by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier
Gamo Urban.
This report covers:
- The test
- Baffle issue was corrected
- JSB Exact
- Air Arms Diabolos
- H&N Baracuda Match
- How accurate at high pressure?
- Summary
Today we look at the accuracy of the Gamo Urban at 50 yards. Before we get started, though, I would like to tell you about something that’s related. The Umarex Gauntlet has had 6 reports thus far, and last week I told someone I was finished with it. That was wrong. I actually had the Gauntlet out to the 50-yard range early last month, but the results were poor. I was helping a friend zero his AR that day and I didn’t have the time to concentrate on the gun I was testing, plus the day was windy, so the results were poor. The Gauntlet deserves a fair chance at performing its best, and I want to change the scope from a Bug Buster to the scope that has been on this Urban. Then I know the rifle will have a fair chance to shine.
The test
Let’s get started with the Urban. The day was perfect, with not a breath of wind. In Texas that only happens a few times each year, so I know the Urban got the best chance possible to do its stuff. I shot from a bench at 50 yards with the rifle rested on a sandbag. The scope on the rifle is an obsolete Leapers 4-16X50 scope with a thicker crosshair than you find in today’s UTG (Leapers) 4-16 scopes, but it’s still thin enough to do good work.
I also learned in Part 2 that the Urban’s best power curve starts at 3,000 psi. Even though the rifle can be filled to 232 bar (3,365 psi), it does not do well at that pressure — at least not for velocity. With a 3,000 psi fill there are 25 good shots in the gun. I forgot about that at the range, though, and I learned something important. I will tell you when we get to it.
Baffle issue was corrected
You may recall in Part 4 I discovered some flashing on the last baffle in the silencer. It was tipping the pellets as they left the muzzle. I disassembled the unit and trimmed all the flashing away. After that the rifle shot very well — at 25 yards. However, I concentrated on the before/after baffle cleanup so much that I only shot one pellet in that test — the JSB Exact Jumbo. I usually test at least 3 different pellets at 25 yards, so that when I go out to 50 yards I have at least one pellet I know should be good. This time I only had one pellet, so that’s what I started with.
JSB Exact
The first group was shot with JSB Exact Jumbo pellets. They hit the target low and to the right, necessitating some scope adjustment. Ten JSB pellets landed in a 1.785-inch group at 50 yards. It was bigger than I had hoped and hardly what I expected.
The Urban put 10 JSB Exacts in 1.785-inches at 50 yards.
Air Arms Diabolos
That first group came as a real surprise, after the 25-yard test. Fortunately I had brought some other pellets to test, so now I loaded 10 Air Arms Diabolo Field pellets. This 16-grain pellet is also made by JSB and it looks very similar to the first pellet I tested. But JSB keeps the dies used to make this pellet separate, because Air Arms owns them. So, despite the similarity of the two pellets, they are actually not the same, and it’s worth testing both of them.
The first group of Air Arms pellets was the second group shot on the first fill. That will become important in a little bit. Ten pellets went into 1.001-inch at 50 yards, but it’s so close to one inch that I think we can safely call it that. I learned two things from this first group. The first was the fact that the scope had not responded to the adjustments as much as I had hoped. It was almost as if the adjustments were 1/8 MOA instead of 1/4 MOA. When I checked the marking on the adjustment knobs, I found out that was the case.
Ten Air Arms Field pellets made this 1.001-inch group at 50 yards.
The second thing I learned was the Urban I’m testing likes this Air Arms pellet a lot better than the JSB. Compare the two groups and you’ll see what I mean.
H&N Baracuda Match
There was one more thing for me to learn and it came on the next target. I had it in my head that the Urban got lots of shots on a fill, but that is the Gauntlet. When I looked back to Part 2 I discovered the Urban gets about 25 good shots on a 3,000 psi fill and I had said then that I would only shoot two magazines of 10 shots before refilling.
So the heavier H&N Baracuda Match pellet with 5.51mm head put 2 shots in a tight little group, then the next 2 shots went into an even tighter group that was 1-1/2-inches below the first. After that the shots just walked down the target paper. The final four shots were off the paper, having dropped 15 inches from shots one and two.
