7/13 UPDATE: I'm on 12 confirmed KIA's, this thing is AWESOME!!! I've had to re-sight the scope as it wondered off about 1" over and up; might have been banging it around too much. I re-sighted this morning and BAM!!! one round center mass on this squirrel eating my tomatoes....no salad for him ever again, wrong day to be a vegetarian homie!!!
6/2 UPDATE: One more confirmed squirrel @ 12 yards this morning...on my bday! So after leaving a super long comment yesterday, I wanted to point out that my way is only my way, there's many other ways to setup a weapon and get good with it. Remember what my mission is - to neutralize varmint who want to feast on my fruit crop in the back yard. Keep in mind this isn't going to have match-type groupings, but it's really good for the price around 20-25 yards. And after some more thought, the first two upgrades will most likely be a bipod and scope to really see how far out I can take this. The intent is to teach my kids with this thing in my CA backyard...not so fortunate to have acres like some out there. It's really quiet too, so hopefully the LAW doesn't show up...treat your neighbors kindly is key!!!
6/1 INITIAL: This rifle and Gamo scope are AWESOME!!!! My experience level: Certified NRA L.E. Firearms Instructor (Patrol Rifle/Pistol) with hundreds/thousand hours of instructing time, USMC 8th award rifle expert and 4th award pistol expert...but just a regular shooter now and then these days.
Why is this combo great for the price? Read below.
For starters, I opened the box and read all of the literature. I took apart the scope mounts and cleaned the lenses before assembling onto the rifle. I installed according to the instructions with loctite on all hardware threads, ensuruing my cross hairs were as level as possible...but I'm not certain this is a huge issue, as for anyone who has used an Etch-a-sketch would know how fine adjustments to your Y and Z axis will get you a good zero.
How I "zeroed" the included scope:
Once scope was mounted, I screwed each vertical/lateral adjustment knob to it's fully seated position.
Grab a beer - Then I SLOWLY counted each click as I adjusted them back out to their full maxed out positions...this was like 420ish clicks YIKES!!!
Divide your clicks in half to find your "CENTER POINT" of reference. Adjust each knob to it's center point by counting those individual clicks...open second beer.
Now you are ready to ZERO the .177 beast...
Then, I determined what my "AVERAGE" distance was I'd be shooting; for my purposes I'm really only concerned with plinking squirrels and birds in my back yard about 10-20 yards.
I set up a good prone position with semi-soft mat and barrel rest...I don't teach basic firearms positionng over the internet, do your own research.
NOW, the scope says 1 click = 1/4 inch @ 100 yards..or 4 clicks for 1 inch @ 100 yards.
As I'm shooting 50 feet (16 yards) and my math is horrible, i rounded up to 25 yards for easy math.
Knowing this 1/4 conversion, 4 clicks @ 25 yards "should" yield me 1/4 inch of movement on target; for an inch, I'd have to adjust 16 clicks.
One thing that can make zeroing with this rifle a pain is you have to change your position for each reload...your average shooter will have different positions each time they reload and assume the prone position...just how it works with this break barrel design; might be where people give up because they can't get consistent groups.
With a semi-auto weapon, your prone position doesn't change much if you have a stable position to begin with...unless you are shooting .50 Cal I guess.
Open third beer - this is where patience is your friend. I chose my target to be a palm tree in the backyard, so I could see horizontal/lateral impacts due to the dark bark breaking, and showing white flesh underneath....wife might have been mad, but I made her dinner to ease the anger!
HOLY SMOKES I didn't know how fast and deep those little rounds would penetrate...be careful of your backstop i.e. neighbors house, cats, etc,; these are more powerful than one would image (if you've never shot pellet before)
Since my target reference point was a dark black knob, I always used the same spot and walked in the rounds through fine adjustments after each shot placement.
Once on point, I put the adjustment knob covers on and waited for some friends to show up...
From the off-hand standing position:
1 squirrel down @ 9 yards
1 sparrow down @ 12 yards
1 Oreol or Starling (with orange circles on wings) down @ 18 yards
Pro's
Over 250 rounds and zero held
Good weight
Decent quality for price
Fun and cheap to operate...good for basic skills brush up as it's very accurate within 20 yards - haven't gone out further.
Rifled barrel...don't really know how pellets are affected, but I do see rifling wear marks on the lower edge of retrieved pellets after shooting into lemons..BTW, the Crosman Destroyer will go through 3 lemons @ 12 yards no problem.
Cons:
Breaking the barrel does require some force, my 7 year old has to put the buttstock on his leg and wrench down really hard to cock the action. So, expect to help kids around this age and younger as they might get tired after a few reload evolutions. For me, not a big deal as I reload my mouth with IPA each time I reload a pellet!!! HAHA
| Brand | Gamo |
|---|---|
| Color | black |
| Rounds | 1 |
| Caliber | 177 |
| Product Dimensions | 43.3"L x 3"W x 6.2"H |
| Item Weight | 5.5 Pounds |
| Air Gun Power Type | Spring-Piston |
| Barrel Material Type | Alloy Steel |
| Frame Material | Plastic |
| Item Package Dimensions L x W x H | 45.9 x 5.8 x 2 inches |
| Package Weight | 3.27 Kilograms |
| Item Dimensions LxWxH | 43.3 x 3 x 6.2 inches |
| Brand Name | Gamo |
| Warranty Description | 1 Year Manufacturer |
| Model Name | Varmint |
| Material | Metal |
| Suggested Users | "" |
| Number of Items | 1 |
| Manufacturer | Gamo |
| Part Number | 6110017154 |
| Style | Pellet Air Rifle |
| Included Components | Air Rilfe |
| Size | 1 Count (Pack of 1) |
