need holiday advice please....

Hi, my boyfriend & I shoot highpower & hunt... I was going to get a nice little air rifle for the holidays to round out our collection, but had no idea how involved they are (and how cool they can be!).

I'd love some quick advice for a rank novice if anyone has the time.

After some reading, I've settled on Gamo for a starter rifle. I'm wavering between the Shadow 1000, Hunter 220 and Hunter Elite. I'm looking for accuracy, ergonomics, power & aesthetics (in that order). The goal will be for some serious plinking, hours of shooting, and hopefully small game (but not likely as we live in NJ).

I've read that the Shadow is extremely impressive for what it is, but is cumbersome to load, and I hate the synthetic stock. I hear that the 220 is quite smart looking, but has a crummy trigger and the spring is questionable.

I have no experience with airguns, and will not have the option of checking them out before I buy one - so I'm just making a blind leap and hoping for the best.

So here are my questions:
1) of the three, which might serve me best?
2) should I get the optics package or get another scope & mounting hardware (any advice welcomed)
3) is there a particular round I should make sure to have when figuring out what it likes?

Finally, I'd LOVE to get our new rifle tuned, and CharlieDaTuna sounds great... but does anyone know if i'm allowed to ship an air rifle from NJ (and receive) for service? I know I can't order one and have it delivered to NJ.... (of course I can check up on this, just figured I'd ask as long as I was typing anyhow)

many many many thanks for any advice. and have a wonderful holiday season.... - buck

btw.... read the thread about wives... funny stuff... I must be odd though, I have three fly rods for every pocketbook I own... : )

I bought the Hunter 220 about 2 months ago and I'm happy with it. The trigger did stink until I ordered Charlie Da Tuna's trigger.
It did come with a scope that I just upgraded. If you have the option of getting it without the scope I would do that and get the $27 Tasco
3 -9- 32 listed in the Bargain Gate. I did and its much better than the one that came with it.

Well since all three have the same power plant and trigger and are rated at the same power level.
I guess it's up to which one you like the looks of most, and the one you can get the best deal on money wise.
I just finishing up on a Quest tune and sending it back to N.J. in the morning. A dealer can not send a rifle to you in New Jersey but a private party can as far as I know. I send and receive rifles all the time here in Michigan which is the same as N.J. about a dealer sending new rifles to this state.

I went to the sheriff’s office and talked to the officer who handles pistol registrations and he knew of no law that prohibits it as long as the persons are of age and able to purchase a rifle legaly in the state.

gamo's are nice guns that if tuned become super nice ,but keep your opp's open look at beeman and rws also .One more thingfor a starter gun a scope package would be a good thing

stoli, thanks! I emailed Charlie as well, and he just kindly replied.... sadly, he doesn't work on guns from NJ...

thanks for the heads up on the 220... I like good optics, and after some reading around here, got some tips too.

I think a 220 might be it.... sounds servicable & sound, a good place to start.

I just would need to get this trigger worked on (not before xmas of course, but soon after)... both my bf and I are trigger 'snobs' and like them hairy w/no travel or slop.

Peter, interesting... do you use UPS? I visited your site... would you be able to tune up a 220 for me? I'd just want to check with UPS before I commit to shipping anything anywhere.... my Benelli rabbit gun needed service recently and I was able to send that to the manuf. and they sent it back to me via UPS no prob.

threeguns, thanks so much... yeah I was quite shocked to find a whole nother world in airrifles... until just now, I basically thought they were either plastic toys or $2000 match rifles, never knew about the 'tweeners. I don't have time now to do too much comparison shopping, though I did more reading and might want to seriously consider a CFX while I'm at it (any advice? : 0 )

If we love the air rifle thing, I'm sure we'll grow into it and make mistakes & learn like everyone else. At the very least, we won't go broke shooting all day!!

Hey, thanks everyone, nice warm welcome here and I appreciate y'all taking the time to help me out.

Like I said, 220 looks like it, tho gonna check into the CFX once more too... then gotta find someone in NJ that can get it for me ...

have a wonderful holiday everyone and many thanks again.

Peter, I lumped my reply in one statement, but wanted to make sure you know that I appreciate your taking the time, and may be in contact with you. thankyou.

threeguns, thankyou too for taking the time, much appreciated....

