Gamo6110017154 Varmint Air Rifle

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 yards1 sparrow down @ 12 yards1 Oreol or Starling (with orange circles on wings) down @ 18 yardsPro'sOver 250 rounds and zero heldGood weightDecent quality for priceFun 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

The included scope is decent enough. Make sure the mounting screws have some sort of threat lock on them and make sure they are tightened down properly (I torque down to 20in-lbs). Very accurate up to 30 yards. Beyond that the pellets start dropping off. I was hitting targets out to 70 yards or so, but you have to compensate for drop. I recommend getting an optic that has some sort of drop compensator lines so it's easier to make shot placement. It's definitely not a "tack-driver" but it's accurate enough for targets or pest control.Easy to cock and load. Nice predictable trigger. Light weight. Accurate. Not extremely loud.

Update: 3-27-2018I disassembled the rifle and discovered the problem. The piston spring has broken about 3 inches from the rear end. It then rotated and screwed itself forward into the coils of the larger part of the spring and climbed over the coils blocking the sear from engaging the piston. It is a shame that I can't get parts from Gamo, because this is by far the easiest air rifle I have ever worked on. I could replace the spring in less than 5 minutes if I could get one. I own 3 Gamo's.Update: 3-17-2018Mine no longer works. The sear doesn't not engage the piston, it can't be cocked. Gamo has not responded in any way for assistance in getting it fixed. I own and maintain over 30 air rifles and am quite capable of fixing this if I can get the parts. It seems I can't. I have had great service from several other air rifle manufactures and distributers. It makes more sense to send a qualified owner a $5 part than to expect them to pay $50 to ship the entire rifle back and forth. I can fix the rifle faster than I can package it and mail it but only if I can get the parts.Update: 7-12-2017This rifle just keeps getting better with use. I have now shot close to 1,000 pellets thru it. Several styles of pellets that it shot just O.K. when new, it now shoots them very, very good. I have a large quantity of daisy wad cutters that I bought for less than 1/2 cents each on clearance at local farm supply stores. 177 Cal. Flathead Pellets 500 ct None of my other 177 cal. guns, rifles or pistols shoot them worth a darn. In my Hatsan 125 and Edge magnum springers Hatsan 125TH Air Rifle Combo, Camo Stock air rifle Hatsan Edge Air Rifle, Vortex Piston, Black air rifle these pellets are only useful for the considerable exercise I get cocking the rifle. Now that the Gamo Varmint is broken in, it now shoots the Daisy pellets almost as well as the high quality H&N match rifle pellets. This makes for very economical plinking. Unlike the Magnum springers This rifle is so easy to cock that you get little exercise doing itUpdate: 7-2-2017I set up the crono to see why another New rifle of mine was behaving badly, (velocity about half of what it should be) and as long as I had it set up I ran a few rifles thru it to see what they would do. My Gamo Varmint is pushing 8.18 grain H&N wad cutter lead pellets at a consistent 910 feet per second. EXCELENT results.Update: 6-27-2017I have found a pellet that this rifle has fallen in love with. H&N Match Rifle wad cutter pellets, 8.18 grain. H&N Match Rifle, .177 Cal, 4.49mm, 8.18 Grains, Wadcutter, 500ct This pellet makes this rifle think it is a PCP. It just puts them exactly where you point the gun. This target was shot at 10 meters from a bag rest by a 68 year old guy who doesn't see all that well. Shots #1 and #2 Were scope adjustment shots dialing in the point of impact for the new pellets. This is great performance from such a moderately priced gun with a non AO scope. This rifle shoots many pellets moderately well. It has a very nice trigger, making it easy to shoot accurately. The safety that does not reset itself is a feature I really like especially when target shooting. I like this almost as much as my gas piston Benjamin Prowler. This is probably the easiest to shoot spring powered rifle that I own. The recoil and torque are very moderate.I have a lot of air rifles. This one is in the top half of its class. It is usably accurate and the supplied scope is very nice. The parallax is set to air rifle range, making 10 meter target shooting relatively easy. The gun has very moderate cocking effort and a decent trigger. The rifle is lightweight making it easy to carry for hunting or plinking. The recoil is moderate and the spring torque is minimal, aiding its accuracy. Shooting off a bag rest, punching holes in paper It does not posses the pin point accuracy of some of my rifles but for off hand plinking and hunting it is just fine. I am the limiting factor when doing those activities. I have not yet found a rifle that can compensate for my lack of stability. I have discovered that taping a 3 cell Maglite to the end of the barrel when hunting coons, helps a lot! The considerable weight calms things down a bit.So far it is just a nice rifle, I have only put 2 or 3 hundred pellets thru it. It may get a little better with more use. If it does I will update my review.

The rifle itself is great, super easy to use and very fun to shoot. It works amazing on chipmunks but shooting grey squirrels, ground squirrels and woodpeckers has been a challenge, especially because they tend to tank the hit, unless you hit their neck or heart. I've had at least 10 squirrels slip away while reloading after tanking a centermass shot, in addition to 2 woodpeckers. The scope for me is the biggest issue, ive used about 700 rounds at this point, at least 500 have been on sighting in the rifle every 5-10 rounds. Im purchasing a different scope right now, so we'll see how it goes. Overall, its a great product for beginners at a decent price, just get a new scope.

for the price its a great gun.....quick delivery , description is accurate and shoots with power around 1300 fp . It will go through a plastic garbage container around 60 feet

This is a nice rifle to shoot. The trigger pull is adjustable but I found it satisfactory with the factory setting. Sighting in was easy. The LuxorCu are a bit loud but Tomhawk pellets are quieter. Compared to my past BB and pellet rifles this is much more accurate.