Gamo hunter beginners story

[ivanpros]

Good evening fellow air riflemen,
I am new to pellet rifles and always wanted one as a kid, but never made the purchase. After the military and going to Panama & Iraq it left me with a bad taste; although I know it's not the gun, but the person behind it. I am a pro-gun advocate.

I am currently trying to rid myself of a gopher problem and have shot one so far. In going through this exercise I found out target shooting is meditating, a hobby and a science.

Beginners preparation:

I just purchased a Gamo Hunter from a kid in the local area off Craigslist.

The scope (4x32) had loose screws and the recoil pin was not seated properly in the hole and caused some damage to the inside. I used a file and deburred it until it was flush and used blue loctite on the ring mount screws; I did not use loctite on ring screws that hold the scope.

I also used a cleaning rod I bought from Big 5 sporting goods, in place of the Gamo Cleaning kit rod that is aluminum, flimsy; not very sturdy and could scratch the inside of the barrel. I ran through a few times and used some of the plug wipes from the Gamo cleaning kit to remove any remaining residue. I did not use any oil or goo gone since I remember from my military training not to fully remove all the carbon from the barrel to keep it zeroed in. I understand there is not carbon build up with springer air rifles, but I thought the lead deposits may work in this same manner.

Once the scope was mounted and the loctite had set 24 hours I started using a variety of pellets as follows ( the kid I purchased it from fired quite a bit from what I could tell from the residue):

Gamo hunter
Gamo match
Gamo master point
Gamo Redfire
Gamo Armor
Beeman pointed
RWS Diablo basic
RWS Superpoint
Crosman Hollow Point Premier

Here is the list of non-contenders after shooting minimum 25 pellets of each:
Gamo Magnum
Gamo master point
Crosman Hollow Point Premier

Here is the list of just too expensive to use on a regular basis:
Gamo Redfire
Gamo Armor

This left me with the following to do some group shots:
Gamo hunter
Gamo match
Beeman pointed
RWS Diablo basic
RWS Superpoint
Crosman Hollow Point Premier (Just to double check since everyone raves about this pellet)

The last part was to purchase something to make up the difference for my beginners unsteady hands. So I purchased a shooting bench.



Following are the steps I took to try for accuracy:
Squeeze the trigger
Attempt to place my cheek in the same place to reduce parallax
Rest the barell on the left hand and do not attempt to grip
 
Finally here are the results:
Shooting groups at different distance to determine best average grouping

At 10 yards
Gamo hunter 1 3/8” (tight shot group)
RWS Basic 7/8” (3/4" if you take out 2 strays)
Beeman pointed 7/8” (tight shot group)
Gamo match 1 Ό” (1/2" if you take out 1 stray)
RWS Superpoint 1 ½”  (3/4" if you take out 2 strays)
Crosman Hollow Point Premier 1 5/8” (it is what it is)

At 20 yards
Gamo hunter 1 3/4” (decent shot group)
RWS Basic 1 1/8”  (decent shot group)
Beeman pointed 1 1/2”  (vertical shift)
Gamo match 2 1/2” (horizontal shift)
RWS Superpoint  2”  ( 1 1/8" if you take out 2 strays)
Crosman Hollow Point Premier 4” (it is what it is)
  
*All were done using 5 shot group. Can the shifting and strays be caused by me?

My choice was to go with the Beeman pointed since they seem to be a better option than the RWS basic on the principal that it will be used for hunting.

Please provide your analysis based on what I have presented. I would like to learn from this experience and maybe help someone else using Gamo rifles with the feedback.

Separately I will post my attempt at zeroing the beeman pointed  at 10 yds, 20 yds, and 25 yds.

