Weihrauch & Weihrauch GmbH & Co. KG is a German manufacturer of target and sporting air rifles, air pistols, cartridge rifles and pistols. In North America, they are often distributed under the Beeman brand name.

History

The Hermann Weihrauch company was founded in 1899 in Zella-Mehlis, the same small German town where several other famous gun manufacturers such as Walther and Anschütz also began. Hermann Weihrauch, Sr. was well known for making hunting rifles. His three sons, Otto, Werner, and Hermann, Jr., soon joined the family-based company. Several new models were introduced after World War I, including the HWZ 21 smallbore rifle (HWZ stands for Hermann Weihrauch, Zella-Mehlis). This was the first mass-produced German .22 rimfire rifle and soon developed an excellent match record. They also produced double and triple barrel shotguns, over and under shotguns, and large bore hunting rifles. In 1928, Weihrauch began international sale of bicycle parts and mechanical door closers. During World War II, Weihrauch continued production of spare parts for bicycles. Otto Weihrauch became a mechanic and later a gunsmith in Zella-Mehlis. Werner worked at Jagdwaffenwerk (Hunting Weapon Factory) in nearby Suhl. Hermann Weihrauch, Jr. moved to the little German village of Mellrichstadt in Bavaria. Here, he started the company again, mainly producing spare parts for bicycles. Weihrauch made their first air rifle, the HW Model 50V in 1950. This airgun had a smooth bore because of Allied Occupation Government rules. Finally, after the German Shooting Federation ("Deutscher Schützenbund") was re-established, the allied government allowed the production of rifled barrels. However, because they were not allowed to produce firearms, they put their efforts into making sporting airguns. Even after the firearm manufacturing ban was withdrawn, the Hermann Weihrauch KG company continued to produce air rifles. The smaller HW 25 was made for the youth market while versions of the HW 30 and HW 50 continued as solid mid-market air rifles. The HW 55 was one of Europe's leading barrel-cocking target rifles. The rather uncommon HW 55T version with its ornate Tyrolean-style stock, usually sporting walnut, has always been a favorite among offhand shooters and collectors. In 1951 they introduced a full size sporting air rifle, the HW35 which was to become their most successful model and was the first to feature the famous Rekord two stage sporting trigger developed from the target trigger of the HW55T, a trigger design that remains across the range unchanged to this day. The HW35 also has a locking barrel catch and an automatic safety located at the rear of the cylinder, the HW35 was such a successful model that despite its relatively modest power output it still remains in the company's range, almost unchanged to this day, although no longer imported to the US by Beeman. The Rekord two stage trigger was first used at some point in the 1950s, likely around 1955, on either the HW 35 or HW 55. Both of these models were originally made with non-Rekord triggers, labelled as "Burgo". After Hermann Weihrauch, Jr. died in 1967, a new era in the company began under the leadership of Hans Weihrauch, Sr. The company celebrated 1970 with the introduction of the HW 70 air pistol. The company had begun plans, and first production, of a repeating air pistol before World War II, but the war aborted its regular production. Although pre-war HWZ sales literature shows an illustration of that thirty-shot top-lever spring piston air pistol, only one specimen of that HWZ LP-1 air pistol is now known. It had survived both the war and the Russian occupation by having safely gone overseas as a sales sample to the Hy-Score Arms Company in the USA. The Hy-Score president, Steve Laszlo, had given it to his friend, Robert Beeman. He surprised Hans Sr. and Christel Weihrauch (the husband/wife directors of the new HW company) when they were visiting the Beeman home in San Anselmo, California, by showing them this Weihrauch airgun which was completely unknown to them. The close connection between the owners of the Weihrauch company and Beeman Precision Airguns led to an early joint venture between a German-based manufacturer and an American airgun distributor. After a period of importing Weihrauch-designed airguns, the Beemans had decided that they needed to introduce a German-made air rifle with American styling and features. They had determined that their main need for the American market, in addition to new styling, was an increase in power. They had been very impressed with the quality of the long running HW 35, but puzzled by its power, which was lower than that of the Feinwerkbau Model 124, for which Beeman had developed a large market in the U.S. Based on their computer simulation studies, the Beemans proposed a rework of the HW 35. This cooperative development program resulted in the Beeman R1 (sold outside of the US as the Weihrauch HW 80 in a lower-power version with a more European-style stock). Due to delivery problems with the longer, more complex R1 stock, the first HW 80 rifles were available some weeks earlier than the R1. This led to the incorrect conclusion made by some that the R1 was a copy of the HW80. Almost the same thing happened with the introduction of the next Weihrauch air pistol, the HW 45 (sold in the US as the Beeman P1). Although the Beemans provided the full specifications and design features of this pistol, there was an initial misunderstanding about the external appearance. The factory presented a rather bulky, high top, "Desert Eagle-like" design which the Beemans did not think would appeal to the American market. They felt that it should follow the very popular and trim lines of the Colt 1911 automatic pistol. Weihrauch then produced an under-lever spring piston rifle, the HW77. This gun opened fully for loading directly into the breech of the barrel, like a Feinwerkbau match rifle. This was a great improvement over under lever air rifles which utilized a loading tap from which the pellet had to leap into the barrel. The HW77 and HW77 Carbine, with their rigid barrel and easy cocking and loading, became extremely popular in countries with lower power limits. The field-style air rifle designs for the American market were a great success because a large majority of adult aigun shooters were involved in field shooting, as opposed to competition or group shooting. Field target shooting was the most popular of the American group airgun shooting sports, but even that involved much less than one percent of adult airgun shooters. Weihrauch began a cooperation with Theoben Engineering in England which resulted in the introduction of the Weihrauch HW 90 (the Beeman versions are the RX, RX-1 and RX-2). This was the first Weihrauch rifle using the patented Theoben gas-spring system. These new rifles sold very well in Great Britain and the United States for small-game hunting. The great optimism of that period of the company's development was dampened by the unexpected death of Hans Weihrauch, Sr. on 3 April 1990 aged 63. His business accomplishments were so admired that he was posthumously decorated with the Federal Cross of Merit. His wife, Christel, and sons, Stefan and Hans-Hermann, took the reins of the company. Christel Weihrauch had shared the management of the firm for decades and the preparation of the two sons for their expected future management roles was well advanced. Both had been involved with the company all of their lives and had nearly finished their engineering and marketing training as well.

Cartridge rifles

Cartridge pistols

Revolvers

Air rifles

Evolution of the high-power break-barrel sporter range

The HW 35 was Weihrauch's first mass-market, high-powered, spring-powered sporter air rifle. However, with time, the HW 35 became technically obsolete as newer, more advanced air rifles entered the market. The HW 80, HW 85 and HW 95 were all designed as evolutionary replacements for the HW 35, and all occupy the same approximate market segment. However, Weihrauch did not follow the conventional and expected practice of retiring its older sporter rifles to make way for newer models. Instead, the HW 80, HW 85 and HW 95 were simply added to the product lineup as they were introduced. This sometimes results in confusion among buyers, many of whom are not familiar with the history of Weihrauch products.

Air rifle model designation suffixes

The meanings of the suffixes used by Weihrauch for air rifles are as follows:

Air pistols

Weihrauch Patent information