Any R1 or HW90 owners?

[pme166]

If so how and where do you lube it? The manual on mine says no oil in the compression chamber and only on the spring area. That seems really odd to me because all of my other Beeman air rifles you put oil in the compression chamber.

I was just curious what you have done and what oil you used where.

Thanks.

[lancem]

I've a R1 and no oil. Been a long time since I bought it but if I remember right there was something special about the seal and oil would ruin it.

[HARRYMPOPE]

Dont lube the compression chamber,seals are not leather.

[Silverboolit]

This is from the instructions from my R1 the I purchased new in 1984. Hope it helps. RWS chamber oil is available and it is what I use. Do not use reg. oils as they will deteriorate the seal.

[HARRYMPOPE]

it wont hurt but it does no good.Beeman likes to sell product.

[Silverboolit]

I am sure that Beeman and others like to sell stuff. I did a complete (first and only) rebuild on the R1 last year. It was sounding a little different and had to check it out. The mainspring had a cant to it, not broken and the seal was good to go as condition. I did replace the spring and seal since I had it apart. Thirty years and thousands of pellets did it no apparent harm. It was an expensive air rifle back then and was a good investment still paying off today.

[HARRYMPOPE]

The R1 is a great rifle and not the beast all make it out to be.The weight helps it lay out and shoot with very little care to where you hold it.At least my .177 is this way.

[pme166]

Harry, your experience mirrors mine. I found the R1 to be a nice size and not that bad to cock or shoot. I will say I am not getting the groups I would expect from my Beeman 400 or my HW30 so far, but we are getting close. My observation so far (maybe 1000 shots) is that consistency matters more than grip tightness or hold style. Just pick something and repeat it exactly every time and it seems to shoot well.

Silverbullet. That is what I would have expected but today they (HW and Pyramid Air along with the HW importer (Urmarex I think)) all said nothing down in the compression chamber, only lube the spring after taking off the stock but do it sparingly and rarely. The modern seals are basically lubed for the life of the spring. So now I wonder how long the life of the spring is.

I have to write it up but I bought about 20 different types of H&N pellets and tried them out. The R1 liked about 6 of them and the rest were so so. One really heavy one basically threw shotgun patterns of inches at 30 yrds but the rest were reasonable.

Thanks for the advice.

[HARRYMPOPE]

the HW's in 22 seem to be pellet fussy and like bigger pellets.

[GRid.1569]

Only use high flash point silicone oils in the compression cylinder other wise it with ignite - think of a diesel engine... The result of that could destroy the gun. Specialist oils are available from companies like Abbey... I'm sure these or equivalents will be available from any good gun shop


BTW if you use Kroil as a cleaner definitely do not let that "creep" into an air rifle cylinder... Cleaned the barrel of my FWB Sport and thought I'd cleared it all out but KABOOM and bust the piston seal and barrel sealing O-ring first shot a few weeks after cleaning....

[Silverboolit]

My R1 likes pellets in the 7-8.5 gr weight the best. Silver bear hollow points are its favorites and take small game very well. I did put a small amount of chamber oil on the seal when I rebuilt it, but not any since. It is good to know that it is not needed anymore. Seal materials have been improved since 1984. The R1 is a joy to shoot and is quite accurate if I do my part. Enjoy yours, it is a blast to own!

[besk]

The instructions that came with my new HW80 (22) purchased July '14 say nothing about lubrication of the chamber - only about pivot points with a gun oil.

I am still breaking mine in and need to do some serious searching for the most accurate pellet. Right now using Crossman Premiers.

[W.R.Buchanan]

MY R1 shoots H&N Wadcutter pellets good, but it shoots 21 gr H&N Barakuda's better, and it also will push them 1 full inch into a dry phone book at 50 yards!

That's 26.94 FPE at the muzzle!

This gun is a beast!

pme166,, just follow the instructions, Germans seldom make mistakes on instructions.

besk: Go to Pyramyd Air for your pellets. They have just about every pellet known to man. The top end of pellets are H&N and JSB. With the R1 try the heaviest pellets you can find for caliber. Your's a .177? mine is a .22 and I get the best performance from pellets in the 21-22 gr weight. This same pellet in .177 weighs 10+ gr.

Pyramyd also does a buy 3 get one free deal on pellets which gives you more bang,,, er "shoosh," for your buck.

The Compression Ratio of these guns is so far above anything else out there that in order to take advantage of the extra power you need to run the heaviest pellet you can find. 2-3 gr difference in weight won't make much if any difference in the Muzzle Velocity, but it will make a significant difference at the other end. 2 gr is 20% more weight, than 8 gr. so energy delivered at the POI is going to be 20% higher as well. 20% is significant.

Randy

[pme166]

Thanks for the tips. I agree that mine likes the Baracuda H&N pellets better than most. I need to repeat my testing to make sure I have it down but so far I think I have the concept. I did download the German manual for the R1 and yes no oil in the compression chamber, at most some on the spring so I will just keep shooting it.

I ordered one tin of every H&N pellet they had for 177 and tried them all. I will do the same for JSB. I had not heard of the brand before so I did not try them. I just need to keep experimenting. Lots of fun to shoot and play with so far.

http://eickpm.com/picts/r1_pellets.jpg

Here is what I think so far. The pellets on the top are ok to good. The ones below the gun are ok to horrid.