[hoffy43]

Welcome to the GTA. Unlike powder burners, Don't use any metal type cleaning rods, no solvents and no lubricating. After cleaning with patches moistened with goo gone, run some dry patches until clean. After this you could run a patch through very light lightly oiled, but then run a few more patches through to get rid of the oil. I've done this to get rid of any goo gone residue. the thing is you dint want any possibility of detonation witch would damage the gun. You also need to be cautious of oils and solvents that aren't blueing friendly or that could harm say the breach seal. There are those who feel that leading the rifling is a good thing, witch is another reason why cleaning the barrel is only needed when accuracy has dropped.To perform this maintenance, what I've learned from the forum here is to use some weed wacker line, melted on one end to form a flat that is a tad smaller then the pellet skirt. this will allow you to pull the patches through without damaging the rifling. It really works well. This only needs to be done when the rifle is new and when accuracy drops. Not very often. Congrats and good luck.

[ivanpros]

Thank you for the maintenance advise. I will definitely purchase the weed-wacker line and use.

Using Beeman Pointed pellets-

Next I attempted to zero in my scope, which I found fairly easy to do at 20 yds. with a shot group of 1 1/8”, followed by a confirmation shot group that brought it to 1”.
*I was able to make adjustments with 10 shots total just by guesstimating.

I then moved forward to 10 yards to see the amount of shift and found it to be minimal. Slightly to the left with a shot group of 7/8”.

I then moved back to 25 yards to see the amount of shift and found a problem I have not figured it out until I go back out tomorrow and do some more trials.

First round 1 Ό” ( 3 ½” with one stray)
Second round 2” ( 2 ½ with 2 strays)
Third round 3 ½” ( no strays)

[Tim40189]

Ivan,

Welcome to the GTA, glad you found us.  I have a few Gamos' myself and have found each one likes a different pellet.  My guns have been home tuned and have aftermarket springs as well and are all excellent shooters.  The one thing they all have in common is an aftermarket trigger from Bob aka. Charliedatuna, the GRT-III to replace the factory creaper that came with the gun.  If you would consider ordering one you will probably see a great improvement in your accuracy, I'm such a beliver in Bobs' trigger that I would gaurentee you will like it or I'll purchase it from you at full price. 

Next, consider going to Pyramid Air web site and order a couple of different pellets from them to try, I shoot mostly 8.4gr JSB Exacts and 8.3gr RWS Superdomes in my rifles with the best results.  These are my favorite goto pellets as they seem to shoot well in the majority of rifles I've used them in.  I have shot a few of the pointed pellets just to see but have never been able to sustain accuracy with them to any acceptable degree.

Finally after you get thru the first two items above and the accuracy bug bites really hard, you may want to consider tuning the rifle.  If you decide to try and tune it yourself, which I find to be almost as theraputic as shooting from time to time, you will find a lot of people here on the forum that will help you with information to get the job done.  Also there are some great pro tuners here on the forum that do this full time.  They are glad to offer their services to  and come highly reccomended by a lot of the members and others in the airgun community.

I wish you the best of luck with the new shooter and again welcome to the GTA, we're glad your here.  Keep us posted as to your progress and any questions  we're all glad to try and help at anytime.

Tim

[JonnyReb]

 Hi Ivan and welcome to the gta. Glad you found shooting sports and glad you found us. Thank you for your service.

  I'm going to say that as usual, inaccurate shooting with AG's is a mix of many different things. It always takes me time to sort everything out on a new spring gun, most end up shooting well but some are always going to be a challenge. It usually takes me a couple tins of ammo to know if i have a winner. I'll run over the issues i had with a new gamo socom and hope it helps some.

  First of all, the scope that comes with the gamos had to be replaced, they just will not hold accurately on a spring gun. I swapped to a 3x9x40 leapers. Only truly tough scopes will hold on a spring gun. Leapers,centerpoints and Hawkes come to mind as good replacements.  Same goes for the mounts. The ones that come with the gun, usually don't truly center over the bore, as they are made for a range of dovetail widths. Because they are off a tiny bit(as seen from behind the gun) they tent to throw your shot farther and farther off to the left or right as your range increases. So a dead on shot at 20yards might be 2 inches off to the right at 40, if that makes sense.  There are several mounts that self center as you tighten them down, Richard(bookdoc) here on site sells a great mount made by Hawke that self center and adjusts for droop. It's what i put on my Socom and it holds perfect and is centered on the bore. I'm on target at 20 yards or 40, with elevation still playing a hand of course.

