by Tom Gaylord, a.k.a. B.B. Pelletier
Gamo P900 IGT air pistol
This report covers:
• Description of the gun
• Trigger
• Ambidextrous
• Power
• Overall evaluation
This report on the Gamo P900 IGT air pistol was requested by blog reader RidgeRunner, who became suddenly enthused by gas-spring technology a few weeks back. I saw this pistol in the Gamo booth at the 2014 SHOT Show; but since there was nobody there to tell me about the gun, I only knew what I could read in their static display.
The P900 isn’t the first pellet pistol to use a gas spring. That honor goes to the Benjamin Trail NP pistol I tested for you last year. Before testing that pistol, I wouldn’t have thought I could like an air pistol with a gas spring; but that one showed me there was a lot to like.
RidgeRunner asked me to test this pistol partly because of the relatively light 30-lb. cocking effort. Gamo is usually pretty correct when it comes to measuring the cocking effort of their airguns, and 30 lbs. is still within the capability of most adult men. This is not a youth airgun, though.
Description
The P900 has an auto-pistol profile, but a size that exceeds any firearm short of a Desert Eagle Magnum. It’s entirely synthetic on the outside, and that makes it a very light 19 oz., so almost anyone can shoot it one-handed without a strain. Besides the Inert Gas Technology (Gamo’s trade name for their gas spring), this gun also features their two-stage Smooth Action Trigger (SAT), which they say is smooth and crisp. I’ll test the trigger for you in the next report, but for now I can tell you they’re not exaggerating. It is two-stage and there is no creep. I can feel the trigger move through stage two, but there’s absolutely no creep.
The sights, on the other hand, are not easy to use. The rear sight is a light yellow piece of plastic that’s so bright that it makes the front bead difficult to see. The target will have to be lit brightly and the firing point will have to be dark. Otherwise, that yellow rear sight will make aiming difficult.
The rear sight adjusts for windage, only. A screw on the right side of the sight is turned to move the notch left and right. The manual shows this being done by hand without the use of a screwdriver, and I found that it’s possible to do. No tools are needed for sight adjustments. The adjustments are smooth and without clicks. There’s no scale on the sight to reference when adjusting, so you watch the rear notch. Move it in the direction you want the pellet to move.
The rear sight is yellow and so bright that the front bead is difficult to see. It adjusts for windage, only, with a screw on the right side.
The front sight is a red fiberoptic bead housed in a wide plastic globe that protects your hand when cocking. The globe is handy for protecting the hand when cocking, but it stops a lot of light from reaching the fiberoptic element.
The front sight is a red bead under a wide plastic globe. The globe protects your hand when cocking, but it also shades the bead from a lot of light. In bright indoor light, the front bead is difficult to pick up; but in direct sunlight, it glows bright red.
What may appear to be an 11mm scope dovetail on top of the barrel really is just decorative. This pistol is not suitable for optical sights.
The cocking linkage is a two-piece articulated arm. It probably has to be to provide the length needed to cock the gun at a reasonable effort. When the pistol is cocked, the barrel is broken beyond 90 degrees.
The barrel comes down past 90 degrees when the pistol is cocked.
The cocking linkage is in two pieces that articulate in the middle.
Trigger
I see the customer reviews are rating the P900’s trigger as not good, but they fail to elaborate. Sure, it isn’t as nice as the trigger on a Beeman P1, but this pistol sells for a lot less. For the price, I don’t see how this trigger could be much better. And, to their great credit, Gamo did not make the safety automatic. When the gun’s cocked, it’s ready to fire.
However, there is some confusion about this trigger. Gamo says it is a Smooth Action Trigger (SAT), but this one is not adjustable. On other Gamo airguns, the SAT is adjustable, so that adds some confusion to this pistol’s description.
Ambidextrous
The P900 is 99 percent ambidextrous. Only the safety button favors right-handed shooters more.
