GTA
General Discussion To Gateway To Airguns => Gamo Gate => : May 08, 2007, 06:47:25 AM
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Am I the only one that thinks the Gamo Viper .177 rifle is a good rifle? Mine has been making good 10 meter groups since I got it. I've tried a variety of pellets and it does at least fair with all of them and given high quality pellets, it does even better. The stock changed my mind about synthetics, it is very comfortable. The trigger is my only area of complaint with the rifle, and it is getting better as I get more pellets through the rifle. Now the scope that came with was a bad joke. it was a BSA 3x9 setup for 100 yard shooting (judging from the parallax setup). Totally inappropriate for a springer. It lasted about 200 shots. BSA in Florida should receive it tomorrow (Wednesday). The rear Ocular was flopping around. One phone call and they said "send it in" and waived the $10.00 fee that would be usual. So...Kudos to BSA for standing behind their product.
Well this has been my take on what seems to be an overlooked rifle judging from the lack of posts and reviews. But, I think it is a keeper.
Terry Bassett w9trb
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Hey Terry welcome to the GTA forum where all your question can be had. I do like the looks and feel of the Viper and glad to here it’s a good performer. As for the trigger check out CDT's web site where his GRT III trigger will solve all your problems as it did mine. As BSA and Gamo are part of the same company they will take care of you. Anyhow, check out Charlie's sit on the GRT trigger, you won't be disappointed.
http://charliedatuna.com/
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Welcome Terry,GTA what a place. 8) You know I was going to get one myself awhile back, nice look. When I seen the Shadow Sport I had to have her. :p I stilll give the Viper a look now and then, still nice. a DaTuna tune would really make her sing. :) Ed
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Welcome Terry, I like the Viper too. For my first AR here in the US it was a toss up
between the Viper and the CFX.... The CFX won the toss.
But you are right, it is a good looking gun and shoots well. I think all the S1K based
rifles are great.
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I sent off to CDT for a trigger and have hopes of improving some with that and then later sending it off for a tune...
Terry Bassett
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I purchased a Gamo Viper a couple months ago and have since put about 2000 pellets through it.
I am quite satisfied with mine. I have not had any issues, at all. The scope has remained true and I only need to adjust it for weather conditions.
The range at my friends house where several of us tend to congregate about every other weekend, is from his covered patio, to a backstop set at 100 feet, with various targets (paper, spinners, silhouettes, etc., though, we "killed" the metal stand up silhouettes, shooting their stands off). The back stop even has protected lighting for night shooting and if we miss, there are 100 yards of woods and an elevation change to take care of any wayward pellets.
I would choose this air rifle again, even after the fact of researching anything I can find on air rifles in the last several months, on a daily basis.
I wouldn't mind getting something like and Air Arms TX200 Mk III, or equivalent, but, that would be out of my friends price range and I would hate to have them feel that I am “buying†accuracy (though, they probably won’t think that, since I also shoot a Crosman 1377C pump action pistol, as well, at those ranges, sometimes better then they do with their open sight and even scoped rifles).
I can typically count on sub 1†groupings at 100 feet, using Crosman Premier Lights, 7.9 gr, in the 1250 count bulk box. Most of us have found that the Crosman Premiers tend to be the most accurate and consistent pellet in our guns, which are made up of mostly 1000 FPS air rifles from Gamo for the most part as well as Crosman, Daisy, Marksmen, a Chinese lever action and a $25 Cummins lever action that shoots in the 650-800 FPS neighborhood. Most of the 1000 FPS rifles shoot somewhere from the mid 800’s to low to mid 900’s, with my Gamo Viper usually topping them in the 950 range on a typical day. This is in Washington State, at about 1000 foot elevation, a few miles away from the Puget Sound.
I also have a Gamo Shadow 1000 that came with the BSA 4x scope, which I left in it’s wrapper, for times I want to go with no scope.
Overall, the looks, quality, craftsmanship, velocity, consistency, balance and feel is better then the Shadow 1000. It just seems like it’s high quality air rifle. A couple of my friends are considering getting one themselves, or, maybe the new Whisper, when it comes out, since they appear to be similar.
I have a pending review at Review Centre - CRT_Leech's review of the Gamo Viper .177 Air Rifle (http://www.reviewcentre.com/review247473.html)
Hopefully, that will be up in the next couple of days.
I hope that your replacement scope holds up as well as mine.
