Walther Parrus Air Rifle Test Review, .22 Caliber.

VALUE FOR MONEY

At a Street Price of just around $300, the Walther Parrus is in the pack with a number of powerful break barrel air rifles. It’s a dedicated hunting airgun from a well-known German brand and offers a lot of power for the money.

The synthetic-stock version tested by HAM is clearly designed to offer a practical, all-weather hunting tool. For traditionalists, there’s a wood stock version of the Parrus available at a slightly higher price.

This is an air rifle that demands a strongly-built, “airgun rated” scope to maximize its capabilities. As a scope is not bundled with the gun, customers have a wide choice available. However, HAM recommends that a “drooper” mount is fitted to the Walther Parrus, in order to counteract the barrel droop displayed by this model.

HAM Test Rating	74%
Value For Money	High power gas ram from German manufacturer.
Best For	Hunting.
Best Pellet Tested	JSB Jumbo Exact
Street Price at Time of Test	$300 Plus Scope
Caliber Tested	.22
RateAGun Score	Experience Required

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Walther Parrus Air Rifle, Black Synthetic

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Walther Parrus Air Rifle

SPEED AND ACCURACY

The muzzle velocity of the Walther Parrus air rifle tested by HAM peaked at 1,045 FPS with 10.03 Grain H&N Field Target Trophy alloy pellets. That equals 25.0 Ft/Lbs of Muzzle Energy, which is a significant power level for any break barrel air rifle and the peak level of “knock down power” attained in the HAM tests.

The 11.9 Grain RWS Hobby pellets produced 924 FPS and 22.58 Ft/Lbs of Muzzle Energy. This was the peak muzzle velocity with lead pellets.

However, the best balance of power and accuracy was achieved by the Walther Parrus air rifle with heavier, slower-moving pellets. There’s no point in high muzzle velocity if you can’t hit the target, right?

Accuracy proved to be excellent with 14.35 Grain JSB Jumbo Exact pellet, while producing 22.7 Ft/Lbs of Muzzle Energy – still a significant amount for a break barrel springer. The heavy, 21.14 Grain H&N Baracuda Match pellets also gave excellent accuracy, although with a lower Muzzle Energy of 20.19 Ft/Lbs.

HAM Tester Eric Brewer commented in his testing notes “I would buy this gun if I were a squirrel hunter!” He also commented that the Walther Parrus air rifle felt better to shoot with heavy pellets.

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JSB Diabolo Exact Jumbo Express .22 Cal, 14.3 Grains, Domed, 500ct

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JSB Diabolo Exact Jumbo Express Pellets 14.35 Grain, .22 Cal

TRIGGER AND COCKING EFFORT

The Walther Parrus is fitted with a single stage trigger. There’s no doubt about it, the trigger pull is heavy and somewhat stiff. The pull weight averaged 5 Lb 6 Oz in the Walther Parrus air rifle tested by HAM.

Note that the Walther Parrus air rifle has a plastic trigger. Yes, the shape is OK, yes it feels OK (we think), but plastic triggers tend to cause emotional reactions among shooters. Many – most? – do not like them. You can argue that it doesn’t matter and that it’s form and functionality that really count. However it’s probably fair to say that most owners would expect to have a metal trigger on an air rifle at this price point. That’s the HAM Team’s opinion, too.

The stock has a sharply-raked pistol grip section. This means that, although the length of pull is on the short side at 14.25-inches, it’s a long reach to that plastic trigger. Shooter with short trigger fingers may find this more difficult. Again, this air rifle is designed for a big, strong shooter.

Of course, there’s an automatic safety. This is well-placed at the rear end of the compression tube. It’s well placed and easy to use.

As expected, the cocking effort for the Walther Parrus air rifle was very stout. The gun tested by HAM required 41 Lbs cocking force. That’s a heavy pull, particularly if you’re doing it a lot! However, as a hunting air rifle, many owners will be quite prepared to accept this in return for the few shots they take and the power the Parrus provides.

COMPARISON TO MAKERS CLAIMS

The main claim for the Walther Parrus air rifle is muzzle velocity, as you would expect for a magnum gas ram air rifle. The sample tested by HAM was “about on” for FPS, being a little slow with lead and somewhat faster with alloy pellets.