Buck1173,
Since I'm from the (not so) great state of NJ also I feel your pain.  Yes, you can send air rifles out of state, I 've done it several times.  The problem you may run into is that some privately owned places such as Staples won't do it (at least in my area) even though it's through UPS.  Actually, Charlie had done two of mine a couple of years ago.....he does great work.
All three rifles load the same way, so you might be talking about the CFX in that it is a little more difficult to load because of the rotary breech.  When it comes to optics packages you have to be careful.  Some of those scopes are basically a .22 rim fire scope with a parallax setting at 50 yards.  A lot of time you can get a better quality scope for reasonable price with a good strong integral mount.  Don't skimp on the mount, these guns pack a good amount of forward and reverse recoil and usually make normal mounts slide.  Just something else to think about.  Since you hate the sythetic stock, your choice would be the 220 and hunter elite, I personally like the new hunters but that might be more than you are willing to pay, at least to start out, try the 220 or if you can find one the 440, a little nicer, but based on the same internals as the others.

BTW, are you from the north or the southern part of NJ?

keep an eye on the classified  ads here and on other  places  alot nof times you can get a gently used and professionally tuned airrifle for the amount of a new gun  .GOOD LUCK THREEGUNS

[shadow]

Sound's like your off to a good start and the member's here are nothing but helpfull. Calamity jane was handy with a gun too and it's nice to know that there are still some gun packing gals out there. Again welcome,GTA is a great place to be. Ed

Mark, thanks! Aw, Jersey's ok... I can't think of too many other states where you can deer hunt in the am, trout fish in the afternoon, and hit the beach for stripers in the evening... and stand a chance of doing reasonably well! If you can afford to live here any more that is : (

Thanks, ok, I was trying to sort out why the CFX fell into a dif. category, didn't realize that about the er, action... I'll keep it simple for now and try to get my hands on a 220 or an elite... I actually called Gamo today to get their advice... the rep told me to just keep with a 220, that an elite is just more snazzy looking, no more... I like the bullbarrel though, always did like them..... dunno, gotta sleep on it.

Thanks too for the advice on the mounts... I did a little more reading here, its neat, I didn't expect these little buggars to actually kick... I think this will be kinda fun!

I ran into the same trouble when returing my benelli... went to local 'ups stores' and actually had one guy throw the box back at me and toss me out of his store when he found out it was a shotgun... I felt so crummy, like a criminal or something... but the actual ups locations, guys are great.

and I live in both the north & south...  NYC for work, Phili & AC for fun

thanks again so much!!!

thanks ed, you guys are really helpful here, thanks again

[vinceb]

I work in Philly (that's where I am now).

NJ is a bit strange with regards to shipping. UPS has officially informed me that they have no problem shipping air guns into or out of NJ, although private UPS shippers like Staples have the right not to take packages. But you can print UPS pre-paid shipping labels online and then arrange for UPS driver pickup or give them directly to a driver if you happen to run into one. And if you have a prepaid label, some outfits like Staples or other "UPS stores" will let you drop off the package without even asking what's in it.

Oddly enough, you can do the same with the Postal Service. I've shipped air rifles (again, using prepaid labels I printed online) directly from the Post Office. They ask if the contents poses a risk to mail handlers, which of course an uncocked air rifle does not. So I say "No".

Once I had the lady ask me what was in the box. I just smiled. She asked me if I KNEW what was in the box, and I said "Yup.". She then asked me the "official" question (which is all she can legally ask, I believe) about mail handler risk, and I replied in the negative. So she took the box.

As for receiving air guns, some vendors will ship to NJ and some won't. It's a voluntary thing on their part. Again, UPS told me they don't care. From those that are willing to ship here - I've had no problem whatsoever getting them shipped to my house. But, at least I do have a FID card that lets me own long guns.

If they ask what's in the package tell them sporting goods, that works also.

Hi Buck
I know you've made your short list, but I would still suggest a CFX in whichever calibre you prefer. I know break barrels have been around since the dawn of time, but in my opinion, they are not the best engineering solution. A fixed barrel is just that - fixed. The CFX is also a superb gun in it's own right. The Gamo trigger is possibly not as bad as some make out, but a mod, by Rich from Mich or CDT would no doubt improve it a lot ( I'm waiting for the mailman to deliver my mod). Whichever way you decide, good shooting!

PS. Don't go for an all  in optics package unless you are sure that the scope on offer is OK. Probably better to purchase a scope separately, but be sure it is rated for recoiling airguns. They are far more vicious than .22lr!