Ever since I saw this rifle online I've wanted one. I think the look of it just intrigued me, but for whatever reason it's been calling to me. I've had my finger on the "order" button numerous times but always managed to resist, but the other day I was standing in Walmart looking at a whole shelf of em and I just couldn't resist. I bought one, raced home and secreted it in my basement workshop so the wife wouldn't see it and give me hell. I even payed cash for it so there wouldn't be any credit card trail. I know that sounds terrible but it's true and I freely admit I've got this addiction real bad and just can't stop
Upon opening the box I found the rifle neatly packed, surrounded by molded foam padding and encased in a plastic sleeve. Upon taking the rifle out of the plastic sleeve the first thing I noticed was that the rifle had a thin film of some brown colored oil covering most of the metal. the second thing I noticed was that the muzzle break was a little loose. No big deal as I intended to take it off anyway to clean the barrel underneath, so I loosened the 2 retaining screws and removed it. Underneath the muzzle break I found quite a bit of that brown oil clinging to the barrel and inside of the break. Again, no big deal, just a little messy. I took a rag and wiped off as much of the oil from the surfaces of the gun as I could and gave the gun the "once over".
The gun was in great shape. No dents, dings, scratches or any damage at all that I could detect. I removed the rifle from the stock so that I could clean all that brown oil film off the gun and get a better look at the metal and bluing. After a few minutes the last remnants of the oil was gone and the metal surfaces were squeeky clean. I also had to clean the inside of the molded stock as there was a film of oil inside there as well. Now that the gun was finally clean I could look closely at the rifle.
The bluing is good, not the best I've ever seen of course but it's fairly deep in color and consistent in application and it's pleasing in appearance. The muzzle break attaches with 2 small screws (like the ones used in scope mount stop pins) and once tightened down it sits very securely on the barrel. The molded synthetic stock is extremely solid in thickness and construction, extremely sturdy and has some weight to it. The raised stippling effect on the stock, intended to assist in gripping the stock, is in my opinion well placed, well designed, comfortable and very effective. I have to say that I personally find this stock to be extremely comfortable, perhaps the most comfortable of all my rifles. The stock has a rubber butt plate that is affixed with 2 screws. Knocking on the stock with my knuckle I expected to hear that "hollow" sound that my GAMO rifles made before I filled them with memory foam, but this rifle didn't sound hollow at all. Matter of fact it sounded nice and solid. I haven't taken the butt plate off yet so I can't say whether that portion of the stock is indeed hollow at all, although I would assume it is. I think reason it doesn't sound hollow is simply that the synthetic stock is, like I mention above, very thick in construction and very sturdy. I definitely prefer this stock to any of the synthetic stocks on my GAMO rifles, but that's just my opinion.
The dovetail grooves cut into the top of the receiver were even, consistent in depth and spacing and were perfectly aligned in the center of the receiver and in line with the barrel. The rifle receiver also has a scope stop pin hole drilled into it, although I'll have more to say about that later in the review.
The trigger, as everyone is probably aware, is exactly the same as the classic GAMO trigger,,,, so a CDT drop in trigger is an easy fix if this trigger doesn't suit you. I'll mention my feelings on the stock trigger in a bit.
The scope that comes with the rifle is a Centerpoint 3x9x32 Adjustable A0 with a mildot reticle. The mount that comes with the scope is what appears to be an Accushot 1 piece medium height 4 screw mount with stop pin feature. I say appears to be because I can't absolutely say it is an Accushot but it sure looks like one so I'm thinking it is.
The rifle package also comes with a gun sock and a pack of bullseye shooting targets. The gun sock is nice, I guess, but I tried putting the rifle into the sock and found it to be a pain in the butt,, it was an effort to get it to slide over the installed scope. Perhaps it will be easier to use once it stretches with some use, I'll have to see. I guess it's handy thing to have if you don't have a rifle case to transport the rifle in, but I doubt I'll use it much if at all. The printed material claims the sock is silicone impregnated, which I guess it is, so I guess storing the rifle inside the stock might not be a bad thing, who knows. On to more interesting things.....
I mounted the scope after cleaning all the parts and scope with denatured alcohol. The mount slid easily into the grooved dovetails. As for the scope stop hole in the receiver,,,,, prior to purchasing the rifle I had read some reviews that mentioned that the stop pin in the mount was to large to fit into the receiver stop pin hole. In my case that was partially true. Prior to installing the mount I test fitted the pin to the hole and did in fact find it to be a very very tight fit, however I found if I applied pressure straight down on the pin while turning the allen wrench the pin did start to work it's was down into the hole. I was convinced that if I lined up the pin with the hole and then securely tightened down the mount screws that I would be able to screw the pin down into the hole deep enough for the stop pin to work as designed. It would of course be an easy matter to simply enlarge the hole just a bit with a drill but I didn't want to do that as I wanted to make sure I intended on keeping the rifle before I start taking tools to it.
Anyway, back to installing the mount. Like I said above, the mount slid easily into the dovetail grooves. I lined up the stop pin with the hole in the receiver and then tightened down the mount screws enough to hold the mount firmly. I then inserted the allen wrench and began to screw the stop pin down into the hole. I felt some resistance, which I expected, but by applying even steady pressure as I turned the screw I felt the pin seating itself inside the hole. It went in very snugly but it was in there and it was nice and secure. I then tightened all 4 mounting screws the remainder of the way and the mount was installed. I of course used blue loc-tite on all screws. I placed the scope in the mount, adjusted my eye relief, and tightened down all the screws. I put the rifle aside for my usual 12 - 24 hour loc-tite drying and curing period.