Power
Gamo says the velocity is 345 f.p.s. with lead pellets and up to 400 f.p.s. with their PBA ammo. We’ll test that in Part 2, but for now I’ll say this is a smooth and gentle pellet pistol. It’s going to be fun to shoot. The impulse upon firing is a solid thunk with no vibration. I had to tune my P1 to get it as good.
I also read some reviews that suggest the P900 is hard to cock, and the barrel should be longer. I don’t agree. Yes, it’s harder to cock than some other pellet pistols, but 30 lbs. or whatever it turns out to be is hardly debilitating. I wonder if these critics have ever tried to cock a Webley Hurricane?
Overall evaluation
I really like this air pistol so far. I had no preconceptions coming into this test, other than the gun might be hard to cock because it has a gas spring, but that didn’t turn out to be the case.
Wow! That thing’s lit up like a christmas tree! Not a bad looking gun.Nice little thunk you say? How much again? I hope it does well.
Reb
I’ve had a trail np pistol and loved loved loved it, don’t know why I sold it, oh yeah wanted the blackhawk, don’t know why I sold that.. oh yeah…. I’ll definitely be getting another trail pistol, best break barrel pistol IMO, this gamo looks like a fun little plinker but I wouldn’t say its gonna put any sweat on the trails brow, trail gets both worlds with its close range pesting/small game capabilities. Reb you had asked what happened with the np.22 it started blowing chunks… off the rear cap end of the piston all up in itself. Could replace the piston but might as well go for something I first had in mind, or just grab another trail pistol to wait on the talonp/whatever with. Summer and kids and everything has taken the urgency out of airgunning for now, definitely have enough to occupy myself but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t rather be shootin’! Lol
I hope there is eventually a NP2 pistol.
David Enoch
I don’t know if you’ve tried the trail npistol, but the extra cost for the additional features of the np2 would yield negligible improvement to be worth adding, I think the smooth np in the short operating space is great and at the price needn’t be fudged with. Now make a mini carbine pistol with the np2 to evolve what’s there, Id buy that.
I haven’t been able to get the link to work about the impact of this blog on my life, so I’ll just post a little here. Hunting and target shooting have been my past time of choice since I was a kid and archery was even my occupation for a few brief years until I had to shoulder more responsibility. I was blessed with a talent for hitting a target and spent a lot of time and energy honing my skill. I’m far from a world class shooter but I do hold my own with local marksman. Last fall while teaching my kid to shoot I got back into air rifles for the first time since I got my first bow and set down my 760 pumpmaster as a child. In my shop I’ve got a shelf and a few boxes of books about shooting, how to shoot, magazines, speer manuals, etc but nothing about air rifles. When I started looking for advice and information I had a very difficult time finding any guidance. Then I stumbled on to this blog and through following the current threads and digging through the arcives I found enough to fuel a strong interst in air guns. Over the long cold winter I ran some where between 10 to 20 thousand pellets through a Chinese break barel. The gun will group well when shot well but will string groups vertical, horizontal or just plain open up if I get even a little casual with it. That time spent filling duct seal full of pellets has lead to a very noticeable improvement for both my son and I. This practice really shined over this long holiday weekend starting with my son. My son along with two other kids got to shoot a fire arm for the first time. The targets were set at 25 yards with 1″ bianary bullseyes. When it was my kids turn he stepped up to the line with a bone stock 10/22 that’s way to big for him and blew that target to shreads first shot. And I shot well enough this weekend to stand out in a crowd of distinguished shooters which lead to invite to come be a fly on the wall later this summer during a little gathering in the states when some of the best of the best get together to blow off some steam. I am certain I wouldn’t have got this opportunity without the extra practice spent this winter and I wouldn’t spend the time on the practice without this blog. I know you weren’t looking to hear praise or complements for these response but Mr. Gaylord your modesty, patients dealing with inexperienced shooters and integrity certaintly deserve some.
Ben,
That link was supposed to end at the beginning of July.
Now I will compile the answers and write a report or two.
B.B.
Thanks BB, it looked like it might be a fun little plinker.