  Another thing i had to do, and it made a difference as noted in other threads, is polish my bore with jb paste. On every gun i get, i use this product to polish my bore till it feels like glass.  One of the great things about doing this is it stops the barrel from leading, it's rare for there to be anything in my barrels other than gray dust.. there is no rough spots for lead to catch on. Once this is done, you will rarely ever have to clean your barrel again. I think this plays into one main reason for accurate shooting.

  Of course i had to break my gun in, and 500 or so shots does that. I don't look for great accuracy until at least that many shots go down the tube. Also i chrony the gun to make sure it is throwing every shot at a similar fps. This indicates the seals are in good shape. Also, as you mentioned i use blue loctite on everything that can unscrew itself on the gun and scope mounts(cept rings).

 I use german pellets, the rws superdomes, beeman fts and jsb diablos are , imo, more consistent than any gamo or crosman pellet made, also you can weight pellets to make sure your throwing the same weight pellets, you see many that are signifigantly heavier or lighter than others, especially the cheap one.

  A similar hold must be used on the spring guns and sometimes a rest may throw them off, it would be worth trying some offhand shooting to see if you group with less flyers.

  I sat down on my front steps yesterday and shot off my knee at a box i put in the road(dead end) 40 yards in front of me.  I have maybe 600 shots through the socom, and have done everything mentioned above to the gun. When i first got it, i shot some 2+" groups at 25 yards, there were always fliers although as with your groups, you could see that it wanted to shoot well, but it had fliers. I worked at it, breaking it in, polishing the barrel, changing the mounts and scope, finding the right pellets. Anyways i did a 5 shot groups of about  an inch at 40 yards off my knee. There was not a single flier, just a group of about an inch. I stopped right there, not wanting to ruin it but i finally got the gun to where i wanted it.

  I'd say just keep taking those steps to upgrade the gun if need be, find the best possible pellet and consider polishing the bore. Over time those groups will tighten and i have to say that if you pick up a firearm again you will not believe how proficient a springer makes you. Your gun is a good one but it just takes time and patience to turn it into a great one, best of luck and let us know if we can help in anyway,  Jeff

 40y
nevermind the date...

[gamo2hammerli]

Welcome to the GTA forum and family.  Remember when you change to a different pellet to shoot a few pellets before testing.  This gives the bore a chance to get used to the new pellet.  Nice statistics on the pellets used with your Gamo Hunter btw.

[ivanpros]

Thank you Tim, Johnny and Hoffy & Gamo2. This definitely will take some some to iron out. The trigger on the Varmint Hunter is plastic. i will be placing an order for the "Leapers Golden Image 3-9x32AO Rifle Scope, Mil-Dot Reticle, 1" Tube" and the following pellets to continue some more trials:   

JSB Diabolo Exact Heavy .177 Cal, 10.2 Grains, Domed, 500ct, caliber - 0.177", Qty - 500, Weight: 10.2 gr
Predator .177 Cal, 8.0 Grains, Pointed, 200ct , caliber - 0.177", Qty - 200, Weight: 8.0 gr.
Benjamin Discovery .177 Cal, 10.5 Grains, Hollowpoint, 500ct, caliber - 0.177", Qty - 500, Weight: 10.5 gr
Predator Big Boy Senior .177 cal, 15.8 Grains, Domed, 150ct, caliber - 0.177", Qty - 150, Weight: 15.8 gr

Now to the economics of this sport-

I started off thinking I could purchase an air rifle at a discount, make my adjustments and get to firing. This is not the case from what I can tell and I would caution (not scare away) anyone going into this sport for accuracy to really plan out your purchases and have realistic expectations. Well it just (oddly for California) started raining so here are some things to consider.