The manufacturer claims a maximum muzzle velocity with lead pellets of 940 FPS with lead pellets. That obviously means 11.9 Grain RWS Hobby pellets, as these are the lightest available. The Walther Parrus air rifle tested by HAM came close to this claim at an average of 924 FPS, but obviously did not quite make it.

Of course, much higher muzzle velocity was attainable – if required – by using the 10.03 Grain H&N Field Target Trophy Green pellets. The Parrus achieved 1,045 FPS when tested with these pellets. As the manufacturer claims a maximum of 1,000 FPS with alloy pellets, the Walther Parrus air rifle exceeds the manufacturer’s specification with alloy.

But then there’s the trigger!

The 2017 Umarex USA catalog lists the trigger pull weight for the Walther Parrus as 2 Lbs. This must be an error. It’s very unlikely that any magnum spring/piston air rifle would deliver a consistent, safe trigger pull weight of just 2 Lbs. The HAM test gun gave an average trigger pull weight of 5 Lbs 6 Oz.

Below. The molded “stippling” on the stock is well done.

CONSISTENCY

The Walther Parrus air rifle tested by HAM displayed good consistency in Standard Deviation and Muzzle Energy.

Standard Deviation – the variation in FPS between individual shots in a string – was remarkably well controlled for a gas ram air rifle at an average of just 5.93 FPS. This is a level of consistency that is very creditable.

Muzzle Energy commonly varies with pellet weight – higher for lighter pellets with springers and gas ram guns, higher with heavier pellets for PCPs. However, the Walther Parrus air rifle gave an average of 22.8 Ft/Lbs across all the standard HAM suite of test pellets, with 5 out of the 7 test pellets having Muzzle Energies that were very close to that average figure. Only with the heavy Baracudas did the Muzzle Energy fall significantly. The light H&N Field Target Trophy Green pellets gave results that were significantly higher, at 25 FT/Lbs.

The Walther Parrus tested by HAM showed excellent accuracy with the JSB Jumbo Exact and H&N Baracuda Match pellets. However, accuracy with other pellets was not so good. We’d have to regard the Parrus a “pellet picky”. Find the right pellets and all will be fine, however accuracy is not consistent across a wide range of pellets. You can’t just shoot “anuthing” in the Walther Parrus air rifle and achieve good accuracy.

Trigger pull weight was also somewhat variable. The average pull weight recorded in HAM testing was 5 Lb 6 Oz – Ouch! – but this varied between 4 Lb 11 Oz at a minimum and 6 Lb 7 Oz at maximum.

In his testing notes, HAM Tester Eric Brewer commented that he felt that a longer break-in period would undoubtedly give more consistent performance, as is often the case with break barrel air rifles, of course.

NOISE LEVEL

As the Walther Parrus is both powerful and un-silenced, it’s not exactly quiet. This is a pretty loud air rifle according to the HAM Team’s ears. But of course, it’s not intended as a backyard plinker and so the noise level may not be a significant issue for the airgun hunters who are likely to buy this air rifle.

Note that the muzzle is threaded with 1/2-inch UNF threads. This is the standard thread for add-on silencers. However, while aftermarket silencers are encouraged in most European countries, this is definitely NOT the case in the USA! Do not add a silencer to the Walther Parrus air rifle – or to any other airgun for that matter – unless you have all the right BATF&E approvals in place. If not, you’re breaking the law big time!

HAM strongly suggests that you leave the muzzle nut securely in place and just accept the noise level produced by the Walther Parrus air rifle.

SIGHTS AND SCOPE

Unusually for a spring/piston air rifle, the Walther Parrus is not supplied with a bundled scope. This does, of course, give the flexibility of choice to the owner, but obviously increases the total cost.

The Parrus is equipped with the obligatory set of open sights, although it’s very doubtful that the vast majority of owners will use them, preferring to install a scope to maximize the accuracy capability of this gun.

The front sight has a red fiber optic element. However the windage- and elevation-adjustable rear sight does not have fiber optic inserts. An unusual combination.