It is a shame they hosed the rear sights. Glowy thingy sights are bad enough, but bright yellow plastic? I guess their thinking is the bright yellow plastic is a cheap substitute for glowy thingy rear sights. You would think at least one of their engineers would try it out. I am sure a Sharpie could help make them usable, but you shouldn’t have to resort to such.
A plus to those rear sights is you can adjust the notch width and depth easily if you felt it necessary to do such.
I know that is not what they are intended for, but are you sure you could not mount a dot sight on that thing?
RR,
Pretty sure.
B.B.
RidgeRunner,
I was thinking the same thing.I have a little Daisy electronic point sight that looks like it’d clamp right on there. It’s about 4″ long but the mount is only about 2″ long
Reb
Of course there is the issue of just how wide is it across there and also anything mounted there will certainly interfere with cocking. How I see this thing is as a backyard plinker. How much accuracy do you really need to kill feral soda cans?
I’d be interested in seeing a 20 yard group just to know but I think the sights would make that a challenge but my point sight is good for 25-30 yard 2.5″ groups on a decent gun.
How would you cock it with a sight right where your hand goes?
As for the yellow rear sight, I think some flat black spray paint for plastic is in order. Should fix it right up.
Given that it is adjustable for windage, it must be removable… I wonder when someone with a 3-D printer might get involved making replacement sight blades out of a darker colored plastic material.
Tom,
I know you get a ton of requests, but was hoping someone would review the webley rebel. It is the only real competition that the benjamin 397/392 has on the market and it would be great to see how it stacks up. I’ve been holding off on the purchase b/c of the mixed reviews and would be grateful for someone with an extensive background to offer their opinion.
Erik,
Okay, the Rebel looks like an Indonesian Sharp Innova. I have owned several Japanese Innovas, plus one Indonesian one that wasn’t too good.
It’s an interesting gun. I’ll put it on my list.
B.B.
Erik,
I’m glad someone’s still making this gun! The last I read about it the quality was hit or miss, same with accuracy with people changing barrels and such, I believe there were also breech issues. I was very interested in this gun(or one of it’s precedents)at one point. Not so sure about my pumping arm these days but that’s coming back a little more each day. Thanks for your suggestion.I would also like to know what this gun’s capable of in experienced hands.
Reb
B.B.,
I second an interest in the Webley Rebel.
This Gamo P900IGT is cool looking. I’m a sucker for futuristic looking pistols.
The yellow sight could be solved with a bit of black Testors paint, but in the pic you posted as well as those on the PA site, there appears to be visible barrel droop. Or is that simply an optical / photographic illusion?
Michael
Michael,
There is no barrel droop.
B.B.
B.B.,
That’s why I acknowledged it could be an optical illusion. Perhaps my computer monitor has droop! ;^)
Michael
Oh, and it IS big long looking, but just how long is it? (You know what they say, “Big pistol; big . . . holster.”)
Michael
I’d say most of this looks fairly well thought out. About the only thing I’m not liking is the oh so cheap looking rear sight. That doesn’t look like there was much thought put into it. So I’d recommend Gamo put a bit more thought into that rear sight.
It seems to be a nice pistol.
I was wondering if it was going to be able to be cocked without too much problem. If its any kind of accurate out to 20 yards I just may give one a try.
And if anybody’s interested I got my PowerMax hi-pac for my 2240 today. Kind of surprised me that it was in the mailbox today. I ordered it the 3rd which was probably not a good day to order with holiday on the 4th. That’s what I figured anyway. So glad its here.
Ain’t got no time to mess with it getting ready to go to work. But I’m going to when I get home tonight. I did open it though and it was all packed in sealed plastic bags which was nice. And the quality looks nice also. But got to go now.
Have fun with your 2240, I’m excited for you! I’ve been wanting to build one of these since B.B. featured it in his article on the R.A.I. stock adapter. I never was much on CO2 but with a longer barrel they can be powerful enough for game and this kit should really liven things up! I would like to see someone mount a small optic(like the one I mentioned up there^)on this P900 and do away with both front and rear sights all together.
