulator. Beyond this, the FPS declined very steadily and predictably.

This shot count means that shooters will need to refill after just 20 shots to achieve the extreme consistency of FPS that the HW110 is capable of. This is a disappointingly-small number of consistent shots compared to the 60+ that was attained with the HW100 when tested by HAM.

When looking at accuracy, this was very good or better with every one of the standard HAM test pellets. Yes, the JSB Heavy pellets were the most accurate, but the groups from all the other test pellets were not that far behind. It’s very unusual that we find an airgun that demonstrates such tolerance to a wide variety of pellets, however this is a trait we’ve found with other Weihrauch PCPs as well. Again, great consistency.

Trigger pull weight varied by less than 1.5 Ounces across HAM testing. Again, extreme consistency. No-one – certainly not the HAM test team – can detect this measure of variation when shooting. In practice, the trigger pull weight feels identical every time.

NOISE LEVEL

The Weihrauch HW110 TK has a permanently-fitted silencer. This is very effective and – in the HAM Team’s opinion – is among the most efficient out there. This makes the gun very quiet. It’s definitely backyard-friendly, so long as the pellets are heavy enough to stay below the Speed of Sound.

SIGHTS AND SCOPE

The Weihrauch HW110 has Picatinny rails molded into the top of the ballistic-polymer receiver. Although this does not provide a long scope-mounting surface, we had no trouble mounting a Sightron S-TAC 3-16 x 42AO scope using Leapers UTG Pro rings.

As with so many aspects of the HW110’s design, the location and length of the scope rails is just right. Scope mounting flexibility also benefits from the continuous nature of Picatinny rail. There’s no break to allow for a protruding magazine as is found with so many other PCP designs.

SHOOTABILITY

There’s always something special about Weihrauch PCPs. It’s very difficult to describe, but they give a “just right” feel when you shoulder the gun.

The rake of the stock’s pistol grip is ideal. This combines with a raised comb to the stock that gives a comfortable cheek weld.

Even without a ton of adjustable stock features (there is an adjustable buttpad, however) Weihrauch PCPs always seem to fit, hold and point very well for a wide range of people.

It’s uncanny, but you’ll know  what we mean when you try one. As HAM Tester Doug Rogers wrote in his test notes for this air rifle: “Everything just fits!”

The 39.25-Inch overall length of the Weihrauch HW110 TK  is very manageable and comfortable to hold on target. Further, the overall weight of 9 Lb 10 Oz – with the Sightron scope mounted – is very well balanced, too.

So, when combined with the excellent trigger and pleasant cocking, the Weihrauch HW110 TK plays strongly in our shootability rankings.

But there are couple of downsides to this that we need to mention. Firstly, we really wish that the shot count was higher. In that case it would not be necessary to refill with High Pressure Air so often.

Secondly, we – even veteran HW100 user Doug – struggled somewhat with loading the magazine. The combination of ensuring the cocking lever is right back, keeping the magazine release lever (below the cocking lever) pushed right up and jiggling the rotary magazine into place didn’t come intuitively to us.

True, we did improve with practice. However it never became as fluid an operation as it is to remove and replace the (surprisingly, different) magazine on the HW100. There clearly is a knack to loading the HW110, but we shad not quite got there at the end of the test period.

Back with the shootability positives…

Another significant benefit of the HW110 – as with other Weihrauch PCPs – is that it has an effective double feed prevention system. Unlike many (make that most) magazine-fed PCP air rifles – even some extremely expensive ones – it’s not possible to double-feed this gun.

If the cocking lever is opened and closed on the already-loaded action, a second pellet is NOT loaded. For many of us, this can be an extremely beneficial feature. It eliminates the possibility of a double-shotted discharge where neither of the pellets will hit the target. It also removes the potential of jamming, should a double-feed occur.

For some, another shootability benefit is that the Weihrauch HW110 TK is supplied with an optional, screw-on Picatinny mount for a bipod. For most of us, resting the gun improves our accuracy – so this is good to have. It’s optional: if you don’t want it, don’t fit it.

APPEARANCE AND FINISH

Overall appearance of the Weihrauch HW110 TK is that of a sophisticated, quality product. There’s nothing fancy, flashy or unnecessary, just the beauty that comes from great design engineering and huge attention to detail in manufacturing.

The fit and surface finish of all parts of the HW110 are outstanding! “Typical Weihrauch quality. The stock is beautiful,” in the words of Doug Rogers test notes.

All external metal parts look to be perfectly finished. They’re treated with a deep black surface that’s glossy on the breech and has a very slightly matte effect on the shroud and air tube.

The receiver is a ballistic nylon molding of extremely high quality and finish. There’s absolutely no unsightly mold lines and the surface texturing is just perfect!

The stock is both comfortable to shoot and beautiful to look at. It’s carefully sculptured for fit and the finish is pleasing, particularly with the stippling on the pistol grip.

The gray laminated ambidextrous wood stock is beautifully checkered in the primary grip areas.

BUYING AND OWNING

First we should answer the question that came up time and again. “Why buy the Weihrauch HW110 instead of the HW100?”

Yes, they are quite similar PCP air rifles, however the HW110 is shorter and lighter than the 110. The 100 has a larger capacity magazine (14 shots compared to 10 in .177 caliber) and a higher shot count. The 100 has easier magazine loading. It also has a single-shot tray available.

But it’s a very close decision between the two models. HW100 owner Doug Rogers summed it up this way. “If I didn’t already have a HW100, I’d buy a HW110 in an instant!”

The HW110 TK is readily available online from Airguns of Arizona and from Precision Airgun Distribution dealers around the USA. It’s supplied with comprehensive documentation and a limited lifetime warranty.

The instruction manual is very comprehensive, although you REALLY need to read it thoroughly to appreciate all the points it makes. It’s in German and English, with the illustrations in a fold-out section at the rear of the book.

The relatively low maximum fill pressure of 2,900 PSI is another attraction of the Weihrauch HW100 PCP air rifle. This makes filling by hand pump a practical proposition or, alternatively, allows for more fills from a large capacity tank that is possible with PCPs that use a higher fill pressure.

The HW110 is supplied with two rotary magazines. These are very simple to use and foolproof in operation. Also included is a fill probe. But note that you’ll need to buy an adapter to connect it to a regular female 1/8-Inch NPT connector, as is likely to be fitted to your HPA tank of compressor.

As always, the HAM Team would prefer an alternative location for the pressure gauge. Yes the end of the HPA tube has advantages from an engineering perspective. But pointing the muzzle at – or near – your face to read the gauge is not a good idea – at least in our opinion.

TEST TARGETS

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Weihrauch HW110 TK

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