Gamo Whisper busting my scopes

[JimL911]

Yes a bad seal allows for piston slam and the scope suffers. The vibrations will also cause screws to loosen. If it is still dieseling after 1000 shots I would suspect your seal was damaged when the ram was installed. Normally a .22 doesn't have as harsh a firing cycle as a .177.

[doc1310]

Read this first and then the others.  These explain about my whisper, which had the same problems as you. I sent my gun off to Gene for a tune. Other than sending it back to pyramid, I had no choice. Read ,research and have fun learning about your rifle. If funds are tight, These guys and gals will teach you all you need to know about tuning your own rifle. Explore the science of it all. Wish I had the time.

Regards,

http://www.gatewaytoairguns.com/airguns/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=18827&posts=7&highlight=whisper&highlightmode=1#M152239

http://www.gatewaytoairguns.com/airguns/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=18827&mid=152021#M152021


http://www.gatewaytoairguns.com/airguns/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=18592&mid=150226#M150226

[Bullfrog31581]

Thank you to everyone for the responses. Based on the feedback it sounds like busted seals might be my issue. I'm going to read the threads that doc1310 posted. I am on a budget, but no matter what I chose I'm going to have to spend some more money either to get things fixed or get a new gun. What kind of price range might I be looking at to get the gun tuned?

[JimL911]

As long as your ram is fine all you would need is a new piston seal/breech seal/piston buttons. Some polishing and lube with a trigger should be about $100 plus shipping. But you would have to verify that with a tuner.

[CO_AirGunner]

FWIW, I have the Wal-Mart CenterPoint 4-16x AO scope on my Air-Venturi'd Whisper in .177.  When I installed the AV ram in my Whisper, I also did a tune and replaced the piston seal.  The AV made short work of my factory Gamo scope, which I had previously had problems with.

My rifle has been VERY consistent since the AV install and CenterPoint scope and I've now put approximately 1,000 shots on the clock with this set-up.  The scope has not lost it's zero, and I can easily and consistently ring a 8" x 8" metal gong at 100 yards with it at my shooting range.

I can also hit soda cans full of water at 50 yards without any trouble, and domed pellets (JSB exacts and RWS super domes) punch all the way through (Crow-Mags expand too much and lose too much energy at that range).  The rifle is just a solid thud when shooting, and at 50 or 100 yards the sounds of the pellet hitting the gong is louder than the shot itself in the range house.  Guys who I've let shoot it at the range are surprised how well it shots and have a lot of fun with it.

[Bullfrog31581]

I've sent my .22 off to Gene for a turbo tune. I also sent my fiance's .177 that has the factory spring installed. I'm hoping a good tune and new seals will fix my problem.

[doc1310]

Good luck. My tune from Gene did a great job. I'll post numbers soon.

[chortdraw]

Was so happy with how good my Whisper was shooting. Then today I was shooting real tight groups and then my scope focus just went to pot. Tried to get it back into focus by going back and forth with the adjustment and found a spot that was a little better. Shot one time and it changed again. I guess it is trashed. So I will read more on what scope will hold up to the Whisper??? My last group was 1/4 ' and shot the center out of the target. Damn.......Chort

[doc1310]

Was this scope the Bushnell that you just got? If it was then take it back and try another. Maybe you got a lemon. Straightshooters.com list scopes as light, medium and heavy. You might try one of their heavy recoil scopes. Something you might also try is removing the Gamo scope base. In mine the stop pin holes were becoming egg shaped. So I removed it...( you have to remove the stock and take off the plastic end cap to remove the scope base.) I then used the Gamo one piece mount on the dove tails and so far it has worked fine.

Good luck,
Paul

[cnsjones]

Hey Chort,  about how many shots have you fired before the scope went?  
I am still less than 500 estimated, and scope seems ok so far.  Kinda expecting trouble in the future, because every now and then I get a flier and a different sound from the gun.  Thanks

[chortdraw]

I figured I have a little over 500 when it went. Even the cross hairs broke apart. I just put a bushnell 4x12x 40 I got at WalMart today on the Whisper and sighted it in. I will put the XXL bushnell on the Rem.1200 when it comes in. I think it is the same one that Walmart sells for 69 dollars. I paid 99 for it at Optics best buy. Guess I should check closer next time. The Rem 1200 can hold dime size groups at 10 yds. with open sights so I will be interested to see how it does with the scope at longer ranges. Also ordered a GRT 111 trigger for it. It seems to shoot quite fast and doesn't seem to recoil as much as the Whisper? It does have a nice looking walnut colored stock on it. It also likes the Crossman 7.9 hollow points that I have. Glad of that cause I have a tin of 500.

[chortdraw]

Not xxl I ment the 3x9x32 bushnell for the rem. Also have to get a one piece scope mount for it also

[Bullfrog31581]

I did have a Walmart Bushnell that busted. It lasted for a week before it went. It held a zero well, even after the focusing mechanism broke. After it broke, I took it back to Walmart and exchanged it for a Centerpoint. The Centerpoint died in less than 50 shots.

[Bullfrog31581]

Good news and bad news:

The good news is that I got both my .22 Whisper and my fiancé’s .177 Whisper back from Gene today and it appears he did a fine job tuning the guns. The .177, which uses a spring instead of an air-ram, is much quieter to shoot and all around shoots much smoother and more consistently. According to the charts, the .177 has gained close to 30 feet per second in velocity and has an average deviation of 1.70 fps and a max deviation of 6.0 fps. Before the tune, its average deviation was 6.30 feet per second and its max was 27 fps. The .22 didn't gain or loose any velocity, but it now shoots solidly in the mid 720s fps range, with an average deviation of 2.60 fps and a maximum deviation of 9.0 fps. Before the tune, it had a maximum deviation of 39 fps and an average of 7.20 fps. Also, my .22 doesn't visibly diesel anymore.

The bad news is that the tune hasn't stopped the .22's violent recoil. After an afternoon of shooting the rear sites have been knocked loose again. After having the gun tuned, I can only conclude that the problem is that the air ram is just to powerful for the gun. My options are either to take the air-ram out and replace it with a spring or to make the gun heavier in the hopes of giving something for the energy to vibrate into besides the scope. I'd prefer to keep the air-ram if I can. I hate to send my gun off again for another few weeks after I've been parted with it for so long. Also, the fact that I can leave the air-ram cocked is something I need for hunting.  

Thus far, my plan is to fill the hollow areas of the stock with something (maybe spray-foam or silicon?), add a heavy recoil pad, buy a Hawk scope rated for heavy recoil, and switch to ultra-heavy pellets. Can someone add to or comment on these ideas?

If there's a positive to the air-ram trouble I've been having, its this... that darn thing causes a pellet to pack a wallop when it hits, even more so after the tune. Today I shot a hole through a board of cherry wood the size of a quarter after a few shots. I haven't had that happen before.

[Bullfrog31581]

This afternoon I filled my .22's stock with silicon. I plugged the bottom of the stock with heavy foam and filled the cavity to the brim. Before the fill, the gun weighed 5 pounds. After the fill, the gun weighs 7.5 pounds. I also added a Sims recoil pad that I had laying around. I'll let it cure overnight and I'll shoot it tomorrow to see how it does.