Reb
Reb
My phones acting funny again. Hope I dont doyuble post.
But yep going to try it out tonight.
I forgot you said you can’t put a sight on the gun. That makes that a no for me. The old eyes just can’t focus right.
It’s not meant for optics however there are many brilliant and inclined individuals on this blog alone,I’d be willing to bet someone will put something on it even if a little whittling is necessary.
I don’t mean to keep going on about the trailnp pistol, but it reminded me that you said that that I took the fiber optics off the pistol and put them on my tr77 np rifle when I had the two. The muzzlebrake and sight slide right on to the rifle barrel and the rear sight is dovetail. Thought Id mention it as a lot of people want open sights for those crosman rifles and its an instant swap from the trail pistol. I put a 3-7x on the pistol and just held it a little tucked close. I wonder if this gamo will like the gamo lethal pellets as much as the np did.
Take a short piece of picatinny rail and epoxy it just in front of the rear sight and put a dot sight on it.
Somebody needs to try that and let us know how it works out.
Maybe I would give the pistol a try then. I do like the idea of it being a nitro piston though.
Gamo sure does seem to love working with plastic.
Thanks BB, probably not my thing but it is pretty. I was wondering when we would start seeing more gas piston pistols after I saw the Trail NP come out. The sights look bad almost an after thought on that rear sight. Why does everybody have to do 177? 20 cal. is excellent in my opinion, seems like we are loosing 20cal. I’m not a big pistol guy but for the money who knows maybe one day i’ll shoot one of these gas guns and like it enough to buy. I would love a HW 45 or P1 someday…. OH! Or a Black Star! So nice but I don’t think we’ll every get them in the States.
Hello Everyone .. Anybody going to the Baldwinsville NY airgun show and shoot July 19-20 ..
Since we’ve mentioned Webley pistols, perhaps it’s also time to revisit such as the Tempest, Premier, and Senior crowd, particularly with some recommended sources for replacement springs and seals and such. We really do love the Brits, yes we really do (please pay no attention to the Tea Party) but US sources may be handier for us.
I’ve always been interested in the take-down/interchangeable caliber-barreled rifles marketed from the 1920’s through the 1940’s.
Maybe also added to the list?
B.B.
Unfortunately at 345fps (if that holds) that makes this a really weak plinker. Only short shots. I would be shocked if it turns out to be a good 10 meter target gun. Just not very likely. Although the cocking is reasonable it’s still pretty much effort for 345fps. I’m back by the way after a 5 day hospital stay. Missed all those days registering for the P.A Giveaway.
G&G
I own this gun now for a couple of weeks and i am honestly surprised so far. OK, it is pretty inexpensive, which is seen in the use of nearly all plastic on the outside and also in the inside! From an engineer point of view the construction is sort of “bold”. Only the very high stressed parts (like the sear) are made of steel, even the powertube and the threaded plug of the powertube are plastic. I can’t imagine if this will hold up for a long time… but who knows.
Cocking is rather stiff, because of the short barrel and the gas ram system, but it is manageable.
There is not much recoil, the light piston and the missing weight of the spring is doing its work nicely.
Therefore, the gun is not nearly as much hold sensitive as mostly any SPRING piston pistols out there. In fact, the point of impact doesn’t shift a lot between rested and free handed use, which is nice.
Accuracy is good at 10 yards, i haven’t done any test at further distances.
Power is around 2,2 ft/lbs, more or less with any weight pellets suitable for an airgun this weak.
The trigger can be vastly improved by dismantling the gun and polishing the contact parts of the sear/trigger assembly. There is a tutorial around the internet, but everyone using common sense can do this as well.
So if you look for an inexpensive pellet pistol with no expectation for decades of use, this gun look OK!
Markus,
Thank you for your observations and welcome to the blog. Please continue to comment as I review the P900 and we’ll see how similar our two pistols are.
B.B.