For the HAM testing, Eric Brewer installed a Nikon 3-9 x 40AO scope that we know from experience is proof against the fierce forward recoil of magnum springers. However he found it necessary to shim the rear ring of the scope mount. The Walther Parrus air rifle tested by HAM suffers from barrel droop…

For this reason, a “drooper” scope mount will probably be a requirement for owners of the Walther Parrus air rifle.

Although the recoil is strong and standard 11mm airgun scope rails machined into the compression tube, the scope showed no movement during HAM testing. This was due to the security provided by the stop screw hole included in the receiver.

SHOOTABILITY

The Walther Parrus air rifle is a long, heavy gun. As a magnum springer, what else could it be?

Overall length is 47.5-Inches. Weight without scope is 9 Lbs 4 Oz.

This means that it requires a good amount of physical strength to shoot – particularly to shoot well. This is not a kid’s gun, and maybe also not for smaller, less strong adults!

And, there’s the significant recoil, again as you would expect from any break barrel air rifle of this power level.

Of course the manufacturers are well aware of these things and so they’ve provided mitigating features in the design. There’s a thick rubber recoil pad, with a grippy surface to take away some of the recoil effect. And the stock is prominently swelled at the balance point for the forehand. This distributes the weight somewhat and makes the Walther Parrus air rifle easier to support in the “Artillery Hold”.

This light grip technique is mandatory for shooting the Walther Parrus accurately. Again, there’s no surprise here, it’s a technique that needs to be mastered by any shooter of any magnum spring/piston or gas ram air rifle. But that doesn’t make it any easier for many of us…

HAM Tester Eric Brewer commented in his test notes that “The Parrus looks good and feels good in the hand when shooting while standing”.

But he also noted that care needs to be taken when closing the barrel after loading a pellet. “Keep your hand right to the barrel end.” He says. This is because the stock extends about 4-inches in front of the barrel pivot point. With defined edges to the inside of the stock forend, it’s possible to catch your hand between the closing barrel and stock, with painful results, if your hand slides back down the barrel. Eric took one for the team there!

The high RateAGun Score of 9.8 confirms that the Parrus requires an experienced shooter to achieve its full potential.

APPEARANCE AND FINISH

If you like the “black rifle” look for your spring/piston, then the Walther Parrus air rifle will suit you with the synthetic stock – as tested. If you prefer the more traditional wood stock, Walther has you covered there too with a different version.

The HAM Team considered the Walther Parrus to look good with the black stock. The molded grip areas along the forend and around the pistol grip are cleanly executed and the seams between the two halves of the stock are not too pronounced. Note that if you need to remove the stock for maintenance, you’ll need Metric star-head keys.

Overall fit and finish of the Walther Parrus air rifle is good. Metal machining and finish is satisfactory and reasonable for the price.

BUYING AND OWNING

The Walther Parrus air rifle is widely available online from the usual sources, such as Airgun Depot and Pyramyd Air. It’s backed by Umarex USA and so you can be assured of support through the limited lifetime warranty that’s carried by this airgun.

As most customers will be buying the Parrus online, they will obviously receive it after it has passed through the “tender mercies” of one of the major parcel shipping companies. This means that packaging quality is important if your beautiful, new air rifle is to reach you in perfect condition. Fortunately, the Parrus is supplied in a very strong card box, The packaging quality is far ahead of that we find with many other airguns. This is very good and shows that Walther does not skimp on such things.

The manual is well-illustrated and comprehensive. It gives lots of useful information, but is in English only for the US market.

Of course, like all single shot gas ram and spring/piston air rifles, the Walther Parrus offers simplicity of use. There’s no need for expensive charging equipment – as with a PCP – and no chance that you will run out of high pressure air at a critical moment. There’s no magazine to possibly loose in long grass…

So, the simplicity of a “human powered”, single shot air rifle like the Parrus has great attraction for for many airgun hunters. All you need is a tin of pellets and you’re good to go hunting. This is back to basics airgun shooting, as loved by many people over many years.

TEST TARGETS

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Walther Parrus Air Rifle, Black Synthetic

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Walther Parrus Air Rifle

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