Hello, last August I purchased a Weihrauch HW9 ST Target Trophy .22L.R., 6 shots, 6” barrel revolver. It’s a “made in Germany” revolver also known with the name “Arminius”. Some Weihrauch revolvers are actually imported in the USA by EAA (European American Armory) and called “Windicator” revolvers.
I chose this particular model because I wanted an inexpensive revolver chambered in an inexpensive cartridge to practice alot both Single Action and Double Action.
The gun is 11.8” long and weights 45.9 ounces, has adjustable sights, trigger stop and return trigger spring, smooth one-piece wood grips with finger grooves. The construction of the gun remainds me a Charter Arms or an High Standard revolver: the main frame is made of blued carbon steel (using pine tree castings to reduce costs, just like Rugers, I guess) while the trigger guard-grip frame is made of zinc alloy. For what I’ve seen, internal parts are very small for this size of revolver but strong and hard. Trigger and hammer have mounted “pads” to enlarge them and make them better for SA shooting. It has a conventional cylinder release button, a transfer bar to allow the hammer to strike the firing pin and the crane is just like a Charter Arms. Size is on pair with a S&W K-frame: I have an holster for a S&W K-L-frame and it fits very well except for the clip that won’t close due to the big hammer pad mentioned above. What appears to be a full lug barrel is a steel shroud fixed at the barrel itself with three screws at the bottom side. The top of barrel shroud (and frame) is stripped to prevent shining effects to the shooter and it is made to accept sights accessories. The shroud has an interchangable front sight and has 8 porting holes just like Taurus revolvers. However the porting is really not necessary in a .22L.R. gun…
I’ve done the Jim March’s test to the gun before purchasing it and it had two minor issues:
1) the ejector star was not always returning on its position when activated because its spring is very soft and there was something snagging that required a break-in period;
2 )the trigger DA pull was a little heavy and had not the same feeling for each chamber.
I picked it up anyway with the 10% of discount and took it home. It became with a big blue plastic case, two brushes, an Allen key, a little paper bag of silica and the instructions manual. I played with it two or three hours opening and closing the cylinder a bunch of times, activating the ejector star hundred times and cockind and decocking the hammer many times also. The fuction of the gun increased very much after that.
Went to the range the very next weekend with 150 rounds (Fiocchi and CCI) and I was disappointed:
1) I had to adjust the rear sight because it was shooting way high and to the right at 25 yards;
2) extraction was terrible and I always had to hold the gun tight (barrel up) and slam the ejector rod, with my strong hand palm, two or three times, every cylinder full, to pull out the spent cases;
3) I had 17% of misfires shooting DA (1 every cylinder full or so, but it was not related to only one chamber, it was random), while SA the gun was 100%;
4) the screw that holds the hammer pad in place became loose after the range trip;
5) the trigger stop was unadjusted from the factory;
6) inserting the cartridges after 50 or so rounds became difficult (I forget, the chambers are counterbored);
7)the bushing that holds the firing pin (and its spring) to the frame was screwing and unscrewing itself during hammer strikes.
I went home and the next day I tried to solve every issue:
1) I adjusted the sights, now it’s perfect;
2) I discovered with a magnifier that each chamber was dented, probably when machining the channel for the firing pin (just above the counterboring) or someone (not me) dry-fired the gun a bunch without snap-caps to test everything worked. I solved the problem with a little file, eliminating the dents and mirror polishing the initial rim of each chamber. Now extraction is good;
3) I put a 0.06” bearing between the hammer spring and the swivel to pre-compress the spring itself. Since that modification I had 100% of fires DA with Fiocchi ammunitions, 99% with CCI Mini Mag. I discovered that the tickness of some ammunition’s rim is 0.035” while others are 0.039”. So, if I want to have 100% reliability DA, I probably have to stick with “fatter” rim ammunitions (the gun is still 100% SA with every ammunition tried);
4) solved with a drop of Locktite;
5) adjusted the trigger stop easily, now it’s perfect;
6) I lube the chambers very well before every range trip and brush them after 150 or so rounds. I also keep the zone under the ejector star as clean and dry as I can to prevent cylinder binding during extended shooting. Just in case I clean the mentioned zone with a teeth brush after 150 or so rounds;
7) I screwed the bushing very well and punched it a little bit more where it was punched by the factory (not enought, of course).
I told to the gun-shop owner (that treats me and my father with silky gloves) all the problems I had and he wanted to send the gun back for warranty repairs, but I refused.
Now the good things:
1) accuracy is very good and the gun is a ton of fun at the range. Plinking at 70 yard shooting fast iDA against iron targets is a joke and even at 100 yards SA, it remains more accurate than I am, with standard sights;
2) timing and lock up are perfect and the gun is becoming smoother and smoother after every range trip and cleaning;
3) SA trigger is very good even after the 0.06” bearing was installed and out of the box was awesome. DA trigger is becoming better and better;
4) this gun is improving my skills controlling an heavy, long sight radius gun both SA and DA;
5) the quality of the steel is top notch and I would have no esitation to buy the .357Mag version;
6) it’s the gun I always put at the range;
7) it’s the gun everyone wants to try.
All things considered I’m really happy with it and considering it costs 50% of a S&W 617 and 70% of a Taurus 970 Tracker, it’s a good gun.
Sure I’ve preferred it was 100% out of the box, but having red too many horror stories about .22L.R. revolvers, I’m happy for sure with mine (and I’m not afraid to debug minor issues from my guns…).
For what I’ve red about this gun, I think I was not very lucky having those issues with mine at first.
