And Another New Toy: Walther LGU Air Rifle

[BarryinIN]

I've been looking.  I liked the Walther LGU, an underlever cocking rifle.   It appears to be designed for Field Target competition, which seems to fit in with general purpose use.  

 

I decided the LGU was way more than I needed to be spending on an air rifle, at $550-575 all over the web.

Then I found one place that had them on special in my desired .22 caliber only for a surprising $389.  

 

I now have one on the way.   Now when the kids are home this summer and I can't get to the range, I can fill the trees with pellets. 

[BarryinIN]

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It's here.   I took a set of rings that didn't fit, a scope I had no plans of using, put them all together and shot a few today.   Conditions were "ideal" for airgunning- 22mph winds from right to left- so I couldn't pass that up.  

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Why did I get an air rifle?   
The shortest answer I can give is: To do a lot of things I use a .22 for (practice, pest control, practice, working with new shooters, and practice).   I have .22 rimfires, but I can find air gun pellets easier and stock up on more when I do.   Another difference is I can shoot an air gun indoors.  And while I have one suppressed .22 that I can shoot out back, it's a lot easier to use an air rifle. 
There are other reasons such as needing a good one as I get more involved with youth shooting sports, Field Target games sound fun, and others. 

Or a more specific question: Why did I not just get a $100 WalMart air rifle?   Answer: Because I've been down the "starter" airgun route.  I wasn't happy at all. 

I have one "adult air rifle" so its the only comparison I have.   That one is an RWS 34 "starter air rifle", a typical break-barrel "magnum" air rifle (1000 fps in .177 claimed) which was at the low end of the quality and price scale for the big boy ones when I got it.  I think mine was $150 used, several years ago.   they start at around $275 for an equivelant wood stock model now.  For a long time, the RWS 34 was the cheapest "adult air rifle" out there aside from the Gamo guns. 


The RWS and this new rifle?   
Night and day. 

Maybe they aren't in the same category, but I'm comparing them because I have them.   The thing is, there is no comparison.   The first thing I noticed when taking the Walther out of the (nice) box was the stock.  It's only birch, but it's a nice piece of birch.  It actually has some grain and figure.  But what really made the difference was the shape.   The RWS stock is quite frankly little more than a shaped stock blank.   The Walther stock is very carefully shaped.   It looks like every part was made to match the person holding it.   It fits my shoulder, the length is right, the grip is closer to vertical than usual but feels perfect, the forend fills the hand yet has a flat enough bottom to rest on bags, the cheek piece is HIGH but a 42mm scope in high rings was right in front of my eye.  

 

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I threw on an SWFA 16x scope  http://swfa.com/SWFA-SS-16x42-Tactical-Riflescope-P53715.aspx 
using rings that didn't really fit the grooves and got a decent enough zero using Crosman Premier wadcutter pellets.  
Lacking a bench in the backyard, I sat on a chair and rested it across the deck rail. At 25 yards, I shot a six-round group right at 1".   Six rounds because I am sure I threw one, so I shot an extra.  Those five are in 5/8" with four connected in a line.   Happy.  Happy. 

 

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That's nice, but how does it shoot in bare hands?   I have a knockdown bunny target that has a variable hole for the trigger plate.  You shoot through the hole, hit the yellow trigger plate and it falls.  Pull a string and he's back up.  The opening for the stop plate is 1.5" with swing-around circles of 1" and .5" to make the opening smaller.   I staked Mr Bunny down at about 10 yards and did some offhand practice
With the full 1.5" opening I was dropping it easily after getting the hold height right. 
Swinging the 1" opening over, I eventually got there after a couple of scope adjustments for fine tuning.  
Using the half inch hole I didn't do quite as well, but made the vast majority of hits.  I am quickly learning that an illuminated reticle may be in order to see those tiny hash marks against a lead-splattered plate. 

The trigger is incredible.  I've been reading English airgun forums and tests because that's the obvious source for air gun info.   They will lead you to think it's not much of a trigger, but where we are comparing triggers of Remington 700s and ARs, they are comparing $5000 Olympic air guns. 
It's a two stage, but the first stage might be considered simply a long slack period.  It drops way back until you get a touch of a stop.  Press a little more and snap, it's off.   I'm not adjusting anything.  
Evidently, we get the "junk" trigger in the USA with a plastic trigger shoe so it will pass drop tests.   Yeah, junk. 

Cocking is smooth.   The measured cocking effort in pounds is greater than on my RWS.  I had wondered how that would be, since the RWS isn't exactly easy, plus you are using the entire barrel to cock it instead of the shorter lever of the Walther.  A few times wouldnt be bad, but this is the type of repetitive action my back does not appreciate. 
If I hadn't read the Walther had a heavier cocking effort, I never would have known. 
It's smooth and easy.  No problem.  I would have guessed it was no more than 2/3 the RWS weight rather than more.  

When I bought the RWS, the noise and clatter and twang shocked me.  I had been reading Beeman catalogs since the mid 70s and "knew" these adult air guns were smooth and quiet.  That thing was terrible, and so has been the few other spring air rifles I've seen around.   Reviews say this Walther is quiet and almost vibration-free, with more of a dead thud.  
Eh, this is one place where it didn't quite live up, although it is way better than the RWS.   Truthfully, I could hardly stand to shoot the RWS more than a few shots because it was simply annoying.  I can deal with this one.  You can tell you release a big spring, but it doesn't twang and bounce. 

The airgun world is full of tuning parts and tricks. These Walthers don't have much aftermarket support out there, but they only came out in 2014, so maybe goodies are coming.  I might consider a gas spring conversion. 

Other than that, and that is not even likely, I wouldn't change anything about it.   
Oh, it has a lifetime warranty. 

Big Box stores have "something" for $100 and up. 
The RWS 34 will cost around $275.  
These Walthers are on sale in .22 for $389 right now at Airguns of Arizona.  It's not even a question in my mind.   

[BarryinIN]

Here is an update after about six weeks of use.  

I like it.  This was a good purchase.  It would have been good at the usual $550-575, but it was even better at $389.  The deal is still on, BTW. 

 

I had a fixed 16X scope I had set aside for the .260 rifle project, so mounted it temporarily.  I knew it would be too much magnification, especially for offhand.    No, the rifle's hefty 9.5 lbs holds steady enough to use it.  It looks like I need another scope because I now plan on leaving this one on there.

 

This air rifle has proven useful enough I've since bought a CMP-refurbed Daisy Avanti 853 club target air rifle and a Crosman 2240 CO2 pistol.