I didn’t bother photographing these as the image would be small if all the shots (6 on the paper) were included. It wasn’t that impressive to look at, anyhow.
I wasn’t thinking clearly and put this down to the Urban not liking the Baracuda, when it was just off the power curve. That kept me from testing the rifle with the last pellet, which was a Skenco Big Boy pellet that, at 22 grains, is even heavier than the Baracuda Match. Both pellets deserve to be tested, but I was thinking of other things. However the test was not over.
How accurate at high pressure?
I knew the Air Arms pellets were accurate, so I thought they would be the perfect way to test the higher end of the fill pressure curve — an area I had not tested at any distance yet. I filled the rifle to as close as I could get to 3,365 psi (probably around 3,250 psi) and shot another group. These 10 shots landed much lower on target than expected (by an inch) and gave me an interesting group. I watched each pellet make its mark on the target and the first 4 went all over the place. Then shots 5 through 9 all landed in one tight group. It was easy to remember where the pellets hit, so I numbered them for you on the target. I would have loved to see pellet number 10 go into that tight central group, but it didn’t, so I marked it for you as well. This group measures 1.636-inches between centers and the smaller group of 5 shots measures 0.641-inches. Adding shot 10 enlarges the smaller group to 0.962-inches between centers.
Starting at about 3,250 psi, the Air Arms pellets went everywhere until the pressure dropped. Then they all went to the same place. Only shot 10 went wide of the main group. Whole group is 1.636-inches; the five in the center are 0.641-inches and shot 10 opens that to 0.962-inches.
After these first 10 shots I knew the gun’s pressure had dropped below 3,000 so I shot a second group. I adjusted the scope a lot before this group was shot, and this time the group did move pretty well in the direction I adjusted. Ten Air Arms pellets landed in 1.159-inches.
Ten Air Arms pellets in 1.159-inches at 50 yards.
Summary
This was not a complete test of the Gamo Urban at 50 yards, but it does show the rifle’s potential. The Urban is a price point PCP that can put 10 shots into an inch at 50 yards. It can maybe do even better, but with the right pellet you can count on one inch with the test rifle.
Given the reliability of the magazine, The lightness of the trigger, the quietness of the shot and the accuracy, I would have to call the Urban a good buy. This will be my last test of this rifle, because I want to shift that scope over to the Gauntlet.
B.B.,
With the number of articles going on at the same time, I would probably get confused too. I think you ought to start making range cards for each of the rifles you are testing to help you recall each particular quirk as you are testing them. Additional notes would be what additional tests will have to be done. Although you probably have a mental checklist regarding your testing procedure your rememberer will not always work when you expect it to.
Siraniko
B.B.,
Nice testing! 🙂 I am glad to see it do so well, all considered. Playing the fill and shot curve to it’s full potential would be key. A guaranteed 1″ is as good as the Maximus on any given day. If I did not already have the Maximus,.. this would be a heavy contender.
Since I have it (Maximus) now regulated, I look forward to not having to worry about fill and shot curve. 27 shots with a 12 fpe spread. 3000 fill. I would have to re-check the string, but further improvement may be in that 27 shots somewhere. I think that by the end of the summer that I will be hooked on using a regulator.
Good Day to you and to all,…. Chris
Chris,
Oh yeah, regulators our nice. There are a few very well made air rifles that do not need a regulator, but otherwise they are the cat’s meow. If I end up with a Maximus, I will keep the regulator in mind. After that I may start thinking LW barrel.
RR
Lothar Walther barrel for what gun?
The Maximus?
Unless I missinterpeted. You mean for the Maximus. If so why? You think the Lothar Walther barrel might be more accurate than the Maximus barrel.
Well there you go. First you have to own a Maximus for a while to know how they shoot. Then get a Lothar Walther barrel and see if it is better. I believe one of us might just be surprised at the results. 🙂
GF1,
That would be a most pleasant surprise. Before I went that route though I would try the regulator. One step at a time.
RR
Yep for sure one step at a time.
RR,
For what it is worth, I would go Fortitude over the Maximus, just for the repeating reason. The accuracy should be close. Plus, it is already regulated. That thing needs to come out already!
…….and B.B. to put it on the super fast track. IMO
Chris
I myself like that the Fortitude has the Marauder type shroud and baffle system. That makes a difference when hunting or pesting.
