Walther LGU Varmint, .22 cal

I have owned so far a cheap crosman pump gun (1970's), 2 x Crosman 1322's, an RWS springer ($200 in 1995), and a Marauder pistol. The bane of all cheap airguns is of course, accuracy, or lack of same. I searched for what I hoped would be a truly accurate gun at a decent price, watched a thousand YT videos, and was impressed most by the Walther LGU. Out of the box it gave the accuracy I wanted and with the usual German obsession with the esoterics and design I have no complaints except one, this gun is HEAVY! I have the wood stock, maybe the plastic one is lighter, hopefully. Other then that, the second most impressive thing about it is how stupid easy it is to take out the works. To access the piston, seal and spring is easy. Remove 4 bolts holding the receiver into the stock and pull it out. Apply moderate pressure to the end of the receiver, to lessen the main spring tension and tap out the pins holding in the end cap part. (There's not much spring pressure to fight at all here) Now gently pull out the spring and piston. That's it. Spring changes, seal changes, everything is easy and simple to do. It might go without saying but I'll say it anyway, you will want a good optic for this. The gun deserves good glass so I'd fit it even if it costs as much as the gun...you might get by with just a good red dot (Sig Sauer Romeo is what I use on other guns and that is what I'd try if I wanted to use a red dot for some reason, although I honestly don't know if it's up to piston gun use). This is a very well designed, accurate rifle that hits hard and is the easiest gun to maintain, fix or upgrade I ever saw. I think the under-lever and fixed barrel design is the secret (vs. barrel cocking that re-aligns itself every single time you cock it). If you want you can easily fit a more powerful spring for more FPS, there are people on YT that have done it successfully so if you want to tinker, there are worse choices then the Walther LGU.

After having fired several hundred pellets through my Walther LGU Varmint underlever rifle I can say that the rifle delivers plentiful shooting fun. The rifle delivered dime sized one-hole groups at 55 feet using JSB Exact Jumbo RS 13.43 pellets. The trigger pull registered consistently in the 2 pound, 15 ounce range on my Lyman trigger pull gauge. The bluing is deep and lustrous, not quite in the league of TX, just a bit better than the finish on my HW97Ks. The comfortable synthetic black stock feels solid. The comb could be a bit higher to promote sight alignment with the required scope. The slight swell just forward of the trigger guard provided a welcome and useful place for my support hand. The rifle is lighter than its wood stocked brothers. The discharge is quiet. Proper shooting form is facilitated by the low recoil. I used a relaxed artillery hold and let the Walther do the rest. I liked that my crosshairs moved little from the point of aim after firing, thus making follow through easy. I have set up a diverse field target shooting range on my five acres. Kill zones range in size from 3/8" to 1 1/4". Targets begin at 10 yards and go to 65 yards. This is were I test my springers. The Walther did very well on my range. I consistently scored hits on all targets. The 1 1/4" targets set out at 60-65 yards required more concentration and proper shooting form. You know the feeling when you just keep knockin' 'em down! I love hearing the steel clang of a falling field target, thank you Walther LGU Varmint for so much joyful shooting.

Pros
German quality; excellent finish; highly accurate; comfortable stock; a joy to use.

Cons
The first stage is much too long. The second stage engages when almost touching the trigger guard. Walther had to equip the rifle with a plastic trigger to satisfy American legal requirements. Too bad, the rifle deserves a serrated metal trigger.

I've had this for a day and have about 100 pellets through it. My first impression was "WOW, NICE!", and heavy! I wouldn't want to carry this around for very long. It's put together very nicely, and the quality shows. The bluing is real nice. Stock is nice and has good texturing on the forearm and pistol grip. Foregrip is wider at the mid section providing a nice balance point. The grip is a bit large for my medium sized hands but the feel is nice. The trigger's 1st stage is silky smooth but looooong! The 1st stage trigger adjustment screw isn't sufficient to shorten the 1st stage pull. The second stage feels like 2-3 lbs. and is not crisp like an HW Rekord, as it has a bit of creep. Cocking is similar to an HW97 but a bit smoother. Loading the pellet is easy with the 3/4 cut port. The bear trap release works well. The ball bearing holds the cocking arm firmly in place. Firing cycle is similar to my TX200 but quieter and not quite as violent. I zeroed with RWS Hobby 11.9 gr. The first 10 shots averaged 806 fps, Then came the spring twang. It started off very mild, then increased not unlike breaking in a Beeman R9 within 50 shots. It sounds like the spring rotating around the guide. Hopefully it'll smooth out with a few hundred more shots. JSB RS 13.43 gr. pellets averaged 708 fps, and were very accurate as were the Hobbys. Overall a very nice rifle, but the spring twang was surprising.

Pros
Nice! Top quality. Accurate. Easy to shoot off a bag. A great addition to the under lever line of springers.

Cons
Heavy. Spring twang (not broken in yet). Trigger not on par with competition. (HW97 and TX200). Price higher than wood stocked version.

I have had this rifle for two weeks. I have shot 70 pellets through it. The groups are great using jcb 13.4 to 25.4 gr pellets. Rifle is heavy. Kinda tough to hold off hand. It is also quiet. Accuracy and quiet were the wo reasons I wanted this rifle and it delivered. Today the breach lock fell off. Quite a bummer for such an expensive rifle.

Pros
Accuracy and low noise

Cons
Heavy. Breach lock fell off after two weeks.