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Education / Training Shoot in style with Gamo’s wheelgun

Shoot in style with Gamo’s wheelgun

By B.B. Pelletier

If you’re looking for a neat CO2 revolver, try Gamo’s R-77 6 Walnut. It has the styling of the Smith & Wesson 586-6 but for a lot less money. With warm weather upon us, CO2 guns are ripe for outdoor shooting!

A secret technique for loading the Gamo swing-out cylinder
To load the Gamo gun, press each pellet deep into the rear of the cylinder. Don’t just stick them in – press with your finger until you feel the pellet pop past the restriction. Your velocity will climb significantly.

The action pushes the cylinder forward when you shoot, sealing the cylinder against the rear of the barrel. That’s how Gamo gets so many shots at such good velocity from a revolver that would normally leak at the barrel junction. The only other way to do it is with tight tolerances, which costs a lot more money to make. Watch the cylinder as the gun shoots (without pellets!) to see what I mean.

I’ve noticed that this gun shoots faster double-action (just pulling the trigger to fire) than single-action (cocking the hammer first, then pulling the trigger to fire). I think more force hits the valve in the double-action mode.

For a budget gun, it’s full of features
The sights are adjustable on all models of the R-77. The grips are large, comfortable and removable – to allow access to the CO2 powerlet. The R-77 even has a safety, which is not very useful on a revolver, but it’s there and it works. Of course, the best safety is the shooter who keeps the muzzle and trigger under control at all times.

I steered you to the 6″ barrel because it looks and balances better than shorter barrels. Also, it’s the model that has walnut grips, which make it look even nicer. If you’re on a tighter budget, though, Gamo has an R-77 under $70.

I would suggest lightweight pellets, such as RWS GECO or Gamo Match for the R-77, which isn’t a fast shooter. Lighter pellets give it the extra oomph it needs to cut nice holes in your targets. And, R-77 shots can be safely stopped by a Daisy 850 pellet trap, which is both large and affordable.

The final word
Okay, I began by comparing this revolver to the S&W 586, and that really isn’t fair. The S&W is all metal and there is a lot of plastic on the R-77. I will cover the Smith revolver in a future post, but let’s stick with the R-77 for now. For the price, it’s impossible to beat all the features it offers. If I were to buy one of the other two shorter-barrelled models, it would be the 4″ version. If you like revolvers and one of these models fits your budget, they’re great guns to consider.

author avatar
Tom Gaylord (B.B. Pelletier)
Tom Gaylord, also known as B.B. Pelletier, provides expert insights to airgunners all over the world on behalf of Pyramyd AIR. He has earned the title The Godfather of Airguns™ for his contributions to the industry, spending many years with AirForce Airguns and starting magazines dedicated to the sport such as Airgun Illustrated.

30 thoughts on “Shoot in style with Gamo’s wheelgun”

  1. Denny.

    First of all, a small amount of extra weight probably would not damage the valve. But it might not achieve anything else, either.

    If the gun’s barrel is short, there may not be any good way to increase power. You might get a louder report from extra gas being expelled, but that would be all.

    I’ve seen a few guns whose hammers were too light, and they could benefit from some extra weight, but many can’t.

    The valve probably can’t be opened any farther than it is right now. All you can hope for is a longer dwell time, and that may or may not happen.

    Last year a number of Condor rifle valves were ruined by extra-heavy hammers. In that case, the valve is on the ragged edge of performance as it comes from the factory and adding more weight did do serious damage. Experimentors were telling each other on chat forums to increase the hammer weight, but they weren’t admitting when they had to have their valves rebuilt.

    So experiment at your own risk.

    B.B.

  2. Hey man, excellent postings. I’m in the UK, new to CO2 and planning to buy a revolver. Can you give me any advice? Are the Gamos as unreliable and problematic as people say? Can you please try to match my criteria against your knowledge base to recommend a best option?:

    >HATE HATE HATE slow, sluggish, or hard trigger pulls – pet hate!

    >Prefer metal, but a good polymer is ok

    >PREFER proper revolver cylinder (not toy-like strip with false shell of a cylinder)

    >want power and reliability

    2 top candidates are a 4″ Smith and Wesson 357 (586?) for about £105 and a 2″ Gamo R77 with walnut grips for £66…

    I would be very thankful if you, or anyone, were able to advise me, or suggest other models… I wouldn’t rule out a semi-automatic, as long as it is a real semi-auto with proper, functioning magazine and not of the type that are really revolvers disguised as automatics, with the 8-shot cylinder under the slide… Please help advise me. D

  3. D.,

    With CO2, a short barrel robs you of velocity. I mention that because you say you want power.

    The Gamo R77 is pretty reliable, but you will hate the trigger pull. It stacks up in double action.