Best regards, 5-SHOTS.
P:S.: for more informations you can check www.hermann-weihrauch-revolver.de and www.eaacorp.com
I chose this particular model because I wanted an inexpensive revolver chambered in an inexpensive cartridge to practice alot both Single Action and Double Action.
The gun is 11.8” long and weights 45.9 ounces, has adjustable sights, trigger stop and return trigger spring, smooth one-piece wood grips with finger grooves. The construction of the gun remainds me a Charter Arms or an High Standard revolver: the main frame is made of blued carbon steel (using pine tree castings to reduce costs, just like Rugers, I guess) while the trigger guard-grip frame is made of zinc alloy. For what I’ve seen, internal parts are very small for this size of revolver but strong and hard. Trigger and hammer have mounted “pads” to enlarge them and make them better for SA shooting. It has a conventional cylinder release button, a transfer bar to allow the hammer to strike the firing pin and the crane is just like a Charter Arms. Size is on pair with a S&W K-frame: I have an holster for a S&W K-L-frame and it fits very well except for the clip that won’t close due to the big hammer pad mentioned above. What appears to be a full lug barrel is a steel shroud fixed at the barrel itself with three screws at the bottom side. The top of barrel shroud (and frame) is stripped to prevent shining effects to the shooter and it is made to accept sights accessories. The shroud has an interchangable front sight and has 8 porting holes just like Taurus revolvers. However the porting is really not necessary in a .22L.R. gun…
I’ve done the Jim March’s test to the gun before purchasing it and it had two minor issues:
1) the ejector star was not always returning on its position when activated because its spring is very soft and there was something snagging that required a break-in period;
2 )the trigger DA pull was a little heavy and had not the same feeling for each chamber.
I picked it up anyway with the 10% of discount and took it home. It became with a big blue plastic case, two brushes, an Allen key, a little paper bag of silica and the instructions manual. I played with it two or three hours opening and closing the cylinder a bunch of times, activating the ejector star hundred times and cockind and decocking the hammer many times also. The fuction of the gun increased very much after that.
Went to the range the very next weekend with 150 rounds (Fiocchi and CCI) and I was disappointed:
1) I had to adjust the rear sight because it was shooting way high and to the right at 25 yards;
2) extraction was terrible and I always had to hold the gun tight (barrel up) and slam the ejector rod, with my strong hand palm, two or three times, every cylinder full, to pull out the spent cases;
3) I had 17% of misfires shooting DA (1 every cylinder full or so, but it was not related to only one chamber, it was random), while SA the gun was 100%;
4) the screw that holds the hammer pad in place became loose after the range trip;
5) the trigger stop was unadjusted from the factory;
6) inserting the cartridges after 50 or so rounds became difficult (I forget, the chambers are counterbored);
7)the bushing that holds the firing pin (and its spring) to the frame was screwing and unscrewing itself during hammer strikes.
I went home and the next day I tried to solve every issue:
1) I adjusted the sights, now it’s perfect;
2) I discovered with a magnifier that each chamber was dented, probably when machining the channel for the firing pin (just above the counterboring) or someone (not me) dry-fired the gun a bunch without snap-caps to test everything worked. I solved the problem with a little file, eliminating the dents and mirror polishing the initial rim of each chamber. Now extraction is good;
3) I put a 0.06” bearing between the hammer spring and the swivel to pre-compress the spring itself. Since that modification I had 100% of fires DA with Fiocchi ammunitions, 99% with CCI Mini Mag. I discovered that the tickness of some ammunition’s rim is 0.035” while others are 0.039”. So, if I want to have 100% reliability DA, I probably have to stick with “fatter” rim ammunitions (the gun is still 100% SA with every ammunition tried);
4) solved with a drop of Locktite;
5) adjusted the trigger stop easily, now it’s perfect;
6) I lube the chambers very well before every range trip and brush them after 150 or so rounds. I also keep the zone under the ejector star as clean and dry as I can to prevent cylinder binding during extended shooting. Just in case I clean the mentioned zone with a teeth brush after 150 or so rounds;
7) I screwed the bushing very well and punched it a little bit more where it was punched by the factory (not enought, of course).
I told to the gun-shop owner (that treats me and my father with silky gloves) all the problems I had and he wanted to send the gun back for warranty repairs, but I refused.
Now the good things:
1) accuracy is very good and the gun is a ton of fun at the range. Plinking at 70 yard shooting fast iDA against iron targets is a joke and even at 100 yards SA, it remains more accurate than I am, with standard sights;
2) timing and lock up are perfect and the gun is becoming smoother and smoother after every range trip and cleaning;
3) SA trigger is very good even after the 0.06” bearing was installed and out of the box was awesome. DA trigger is becoming better and better;
4) this gun is improving my skills controlling an heavy, long sight radius gun both SA and DA;
5) the quality of the steel is top notch and I would have no esitation to buy the .357Mag version;
6) it’s the gun I always put at the range;
7) it’s the gun everyone wants to try.
All things considered I’m really happy with it and considering it costs 50% of a S&W 617 and 70% of a Taurus 970 Tracker, it’s a good gun.
Sure I’ve preferred it was 100% out of the box, but having red too many horror stories about .22L.R. revolvers, I’m happy for sure with mine (and I’m not afraid to debug minor issues from my guns…).
For what I’ve red about this gun, I think I was not very lucky having those issues with mine at first.
Best regards, 5-SHOTS.
P:S.: for more informations you can check www.hermann-weihrauch-revolver.de and www.eaacorp.com
