Umarex Gauntlet 177

[WeaselCat]

I was searching for a decent FT gun and was looking at some pricey items from Air Arms and FX. I had heard of the Gauntlet but never really read about it until last week. Hmmm... budget friendly, regulated, QB trigger (I really like my QB's after some work), single shot adapter and mag included, adjustable comb... sounds great!

The rifle arrived a couple days ago and it seems well built. The removable forend looks a little cheesy but not terrible. The gauge is not like advertised and I can barely make out the numbers even with my glasses. An abundance of oil and brown gunk were removed from the barrel prior to shooting.

Mounted a Hawke Endurance 30SF 4-16 mil dot scope and sighted in today at 30 yards. After getting it close I had a few minutes of light left for a quick pellet test. Wind was brisk and variable from the left along with a few snowflakes.

Crosman Premier HP 7.9  No Good
H&N FTT 8.64  Nada
JSB 8.44  Nope
JSB 10.34  BINGO!! 5 shot group pic below.

I'll update when I get time to do the trigger and spend some time with her.

[AmBraCol]

Looking forward to hearing how it works for you.  Especially interested in chronograph results, number of shots per fill, etc.  This rifle has piqued my interest from the get go.  Now to see when they start trickling down here...

[WeaselCat]

Finished the trigger work yesterday. It's about as good as I can get a QB with factory parts and a clipped trigger spring.
After a couple hundred shots I have mixed feelings at this point.
It will usually shoot between .5" and .75" at 50 yards with an occasional flyer but will randomly shift POI. I had it dialed in at 50 yards last night. Put it in a cradle making sure the barrel was not bumped. Filled the tank to 2900 psi this morning and shot a nice .5" group but it was 4" left and 2" high. I need to spend more time with it for sure but it does seem to require attention to consistent hold, even while shooting from a rest. The super flexible stock may have something to do with it. With all screws properly tightened, the action can be moved in the stock quite a bit.

I did a quick test to see if bumping the barrel would shift POI. I brushed the barrel across a small tree branch like one might do when walking through a woods. The barrel was pushed to the left and the next shot went 1" left at 50 yards. The following shot was back at center.

With daylight fading I only got one shot to register on the chronograph last night. 824 fps with a JSB 10.34. I was hoping for at least 900.

[AmBraCol]

That's good info right there.  Now to see if there's someway of stiffening the stock or otherwise addressing the issue.