Viper .177

First post.  The rabbits eating up the garden are a problem, but my wife just could not stand the chipmunks destroying the flower beds.  So I made a trip to BassPro and picked up a Viper .177.  I bought this gun with no real foreknowledge of Gamo products and I have limited experience with air rifles.  I own a low end Beeman that has the worst trigger on the planet.  The Gamo trigger is actually a considerable improvement over that one.  I was looking for some additional power as the Beeman shoots about 650 fps.  To be honest, I just liked the look and feel of the Viper over the other guns.  It's about the same weight and balance as my favorite shotgun.  The marketing guys got me.

I'm not particularly happy with the scope due to parallax issues.  At least I believe it's a parallax issue.  The target floats at anything over say 4x.  Also, I don't really need an illuminated scope.  My real concern is that I think this is a BSA rifle scope and not an actual air rifle scope.  It works fine, but we'll see how long it lasts.  Does anyone have an opinion on this?

I spent some time zeroing the scope with my six year old son.  He was in his glory.  Shooting glasses and sniper cap.  After it was close enough to zero, we started shooting a 1 1/2" metal reset target at 15 yards.  With the aid of a rest he was hitting targets within 10 shots.  I felt relieved over any accuracy misgivings I may have had.

About an hour later, I dropped our first rabbit at about 25 yards.  It has plenty of power for a clean kill.  The next morning I dropped a chipmunk at about 15 yards.  It also seems to be accurate enough for small targets at relatively short ranges.  I'm pretty happy about both issues.

I've done a good deal of reading on this forum and couple of others since then and I'm going to shoot it for a while as is (out of the box).  Does anyone have any opinions on pellet choices to shorten my quest for the perfect pellet?  I'm just using Gamo Match for paper and Magnum for critters right now.  I've read that the round pellets may be more accurate, but picked up the pointed ones for penetration.  I'll be picking up some more pellets from other sources soon, but I'd like to start with better choices.

As for the future, I think a GRT III trigger is a definite.  I'll have to learn more to determine whether a DIY polish and lube tune is possible or if I should send it out for professional work.  Any opinions on this would be most helpful.

Thanks,

Rob

I target shoot with friends at 100 feet. I prefer the Crosman Premier Lights, 7.9 gr., in the  box of 1250 count, for the price/power/accuracy/consistency combination. I can get groups of less then 1" at 100 feet, pretty consistently.

Right now, I have a batch of Premiers that I am burning through, that some had extra mold cast on them and I threw out about 10$ of them already, by hand sorting them. The rest are still a little sub par, but, I hate to waste them all. Some shots seem to be wildly off. This was not the case with my first box of Premier Lights, though, so I know it's the bad lot (DIE #7, Jan 18, 2006). The box I just received from Pyramid Air (DIE #7, MAY 30, 2007) seem alright, though, I can still see a seem on some of them, but, overall, much better.

With the Premier Lights, I have been getting around 950 FPS, out of my Alpha Chrony. With the Raptor PBA's, just for the occasional laugh, I get over 1150 and the noise of the sound barrier breaking, but, accuracy suffers. I may do some further testing with Gamo Hunters, Beeman Kodiaks, Premier Lights, Premier Heavies, etc., to see which ones I get the best grouping with, but, I already out shoot all of my friends, most of the time. Though, I have been shooting firearms since I was about 1 1/2 years old, when I stared with .22 rifles, that I had to lay on the ground next too, in order to shoot, since I could not hold them up. I've done a lot of shooting since then.

They seem to be more consistent with Gamo Spring guns, compared to Beeman Kodiaks, Gamo Hunters, etc.. I was going to order some JSB Exacts, but, since my friends may not be able to afford that kind of ammo, I stayed with more of the Premier Lights.

I have a Gamo Viper, which I have done a review of here: http://www.reviewcentre.com/review247473.html

So far, the sight has held up just fine with approximately 1500 to 2000 rounds through it. It's stayed on, only needing adjustments for weather/wind conditions. I like the illuminated reticle, for black parts of targets, as well.

I will probably get the GRT-III trigger myself, both for the Viper and my new Shadow 1000, that I purchased the next day. I have not decided yet on the full Turbo Tune, yet. Again, I don't want to start an "arms race" with my friends, especially when some can not afford it, like the one that shoots a $20 Cummins rifle, which does quite well, with open sights no less.