Any further advice is gladly appreciated. If anyone has information on average home tune cost vs. sending out to be done professionally. Would be gladly appreciative.

Thanks again.

[Fisherdude]

For a break barrel, make sure that the pivot bolt is tight.  Many groups can be shrunk with a screwdriver.  My Gamo shoots the Gamo match pellets well and Gamo hunters pretty well.

[JonnyReb]

 Nice pics, funny how those costs add up huh?  I've often looked at my total expenditure for a gun and thought.. i could have bought 3 times the gun for this money... what the heck?

 I just wanted to mention Ivan, that those heavy pellets above 10gr. may not work very well in the gamo, i could be very wrong and the only way to know for sure is to try them but most heavy pellets are meant for compressed air guns rather than springers. By all means though, if someone has tried them and they worked great, please correct me as i wouldn't want to give incorrect info. And if they are already ordered and on their way and they don't work, remember that many of our members would be happy to trade you for some pellets you want.  Keep us filled in on your progress as you go,  Jeff

[VINNY]

WELCOME!!

[dk1677]

Welcome to the GTA!

[gamo2hammerli]

Look at it this way....most of the stuff bought can be used with another, 2 or 4 air rifles (Which we'll assume you'll acquire over the next few years)....so divide that cost into the number of rifles purchased in the future.  Doesn't look that bad now.

Btw....I've seen some folks shoot real rifles sitting on a milk box (The hard plastic ones)...and that box is used to carry their ammo, binocular, tools and what not.  They just add an axle and two wheels to it and drag it around.  And they use a camera tripod as a front rifle rest.

Forgot to mention....you can photocopy those regular target sheets....just place them onto a cardboard before shooting at them to get nice clean holes.  That'll save a bunch of money.

[shady816]

Welcome to the GTA
 congrates on  the new toy, i see the extra heavy pellets in your list i would advise against shooting them in any springer or you just maybe tuning her sooner than you think. heavy pellets will and do cause spring cant or even worse broken spring so for .177 i would stay at or bellow the 10g pellet. and as another mentioned here the jsb 8.4 and rws superdomes shoot the best out my gamos including my hunter good luck and shoot straight.

[454 Big Block Chevy]

My suggestion would be... learn the artillary hold.  and untuned rifle can be very hold sensitive.

[ivanpros]

Thanks guys! I tried the following to test out some theories. This may or may not apply to the rest, but here is my experience. I took the following actions:

All trials using 5 group shots

1st group shot
1 1/4 “ No changes from 1/29/11

Using weed-wacker line & Goo-Gone, oil, dry patches. Also checked the screw that holds the barrel and it is very tight;no adjustment needed.



2nd group shot
1 Ό”

3rd group shot
1 3/8” (2” with 2 strays) Confirming shot for previous; 2nd group shot

Using “Great Stuff” inside stock to minimize vibration

4th group shot
1 ½” decent group

Adding pipe insulation & electrical tape to front of shooting stand


5th group
1 Ό” decent group

6th group shot
1” decent group


I also tried at 25 yards once again:

1st group shot
2 ½”

2nd group shot
1 Ύ”


I also bought a Gamo Whisper with metal trigger and no scope. I was able to get a 1 ½”  shot group at 20 yards using the iron site (no scope). Used Goo-Gone before testing.

My conclusions are that filling the stock went from sounding like a train wreck to a much better dampened sound and less vibration. I think the best improvement was learning that the front site pipe insulation works great to simulate the artillery hold and is giving me better shot groups.

