Page 2 - Gamo Whisper CFR Reviews

I have had four 1000fps (springer) guns now, and this is by far the best. Last night I finally got to set up my 50M target after having sighted in for just under 20M. I printed a ground squirrel (maybe 7/8ths scale) and put him up. Even though there was a pretty good cross wind I was able to start hitting the target (clean kill shots) after the first two shot groups. Using the Beeman Kodiak Extra Heavy .177 Cal, 10.40 Grains pellets I was hitting my fake squirrel (chest shot) 4 out of 5 times. I believe the outliers were all due to wind gusts that were stronger than I predicted. This would not have been possible with my previous break barrel springers.

Heavy, hard to use for a "hunting" rifle. Can’t shoot wad cutters, they don’t slide into the chamber.

Quiet, but of course not with the light fast pellets that have sonic cracks. Stick to heavy pellets and this thing is amazingly smooth and repeatable.

This is meant to be a followup to my initial review. I have put about 2000 pellets through the rifle, and tried six different locally available types of pellets. If you don't want to read this lengthy review, then just know that the gun should be able to shoot with almost anything that is even near this price range, and would make an excellent field target rifle (assuming you can get enough scope on it for range estimation, and still clear the breech). It is also almost completely immune to hold sensitivity. I fired it from directly off sandbags without a hint of issue. It feels almost like a firearm in that respect due to a low amount of recoil, and an extremely quick shot cycle.

The rifle definitely has continued to deliver. The only thing that holds this rifle back at all is the trigger. It is better than any other gamo I have shot, but is still far short of keeping up with the rest of the rifle's quality shooting characteristics. Unless you have a trigger job performed or buy an upgraded trigger, you WILL be fighting with the trigger to get good groups. That being said, I did a trigger job and watched my groups shrink immediately. After 1000 pellets down the barrel, my groups started to become very impressive. There were some flyers here and there during the break-in period, but they have all but disappeared now. I also found that several pellets shoot well out of the gun, and I'm sure I still haven't found the best pellet. I tested the gun from a two-bag benchrest at 20 meters today. I fired 2 10-round groups of each pellet type and measured my results. At a tie for last place come daisy and crosman pointed pellets. I couldn't keep them all on an 8.5"x11" sheet of paper. Just terrible. Crosman Wadcutters averaged .59" center-to-center, but could have done much better without a flyer in each group. I think that the skirts are too thin for the power level of this rifle, and some were getting blown out...or maybe the flyers were my fault. All flyers were vertical flyers and were dead-on for windage. Crosman Destroyers were just about even with the wadcutters, but the groups were a little more open in general, but had no real flyers.

The second best pellet was the Gamo Hunter domed pellet. It hits audibly harder than any other pellet I tried, and penetrated very well into my thick cardboard backstop. Groups were very consistent, and measured an average of .42". Probably a good choice for hunting tough game were a little extra knockdown (or flat-shooting characteristics) is more important than that last .1" of accuracy. The best pellet of the test was easily the crosman premier hollow points. The 2 10-shot groups averaged .22" center-to-center, with one group coming in at .19". I just kept expecting to see the one-hole groups open up on the last few shots, but they held. If there is a better pellet for the gun, I'm not sure I could shoot well enough to take advantage of it. This is my first airgun to approach MOA accuracy, and I am a happy customer. Oh, and if anyone is curious, the scope I used is a Bushnell Banner 6-24x40mm with mil-dots. It mounted just fine in the cheapo rings that were provided with the Gamo scope, and the cheekrest is perfectly adjusted when all the way up (for me at least). There is a problem with this setup though. The bell of the scope actually covers the loading port because the scope is so long, so I had to use an allen wrench to get the pellet into the chamber, and operating the rotating breech was almost impossible. I will be mounting a Centerpoint 4-16x40 scope and seeing how that works out.

