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Are you good? Or just good with one gun?

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BlurredVision:
recently found out that air gun hunting is legal for people like myself. I know I’m late to the party. Long story short I’m looking for the best .22 all around break barrel for hunting. As well as a .25
I need real world users to give some feed back. For the .22 I’m thinking the gamo magnum is better than the Hatsan or the German brands. Again I’m new and this is just you tube research. Until I found GTA. I don’t like the stock though. Can it be switched with a wood stock of a previous gamo rifle or would a completely different one work? And could I switch the barrel to have no sight in the end? Also the same help for the .25 cal
I will get into the PCP later. I just feel like I’m carrying around a bomb right now. More research to come. Appreciate any help

HOSPassassin:
If you're looking at something in the $200-400 range, which is where the Gamo Magnum is usually priced, I would recommend saving a few bucks and starting out with a Gamo Wildcat Whisper. The Magnum is 1. Extremely long (48-ish inches), and 2. Kicks like a mule, which means it kills scopes and is very challenging to learn to shoot accurately. If you've never hunted with a breakbarrel before you will be much better served by starting out with something that is easier for a beginner to master. It can be frustrating to learn how to hold a recoiling air rifle since it is very different from a powder-burning rifle. The GWW does recoil but nothing like the Magnum. The GWW I had was only accurate with wadcutter pellets, which is the reason why I sold it. If I had found a good domed pellet for it I would still be using it.

In fact, since you're still reading my free advice at this point, let me suggest an even more radical solution: an HW 30. Its price will be not too different from the Gamo Magnum but the shooting experience will be like trading a woodsplitting maul for a scalpel. If you can hit the right spot on the head at the right angle within 30 yards you can take anything that is traditionally hunted with an airgun with an HW 30.

There is no better breakbarrel out there for a first experience with a breakbarrel than an HW 30. And yes, if you can shoot you can hunt with it. I have.

BlurredVision:
Thanks for the reply….so what if kick and aiming aren’t a factor? I can’t spell it but the “y-rock” is how I’ve heard it pronounced. I like it. How it looks. But is it as good as the Gamo whisper or Magnum? The weight and length kick and all that are not too important to me. Im more than an average sized human. I’m basically asking which break barrel rifle in .22 and .25 cal will serve best purpose for shooting rabbit and squirrel from 30.40yrd.

Can you trade out stocks? Example. Gamo Magnum stock with the Gamo wood varmnit?
Do they make barrels for break barrel guns without a site on the tip of barrel? Will any of these changes effect the rifle in a bad way?

HOSPassassin:
If you're willing to go just a little more expensive get an HW 50 or HW 95/Beeman R9. They come in .22 and have excellent iron sights that are easily removable.

I mentioned the recoil not to caution you against shooting something uncomfortable, although in my opinion it is pretty uncomfortable. I brought it up because breakbarrels behave very differently from every other rifle on the planet.

When I shoot my 12 ga I expect anything from a healthy push to a sharp thump in my shoulder, depending on the load. When you shoot a breakbarrel, especially one that is relatively lightweight but still producing a lot of power, like a Gamo, it will recoil sharply in BOTH directions. This makes them much more difficult to shoot accurately until you know what to expect from that rifle and have figured out how to hold it just right. If you try to shoot it just like a 10/22 (for example) it will spray pellets all over that 30-40 yard range you mentioned. When you do get it right that will improve to 1 or 1.5" at 40. It's not a comfort thing so much as a trying to give you a better chance for immediate success thing. Even highly experienced PB shooters have to adjust. That is why I suggested starting out with something a little tamer. It will be easier to overcome the learning curve that exists every time someone tries shooting a breakbarrel.

As for HW rifles, none of them shoot as hard as Gamos (except maybe the really powerful ones like an HW 80 or 90). However, they are vastly better made, more accurate, and more pleasant to shoot. I have owned several of both brands over the years. They are more expensive but you get what you pay for and then some.

There are YT videos out there of Brits shooting HW 50 or 95/R9 rifles at 550-ish fps in .22 and smoking pigeons and bunnies from greater than 60 yards away. That's how accurate they can potentially be!

BlurredVision:
As a first timer. Not even newbie lol. I know power isn’t everything. This is a legit question. You mentioned the HW rifles. That’s exactly what I wanted to gamo magnum to look like. But why not get the most powerful one you can get? All the YT research pretty much says Gamo is the best you’re gonna find in break barrel. Bc it packs the hardest punch. I can’t specifically find HW90 vs the magnum. Or Hatsan 125 vs HW90. So that’s why I made an account here to see what you would say. If the gamo magnum fit the long slug pellets and if it had wood stock I would buy it. The Hatsan looks really good along with the HW rifles. But then they don’t shoot as hard? My wife said I could get a rifle for my birthday and she’s paying for it. So if what I need is a couple hundred more than the magnum  she’ll never know the difference lol

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