Beeman air rifles - premium weapons at an affordable price

( Find out how and when to delete this message template ) Weihrauch & Weihrauch GmbH & Co. KG

Weihrauch & Weihrauch GmbH & Co. KG

is a German manufacturer of targets and sporting air rifles, air pistols, cartridge rifles and pistols.
In North America they are often sold under the Beeman
.

Story

1899–1970

The Hermann Weihrauch company was founded in 1899 in Zella-Mehlis, the same small German town where several other well-known gun manufacturers such as Walther and Anschütz also began operations. Herman Weyrach Sr. was known for making excellent hunting rifles. His three sons, Otto, Werner and Hermann Jr., soon joined the family company. After World War I, several new models were introduced, including the HWZ 21 small-bore rifle (HWZ stands for Hermann Weihrauch, Zella-Mehlis). It was the first production German .22 rimfire rifle, which soon showed excellent results. Double and triple shotguns, over and under shotguns and large bore hunting rifles complete the range and have an excellent reputation for quality.

In 1928, Weihrauch began international sales of bicycle parts and mechanical door closers. During World War II, Weihrauch was the only German factory to continue producing bicycle parts. At the end of the war, Zella-Mehlis became part of the Soviet occupation zone, and in 1948 the Weyrachrauchs were expelled from their homes and factories by the communist government. Otto Weyrach became a mechanic and then a gunsmith in Zella-Mehlis. Werner went to work at the Jagdwaffenwerk (hunting weapons factory) in nearby Suhl. Hermann Weihrauch Jr. moved to the small German village of Mellrichstadt in Bavaria. There, with the help of his longtime hunting club friends and former clients, as well as his son Hans, he restarted the Weihrauch business in the barracks of a pre-war laundry. Bicycle spare parts were their first and main product.

When German companies were again allowed to produce air guns in the early 1950s, Weihrauch produced their first air rifle, the HW Model 50V. This air gun had to have a smoothbore barrel because the Allied occupation government did not allow the use of rifled barrels. Finally, after the German Shooting Federation (“Deutscher Schützenbund”) was re-established, the Allied government allowed the production of rifled barrels. However, since they were not allowed to produce firearms, they made every effort to create the best sporting air guns in the world. Even after the ban on the production of firearms was finally lifted, Hermann Weihrauch KG continued to produce sporting air rifles of the highest quality. The small HW 25 was aimed at the youth market, while the HW 30 and HW 50 versions continued to be rugged mid-range air rifles. The HW 55 was one of Europe's leading cocking rifles. A rather unusual version of the HW 55T with an ornate Tyrolean style stock, usually made of fine walnut of exceptional texture, has always been a favorite among shooters and collectors.

In 1955 they introduced a full-size sporting air rifle as the HW35, which became their most successful model and was the first to use the famous Rekord two-stage sporting trigger, developed from the HW55T target trigger, the trigger design of which remains unchanged to this day. day, the HW35 also boasts a barrel lock and an automatic safety located at the rear of the cylinder. The HW35 was such a successful model that, despite its relatively modest power output, it still remains in the company's lineup. , virtually unchanged to this day.

Early attempt at magnum force

The EL54 was an early attempt (1954) to achieve magnum power in a spring-piston air rifle. This is an HW 35 with an ether injector attached to the right side of the compression chamber tube. An ampoule containing medical ether was inserted into the device and crushed. Each time the rifle is cocked and loaded, a shot of ether is injected into the compression chamber, where the heat of compression ignites it, increasing the gas pressure in the compression chamber.

After the death of Hermann Weyrauch Jr. in 1967, a new era for the company began under the leadership of Hans Weyrauch Sr. (born in 1926 and father of current directors Stefan and Hans-Hermann). The company celebrated 1970 with its performance. HW 70 air pistol. The company began plans and first production of a repeating air pistol before World War II, but the war interrupted its regular production. Although pre-war HWZ sales literature includes an illustration of this thirty-shot spring-piston upper lever air pistol, only one example of this HWZ LP-1 air pistol is now known. It survived the war and Russian occupation, making its way safely overseas as a model for sale to Hy-Score Arms in the United States. Hy-Score President Steve Laszlo passed it on to his friend Robert Beaman. He surprised Hans Sr. and Christel Weihrauch (the husband/wife director of the new HW company) when they visited the Biemans' home in San Anselmo, California, by showing them this completely unknown Weihrauch air gun.