And you could also put a 2240 style pistol grip on the Fortitude and a 1399 stock like I did my Maximus. Or get one of the RAI AR butt stock adapters. It would then be like your Maximus without a stock. Makes for a light gun the way I’m talking. Very easy to handle.
I meant like your Marauder but with out the stock you have.
RR,
and,…. oh yea,… come out with a (drop in) aftermarket thumbhole type/pistol grip type stock option for both the Fortitude and Maximus or as a (second choice) for new ones.
Or…just buy an Urban and install a regulator. You’ll have the thumb-hole stock and the magazine already.
Chris,
I could most definitely go for the Fortitude, but I like the stock as it is. I never was much on those thumbholey pistolgripy things.
BB,
This air rifle certainly justifies for Gamo bringing BSA into their group. For me it is nowhere near being eye candy, but beauty is what beauty does.
Thanks BB, those are very encouraging figures, particularly for a price point PCP. Though I personally find it aesthetically challenged its performance and ergonomics – relatively short stature and light weight – make up for it.
I bought an Urban a few weeks ago and although I haven’t had the time to test it properly I like what I have seen so far. On the minus side, the narrow pressure curve is not ideal for me, except maybe for hunting. When time allows, I will consider replacing the smallish reservoir for a slightly larger regulated one. I am afraid that I am afflicted by “perfection is the enemy of good enough”.
Henry
B.B.
I have not had an opportunity to shoot my Urban out to 50 yards as of yet. I have not experimented with many pellets either. I started with the JSB Exact Jumbo Heavy 18.13g pellet recommended by Tyler & Steve in their video reviews of the Urban and this pellet seems to shoot very well in my Urban, and from what I have read it is better out at 50 yards than the JSB 15.89s. Guess I will have to test this for myself though. I believe Halfstep recorded his best groups at 50 yards with the H&N FTT 14.66g pellet. Donnie Reed, another YouTube reviewer, posted a video with the Urban shooting sub-1//2″ groups at 50 yards, but then he did not shoot 10-shot groups either.
I was hoping to see your testing show the Urban capable of sub-1″ groups at 50 yards. Steve Scialli at AEAC stated “the Urban was not picky at 25 yards, but at 50 it was”, and he found the JSB 18.13 best. So maybe with the right pellet your test at 50 yards would have resulted in a better group. Wish you would have shot some JSB 18.13g pellets so the reviews would have been comparable. Thank you for reviewing the Urban for us.
Geo
George,
Like I said, I don’t know that I tested the best pellet. Burt one inch at 50 yards for 10 shots is nothing to scoff at! I would probably be able to put 5 pellets into 0.6-inches at the same distance.
B.B.
B.B.
I am sure you could. I have a UTG 3-12x44mm SWAT scope mounted on my Urban and I have found that after I make an adjustment to the scope, it takes a few shots for the POI to settle in and repeat. Tyler Patner also stated that for best performance at 50 yards, only fill to 2900 psi and shoot down to 1500 psi. This gave about 27 good shots before refilling. I just shoot 2 to 3 magazines and then refill to 3000 psi with my hand pump. It’s easier and quicker to fill after 2 magazines of shooting though.
BTW, Steve Scialli at AEAC shot a 5-shot group at 100 yards with Crosman Premiers of 2.45″.
I agree with it being a lot easier to pump for 20 shots than 30, that’s what I do, pump to 2900, shoot 2 mags, repeat. I don’t notice any problem at all with POI changes. Quite a few video reviews have said that the Crosman domes are really good in the Urban, I’ve recently picked some up and found them to be pretty much the best pellets I’ve shot so far.
It’s interesting to me that you are achieving good groups with the Crosman Premier domes 14.3g. They are no longer available in the box and the ones from Walmart in a tin have very inconsistent head sizes. It seems like I remember B.B. stating that the Crosman Premiers had more antimony in them and cause leading in the barrels of airguns shooting over 800 fps. B.B. if this is incorrect please correct me. When I was having problems shooting groups with my Diana 34 I measured samples of head sizes on JSBs, RWS Superdomes, and Crosman Premiers. The JSBs and RWS pellets were very consistent but the Crosmans were all over the map. I made my measurements with a micrometer. I know Steve Scialli shot some Crosman Premiers from the box and had very good results with them at 50 yards. But those weren’t the pellets from a tin.
