New member, getting back into air rifles.

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Posted: 05 May 2026 at 10:05pm

-Ec wrote:

the gun looks to be in near new condition.

I spoke to the guy on the phone. Seemed like a lovely fella, and after my own heart, appeared to be fastidious about caring for his things. He's included the gloves he uses while target shooting so as no not touch the metal, the barrel cleaning doodad, "non-stinky" oil and cleaning cloths.

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Posted: 05 May 2026 at 9:58pm

Sadly, no scope comes with the gun. Apparently this scope is over 2k in price.

That's the next thing I have to research now I guess.

As for my budget KiwiTr6....I didn't really have one. I wasn't terribly sure what I wanted, but I was trying to restrain myself from being silly and just going all in.

Edited by R0b0tMaf1a - 06 May 2026 at 8:19am

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Posted: 05 May 2026 at 7:04pm

Id say good move on the hw97 robotmafia.
What is the scope? Cant say ive seen many that long.
Air rifle rated?

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Posted: 05 May 2026 at 6:59pm

Gun city branded pellets are made by h&n i believe.
They are quite a soft lead if i rember rightly.
Shot pretty well i rember, but couple of other brands out preformed over distance.

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Posted: 05 May 2026 at 5:58pm

The HW97 is an excellent air gun. Many people don't like an under leaver for hunting as they find them slower to reload than a break-barrel. However they are very very accurate and hitting what your shooting at is the most important thing with any gun.

A HW97K with the thumb hole beach stock is nearly $1700 from Youngs - so under a grand for the gun, the case some targets and some pellets is a very good price as the gun looks to be in near new condition.

Kruzza , Gun City did not have any JSB pellets at all, nor did they have any 30 cal FX - which my Hatsan likes. Not sure when or if I will be heading to Napier. I was taking my daughter to the Palmy hospital for a procedure today and by the time we got home she was feeling like sh*t and has gone straight to bed. Not sure how she will feel after a night's sleep - but I suspect I'll be staying close to home tomorrow.

I'll probably end up getting a couple of tins of JSB 30 cal from Youngs as the Hatsan likes them too and get some .22 JSBs to try in my guns. THANKS for the offer though - we will have to have a meetup sometime to checkout each other's Dianas.

FWIW I did buy a tin of Gun City .22 Javelin Hunter to try ($18 for tin of 200). They look to be identical to the Stoeger X-Hunt pellets I've already found quite good in both my guns. Ive weighted a few and they are the same as the Stoegers - 16.4gr. Be interesting to see how well they shoot.

Edited by -Ec - 05 May 2026 at 6:34pm

Regards,
-Ec

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Posted: 05 May 2026 at 5:46pm

Absolutely spot on.

Get rid of some pests and settle into some very accurate target sessions.

Our local club members regularly shoot sub 1/2 inch groups at 25 yards with Weihrauch Air Rifles.

There are several HW97 users who can front with the best pre-charged owners.

Most recently senior member Frank shot this target.

25 yards 4 pellets through same hole HW97.

Edited by mercs - 06 May 2026 at 9:51pm

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Posted: 05 May 2026 at 5:21pm

They're a great airgun - possibly the best. You should be very happy with it.

Based on the price range you were indicating, no one (other than Myson) bothered suggesting the Weihrauchs. Had pricing not been too much of an issue then pretty much all of us would have.

Edited by KiwiTR6 - 05 May 2026 at 5:26pm

Daystate Red Wolf .22
FX Dreamline .22
Diana Outlaw .22
HW98 .177
HW30 .177
FWB 124 .177
Diana 35 .177
Diana 340 N-Tec .177
Diana 34 EMS .177
Diana Mod 25 .177
Diana Two Forty .177
Crosman 2240 .22

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Posted: 05 May 2026 at 5:02pm

Ok....

Well after careful consideration and not taking anyone's advice apparently, I've probably bought the wrong gun.