1970–1990

The close connection between the owners of Weihrauch and Beeman Precision Airguns resulted in one of the first (if not the first) joint ventures between a German manufacturer and an American airgun distributor. After a period of importing airguns designed by Weihrauch, Biemans decided that they needed to introduce a German air rifle with American style and performance. They determined that their primary need, besides a new style, was power beyond anything previously known in the airgun field. They were very impressed with the quality of the long-running HW 35, but were puzzled by its power, which was lower than that of the Feinwerkbau Model 124. This gun, for which Beeman developed a large market in the US, had a lighter spring and a smaller compression chamber.

Based on their computer modeling studies, the Beemans proposed a new air rifle model with HW 35 quality. The result of this joint development program was the Beeman R1 (sold outside the US as the Weihrauch HW 80 in a lower power, more stock version of the European style). The new model quickly became the best-selling adult sporting air rifle; he is credited with bringing the American airgun market into the world of adult airguns. Due to supply problems with the longer and more complex R1 stock, the first HW 80 rifles were available several weeks earlier than the R1. This led to the incorrect conclusion by some that the R1 was a copy of the HW80. Tom Gaylord also wrote about this coincidence in his book The Beeman R1.

and noted that Beeman was the main force behind the invention of the R1/HW80, and that Weyrach had done an outstanding job in process design and manufacturing.

Much the same thing happened with the release of Weihrauch's next air pistol, the highly successful Beeman P1 (sold outside the US as the Weihrauch HW 45). Although Beemans provided full specifications and design features for this pistol, there was initial confusion regarding the appearance. The factory introduced a rather bulky, high-top Desert Eagle-like design that the Beemans believed would not appeal to the American market. They felt it should follow the very popular and neat lines of the Colt 1911 automatic pistol. So the Beeman Company quickly created the plaster life. -dimensional 3D model that Weihrauch technicians used as a model for the final design. The Weihrauch engineers were well ahead of their time in another respect due to another misunderstanding: they thought that, since Beeman's powerplant plans were empty, that Beeman had proposed a single-stroke pneumatic air system instead of the desired more powerful spring-piston action. These pneumatic models appeared a few years later when the Beeman P2 / Weihrauch HW 75 was introduced. The huge commercial success of the P1 design was contributed to by its many features: high power, precision, robust metal construction, three calibers to choose from, different finishes and especially great flexibility : Capable of firing at two power levels, a built-in sight rail, and a Beeman-designed shoulder stock. The R1/HW80 and several of its variations gave rise to a lighter and easier to use model: the R10/HW85.

Weihrauch then produced the HW77 spring-piston rifle. This gun opened completely for loading directly into the breech, like a Feinwerkbau match rifle. This was a great improvement over the under-lever air rifles, which used a charging cock from which the bullet had to jump into the barrel. The HW77 and HW77 carbine, with their rigid barrel and easy cocking and loading, became extremely popular in countries with lower power limits.

Field style air rifles for the American market were a great success because only a very small minority of adult airgun shooters participated in any competition or group shooting. Field target shooting was the most popular of the American airgun group sports, but even it involved far less than one percent of adult airgun shooters. Almost the exact opposite was true for airgun shooters in Germany; there, most of these shooters participated in 10-meter competitions. However, in 1989, the leading German gun magazine VISIER found in a survey that a large number of German airgun shooters were willing to pay more than DM 500 (about US$300) for an air rifle that was equipped with a sporting weapon. stock and is intended for use in a scope. Many Germans who responded to the survey also provided helpful suggestions for new designs to be added to the many new stock designs being developed by Weihrauch.

The reunification of Germany in 1990 brought about many changes for every German citizen and manufacturer. Weihrauch began a collaboration with Theoben Engineering in England, resulting in the introduction of the first German-English air rifle: the Weihrauch HW 90 (Beeman versions RX, RX-1 and RX-2). This was the first Weihrauch rifle to use Theoben's patented gas spring system. These new rifles sold very well in the UK and USA for small game hunting.

The great optimism of this period of the company's development was overshadowed by the unexpected death of Hans Weyrauch Sr. on April 3, 1990, at the age of 63. His business success was so admired that he was posthumously awarded the Federal Cross of Merit. His wife Christel and sons Stefan and Hans-Hermann took over the reins of the company. Christel Weirahrauch had led the firm for decades, and the preparation of the two sons for their expected future management positions was well advanced. Both have been involved with the company their entire lives and have nearly completed their engineering and marketing studies.

The fall of the German wall near Mellrichstadt meant that they were "in the center of Germany". This opened up new markets for their surface design industry. They added new machines for electroless nickel plating and bronze plating (and made the floors anti-slip with expanded mesh, stainless steel fencing panels sourced from a fallen Iron Curtain nearby).