Laters,
CRT_Leech
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Let us know what you thing of the GRT-III trigger Terry. I have not seen an unhappy person yet who has bought one from CDT..:)
Gene
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Hey Tim, Welcome aboard the GTA.. Good to hear we have some following in the Seattle area..:) I used to work up there and it is very pretty in the spring and summer.. Never could get used to the rain in the fall and winter..:)
Sounds like you and your friends are having a blast when you all get together. Allot of us do not have people close to us at the moment, but as time passes there will be more air gunners all over. We do have an Events Forum which will help bring air gunners together. Enjoyed you post and I personally hope you come often with more posts and pictures..
Happy shooting
Gene
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Thank you for the warm welcome.
Yup, it rains up here, but, not as much as most people think, it's just spread over about 350 days in the year, LOL.
Now that I have found this site, I'm sure I'll be visiting it on a regular basis and I'll try to contribute positively, as well.
Thanks,
Tim
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Well, It has been several shooting days time now and I have to say that the GRT III has been a serious improvement for my Viper. I have stocked up on several types and brands of pellets and once I settle a little issue of my fourth surgery in fourteen months, I hope to have time to post some targets. I have shot a total of 44 blackbirds out at my Brother's house. So, I feel the Viper is an excellent performer, if not one of the most overlooked of the Gamo offerings. This is probably due to the shotgun version that most people shy away from, thereby causing little notice of the Viper rifle. But, I can honestly say that my Viper is a wicked tool.
Terry w9trb
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Hate to Hijack the thread but whenever I see someone from the Seattle area I get home sick lol. Welcome to the GTA Tim and umm hmmm I went to Ballard high school... ring a bell?
John
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I'm actually in the Lynwood/Mukilteo/Everett area, but, I've heard of Ballard. Heck, anyone familiar with Seattle and Almost Live! has heard of Ballard. =)
It's good to see others from this area out there with like interests.
Thank you all for the kind welcome to this forum.
Oh, I just received notification that my review of the Gamo Viper was approved and awarded an Expert Review Status: http://www.reviewcentre.com/review247473.html
For what it's worth, I tried to be brief, lol. I may decide to write a more in depth review sometime, with pictures and such, like some of the groupings I've achieved at 100 feet, penetration, pellet differences, who knows. Also, closer details of the air gun itself, which can be difficult to find.
I like to write/document stuff, and I know I appreciate information about products that I have an interest in, but, not a lot of working knowledge with and I like passing said information down, so others may get multiple opinions, which may make it easier for them to decide for or against a certain product.
Laters,
Tim
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Tim, I read your review as listed and it is one of the best detailed review that I have seen. I do not think you missed any good or bad points on the Gamo Viper. Hope to see more of your reviews in the future. Your review really helps the new air gunners make an intelligent decision on the Gamo Viper air rifle purchase..
Thanks for sharing with us.
Gene
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Thank you kindly.
Thanks,
Tim
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Hello Terry. Pardon the late post but I'm still finding my way around at GTA. Bought my Viper after looking at and shouldering 4 or 5 other air rifles and the Viper just felt the best to me. It looked and felt good and we went home together. I started doing some research online and here we all are. Installed one of CDT's triggers and that made a world of difference, can't say enough good about CDT and his trigger. Will probably do a review after I get up to speed and have some targets I'm not ashamed to post!!! Have fun.
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Of the few aire guns that own,this one is my favorite,when i want to get the job done!. The GRT trigger is a must have if you want a great improvement in accuracy.
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I likes mine..... :emoticon:
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Is that a 1.5" circle your keeping them in??? Way to go man.
Jason
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Thx man,yeah it`s 1.5"But it was about 2000 rounds gettin there,I was ready to give up and sell really cheap,when all of a sudden I couldn`t miss.Now it shoots pretty much with my German & English guns.And I`d much rather take it out at night and in the rain than the "others".Just ordered a new hunter 440 from Natchez,Thinkin about a stock swap,just somthin about wood,albeit it needs refinishin :emoticon: Really been ponderin on a flyin dragon qb....next victim maybe???
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Heya leftcoast did ya sell that b40?man i wanted to say I`ll take it but lack of funds done away with that...oh well maybe next month...
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Barry yea I sold it Saturday night. Just waiting for the money order to show up. I just desided not to shot FT right now. I do I still have tuned Webley Vulcan that I could use I would have to change out the scope. I may even have to gas ram it. Need a chrony first.
Jason
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Jason, have you seen the cheaperthandirt.com,theyre sellin the basic model for like $70.
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Thanks!! If I can sell off the scope I bought for the B-40 I could look more seriously. Thanks for the info.
Jason
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Hello Paul,
I agree about the GRT trigger, since my original post starting this thread, I have installed a GRT trigger and it has made a nice rifle even better.