I've ended up getting a 2nd hand Weihrauch HW97KT .177. It was on Trademe if anyone happened to have spotted it. Everything except the rests and scope for $995

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Posted: 05 May 2026 at 4:40pm

Im heading into napier early tomorrow morning ec. If your heading to town Wednesday i can meet up and drop of some 18.13 gr jsb and some jsb/exact 16gr for you to try. Got some rws as well. Think you have tried the rest of what i have. Oh and sone h&n barricuda 18. Basically the h&ñ version of the jsb 18.13gr.
Let me know before tomorrow if you want em.

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Posted: 05 May 2026 at 12:39pm

Good luck with napier and hastings.
Crafties no. Ranges to river no. ( Has ftt now)
Gun city no Napier no. Hunting and fishing possible. Did pick up rws from there. But no jsb at that time.
I will gun city to get some in when i send the wiehrach to its new owner. But this time ill take photos of the pellet tins as last time they had no idea of aa and jsb pellets.
Took all might last time to not tell the lady he was selling pellets too, that he was full of shyt and had no idea about he was talking about.
Honestly the crap he came up with was truly shocking to sell.

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Posted: 05 May 2026 at 11:28am

JSB is generally a good bet for most guns - obviously with exceptions. Gun City in ChCh had none when I was down there - tried to sell me Gamo LOL

Magnum Sports in Stratford seem to have plenty of 16 gr and 18 gr in stock at the moment.

I import a lot of JTS pellets from Krale. Not available in NZ but they seem to work better than anything else I've tried in most of my and my shooting colleagues guns (the reason I bring in so many).

Unfortunately they have been out of stock for several months in the sizes I buy, but that should be fixed in the next week or so apparently.

Edited by KiwiTR6 - 05 May 2026 at 11:39am

Daystate Red Wolf .22
FX Dreamline .22
Diana Outlaw .22
HW98 .177
HW30 .177
FWB 124 .177
Diana 35 .177
Diana 340 N-Tec .177
Diana 34 EMS .177
Diana Mod 25 .177
Diana Two Forty .177
Crosman 2240 .22

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Posted: 05 May 2026 at 10:46am

Hunting & Fishing in Dannevirke stocks "Rifle" and Gamo in 22. Gamo are rubbish, Rifle seem better but my Gamo dosn't really like them, Havent tried them in the Diana. The son-in-law's Gamo 177 does seem to shoot well with Rifle pellets. The only other sports shop in Dannevirke only has Gamo and Stoeger in 22. Both my guns shoot OK with the Stoeger, but are better with Accupells.

Myson gave me some H&N FTT and Air Arms Diabolos to try but neither was particularly good in either gun. I would like to try JSBs to see if they are any better than Accupells and if so buy a bulk lot.

I do have to go to Palmy this morning and will call into Gun City to see what they have. Hunting & Fishing in Palmy didn't have any last week when I called in. Also will be going to Napier either tomorrow or Thursday so I'll check both Napier and Hastings if Palmy doesn’t have any.

Ultimately I'm after one pellet that performs well in both rifles then I will get a bulk lot. Mail order does get expensive for one tin and no point getting more than one tin if neither rifle likes them.

I think most casual air gunners use what ever is cheapest and so gun shops only stock whatever has the best margins for them. Serious air gunners find what their gun(s) like and then buy them in bulk usually via mail order. If I can settle on one pellet in each calibre for my guns I will approach the local shops and see if they will order them in for me. Should cost about the same as mail order within NZ and I prefer to support local business when appropriate.

Edited by -Ec - 05 May 2026 at 10:57am

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-Ec

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Posted: 05 May 2026 at 8:40am

Try airguns nz, or other online sellers for jsb.
Ive been trying for ages to jsb in at a couple of shops. They will order them in but stick to gamo and h&n. I have not be tip toeing around the fact most of the pellets they sell are inferior build to jsb, etc.
Took nearly 6months to get ,22 ftt stocked in one shop
That stocks h&n!

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