I am considering the one in the classifieds. Evidently it has never been out of the box... Did Haenel pack their guns in any kind of protective goo? Do all of the 303's use a leather seal?
Would I be crazy to buy it to shoot? I'm not a collector, should I pass that one up and let it go to a collector?
so would they have the guns all greased up, no, they were sold with the thought they would be used
it would have a leather piston seal and would be in unknown condition
a plain 303 has a new value in the Blue Book of 125.00, so in todays world add 50 bucks but then you have to subtract 40% because it is untested and would more then likely need some work
Waffencenter Gotha is your best place for parts but the is an adventure the first time Enrico will be very helpful
HAENEL (waffencenter-gotha.de)
the rifle was first made around 1969 and they stopped importing in 1993
good luck mike
Maybe I better sit this one out... would be nice to have if I were a DIY tuner... The right R7 will come along evintually.
Haenel guns are generally very well constructed, if a bit agricultural. (I've owned a few.) They were East German cold war guns. Solid as a rock, but not much to look at. A NIB 303 would be a fine addition to a collection, and one I might actually buy, but as a regular shooter, I'd stick with the R7. Similar performance and firing behavior, but the R7 will give you a better trigger. Haenels, Relums, Luszyniks, the east-block guns have an appeal, but only for certain folks. (I'm one of them)
Having said that, if you can find a Haenel III, buy it! Pretty essential spring gun, as they say, steel, timber and hide. Nothing you don't need. And it will last another few lifetimes. My Haenel III was built in the 1930's, and it's one of my most prized rifles.
ha
I've held and shot a few Haenels, notably a Model V, which Gary Steel had for whatever reason. They always seemed nice enough for what they were. Never owned one though. Used to have a hankerin' for a Relum underlever but more as a curiosity than anything.
Harv
There's a substantial difference between pre-war Haenels and their post-war products. As indicated by Jim above, early ones were classy equivalents to Dianas or BSA's of the time, while later ones were similar to other 'iron curtain' airguns.
Don R.
Haenel….seems a good number of them came in during the 1990’s, right after the reunification of Germany. The kind of old-school tech that survived better in East German communism than in unified Germany’s capitalism. Simple solid rifles, nothing fancy, although they did make some other models that were nicer and that odd bolt/lever cocked round ball trainer..
Bought one as an inexpensive shooter, was ahead of the Chinese made rifles and the low end Gamos of the same time frame. Accurate, reasonably reliable (likely still using leather piston seal at the time).
NOT a player in buying one….do think being new in the box has a plus factor but it’s not going to finance your retirement.
Hi Harvey. Been a long time. I had a bunch of Relums. For a while I WAS the market for vintage Relums. I had a Supertornado underlever that I re-worked, then loaned to Tom Gaylord for a review. It may still be in the blog archives. Interesting gun, built like a tank, ugly as a hemorrhoid on a donkey's a$$.
I have two a plain 303 and 303 Super Target,both are well made,the plain 303 over $100 to say $150...the Target twice as much,I love the Super....I wrote a whole lot more a couple of minutes ago ,but hit the mouse and all disappeared.....yea shoot it and it is a good rifle.