[hoffy43]

Looks like you've been busy at it. Great shooting. If you haven't allready, the GRT trigger upgrade is a must. That and the artillery hold should pay off in a big way. Better groups and greater consistency. Try to avoid any thing other than the palm of your hand very loosely making contact with the rifle. Other than tuning the gun, I don't know of anything else you could do, just keep shooting. On good days I can get 1" to 1 1/2" groups with my Big Cat at 30 yards, and usually its more like 1 1/2". Now on a side note I'm getting 1/4" groups all day long at 30 to 35 yards With my HW95. That said, I believe you're shooting is great. Keep it up.

[ivanpros]

Yes, I think I have air rifle bug. HW95 1/4" groups is great!

I have shot a few more gophers, but the Beeman pointed are not killing them in 1 shot; it took 3 on one big one. I used the red fire from Gamo and that seemed to do the job.

I have been looking at the Benjamin Trail NP XL 1500 .22 and having it professionally tuned. Any thoughts on that? 1/4" groups possible? More humane to have one shot one kill?

[Progun]

Hello Ivan and welcome to the GTA. Looks like you've jumped right in to this airguns thing ...and that's a good thing. A couple things to mention. If it's possible for you to locate someone in your area who is an experienced spring rifle shooter,try to spend some time with them and get some one on one time. Lot's of learning curves can be accelerated when someone with experience can show you what works for them. One thing I noticed was your shooting rest/table. Earlier in another post a member inquired about proper resting of the air rifle for accurate shooting. A lot of us are of the opinion that rifle rests that make contact with the barrel are a hinderence to good groups and accurate shooting in general. You probably noticed when shooting your rifle there is a noticeable amount of vibration that occurs when you discharge the shot.For that reason many utilize a common resting technique referred to as the "artillery hold" which allows the vibrations to unfurl unhindered. When rests are utilized that contact the barrel the vibration harmonics are disrupted in a almost random unrepeatable from shot to shot pattern. This often explains why groups are so wide spread. Often just by utilizing  a rest technique that doesn't have anything touching the barrel when the shot is released will tighten the groups considerably. Likewise if the rifle is allowed to "rest" on a hard surface that can't easily absorb the vibrations groups will open up. Some of those pellets you tested for example that gave really unacceptable groups might prove to be very good with a proper rest technique.I would recommend you ditch your current shooting rest and try to come up with a flat level surface that would allow you to use some other apparatus(such as a soft shooting bag, rolled up towels,etc.) that allows you to support the rifle without anything touching the barrel. This step alone I would predict would improve your accuracy. Bottom line: Keep shooting, and continue to read everything you can about shooting these spring piston rifles. A good source of info can be found in the GTA library. You should be able to find a wealth of info there that covers much of the knowledge you seek. Oh and btw, there are plenty of spring piston rifles that can deliver the accuracy you desire when everything is in sync. (The rifle, sights, pellets and shooters technique). It's all fun.

[Tim40189]

Ivan,

I was reading your latest aquisition of the Whisper.  I have one and it is tuned by self and I am holding 3/4" and under groups at 25 yards consistantly.  Again I urge you to look at Bobs' (aka. Charliedatuna) website and consider a trigger replacement for the Whisper and possibly tuning the gun to really tighten up those groups.  You should be impressed with the results of a general lube tune and deburring of the gun and a new Apex seal from ARH.  Good luck with the shooters and enjoy.

Tim

[Addictedtoair]

I see that you got a Whisper with a metal trigger. Does it have a spring or Nitro Piston? Mine has the NP and the GRT-III trigger. These modifications are in addition to a complete tune that I had done by a fellow GTA member. Getting the GRT-III trigger for your Whisper will be such a great help in the accuracy department. Since the weather has been so bad lately I've been stuck shooting in the house. The wife doesn't mind and there are no kids to come running around a corner. I can get an honest 13 yards through the center of the house. I shot 20 rounds at the bull using 10 CPHP's and 10 H&N FTT's. Trigger time is trigger time!     The other target is one that I shot in the back yard before the weather turned bad. 5 shots of CPHP's.