Gun test: Weihrauch HW100 BPK

Dave Barham has some fun with this super-compact bullpup carbine from Weihrauch - the HW100 BPK

Okay, so this isn’t a new rifle by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, the Weihrauch HW100 BPK has been around for a couple of years now, but it’s a rifle that I have been meaning to test for over a year. I’ve shot the original HW 100 bullpup on numerous occasions, and I was keen to find out how this even shorter Karbine model compares. A quick call to distributors, Hull Cartridge, and I soon had one on my doorstep.

ACTION AND STOCK
Like most bullpups, the HW 100 BPK has a sidelever action. It’s extremely efficient and smooth, and more importantly for me, very quiet in operation. You may ask why that’s important to me – well, this rifle is clearly designed as a hunting tool, and the last thing you want is a ‘clunky’ loading system out in the field. 

Don’t get me wrong, this little gem is equally at home on the range, but it’s definitely best suited to hunting where 99.9 per cent of the time you’d never use all 50 shots available (in .177).

The stock is made from hardwood covered in a ‘soft-touch’ rubber coating, which feels really nice to the touch. It’s such a short rifle that there’s not much scope for forehand placement, and I found that it sat perfectly with the front of the trigger guard resting at the base of the palm of my left hand, whilst in a comfortable shooting position. 

I love how this little ‘pup brings everything much more up close and personal, it really makes the rifle feel part of you when you’re shooting it. 

BUILDING AND FILLING
The rifle comes in ‘kit’ form out of the box. You get the main body of the rifle with the silencer attached, but the air reservoir, which is essentially a bottle with a gauge attached, comes separately. This is because Weihrauch recommends that you remove the bottle if the rifle isn’t going to be used for long periods of time, and to that effect, they include a ‘bleeding’ system, which allows you to remove all the air from the reservoir if you’re not going to be using it.

It simply a case of screwing the reservoir into the body of the rifle, and it’s an easy task. Once attached, you can simply remove the port plug, attach the fill probe to your hose and fill away, replacing the port plug after you’re done.

14-SHOT MAG’S
Both the .177 and .22 models come supplied with two of Weihrauch’s excellent 14-shot magazines. These are foolproof, too, and there’s only one way in/out when loading into the rifle. You’ll notice a mag’ retaining switch just behind the loading port on the right-hand-side of the rifle. If you pop that forward, you’ll see a toothed wheel push forward, which is how the mag’ is both held in place and rotated. So, holding the mag’ with the recesses for said toothed wheel facing you, it’s simply a case of pushing each pellet into the magazine, nose first.

There’s a large rubber ‘O’ ring surrounding the mag’ and this is what helps to hold the pellets in place. It’s a very clever design and it works a treat.

CLEVER RAILS
You’ll find a short Picatinny rail and screws inside the box of goodies that come supplied with the HW 100 BPK. This is for mounting on the underside at the fore end of the stock to take a bipod. However, when it comes to the top scope rail, that’s where Weihrauch have really gone to town. 

On top you’ll find a 195mm Picatinny rail bolted to the action, with three Allen screws. Remove these screws and the rail slides off completely to reveal a standard 11mm dovetail rail – so no matter what your scope-mounting preferences, it takes a matter of minutes to get set up.

LEFT OR RIGHT
This truly is an ambidextrous rifle, and you can order either right- or left-hand lever actions. They’ve really thought about this during the design process, too, because the manual safety lever is evident on both sides of the action to the rear of the cheekpiece.

Even the pistol grip is ambidextrous – an ergonomic masterpiece! It’s one of the best grips I have ever used and is more akin to something you’d find on an Olympic-grade match pistol than an air rifle.
That brings me nicely to the trigger, which of course is one of Weihrauch’s other masterpieces – the Rekord. It’s one of the most famous and well-respected trigger units in the business, and rightly so. The gently curved and rounded trigger blade feels positive to the touch and the two stages are adjustable. I found the way it had been set in the factory was just about perfect, with a reasonably long first stage followed by an instant, crisp release. 

TESTING TIME!
Yet again, I found myself confined to the back garden and my mate Roger’s land for this test, due to Covid lockdown restrictions. As I sit here writing, this they are just about to be lifted and I can’t wait to get back out on my perm’s to see how many rabbits are about.

With that in mind, I set up my usual 25-metre range and attached a bipod to the rifle to begin shooting from my bench. 

After just one mag’ I had the MTC S.W.A.T. scope zeroed (it sits perfectly on this rig), and then I set about emptying both mag’s into some targets. It was great fun, but I soon felt the urge to ditch the bipod and shoot freehand. There’s something about this rifle that just makes you want to pick it up and start shooting.

All too soon, after just over three mag’s, I had to refill the rifle, which took some getting used to – not the actual filling, but the fact that you only get around 50 shots before you have to recharge. However, I simply couldn’t put the rifle down, and as I started moving around the garden, shooting from different angles, I was becoming ever more impressed with just how easy and fun to shoot this bullpup is.
I must have refilled the rifle seven or eight times during that first session before I noticed the blood on top of my thumb! I’d been having so much fun that I’d got myself a blister and it had popped, revealing the flesh underneath, which in turn had been worn away and was now bleeding!

The rifle is so compact that my hands are basically touching whilst shooting, and due to the grip and stock position the weight of the rifle was pushing down onto the top of my thumb on the hand holding the pistol grip. Is it a design fault? I don’t think so, and it’s easily rectified by putting on some shooting gloves, which I wear 99% of the time when hunting anyway. I supposed the fact that I’d just put almost 400 shots through the rifle in the blazing sunshine helped to make matters worse! 

So, back to the test: Accuracy-wise, the HW 100 BPK is every bit as good as any other rifle I have shot in my back-garden range. I popped over to my mate Roger’s garden to see just how far I could push it on the bipod, and to my amazement it was still extremely accurate out to over 40 yards. 

ED’S VERDICT
I’d have absolutely no problem taking this little ‘pup out for a day’s rabbit or pigeon shooting. In fact, I might see if I can hold on to it for a little longer and take it to one of my perm’s in a week or two.

If there was one thing I would like to see, it’s a slightly shorter silencer. The one that the BPK comes supplied with measures 180mm long, which is almost as long as the exposed barrel. I don’t know how adding a shorter silencer would affect the overall balance and performance, but surely it’s got to be worth looking at.

There’s not a lot else to say about the HW 100 BPK. I think you can gather from this review that I really like it, and if you like your ‘pups I suggest you take a look for yourself – it’s a real little gem. 

TECH SPECS
Model: HW100 BPK
Manufacturer: Weihrauch
Type: Pre-charged, multi-shot
Max Fill Pressure: 200 bar
Stock Material: Black soft-touch hardwood
Stock Type: Ambidextrous
Cocking: Sidelever
Trigger: Two-stage Rekord adjustable
Calibres: .177 and .22 (.20 special order)
Safety: Manual, ambidextrous
Overall Length: 735mm (29in)
Barrel Length: 310mm (12.2in)
Magazine Capacity: 14 shots
Weight: 7.2lbs (3.3kg)
Shot Capacity: .22, 75, .177, 50
Variation (10 shots): 11fps
Average Energy: 11.6 ft.lbs.
Website: www.weihrauch.co.uk  

PRICE: £1,160