Monthly Archives: July 2007

by B.B. Pelletier

Gamo’s Hunter Extreme is a big air rifle.

It’s big and it’s “EXTREME” – that over-used adjective that seems to have replaced “radical” as the flavor of the day. But is it any good? And how about Gamo’s claim that the rifle shoots lightweight pellets made of a compound they call performance ballistic alloy (PBA) to velocities of 1,600 f.p.s.? Is that true, and do we airgunners even want it?

Lots of questions, so a big blog series. We begin with the gun.

The .177 caliber Gamo Hunter Extreme I am testing is a big breakbarrel air rifle in all ways. I went to the Gamo USA website to look at the specifications, but they lacked even the most fundamental specs like overall length and weight. The site is incomplete and appears to have been that way for several months. They also say the barrel is a bull barrel, which I would not agree with. It is a new barrel profile that looks like a long muzzle brake, reaching back almost to the base block, then tapering down to a smaller profile. The outer barrel jacket seems to be aluminum and the inner barrel is steel.

read more

by B.B. Pelletier

Part 1
Part 2

There is a new podcast up on the website.

Podcast – Part 2

It’s the first of August, and I’m back to the CX-4. Let’s take a look at performance downrange. Before we do that, I tried to mount an optical sight. I say “tried,” because at that point I discovered a problem with this design.

Pretty obvious why this scope doesn’t work. This is the UTG Tactedge 4x long eye-relief scope that I believe is perfect for this airgun, but taller mounts are needed.

The tall front and rear tactical sight housings are so high that they limit the scopes that can be installed. You will need ultra-high Weaver rings to fit a long scope like the UTG Tactedge 4×40 long eye-relief scope I tried to mount. I have such mounts in 11mm, but not in Weaver because it isn’t a traditional airgun scope base.

read more

by B.B. Pelletier

Before we begin, Dr. Mirfee Ungier has answered a question about scope parallax and and the wearing of corrective eyewear. Here is her report.

Contacts always have you looking through the optical center of  the lens.  However, depending upon the glasses prescription, turning your head to view the target off the optical center of glasses will induce a variable amount of prism.  The stronger the glasses, the more prism might be induced.  Typically, someone with a correction under about 2.5 diopters will not have too much to worry about until they get into advanced competition.  People with higher degrees of refractive error would be better off in contact lenses. It should be noted that protective eyewear, i.e. safety glasses, are not an issue and should still be worn.

read more

by B.B. Pelletier

Part 1

Today’s blog is going to be a BIG one, so settle back with your coffee cup and make sure the pot is still hot. At the end of my report I’m going to do some editorializing, because there’s something I have to get off my chest. This will sound like a rant, but I believe I can expose something that is seriously wrong with some companies today. Read it if you like. I will warn you before I launch.

For those just tuning in, a while back I wrote a post about a .45 automatic I bought that didn’t live up to its hype. Since I can usually steamroll my way past most airgun problems, I thought I’d use this experience with a new firearm to let you watch what I do when life hands me a lemon. And what a lemon it was! Read part one to learn what an uphill battle this turns out to be.

read more

by B.B. Pelletier

This post was suggested by a reader named Gary, who also goes by the handle oldhootowl. He asked specifically whether the Leapers compact scopes were made for airguns and would they fit on his Gamo Shadow breakbarrel rifle.

To that I answer: yes to the first and no to the second. The yes is unqualified, because Leapers scopes have been made for airguns since they started making them in the 1990s. Two things determine whether a scope can be used on an air rifle. First, is it parallax-corrected close enough and second, can it take the two-way recoil of the spring gun. Leapers holds the current record in close parallax correction, at 9 FEET with both Bug Busters.

read more

by B.B. Pelletier

Before I begin, there’s an announcement for all you .20 caliber fans. Pyramyd Air just uncovered a pile of .20 caliber Crosman Premier pellets! These are the genuine article and there aren’t many of them, so act TODAY.

I’ve been getting a lot of questions lately asking about airgun capabilities that are in the stratosphere. They have finally gotten to me, so today I want to address reality, as it concerns airguns.

The one-inch group at 50 yards
This one is the most commonly asked question of all. It goes something like this, “I want to get a hunting rifle and I want one that will shoot at least one-inch groups at 50 yards. I’m trying to decide between a .177 Gamo Hunter Extreme, a Webley Patriot in .25 caliber and an RWS 350 Magnum in .22.”

read more

by B.B. Pelletier

Part 1 – How it all began
Part 2 – Targets
Part 3 – Targets – Part 2

Before we begin I have an announcement. Pyramyd Air now has a podcast radio program about airguns. Tom Gaylord will do periodic podcasts about airguns and airsoft, and it’s on the main blog page. Look in the right-hand column, under Links.

Today I will talk about the organization of the squad and how it serves a field target match.

What is a squad?
At a field target match, shooters are randomly placed in squads of at least two shooters, but three are ideal and sometimes even four are necessary at crowded matches. The squad moves from lane to lane as a group, though each shooter is competing by himself against all other shooters in the match. The purpose of the squad is to divide the labor of the match so things move faster and smoother. Labor? There is labor in a match?

read more