Obscene accuracy. Fairly lightweight for a magnum underlever. Very, very quiet. The adjustable cheekpiece allows huge scope objectives to me mounted and still have a perfect cheek weld. The pistol grip stock that has a small storage compartment for allen wrenches, pellets, or whatever you want. The excellent fiberoptic sights. The Nitro Piston exceeds my expectations. I have trouble believeing that anything in there is moving. It is almost silent, and the shot cycle ends very quickly. The nd52 suppressor is pretty effective when used in conjunction with the nitro piston. Trigger is not the best, but way, way better than any gamo I have ever felt, and I know that it will get better with use. Of course, I'll probably be installing a GRT4 trigger soon anyway. Uh, did I mention the absurd accuracy. The non-automatic safety. The comfy grip panels in the stock.

Stop including disposable scopes with fairly high-end airguns. I would rather save a measly $5, or get some pellets than have another cheap "bundled" scope sitting in the pile of useless gun parts. I guess it might be okay on a cheap airgun or rimfire that isn't used for any kind of target shooting, or for the hunter that always shoots within the scopes limited parallax-error-free range at fairly large targets. Basically, though, I will not be disrespecting any of my rifles with a cheapo fixed 4x32. I would also like to see a better trigger fom the factory, and for it to be made of metal. There is also some side to side play in the trigger that does not impress me. This trigger is useable without making the gun unshootable, but it could be so much nicer. How about some provisions for a sling? I know springers hate shooting sling use, but just for carrying the rifle by a carrying strap it would be handy.

I was hesitant to spend this much coin on a Gamo, as I have always found Gamos to be very good guns in the $100-250 price range, but this cfr seems to be a very competitive gun even in this higher price range. I used field expedient sighting methods to get a rough zero at 50 yards, and then proceeded to knock 5 12 guage shells shotgun shells off my back fence at 50 yards with open sights from field target positions. It took 6 shots, and the one miss was definitely me struggling with the creepy second stage of the trigger. I'm sure that I will see some pretty crazy groups after I mount my Bushnell Banner 6-24x40 scope. Hopefully it will clear the loading port. My Centerpoint cheapo 4-16 fits just fine, but I want a little more scope on this gun.

I like the physical weight of the rifle and stock, its very solid. Feels just like any of my normal firearms. Its a very positive feeling rifle, feels like it will last a long time. With crosman destroyers I can shoot consistent groups at 30 yards the size of a dime. It can reach farther but there is a fair amount of ballistic drop. The scope is enough for the gun, was easy to set up too once installed. Has held its setting through 500-600 shots and being kept in a rifle rack in the truck. It can feed some of the longer/larger pellets. Although they seem to feed a little rougher than i expected. The trigger and safety being operated by the same finger is very nice. The nitro piston gives a very solid upgrade to the standard CFR. When the trigger breaks it gives a very nice solid shot. Almost like its a 22 cal rim fire. I plan on using this for plinking, mice/rats, squirrels and birds. I have no doubt it'll do it and more. The "sound reduction" is very notable in comparison to my other rifles. It could be quieter but i enjoy not hearing that supersonic crack. I had the 10 for 10 test done, shot 900's to 950's.

Im not sure if its me or the trigger, but it feels a rough. Maybe it'll break in and be smoother. The loading port could have been longer or a different angle or something... And i dont like how it has to be cocked to put the safety on. Also the included scope mounts just feel cheap. They have worked themselves loose several times. I've had to lock-tight them and even still i dont like them. But... they work. I had problems not stripping the hex heads. They are very small. The included allen key did not fit. Buy new mounts... just save yourself the headache. And just out of curiosity i wonder what it would look like with a stainless steel barrel...

Get an assortment of ammo. It shoots most ammo with no problem. I personally don't recommend the very light weight stuff for this rifle. The standard middle weight or medium heavy weight ammo seems to produce the best groups. The heavy stuff just seems to be overkill... Just remember every rifle is different and you're going to shoot it, so it's your choice...