Gas Ram Me...

[LongIslandArcher]

You're still ahead if you're getting a Theoben gas ram gun in the end for only $140.  BTW, the Theoben is $145 plus $10 s/h and David Slade only takes checks or money orders.  Checks take an extra week to clear whereas a money order clears right away and you'll  have your gas ram in about week after you send him payment.

[shady816]

i don't know if i would pay the extra since i reversed my crosman ram in my gun and did get better fps but found the recoil to be much more i think in my opinion there is no difference in quality between the two other than theoben found that by reverse install privided more fps. think about it there is alot of weight slaming forward with the ram body doing the moven much harder on the gun and all it's components now this would be exceptable for a quality made gun but as for gamo's i would keep the violent recoil down or your asking for trouble.

[tjk]

OK let me play the "bad guy" on this thread. I don't think putting any kind of gas ram/ strut system in this rifle is going to be much of an improvement in the over all performance. It just doesn't seem to justify the cost either. Also being a lightweight hollow bodied stock isn't going to make the situation any better. Ex you want to know why the Beeman RX-2 is such a heavy rifle,....because the Theoben gas ram is so strong, that accuracy will suffer without a solid platform (dense heavy stock) to shoot from. But getting back to the Gamo Big Cat, I'd recommend tuning it with a Maccarri spring and seal for the fraction of the cost and enjoy the rifle for what it is. tjk

[thebookdoc]

TJK, I appreciate the sensible suggestion. As my original post says, I'm not really worried about performance. It comes down to a learning experience. I have springers. I have some excellent springers (in my estimation). I don't have a gas ram. I hear the kick can be pretty stiff. I hear a lot of things. HOWEVER, if I don't experience them, then I don't know what I am talking about. Is the recoil from a gas ram different from a spring? It is from what I hear. If I give advice on rifle scopes and someone asks me about putting one on a rifle with a gas spring, I can't rightly recommend anything I've tested just on a springer. One of my new hobbies is testing scopes on springers to see if the ratings really hold.

If I were just fixing the rifle, you are right...I think I'd just put in a new spring and be done with it. However, there are rams made that specifically fit this rifle... I think I need to try it for the sake of experience and to have a gas-spring in my collection. I'm not looking for another investment in another rifle...I expect I need the money to buy another scope cause of the last ones I broke ;-)

[LongIslandArcher]

Shady,  the problem you're probaby having with your Nitro Piston gas ram being installed backwards is because you didn't install washers at the end of the ram rod that would butt against the receiver tube back-plate.  The Theoben gas ram has a threaded hole tapped into the end of the ram rod and two 1" dia. washers are screwed to it.  Also, I suspect you also didn't shim the gas ram tube body so that it doesn't shift around inside the piston sleeve.  Therefore, you're going to experience all those things that you just mentioned in your comments.  My CFXes  with the Theoben gas rams are stacking pellets one on top of the other.

[tjk]

OK sure I see where you're coming from. The Gamos are tough on scopes for sure. I had a BC a few years back myself.  From  my experience with the RX-2, if it were in a synthetic stock, the recoil would probably similar to that of a Diana 350 magnum rifle. The biggest advantage with a ram is that you lose the twist and canting from the  torque of the spring during the firing cycle when it's expanding. But for frontal and rearward recoil,....you aren't going to lose much at all without a dense stock,  and I think that is where  scopes really go through the most trauma. Synthetic stocked springers are somewhat of a different species in their own right too. Good luck with the Ram and your field testing!! Hope to hear of the results in the near future,  tjk

[shady816]

you suspected wrong because i fabricated all new delrin washers and ram guides to fit it in the gun backwards and i'm not saying don't do it. i just can't see paying the extra for the same thing thats all. i will say for quality sake that my crosman ram is no good it went flat on me with about 2 thousand pellets thru it.

[LongIslandArcher]

Shady, the Nitro Piston does have a tendency to go flat.  I have a Crosman NPSS that had a failure of the piston, which I took out and sent back to Crosman for a new piston.  I recently took out a Nitro Piston I had installed in one of my CFXes that started going flat on me.  Whereas I was getting 980 fps with it in .177 cal. last year, I was getting 680 fps when I chronied it a few weeks ago.  That's when I replaced it with a Theoben.  Believe me, the Theoben is a tamer, but more powerful, gas ram than the Nitro Piston.  I'm in the process of replacing all the NP gas rams from my CFXes with Theoben gas rams.  If you've never laid your hands on a Theoben gas ram, then you wouldn't know that they look and feel to be of a much higher quality than the NPs.  

The way the Theoben is installed lends itself to better energy retention when the gun is fired, leading to greater muzzle velocity.  F=Ma - the greater mass accelerating inside the compression chamber produces greater amounts of forced air behind the pellet.

[shady816]

i thought about purchasing the theoben but with all the troubles i have had with my cfx and breech seals due to the gas ram i went and put the NP into my gamo hunter and was really loving it until it went flat but it is still warrenty so PA is sending me a new one. i was getting in the low 900 with the cfx after new breech seals but it would only hold up for around 100 shoots then i would begin to see moly starting to appear at and around the rottary breech so i decided to go back to the spring in the cfx so i would have a reliable gun from time to time.i still have all the hardware i fabricated to install it like the theoben and may still try it like that in the hunter.

[LongIslandArcher]

Shady, when you installed the delrin shims for the gas ram body, how did you secure in place the one that goes on near the sear catch?  The force of the gas ram body and piston slamming into the compression chamber would be enough to start shifting that shim up into the piston sleeve if it's not secured, causing your gas ram to bow upon compression.

[shady816]

i poped off the plastic one that came on it and there is a shallow lip on the body so i fabed one with a very tight tollerence with the same nub to fit on the lip mine was very tight and it never moved it lipped over the front of the ram so it could not slide and when removed it was still fully intact with no sign of movement.

[LongIslandArcher]

Ahhhh...okay.