Cocking HW95 Causes Pain

[alamogunr]

I've been breaking in my Weihrauch HW95 and finding that cocking it leaves me with an aching elbow after less than 100 shots. I don't have any problem with the effort to cock but the next day I'm in pain. Takes about 1 1/2 -2 weeks for it to ease.

Is there something I'm doing wrong when cocking. I just sort of start the break and then muscle thru the rest of the cocking motion. I've considered that even though I'm not straining that my age(76) may have something to do with this problem. I have noticed that when shooting .45 Colt or .475 L handguns that I get fatigued sooner.

Advice in this area would be appreciated. I had hoped that as I get older, that air rifles could fill a void.

[clodhopper]

The same problem plagues my shoulder with a Diana 52.
If I possessed more discipline, firing just five shots a day for a while, then slowly increasing the number per day, most every day might be a solution.
"If" is a big word.
Instead it's PCP! Binge shooting! Quick follow up shots!
Doesn't take very many trips to the doctor to make a compressor look cheap.

[JBinMN]

I do not own one, but I have an idea for you.

Much like how one would string a recurve bow, perhaps you could try cocking the rifle with the help of your feet/legs as well as both arms.

IOW, place the butt down on the ground by your feet with the top of the buttstock against one foot, and the forearm up against the opposite leg/knee, and then use both hands/arms to cock it by pushing down on the bbl to open it.

I do not know how to say what I mean in any better way, but hopefully you can understand & perhaps try it.

I dunno. Just trying to help out.
:???:

G'Luck!
:)

[MT Chambers]

Prolly time to sell the HW95 (great gun that it is) and get into a PCP, more money but it will keep you shooting a long time. (don't get a hand pump either).

[Greg S]

Sounds like tendinitis. Try taking it easier as said and build up. Try cocking it left handed and as stated, 5-10. I'd give it a few days - 10 to clear up and start back moderately. Had a simular problem when I started shooting 10m AP with my elbow. It was a delayed pain and almost tearful at times. Ice, IBP time to heal and come back in moderation. 5-10 per day not per session and build from there.

[alamogunr]

Thanks, JB. I'll experiment with your method and any others that are suggested.

And you too, clodhopper. Patience is not my strong suit but, if it is enforced by pain, I might be able to work it out.

I've looked at PCP rifles and considered a tank. I might have access to a high pressure compressor. When I was a county commissioner, we approved $$ for a new compressor for the county fire departments. That might get me a foot in the door for refills.

I've been cocking it with my left hand, Greg. That may be contributing to the problem. I hold the buttstock at the grip and my left hand on the barrel and pull it around to cock.

Overall, it sounds like I need to take it slow and easy and maybe modify my cocking movement.

[besk]

Good advice. Changing your cocking technique and using the right hand may well be a big help.

I have vacillated between springers (HW 80, RWS 34) and a PCP with hand pump. The PCP is definitely easier to use in my opinion. I go slow with the hand pump. (I'm almost 76.)

[KLR]

How about de-tuning it to a lower power level? It will be a lot easier to cock at 10 fpe.

[alamogunr]

To be honest, one of the reasons I bought this particular model was it's power. At this point, I am going to try to modify my cocking method before I do any modifications to the rifle.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Sounds to me like shooting 100 rounds in one setting with a very powerful airgun is your problem.

I have several Airguns, all Weihrauchs, 2 HW35's an HW77 and a Beeman R1/HW80. All of the first three I cock using my left arm, and the HW35's I can cock easily with my left arm for as many shots as I care to, which is always well short of a hundred rounds.

I don't think I've ever fired 100 rounds in any one one day, and I've had an HW35 since 1978. I know I've done 50 a few times, but never a hundred.

That said my HW80 must be cocked with my right arm. I first break the barrel off the detent. Then swap hands holding the gun in my left hand, and placing the butt on my Right Leg I grab the barrel with my right hand and pull it down til it latches. Like most people my Dominant Arm is stronger than the other one.

I can only cock that gun, which is a very stiff Springer, about 3 times with my left arm.

You might try alternating arms or break up your shooting sessions with some more rest periods. If you are 76 You probably already know you aren't what you used to be. That doesn't mean you can't find ways to get around your physicality.

I am 100% sure that it doesn't get better with age.

Randy

[alamogunr]

Throughout this thread I've been suspecting that cocking with my left arm is the root of the problem aside from the stiff spring. I'll try Randy's method of swapping hands. As he said, my dominant arm is stronger than my left arm. I appreciate his description of breaking the barrel off the detent. I knew there had to be a way to describe what I was doing but wasn't sure how.

And you are right, I know I'm not what I used to be, but giving in to it is something I have to remind myself of quite often.

If it would quit raining for a few days to a week and allow me to catch up with yard work, I might find time to more shooting.

[Gunor]

Marauder in .177 - suppose to get 50-60 shots from one fill. PCP...just saying.

I have three magazines - so I refill after 3 mags worth.

[GhostHawk]

The one that gives me trouble is my Hatsan 135 Vortex QE.

What I learned to do was sit down. Place butt between my thighs, so it can't move.
"Slap" barrel with right hand to break it loose, then start pulling down. Then as it approaches the halfway down mark my left hand can hook over and help.

This works for me, but the long term solution was to add another Hatsan, the 95.

I lose some 200 fps, but the strength required goes from 65 lbs down to mid 40's which is a big difference.

