Springing into the middle of the Air Rifle road.

My first real adult air gun was a Diana 34 followed closely by a Beeman R9.  The R9 was a Goldfinger; a sort of factory custom that came with rings and a Bushnell Banner air gun rated rifle scope.  Moving from the open sighted RWS Diana to the relatively well scoped Beeman  alerted me to two things.  The “Rekord” trigger on the Beeman was better than the “T5” on the RWS Diana.  And my eyes are not as sharp as they once were.  I enjoyed both rifles on their own merits.  Shortly afterward I was introduced to the BSA Lightning XL.

The RWS Diana is a tremendous value and the air gun I tend to recommend to folks just getting started with adult airguns and those who need a pest gun for the shed.  Its rugged, accurate, powerful and inexpensive.  It isn’t as refined as the R9 but it's a good solid piece. Its also well loved by millions of air gunners around the world.  This ramble is not about the RWS Diana 34.

The BSA Lightning XL is the best competition to the Beeman R9 in my opinion.  Its short and handy and possesses a style muscularity that is very appealing to me.  Its trigger is not as refined as a “Rekord” but its good nevertheless.  Deployed as a hunting or pesting rifle its compactness provides a clear advantage in close quarters. This air gun also has a great following but Im not extolling the BSA today.

Today I’m writing about one Beeman R9, a product of the Weihrauch company of Germany.  The Weihrauch nomenclature for R9 is HW95 and it occupies one of the best loved accuracy over power sweet spots in the air gun universe.  Possessing a wonderful trigger and sufficient power to humanly take mammals up to rabbit size; it also has what it takes to make inroads into the target sports. I think the R9 is a best bet in the middle of the road springer class.

My own R9 is a fond memory to me, a casualty to my ultimate desire to pursue the more complicated arena of Pre-charged Pneumatic air guns.  Starting out factory fresh my rifle went about 3,000 shots when the mainspring went.  It was still under warrantee but instead of sending it back to Beeman Air guns I was convinced that as good as it had been overall it could be improved.   Joe M. at Cobra Air guns took on the job of replacing the spring and seals with better than factory replacements from Maccari  springs.  The piston was buttoned and the trigger bearing surfaces were polished. I changed the scope out for a Bushnell Trophy 6x18x40. 

It became the Super Beeman Goldfinger.  So smooth the cocking effort,  the distinct light and crisp feel of the two stage trigger.  The thwack of the shot and the complete lack of vibration. Accurate! Some days when I need to drag my shooting kit to the range or the shop I long for the simple good old days of pellet tin in my pocket and my R9 in hand. 

Rick Klages

P.S.  After posting this blog the current owner has graciously arranged for this rifle to return into my possession.  Thank you Dave.

See my R9 review here!