Specializing in high-quality air rifles, this German maker is less well known for its line of small-game rimfire and centerfire rifles.
The latest addition to the range, the HW 60J has a thumbhole stock and is a work of art in walnut and steel.
Weihrauch enjoys a worldwide reputation for accuracy and air rifle quality that’s been carried over to its cartridge rifles. The HW 66 is available in two models, the Production that has an American classic style stock and Jagd-Match with heavy match barrel and especially developed match target stock with high Monte-Carlo buttstock and ventilated fore-end, a model well suited to Olympic Competition. The Jagd Match is available in the same calibers as the HW 66 with the sole exception of the .22 WMR. The HW 60 J is a light, well-designed, nicely balanced small-game rifle featuring a Continental-style walnut stock with hogsback comb, cheekpiece and slender schnabel-tipped fore-end. The barrel is equipped with a folding rear sight and bead front sight.
The latest model of this rifle (and the HW 66) is now available with a futuristic thumbhole stock, innocent of any checkering and fitted with a heavy barrel free of sights. My review rifle, chambered in .22 WMR is a symphony in dark walnut and highlypolished blued steel that’s obviously intended to grab the attention of serious shooters who want to knock off rabbits and foxes out to 125 yards and maybe a bit farther. It certainly aroused my interest, since I’ve been a longtime fan of the .22 WMR. More about that later, let’s examine the HW 60J first.
The heart of any rifle is the action. The receiver is cylindrical and it has a diameter of 20mm and a length of 184mm, and has no tang .The top of the action has dovetail grooves for the ubiquitous Tip-Off rimfire ring mounts, but is also drilled and tapped for standard tow-piece mount bases. The tubular receiver has cut-outs for the bolt and magazine and a generously proportioned ejection port which measures 50mm in length and has a width of 15.60mm. Weihrauch uses the same length of port for the .22 Long Rifle version, but when the same receiver is used for the .22 Hornet and .222 Remington, the port has to be made a lot longer and the bolt stop lengthened. There’s little doubt that this “rimfire action” is really robust, strong enough to withstand the higher pressures of the centrefires as the action walls are 7.5mm thick.
The HW 60J features the familiar half cutaway rimfire bolt which has two rear locking lugs. One is the root of the bolt handle hefty bolt handle which measures 15mm long by 7.50mm in width; the second lug together with the bolt handle are made integral with a separate mid-section of the bolt body situated between the bolt body and the bolt cap. The root of the bolt handle turns down into a deep notch in the right side of the action and the left lug enters a recess in the left side of the receiver. The second lug also serves as an anti-bind device. The bolt is guided in its travel by a steel stud on the bolt release catch on the left side of the receiver which rides in a longitudinal slot in the bolt body. When the stop is rocked to the rear, it swivels this stud out of contact with the longitudinal slot in the bolt body which serves to control angular play closely along the entire path travelled by the bolt, allowing the action to function very smoothly without the least tendency to bind.
Bolts are very well machined and highly polished. The bolt face is recessed to securely grip and support the case rim during firing. Twin extractors made of steel and horizontally opposed at 3 and 9 o’clock work in concert with the ejector, a stud projecting upward from the bottom of the action to grasp and throw fired cases clear of the action. The blued bolt handle is slightly raked back to bring it within better reach of the firing hand, and the ovalshaped bolt knob is checkered on both the upper and lower grasping surfaces. The bolt cocks on the uplift and there’s a small chisel-nosed, springloaded detent in the front edge of the root of the bolt handle which engages a matching notch in the rear face of the bridge when the bolt is closed. It locks the bolt handle down and also acts to prevent misfires in the field from a partially raised bolt handle. Only the centre section of the bolt with the handle half rotates, while the front and rear sections simply move forward and backward.
The firing pin is made in two pieces – rear section protrudes backward from the bolt cap and a red tip is visible which acts as a coking indicator; the front half extends through the bolt face and has a chisel-shaped nose.
The WH 60 J’s blued, hammer-forged Match-grade barrel has a length of 580m. It starts out with a diameter of 22mm at the receiver and is straight-tapered to reach 16mm at the dished crown. Taking a leaf out of Anschutz’s book, Weihrauch decided they could gain top accuracy with the barrel pressed and pinned into the receiver instead of being threaded in. The barrel features conventional 8-groove rifling with a groove diameter of 0.224” and a rifling twist of 1:16” – same as that of the .22 Long Rifle.