[MT Chambers]

Are you using both arms to cock that '95?

[alamogunr]

Are you using both arms to cock that '95?

Not sure what you mean. I cock by holding the rifle at the pistol grip with my right hand and the big end of the barrel with my left hand. After I've broken the barrel detent as described by Randy, I just kind of muscle things together to complete the cocking.

[GhostHawk]

For me the 95 does not need both arms. Significant reduction in force required as compared to the 135.

That being said I love the 135, just don't shoot it as much.

[alamogunr]

For me the 95 does not need both arms. Significant reduction in force required as compared to the 135.

That being said I love the 135, just don't shoot it as much.

Not sure I understand this. I use my right hand(arm) to hold the stock of the rifle and my left hand(arm) to hold the barrel. It sounds like you understood that I was using both hands(arms) to hold the barrel and restrained the rifle with a fixed device of some sort or held it between my legs.

Is the 135 you refer to a Weihrauch?

[sparky45]

I went with the HW30 for this very reason, and I love it. Following shoulder reconstruction I couldn't cock the stiffer springers but the HW30 is the easiest of them all.

[Fenring]

Perhaps adding a muzzle weight will give more leverage?

https://www.airrifleheadquarters.com/catalog/item/1205004/692734.htm

[GhostHawk]

Not sure I understand this. I use my right hand(arm) to hold the stock of the rifle and my left hand(arm) to hold the barrel. It sounds like you understood that I was using both hands(arms) to hold the barrel and restrained the rifle with a fixed device of some sort or held it between my legs.

Is the 135 you refer to a Weihrauch?

Sorry to be late getting back to this. To take them in reverse order. Both of mine are Hatsan not a weihrauch. But there is a huge difference in cocking force required.

Next, as to cocking. Find a position where the gun supports itself. IE right hand not holding the stock. For me that was sitting down with the stock between my thigh's. When I slapped the barrel the heel of the stock would dig into the seat of the chair and I could use both arms for cocking force. Working together instead of working against each other. Just play around until you find a way that works.

Another consideration is adding a suppressor which could add 6-8" of leverage.

[alamogunr]

Perhaps adding a muzzle weight will give more leverage?

https://www.airrifleheadquarters.com/catalog/item/1205004/692734.htm

This rifle already has a muzzle weight.

https://www.airgunsofarizona.com/spring-piston/weihrauch-hw95l-field-pro-.22/

[alamogunr]

Sorry to be late getting back to this. To take them in reverse order. Both of mine are Hatsan not a weihrauch. But there is a huge difference in cocking force required.

Next, as to cocking. Find a position where the gun supports itself. IE right hand not holding the stock. For me that was sitting down with the stock between my thigh's. When I slapped the barrel the heel of the stock would dig into the seat of the chair and I could use both arms for cocking force. Working together instead of working against each other. Just play around until you find a way that works.

Another consideration is adding a suppressor which could add 6-8" of leverage.

See my post just previous to this one. I just edited the post. My rifle is a .22

Until my arm started to hurt, I was not aware of excess difficulty cocking the rifle. But, I had nothing to compare with since this was my first airgun. I've still got a lot of shooting to do before I can consider myself accurate with an air gun. I may never accomplish that to the extent that others do since I started late in life. I think I posted somewhere that I will be 77 in July. I still work out, mostly with light weights and aerobic excercises, just to keep from going to seed. I may be reaching the point where the seed is going to sprout despite my efforts.

Ghosthawk, when it stops raining, I will try your suggestion as well as others. The problem right now is that the rain makes the grass grow so it has to be mowed before I can have time for shooting.

[Tripplebeards]

You could make a cocking devise that slides over the front of your barrel. Kind of like my browning 22 cal pistol has only make one bigger. My dads two years older than you and he won’t even try to cock my Walther talon 22 mag rifle. It’s a beast. I don’t know what pulls harder the barrel when I cock it or the trigger pull.lol I had a nitro piston installed it when they first came out I would assume it must’ve made it a heavier pull? Older younger a hundred times cocking in one day it’s gonna be sore and anybody in my opinion. If you shoot that much maybe you’re better off to get an air tank and a rifle you don’t need to cock that will be good for 7 to 12 shots in between charging.

[alamogunr]

You could make a cocking devise that slides over the front of your barrel. Kind of like my browning 22 cal pistol has only make one bigger. My dads two years older than you and he won’t even try to cock my Walther talon 22 mag rifle. It’s a beast. I don’t know what pulls harder the barrel when I cock it or the trigger pull.lol I had a nitro piston installed it when they first came out I would assume it must’ve made it a heavier pull? Older younger a hundred times cocking in one day it’s gonna be sore and anybody in my opinion. If you shoot that much maybe you’re better off to get an air tank and a rifle you don’t need to cock that will be good for 7 to 12 shots in between charging.

Thinking about a PCP w/air tank. Want to make sure I can get tank refilled locally plus need to accumulate a few more $$ in the gun fund. Not ready to give up on the springer yet though. May not take any more than moderation in number of shots at a session plus putting into practice some of the suggestions here.
Twenty five to thirty shots 3-4 times a week would be better than 100 or so shots then 2 weeks before shooting again.

[Tripplebeards]

The compressors are coming down in price. I’ve wanted a Sam yang 45 cal big bore for a decade and a half but just didn’t want to mess around with running to get a tank filled all the time. I might have to buy a compressor and a rifle soon.