    The S&W 586 is the gun for you. The trigger pull is even nicer than the one on the firearm, and the cylinders are real, though removable.

    You won’t regret buying this fine airgun.

    B.B.

  4. Thanks, B.B. crisp, easy trigger pull is a big thing. Does the main cylinder actually revolve, or just the wee thin clip at the front? Also, I love the look of the 4″ but can get a 6″ for the same price. Is the 4″ up to much in terms of performance? Would i regret not getting a 6″ I’m looking for a nice balance and size. Many thanks for your previous reply, and thanks in advance for this one! David C

  5. David C,

    I shoot an S&W .357 Magnum 586 with a 6-inch barrel and feel it’s the best-balanced pistol in the line, but the 4-inch feels very nice, too. The 6-inch is a little muzzle-heavy.

    Just the thin front cylinder rotates. Go here to read my blog on it.

    /blog/2006/3/smith-wesson-586-686-revolvers/

    Good luck!

    B.B.

  6. Thanks, man. I thought the main body of the cylinder looked like a false, static shell. nice gun and really pro looking. still swayed towards 4″.

    As for semi-autos, can you recommend any with a real working magazine (as opposed to being 8-shot revolvers under the slide, if you know what i mean)? I like the look of the Anics 9000, but am not sure. Can you list any others like this one that have a working magazine? Sorry for pestering, but i want to get it right first time and it is a lot of money to waste if i don’t. David

  7. David,

    There are a number of harmonica magazine pistols. FWB, Walther make them and the B96 from the Czech Republic is an inexpensive imitation.

    The Drulov DU-10 Condor is a five-shot semiauto, and of course the classic Crosman 600 is about the best one ever made. These two do not have removable magazines.

    Before you buy the Anics you might want to read my report on the Skif A3000.

    B.B.

  8. is there anyway i can purchase the revolver with the 2.5 inch barrel. i really want a small pistol and noticed that its length is a mere 4.5 inches overall. the snub nose revolver seems just what i am looking for. unfortunately, i see that it is discontinued but pyramyd states that the price is on request. does that mean that even though the model is discontinued the factory still has some not yet sold and that i can purchase one? if there is no possible way to get this pistol do you have any recommendations for any real small pocket pistols for me. the smallest i can get the better with decent power b/c i shoot indoors most of the time. thanks!

  9. do you have any news on whether pyramyd still has a few snubnoses. that would be greatly appreciated. and if pyramyd does not have any snub noses where i can still get one or any other suggestions for real small pocket pistols. thank you very much

  10. thank you very much BB, i appreciate you taking the time to do that for me. any suggestions on any small pocket pistols for me (besides the obvious, ex: p 23, cp99, c11 etc)

  11. i was wondering what small pocket pistols there are as well. do you know where i can still get an r77 with 2.5 inch barrel? IF not, any other suggestions for pocket pistols. the ppk/s really isn’t that small – its basically the same design as the p23 which is a much better gun since it has double the velocity and the option to shoot pellets. i own a c11, but thats the same same as a glock 9 mm which is average sized though not small. other than that i have a 2250 rifle which is also large and a 2004 which is large as well. i would like something to fit into my pocket easily – the r77 would do just that. im not sure if there are any other airguns like that.

  12. The Gamo R77 comes with a 4-inch barrel, only.

    I don’t know of any other air pistols as short as what you want. The Jaguar Cub was even smaller than the small R77, but it’s obsolete and now a collectable.

    The problem with making a CO2 pistol small is that you lose so much power. The PPK/S, which is smaller than the R77 snibbie, has velocity in the 300 f.p.s.region (just like the R77) because of this.

    B.B.

  13. isn’t the ppk a bb shooter? that makes the power between the two much different- 300 with a .177 light wadcutter has in my opinion double the knock down power as a .173 bb. the r 77 has acceptable power – especially when it is so easy to put it into any pocket when going to the range (my backyard)to shoot it. although the ppk is fairly small, in real life its a .380 which is not a true pocket pistol when comparing it to a tph for example. ive realized though that small pocket pistols will never have their niche in air guns b/c the velocity and accuracy will be just to poor for most people to like. anyway, i have one more interesting question. is it possible to make a small multipump pneumatic pistol – like the 1377 yet have the top slide be the pump. that would be awesome if airgun companies could come out with a r 77 sized multipump pneumatic that requires 10 pumps to get like 300 fps. just an idea lol

  14. I owm this gun & I love it!

    Looks, feels, & shoots great!

    Unbeatable for the price!

    PA is currently out of stock on this one, but I just posted a review, that should show up in a couple of days.
    So if you want a little more info on it, check it out.

    – the Big Bore Addict –

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