My test HW60 J had a crisp single-stage trigger with a smooth face which let-off at 1.58kg and was free of any creep or overtravel. An alloy trigger guard protects the rifle’s smooth, curved trigger blade. Weight of pull can be adjusted by turning a small Allen screw which is accessed through a hole in the trigger guard.
A modular unit attached to the underside of the receiver integrates the trigger guard and magazine well, and houses the trigger mechanism and safety catch. The stamped steel magazine box holds five rounds of .22 Magnum ammo and has a steel follower and fixed feed ramp to guide each round into the chamber. The magazine release catch, located at the rear of the magazine well is easily manipulated with the forefinger of the shooting hand. The magazine floorplate is contoured and has a finger groove on each side which makes it easy to grasp.
For testing, the HW 60 J was fitted with a robust Leapers 3- 9x40 Tactical scope with adjustable objective and illuminated Mil Dot rangefinding reticle attached with Leaper’s 2-piece ACCUSHOT airgun mounts that have each ring attached rigidly to the grooved receiver with a pair of strong hex screws. This is a very rugged scope that sees use on some of the most powerful spring- air rifles that Weihrauch makes.
Pulling back the knurled safety button at the rear of the bolt handle blocks movement of the sear, but doesn’t lock the bolt handle down, allowing the bolt to be drawn back while it is engaged. When the safety is pushed forward in the firing position, a small red dot is revealed, and a redtipped pin protrudes from the rear of the bolt cap and can be felt in the dark.
The rifle features a rather racey-looking thumbhole stock of dark-hued Turkish walnut which shows plenty of figure and grain. The stock has a high, straight comb sans cheekpiece and a comfortable uncapped pistol grip is tightly curved ahead of a generoussize hole for the thumb. The fore-end is rounded on the bottom, slightly flattened on the sides and the channel leaves plenty of space around the barrel which fully free-floating. Length of pull for trigger to the thin black rubber buttplate is 360mm. My own rifles all have a 342mm length of pull, but the long pull on this HW60 J fitted me just fine. The stock is vanilla plain, lacking any checkering and sling swivel bases. If I owned this rifle, the first thing I’d do is fit a sling, an accessory I find indispensable for carrying the rifle in the field, and useful for using a “hasty” sling to hold the rifle steady when shooting offhand or from the sit in the field.
I’ve been an avowed aficionado of the .22 WMR round ever since it first appeared in 1959. Featuring a 40gn bullet that has a higher velocity at 100 yards than a similar weight bullet from the .22 Long Rifle, and packing more than twice as much energy it’s a versatile cartridge. It may be rated as a massive overkill for rabbits and hares, but it’s sheer dynamite on foxes that come to the whistle.
As a small game load. the .22 WMR is a cut above even the new .17 HMR and I use it very successfully for hunting goats and pigs at ranges out to 100 metres with well-placed shots. But the proper choice of ammunition is critical to scoring clean kills. Loads with bullets as light as 30 grains leaving the muzzle at 2250fps are all very well for rabbits and foxes, but they shed velocity faster than a pollie changes his mind, so that striking energy at 100 yards is only 120 to 130 ft/ lbs out of the 320 ft/lb produced at the muzzle. And at 125 yds. the trajectory is not much flatter than that of the 40gn bullet that starts out slower, but hangs on to more velocity. The 34gn JHP is better for foxes, and more emphatic killer than the 30 grainer.
For small edible game like rabbits, I recommend using full-metal jacketed ammo to minimise meat damage. But for all varmint hunting, jacketed hollow-point ammo is the best bet.
Over the years I’ve tried several heavy bullet loads on goats and pigs, including the 50gn Federal load and although it carries a bit more authority out at 100 yds., I dropped it because the trajectory is more curved. As a rule I head-shoot goats and pigs at fairly close range – from 50 to 75 yds., but often have to take a chest shot.
Weihrauch HW 60 J Specs:
Manufacturer: Weihrauch Industriestrasse 11, D- 97638 Mellrichstadt, Germany.
Calibre: .17 Mach 2, 17 HMR, .22 LR, .22 WMR (tested), .22 Hornet and .222 Remington.