Terry Bassett w9trb 8)
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No prob...just thought I`d show off alittle...
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I have a Viper (as you can probably tell by my name), and it is simply one of the best airguns I have ever used. I've only put about 300 shots through it though, so I can't say too much about it. I purchased the Gamo Pellet Sampler Pack, and it hates the master points, with the Hunters grouping the best. Unfortunately, in my area, there are barely any pellets around here. Dick's sporting goods sells only gamo pellets, and some copperheads (which I wont even bother to try). The trigger is pretty heavy, and long. So it takes some getting used to. But after that, its smooth sailing from there. The one thing thats strange is the yellow sticker on the bottom that says "1", and around the borders of the stickers it says "INDUSTRIAS EL GAMO", which I know means Gamo Industries, but what does the 1 mean? Whatever. The bull barrel takes some getting used to, but its still very fun. And I used to have a Winchester 1000X with 3-9x32 Scope, but I had to take it back because it seemed to detonate with every single shot.... I did get a rabbit with the Winchester (i'll post some pics if you like). I have to say that the Gamo is one HELL of alot easier to cock than the Winchester. The scope was somewhat difficult to zero on the Viper, but I like it otherwise. Just so all of you know, the Viper isn't really silver, but more of a dark gray.
Robert
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Welcome to the forums Robert. Sounds like you are liking that Viper,,, quite a few guys on the forum have one. I myself would like to get one, and probably will one of these days, but right now the wife would kill me if I bought another air rifle.
Oh by the way,,, a real easy fix for that stiff GAMO trigger is to order a GTX trigger from Bob (aka:charliedatuna). Trigger drops right in and it's simply amazing to say the least.
Looking forward to your future posts, and if you hunt make sure to post the stories and pics in the "Hunting Gate".
Jeff
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If I did order that trigger, how would I go about installing it?
Thanks,
Robert
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Rob he includes very clear instructions on installation. It seriously took me 20 minuets and I took my time. Theres 4 screws, and like 4 clips to remove and it all comes and goes togeather easy.
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Would this void my warranty with Gamo?
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When you replace the trigger you keep the original GAMO trigger. If you ever have to send it back to GAMO for warranty repairs it's a simple 10 minute job to simply put the original trigger back in before you ship the rifle.
Jeff
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just finished putting in my new cdt trigger in my viper, and i cant belive what a difference it makes, i thought my scope was off or getting bumped or just hard to zero. viperslasher its not your scope it the pos stock trigger, put in a cdt trigger and you will hit everthing the first shot. i cant believe a trigger makes so much difference. :) i was missing from 30 yards 9 out of 10 shots. now with new trigger 9 out of ten shots are within a 1/4 inch at 30 yards :emoticon: .. instalation was easy. just pop off the 2 black rubber grips from the stock(closest to end of barrel) and you will see 2 torx screws( one under each rubber grip). the last torx screw is located in a hole just behind trigger under gun. take these 3 torx screws out and the barrel assembly lifts straight up from grey stock. then follow the easy instructions on cdt site, one set of instructions has pictures. it is almost magic how good it works. i was going to replace the scope with a better one but now the guns dead on with stock scope. i also bought the gamo 4 pack of pellets, i think the match pellets shot the most accurate. all i know is each kind of pellet flies different and you can only site your scope in for one pellet and all the others will be off the mark by a few inches at 30 yards. hope you enjoy the gun i just got my viper and i love it. buy the cdt trigger its mandatory 8) if you want to hit anything
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I still shoot very accurately with the stock trigger, I can hit a can of soda at 100 yards with the stock trigger and stock 3-9x40 scope. Apparently this trigger doesn't affect me as much as it does to you guys, so I guess I'll leave it alone... but if I ever do have trouble with it (and even at the beginning of the break-in period, i'm not having any trouble really). I still haven't found the right pellets (but so far the Gamo Hunters seem to group best, one inch groups at 50 yards). But thanks anyway guys. And I forgot to mention, for some reason the Windage knob got stuck, so I was always shooting to the left, so I thought it was as far as it'd get, but I thought, hey maybe its jammed. So I turned it to the other direction, then it unjammed and it was working again. And I must ask the other Viper owners, the windage and elevation knobs, are they yellow and stuff with two sticking out prongs out of each knob? Just asking because most scopes have a metal coin like slot for you to turn with a screwdriver or dime.
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my viper is very accurate now with new cdt trigger. here are damage shots with the flat tip gamo match pellets from 25 yards. the pellet almost went through the penny. i wonder if the pointed style pellets or the harder alloy raptorswill do more damage :)