Why do people choose pneumatics?

The gun is easy to use and does not require special care.
There are durable models. This is a great way to quickly learn accurate shooting. According to the law, persons over 18 years of age are allowed to purchase weapons. Although the gun fires steel or lead bullets, they can cause serious injury to a person. Before purchasing, be sure to familiarize yourself with the rules for the safe use of an air balloon.

If you are planning to engage in professional sports shooting, then you need to first train with pneumatic rifles. It is as accurate as firearms. For high accuracy, it is better to choose lead bullets.

When purchasing a weapon, you can improve it with a bipod, optical or collimator sight. It all depends on your financial capabilities. Some people are interested in just shooting at cans, but for others this is a serious weapon for hunting small game.

Air rifles

Evolution of the Sporter line of powerful brake barrels

The HW 35 was Weihrauch's first high-power, spring-powered air rifle on the mass market. However, over time, the HW 35 became technically obsolete as newer, more advanced air rifles came onto the market. The HW 80, HW 85 and HW 95 were developed as evolutionary replacements for the HW 35, and they all occupy approximately the same market segment. However, Weihrauch did not follow the common and expected practice of abandoning their older Sporter rifles to make way for newer models. Instead, the HW 80, HW 85 and HW 95 were simply added to the product line as they became available. This sometimes confuses customers, many of whom are not familiar with the history of Weihrauch products.

Suffixes in the designation of an air rifle model

The meanings of the suffixes used by Weihrauch for air rifles are as follows:

• E (export) rifles typically have a US-spec walnut stock with white inlays on the buttplate and grip, and factory swivels.
• FSB (Fully Closed Barrel) rifle barrels have an outer casing (sleeve), internal baffles and a larger overall diameter. It is intended as a more compact, although less effective, alternative to a screw-on or detachable suppressor that would increase the length of the rifle.
• "K" (Kurz, German for short) rifles have a carbine-style barrel that is shorter than the barrel found on an equivalent full-size rifle.
• In relation to the HW 97, the letter "L" stands for "Lang" (German for "long"), which means a barrel with a diameter of 385 mm. On all other rifles, the "L" denotes a "Luxus" (German for "luxury") rifle with a stock finished to a very high standard, usually walnut.
• The suffix "LS" ("Lockschaft", German for "thumbhole") was only used on HW 35 models equipped with a stock with a thumbhole. On all other Weihrauch thumbhole rifles this suffix was replaced by "T".
• The "M" (Match) suffix was only used on HW 55 models equipped with a match-style stock.
• While the basic HW 30 M/II and HW 50 M/II rifles are equipped with a non-adjustable Perfekt trigger, the suffix "S" denotes an upgraded model equipped with a fully adjustable "Rekord" trigger. In relation to the HW 55, the "S" stands for "Sport", which means a simple sports beech stock.
• "ST" stands for synthetic (plastic) stock.
• "STL" means the barrel, receiver and cocking lever are finished in a light silver plated satin nickel finish rather than the usual blue. Please note that this suffix is ​​not generally understood to mean "stainless steel".
• When applied to the HW 55, the "T" stands for Tyrolean, which refers to the Tyrolean-style curved cheek stock. For all other Weihrauch rifles, the "T" designates a thumbhole stock.

Air rifles with interchangeable barrels

The ability to quickly change the barrel is the simplest option, widely used by manufacturers of both shotguns and rifles. This allows you to use one device for various types of hunting. Regarding spring-piston pneumatics, this is not so relevant, since it is rarely used for serious hunting purposes, and for shooting at paper targets and the so-called “plinking”, the main and quite sufficient caliber is 177 caliber (4.5 mm).

And larger calibers are not allowed for free/license-free sale in all countries. And it is no coincidence that the production of weapons that allow you to combine “two in one” was launched by a company from the USA, where weapons legislation is extremely liberal.

So, a fairly well-known model “ Beeman RS2 ” with interchangeable barrels 4.5 (.177) and 5.5 mm (.22). The photo below shows a slightly modernized version, devoid of open sights and called “ Elkhorn X2 ”:

Produced in China, its appearance and general design are similar to the Spanish “Norica”, but the trigger mechanism is practically indistinguishable from that of the Spanish “Gamo”. This is such eclecticism :)).

There are also versions in a polymer stock. They can already be classified as new products on the pneumatic market. For example, " Silver Kodiak X2 ":

The barrel is not screwed in, but simply inserted into the coupling and secured from below with a screw. The scheme is simple, but quite reliable.

