The trigger
on my test
rifle had a
crisp 1.136kgs
of pu l l.”
movement and partially
shroud off any escaping gas.
Another area where the
Haenels differ is in the way
the recoil lug is set up. Both
models have a slot under the
receiver to accommodate the
recoil lug, but the Basic has
the lug embedded in the
magazine floorplate, while the
De-Luxe has the upper half of
the lug system attached to the
underside of the receiver ring
where it projects downward to
abut a matching lug set in a
mortise in the stock. The Basic
system is simpler and just
as effective.
The barrel is lightweight
with a graceful contour.
Measuring 30mm at the
receiver ring it reduces
sharply over the chamber
section, before commencing
a uniform taper to reach 15mm
at the dished muzzle. Unlike
the De-Luxe which is
equipped with a set of open
sights the Basic's barrel is as
slick as a sows ear. Exterior
metal finish on the Basic is
dull black (Cerokote?)
compared with the high-gloss
blued finish on the De-Luxe
which is more practical in the
field. Both rifles have the
barrel floated from the
receiver ring forward.
For testing I attached a
Sightron SI 3-9x40 with
Duplex reticle and matte-black
finish that blended in with the
Haenel’s metal colour. It was
cradled in a pair of Leupold
Q/R rings intended for the
Sauer 202 as the hole spacing
for the rear base is different to
that of the De-Luxe which
takes Remington 700 mounts.
The latter received a
Swarovski Z3 3-10x42 using
Leupold bases and Redfield
medium height rings.
The trigger on my test rifle
had a crisp 1.136kgs pull that
makes the Basic a pleasure to
shoot. I measured five pulls
on my RCBS Trigger Pull
Scale, and found not the
slightest variation. This is a
rare occurrence indeed and
signifies extraordinarily good
trigger design.
Throughout test firing on
the benchrest the Haenel
behaved in an exemplary
fashion with feed from
magazine to chamber very
smooth and positive. There's
one thing to watch, however,
when thumbing individual
rounds into the magazinethrough the ejection port take
care the case heads and rims
are set squarely against the
rear of the box.
Initially, the rifle was tested
with three different brands of
factory ammunition – Hornady
Superformance 130gn SST
clocking an average 3241 fps;
Sellier & Bellot 150gn SP
leaving the muzzle of the
550mm barrel at 2870fps; and
a reload featuring the Hornady
130gn Interlock and 58gn of
AR2213SC at 3065fps. The rifle
took an immediate dislike
to the Superformance stuff,
scattering five shots over a
2.130 MoA. The Sellier & Bellot
load planted the first three
shots in 0.632 and the next two
shots opened the group up to
0.980. My reload punched
three holes into 0.623 inch andthe last two spread it to 1.084.
Further shooting with the
fodder that agreed with it,
saw the Basic improve its
performance. It also helped
that I found the guard screws
were not as tight as they could
have been when I dismantled
the gun for photos. When
I reassembled it, I made sure
they were torqued up before
I continued testing.
Three shot groups with the
150gn S&B load hovered around
.680 whole 5-shotters stayed
just under or just over 1 MoA.
My handload did just about as
well which led me to believe
that this Haenel Basic can be
rated a MoA gun. Believe me,
it's not every day that a light
sporter barrel delivers accuracy
this good. And even when
some rifle comes with a SUB
MOA guarantee, the maker
always specifies that this is
dependent upon your using
“selected loads”.
The Haenel Basic action is
a cultural crossbreed. it has
Remington styling and features
a flush triple-lug bolt, with
a pair of gas ports on its front
side and capped on the end
with a heavy shroud-type bolt
sleeve. The design shows
a large dose of German
precision particularly in the fit
of its inner working parts. Its
strong points are: rigid
receiver; strong locking lugs;
good gas handling; and short,
fast locktime, all features which
contribute to a rifle's accuracy.
But Haenel offers a choice. If
you admire a handsome rifle
which has beauty of aspect
and a handsome figured
walnut stock which does its
job perfectly, then the Jaeger
10 De- Luxe will undoubtedly
fulfill your requirements. But
from an objective viewpoint
I have no doubt that the
economical Basic model will
perform equally as well in the
field. The Haenel design is
unaffected by minor changes
or trivial fashion and its
economic soundness makes
it cleanly functional.38 | SPORTING SHOOTER _ APRIL 2015
TEST
REPORTReceiver is cylindrical forged steel
with thick walls that making the
action very rigid – something
conducive to obtaining fine accuracy.