[HARRYMPOPE]

I didnt think an R1 could reach over 20 FPE.My theoben .25 is a monster and it fights to get 30 FPE.My buddies R1 with Vortek kit gerts about 550fps with 20g pellets.Yours would have to be getting almost 750 fps !!

I'm not saying its not that hot but if it is its the only R1 in the world that can do it<G>

[HARRYMPOPE]

tested velocities chart-

http://www.straightshooters.com/beeman-r1-.177-beech.html

[besk]

My HW80 is in 22 cal. It is the same gun as the R1 except for the stock and the addition of iron sights.

It seems counterintuitive to me but one website said that the life of the spring is reduced when shooting the extra
heavy pellets.

[HARRYMPOPE]

Springs are cheap.Spring guns are best with something on the lighter end IMHO.Spring guns in .22 fight to get 600 with the heavy ones and that limits your range.I kill lots of feral pidgeons with a 715 fps and 14.3 pellets to 50 yards.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Harry: my HW77 gets a consistent 625-626 fps with these same 21 gr pellets over a Chrony and has for 20+ years.

My R1 is much heavier shooting than the HW77 I have a phone book that has several buried 21 gr Barakudas embedded 1" + into it ,shot at 50 yards. The POI at 50 yards is the same as 10 yards. on the HW 77 they converge at 10 and 40 yards.

I knocked down a Rimfire Silhouette Turkey at 75 yards with it one day. You could see the pellet as the sun was from behind, and it still had a fairly significant curve ball arc to it,,, But it still knocked the target down smartly. Those targets weigh about 2 lbs. At 75 yards it should have next to nothing left if it was only doing 550 at the muzzle.

I will get the Chrony out and see what it is doing for sure but all estimates based on known performance of other guns are above 750fps.

I can only cock this thing right handed, and about 20 times in one session as the muscle trauma wears me out and I can't hold steady after that many rounds. My HW 77 I have never cocked other than left handed, and it just isn't that hard. This one is that hard, and there is a world of difference between the two guns.

We'll see.

Maybe when I get back from the SCI show in a few days.

Randy

[HARRYMPOPE]

A hard hitting 26mm tube HW 77 generally gets 675-720 with 14.3 pellets.No way with 625 a 21g maybe 550-575. You cant judge speed by sound or how hard something goes down.

[W.R.Buchanan]

OK I set up the Chrony this after noon and shot all my Air Rifles over it. Temp was 80F Chrony set 6 feet from muzzle of all guns.

Results were as follows;

R1: 13.8 gr H&N Match pellets. 755-760 fps. 17.7fpe. 21gr H&N Barakuda pellets 595-602 fps. 16.8fpe

HW77: 13.8 gr H&N Match pellets. 645-655 fps. 13.15fpe, 21 gr H&N Barakuda pellets 545-550 fps. 14.11fpe

HW35: 7.7 gr H&N Match. 630-640fps.7.0fpe. 8.4 gr Beeman Silver Streaks 590-600fps. 6.72fpe.

Should be noted that this gun has a leather piston seal and hasn't been shot for several months and was getting faster with every shot as it warmed up.

Anyway this was considerably less than I had previously thought on the R1. The HW 77 was right where it was before but with 13.8 gr pellets, not 21 gr pellets.

I stand corrected.

Randy

[pme166]

Thanks for all the comments. I am up about round 1000 on the R1 and I put a Leupold 6.5x20AO VX3 EFR scope on it this weekend. Made an amazing improvements in groups so a 10 shot group at 75 ft can be covered with a dime. I was impressed so I think my Bushnell scope that came with it was bad. I will test that on the HW30 I have if I can find some rings in the scrap box.

I still have not lubed the gun or taken it out of the stock. Maybe next weekend I will get a chance to take it out and lube the spring. So far I have put just a drop of old Beeman superlube I had on the hinges and cocking arm.

[HARRYMPOPE]

the R1 is a wonderful machne but not as powerfull as it seem it should for the size of it.I was about to pay pretty big dollars for one in .25 then a buddy clued me on the lack of power it had in .25.The .22 and .20 are the best for the power level. though my .177 is sure is accurate.

[Doggonekid]

I couldn't decide if I wanted the .177 or the .22 when I bought my R1. I bought the .20 it seamed like a happy medium. If I were to make that decision again I would go with the .22. There are not many choices for the .20. My best results for accuracy was Crosman Premier. I have only lubed cocking lever linkages, barrel pivot points and trigger mechanisms. It is about time to do the compression chamber. It takes a special oil. Beeman loves to sell their products, they recommend Beeman 9250 chamber oil about once a year or about every 5000 to 6000 rounds.

I love your choice of scopes I have one on my Air Arms. I don't think your Bushnell was broken it just can't compare to a Leupold. Very few scopes can. Pretty pricy though but I think well worth it.

[W.R.Buchanan]

George: that R1 is still 25% more powerful than my HW77. I guess that was what I was basing my seat of the pants power estimates on.

Randy

[HARRYMPOPE]

Ya the r1 is one heck of a good rifle in 22,much better than thr 97 or 77.. I'm like you and use 4x scopes on my airguns mostly.cant see a need for anymore in a field gun for 50 yard and less shots.