I usually like to wait 24 hours for the loc-tite to fully cure but I was so excited about testing out the gun that by the following afternoon (14 hours curing time) I couldn't wait any longer. I cleaned the barrel thoroughly with Goo Gone, removing quite a bit of "gunk" from the barrel, fired a couple of cleaning pellets through it, then I took the gun out of the gun vise and went outside and got all set up to shoot.
I decided to use CPL's for the initial sight in. The first couple of shots dieseled loudly and produced some white smoke from the barrel, but after a few minutes it settled down. The first thing I noticed upon firing it was that there was no harsh "twang" or vibration. The gun did have a tiny, and I do mean tiny, spring twang to it but it was so slight it was almost non existent. As for vibration or "twist" from firing,,,, there was none. I was really impressed. When I first picked up the gun I was instantly impressed with the solid feel and weight of the synthetic stock, and I remember thinking that this stock should have a very positive impact on the firing/shooting characteristics of the gun,,,, well apparently it does. It was a pleasure to shoot.
The cocking effort is very smooth and easy. No grinding, no binding,,, just a nice smooth cocking cycle time after time. The barrel lockup is very solid and consistent, locking with a nice audible "click" each time. I could not detect any movement of the barrel once locked and it was a pleasure to cock it, nice and smooth. I Pressure applied on the barrel after lockup to see if I could detect any "free play", but none was detected.
The rifle is a pleasure to shoulder and aim. The overall design and weight made it very conducive for me to point quickly and accurately. It just seemed to come up on target very naturally for me.
The trigger is stiff, but I have to say that the trigger on my rifle really isn't that bad. I did have to concentrate on trigger control in order to maintain accuracy, but once I got used to the trigger I found it comfortable to use. I didn't try adjusting the trigger at all, I just left it as it came from the box. I may play around with adjusting it and see how much, if any, I can lighten it up, but to be honest I'll no doubt wind up ordering a trigger from CDT very soon anyway.
The scope performed very well. The optics were bright and clear, the mildot setup is nice and functional, the AO and magnification dials turn easily and smoothly, and the windage and elevation turrets caps and actual adjustment dials function smoothly. As for the AO accuracy,,, I tested out the distance settings using the measured distances on my backyard range and found them to be accurate to within 3-4 yards at distances of 15, 20, 25 and 30 yards. The scopes AO can be set from 50 feet to infinity and it provided a nice clear, in focus, picture of objects close in.
As for weight and length......the rifle measures 45 inches from butt to muzzle tip and according to my calibrated scale it weighs in at 9 lbs 1 ounce with the scope installed.
Once I had the scope sighted in at 25 yards with CPL's, which by the way produced nice dime sized groups, I began my pellet grouping tests. I tested a total of 19 pellets,,, the results are listed below.....
CPL----------------------dime sized groups
Tomahawk--------------nickel sized
superdome-------------quarter size
crow mags-------------dime size
predator----------------dime size
destroyer--------------quarter size
CPHP-------------------quarter size
Beeman FTS-----------dime size
RWS SHP--------------dime size
Beeman Silver Bears-------no pattern at all --all over the paper
Gamo Match-----------dime size
Crosman Wadcutter--silver dollar sized
Gamo Hunter----------dime size
crosman pointed------quarter size
Gamo rocket-----------half dollar size
JSB Exact express-----quarter size
JSB Exact---------------quarter size
Gamo master point----quarter size
Gamo magnum---------all over the paper
I was very pleased with the grouping tests,,, it revealed that I have numerous options when it comes to pellet choices. I wound up sighting the gun in for the crow magnums for no other reason than I have a ton of those pellets on the shelf and they perform well on starlings at the duck farm. But it's nice to know I have numerous other pellets to switch over to for different hunting applications should the need arise. And,,,, these tests were using the stock trigger, which like I said I really don't mind,,, but I know once I put in a CDT trigger my accuracy will improve.
Overall Rating: In short,,, I love this gun. I absolutely love the solid overall "feel" and weight of the rifle. During my field test at the duck farm hunt yesterday I found the contoured stock to be one of the most comfortable stocks I have, with respect to both shooting and carrying. The curved contour molded into the middle of the stock made the rifle extremely comfortable to carry for long periods and the surface texture provided a very secure grasp.
The scope functions well and the mount appears to be holding rock solid.
I'm impressed with the rifles cocking, firing characteristics and accuracy as well as the overall quality of the rifle.
For $124.00 I feel this rifle package is a great deal. I feel I received a good gun, a good scope and a good mount in a nice tight package.
Well, that's it,,,, sorry the review is so long,,, I just wanted to try and make sure I covered every point I could think of. My observations and remarks regarding this rifle of course represent my opinion only,,, and are based totally on the gun I wound up getting. If I left something out of the review and you have any questions shoot me a message and I'll try to answer the best I can. Again,,,, sorry the review is so long..............
BTW: I didn't get to chrony the gun yet,,, but when I do I'll post the results........
Jeff