In terms of performance characteristics, this is a classic “magnum”, with a 26x100 mm compressor, energy of about 20 joules and real speeds of a bullet heavy for a 177 caliber (0.68 grams) of about 240 meters per second. In .22 caliber, the manufacturer declares speed indicators of 800 fps, that is, 244 m/s, but this, as usual, is with ultra-light bullets. In reality, they will be noticeably lower (see “Pneumatic bullet speed”).

The scope of application of these rifles is as follows.

In 4.5 mm caliber, they are perfect for recreational and recreational shooting at both paper targets and traditional plinking cans and bottles. Hunting for small game is also quite possible, as with any magnum. But with a truly “hunting” caliber of 5.5 mm, everything is not so optimistic, since the energy output is too small for these purposes. Unless at very short distances, when the speed of the bullet is enough to guarantee defeat.

Although the same Americans use 22-caliber pneumatics with similar energy to hunt rabbits, animals, however, are smaller and noticeably stupider than the domestic traditional hare. In our area, frankly speaking, I don’t see such goals, except perhaps some birds and banal rats and mice. But here the 177 caliber is quite enough.

In general, I don’t find any particular benefit from purchasing the weapon in question. For hunting purposes and tasks, it is better to immediately tune in to a re-barrel “supermagnum” or to a much more optimal pneumatic with PCP pre-pumping (see “Air rifles for hunting”).

The same applies to the heroes of our further story.

Weihrauch patent information

• DE 734985 Selbstladepistole mit Spannabzug. Veröffentlicht am 4. May 1943, Anmelder: Hermann Weihrauch Gewehr und Fahrradteilefabrik.‌
• DE 739126 Selbstladepistole mit Spannabzug. Veröffentlicht 11 September 1943, Anmelder: Hermann Weihrauch Gewehr und Fahrradteilefabrik.
• DE 739124 Insbesondere als Pistole ausgebildete Druckluftschusswaffe. Veröffentlicht 11 September 1943, Anmelder: Firma Hermann Weihrauch.
• DE 2327335 Trommel-revolver. Veröffentlicht am 12. December 1974, Anmelder: Hermann Weihrauch OHG Sportwaffen und Fahrradteilefabrik, 8744 Mellrichstadt, DE.‌
• DE 3818838 Pistole. Veröffentlicht am 7. December 1989, Anmelder: Hermann Weihrauch KG, 8744 Mellrichstadt, DE, Erfinder: Helmut Sauer, 8745 Ostheim, DE. DE
• DE 674237 Tuerschliesser mit Feststellvorrichtung. Angemeldet am 5. February 1937, veröffentlicht am 11. April 1939, Anmelder: Firma Hermann Weihrauch, Erfinder: Werner Weihrauch, Hans Müller.‌
• DE 674237 Hydraulischer Tuerschliesser. Veröffentlicht am 2 August 1940, Anmelder: Hermann Weihrauch, Waffenfabrik, Erfinder: Hermann Weyrach, Werner Weihrauch.

further reading

• Josef Albl: Scheibenwaffen, Hinterladersysteme von 1850 - 1950, 2014.
• Frank Baranowski: Rüstungsproduktion in der Mitte Deutschlands 1929 - 1945: Südniedersachsen mit Braunschweiger Land Sowih Nordthüringen einschließlich des Südharzes - vergleichende Betrachtung de zeitlich versetzten Aufbaus zweier Rüstungszentren, Rockstuhl, 2 015, ISBN 978-3-95966-003-7.
• Robert Beeman, John B. Allen: Blue Book of Airguns, Blue Book Publications, 2010, ISBN 978-1-936120-03-1.
• Ernst G. Dieter: Im Zeichen des Waffenschmieds, Teil 2, Erfindungen, Patente, Konstruktionen, Kuriositäten: Beiträge aus Suhl, Mehlis, Zella St. Blasii, Zella-Mehlis zur waffentechnischen Entwicklung.
• Robert Simpson: Training Rifles of the Third Reich, Germany, Brad Simpson, 2022, ISBN 978-0-9727815-2-7.
• Walter Harold Black Smith, Joseph Smith: The Book of Gunmen, 4th edition, Castle Books, 1972
• John Walter: A Dictionary of Weapons and Gunsmiths, Issue 05/2018
• Robert E. Walker: Cartridges and Firearms Identification, CRC Press, 2013, ISBN 978-1-4665-8881-3.
• J.B. Wood: Firearms Assembly, Disassembly, Part 2, Revolvers, DBI Books Inc., ISBN 0-87349-103-3.