Type: bolt-action repeater
Finish: satin black metalwork; dull sheen stock
Barrel: 580mm cold hammerforged, medium contour, straight-taper
Rifling: eight groove 1:16” R/H twist Weight: 3.60kg
Sights: none: receiver grooved and drilled and tapped for scope mounts
Trigger: single-stage adjustable 1.58kg pull
Stock: Turkish walnut thumbhole design with high, straight comb: length of pull, 360mm.
Overall length: 1.060mm
Price: rifle – $1330; Leapers 3-9x40 illuminated scope with rings – $235; Leapers ACCUSHOT mounts – $35
Over the years I’ve tried several heavy bullet loads on goats and pigs, including the 50gn Federal load and although it carries a bit more authority out at 100 yds., I dropped it because the trajectory is more curved. As a rule I head-shoot goats and pigs at fairly close range – from 50 to 75 yds., but often have to take a chest shot. I soon found that bullet weight and trajectory weren’t critical factors, but that appropriate ammunition was. When one of the 40gn hollow-point bullets hit a goat in the head it expanded too quickly and didn’t penetrate. Sometimes they’d be stunned and go down, but quickly get up and run off. The solution I found was to use 40gn solid bullets which gave more penetration. They were sudden death with head shots even with a chest shot the biggest billy goat would walk no more than 25 yds. before he dropped. The same with pigs, and some fairly big boars; land a 40gn solid under their ear and they drop on the spot. When the bullet is placed exactly right, a .22WMR will produce a quick kill on almost any animal. I’m not going to recommend using a .22WMR on deer, even though a shot between the eyes will certainly kill the biggest stag. Which brings us to the question of accuracy.
Having wide experience with this calibre in more than a score of different rifles over the years, and at least four of my own. I’ve learned that any accuracy problems could be traced to the ammunition and not the rifles. The new .17 HMR has stolen some of then .22 Magnum’s thunder, and shooting sharp-pointed spitzer bullets at 2550fps, it has a flat enough trajectory and the kind of accuracy needed to consistently take rabbits and foxes out to 150 yds. For my own use, however, the tiny 17gn bullet lacks sufficient penetration to be reliable in despatching animals as large as goats and pigs. However, to be fair, the .17 HMR was never intended for use on anything larger than a fox, except perhaps, with head shots taken at short distances.
When using the .22 WRM with 40gn bullets the most practical sight-in distance is 100 yds. When so zeroed, the bullet rises 1 inch at 50yds., lands just over 2 inches low at 125 and drops about 6 inches at 150. Hits can be made on rabbits out at 125yds using a backline hold, and on a fox by holding dead centre. At 150yds, the 40gn .22 WMR bullet has 15 percent more remaining energy than a bullet from the .17 HMR and the heavier bullet of larger diameter hits a lot harder and destroys more tissue.
With the exception of the RWS load, none of the available .22 WMR ammo lives up to the advertised 2000fps, and most of the loads tested fell short of factory claims, some by a small amount, others by a lot, even in the 580mm barreled Weihrauch. In fact, the RWS stuff clocked at a high of 2100fps, but averaged over 2050fps. Not only was it the fastest load tested, it was also the most accurate.
This discrepancy in muzzle speeds has me bamboozled. It would be nice to see U.S ammomakers boost their factory loads to the original performance specs. This would certainly add more appeal to the cartridge.
I seldom clean my .22 Long Rifle, but in order to maintain top accuracy from a rifle in .22 WMR, its barrel must be cleaned more often – I clean mine after every use. It could be because of the heavier charge of slower burning powder it uses, or perhaps metal fouling from the jacketed bullet is the culprit, or maybe it’s a combination of both. At any rate when testing the Weihrauch HW 60 J I cleaned the barrel after every 75 shots with a solvent-laden bronze brush.
I’ll have to admit to being rather surprised at the accuracy shown by the HW 60 J. Few .22 WMR rifles I’ve tested in the past proved capable of MoA grouping, and averaged closer to 1.5 MoA. My accuracy results are shown in the table.
Combining Old World craftsmanship, quality materials and good design, the HW 60 J is guaranteed to instil pride of ownership, not only that, it’s workmanlike, a practical as well as handsome outfit, easily one of the most accurate rifles I’ve ever tested in this caliber.