Good luck and have fun with your new Viper.

Laters,
Tim

[leftcoast1]

The CPL are very popular through out the the airgunning world.  As for pellet choice StrightShooters has a nice sampler pack. I think it has 12 different pellet types with 25 of each. Its a good deal to find out what it likes best. The scope is made by BSA and is airgun rated but I have heard mixed reviews mostly about parallex. I have a couple of leapers scopes that have illuminated reticals and would not give it up. Nessesary not all the time but a nice feature.

[nyairman]

Hi Rob and welcome to GTA. As far as pellet selection, do try many types as your rifle may like one brand and someone else's Viper may like another. It seems to me that the JSB Preditor pellet works well for just about everyone. My Gamo's LOVE 'em. Extremely accurate and the hunters here swear by them for smaller game. Do try them. I think your rifle will love them.

Greg

[vinceb]

...fer critters. Not with a reasonably potent gun, anyway.

As for tearing it down and "tuning" it, doing so voids your warranty so make sure you shoot it a lot first! Generally speaking, Gamo's are pretty decent out of the box (expcept for spring twang), so you shouldn't have any urgent need for the work just yet.

Oh, and BTW - I know what you mean about the Beeman trigger. It's a lousy Norica trigger design that is found on several Hammerli air rifles - costing up to $300!

Thanks for the help, guys.  I will try the pellets that have been mentioned as they seem to be working for a lot of folks.  The pointy pellets were a newbie mistake, although they're shooting well at the distances I'm currently comfortable.

I don't really have any complaints with this gun.  It's working, but the twang is pretty serious.  I'm going to put a few pellets through it before making any changes.  It's tempting to hear the great stories about the success people are having after their tuning, though.

Hammerli makes some great pistols.  I have no experience with their air rifles, but I'm shocked to hear that they use that atrocious trigger.  I think it's the one found on Beeman's GT600 series.  Mine is probably six years old and it's been gathering dust since I bought it.  The pull on the thing must be 9 lbs.

Rob

[leftcoast1]

If the pointed pellets are working don't stop using them unless you find something better. You could buy 2 identical guns and them not shoot the same pellet. I was reading somewhere that the new hammerli guns are not built by them at all. I want to say they were made in turkey but I don't remember.

[longislandhunter]

Hey Rob,

Welcome to the forum.  Greg is correct about the Predator pellets, they are devastatingly effective on game and almost all of my rifles shoot them extremely well.  The sampler pack from Straightshooters.com is definitely worth getting, can be a great asset in finding out which pellet your rifle will like best.  

Another excellent pellet, that is also very inexpensive, is the GAMO Tomahawk pellets.  They fly true in almost every one of my guns, you get 750 in a tin, and they've take down squirrels, rabbits, woodchucks for me with no problems.  They might be worth a try also.  

I agree with you,,, the viper is a nice lookin rifle for sure.  I was recently in a gun store near my home and he has one for sale.  I almost bought it just for the looks.

Best of luck with your new gun.  Keep us informed on how the search for the perfect pellet goes.  Also, we just love to see hunting pics, you can post em in the "Hunting Gate".  

Oh yeah, forgot to add,,,,,,,if those pointed GAMO Magnums are working for you by all means keep em and use em.  I have a tuned B-3 that shoots those things like a laser and I take rabbits and squirrels with them all the time with the little B-3.

Jeff

[vinceb]

They are made by Norica, who also makes (and made) the old Beeman S1 and the more recent GS and GH series. A couple of Norica models are copied by Shanghai of China and sold as the Beeman SS1000, TF89, and AR1000. And I suspect the Hammerli Titan, but I'm not 100% positive about that. Some of the clones have one trigger, some the other.

The Norica is a fairly well made gun, twangy but accurate. But that trigger (on some models) is not a lot of fun.

[leftcoast1]

I knew someone would know.  

This is my non-scientific attempt at a short list.  It has been my experience with other firearms that certain loads perform better with a wider range of guns.

The names that seem to pop up a lot are:

Crosman Premier Light
JSB Predator
RWS Superdome
Gamo Tomahawk
Gamo Hunter

I'm not sure the Gamo pellets really fit, but I've seen them frequently.  The first three definitely seem to be working well in a lot of guns.  Feel free to amend.

Straight Shooters sampler pack (this kind of represents everything else).

Maybe this will be helpful to someone.

Rob