FYI, yesterday I was in my garage setting up to shoot some starlings that were raiding my bird feeders. I had a stool to stand on and a towel on top of my SUV. I could target the starlings without them seeing me and was able to rest the Urban on the towel to steady it. Well, I was getting down off from the stool and I accidentally bumped the Urban’s moderator on my overhead door. It was only a slight bump, but I try not to bump the barrel of my rifle.
On the nest opportunity at a starling, I missing him cleanly at only 15 yards! I took the Urban downstairs and verified that my scope was still zeroed. Woah, my shots at 19 yards were hitting 3″ to the left! Gee, I didn’t bump the barrel that hard. So apparently it doesn’t take much of a bump to knock the POI off substantially. I re-zeroed the scope, but I am thinking now that I will loosen the barrel band and allow the barrel to center itself and then tighten the band back up again. Has any one else had this issue? Well, another learning experience.
Geo
That’s probably due to the baffles in the Urban. They probably don’t have the tolerances worked out right for the pellet to pass through. And probably the tolerance of the fit to the outer shroud of the silencer.
You probably knocked the baffle around in your gun. I’m willing to bet your groups are not going to be as good as they where when you get it out at 25 yards and test now.
And just for I’m formation purposes. My Maximus has the barrel free floating from about 2 or so inches past the breech. I have bumped the barrel bringing it in from the breezeway window and it didn’t affect poi when I huridly reshot it just to make sure it was shooting right.
So saying that I believe it’s more due to what type of barrel system you have. A shrouded barrel is definitely one you should avoid bumping if it don’t have a barrel band.
GF1
Thanks, I’ll definitely check out the baffles to make sure they are not clipping the pellet. I’m not quite sure how to verity that though other than visual inspection with a flashlight and magnifying glass.
Geo
That will definitely be a way to see like your talking about..
And if you get out at some distance like 25 yards. Your pellets will start shooting erratic. That’s the other way to see. Shoot and see what happens.
The pellets might be all over the place. Or you might be getting 2-3 pellets in one location on the target. Then erractic again. Then poi may go to another place on the target for 2-3 shots. That’s usually the quickest way to know if you got pellet clipping going on. And I’m not guessing at this. I’m talking from exsperiance.
I have seen guns with baffles be shooting what I thought was good enough at 50 yards. Like 1″ at 50 yards. Then find I had a clipping problem. Fix the problem then all of a sudden the gun is shooting 3/4″ and better groups at 50 yards.
That’s why that I have seen in instructions with some air gun moderators and muzzle breaks say to rotate them a little bit on the barrel in one direction. And shoot and see how your groups are. But also some instructions say if you clipped the baffle that you probably ruined it.
So the next things as usual is some of them are not created equal as the saying goes. The trick is to know what to get. Or in some instances your just better off without.
Geo,
If you can get to them and find the OD/ID fit lacking,… perhaps a wrap or two of scotch tape or something similar to keep them centered. Depending on how tight the ID tolerance is, I might consider giving baffles a bit of an ID enlargement. Given the design, I would definitely loosen the barrel band and see if it “pops” back.
I did the wrap bit with muzzle weights on the LGU and M-Rod. The baffles, I think, fit good on the M-Rod. It has been awhile. The weights are out and the baffle system is back to stock. That is the way I am going to try it to start the year anyways. The LGU never had any baffles.
O.T. warning went out at work awhile back,… looks like June on,… so shooting time might be in (shorter) supply than it is now. Hey,.. at least I will have some extra $ to look at getting something new in an air rifle. I can honestly say that I do not know where I would start. One thing for sure!!!!,… it would be a PCP. 😉
Good luck with whatever you try.
Chris USA,
I looked down the muzzle end of the barrel with a flashlight and it does not appear that any baffles are out of position. I think the baffles, as B.B. showed, are injection molded in two halves. Then they are snapped together and inserted into the moderator body. They don’t appear to be loose at all. I checked the ID of the baffles with a drill shank. A 5/16″ (.3125) shank slides in easily for the entire length of the drill. So there is .093″ of clearance between the pellet and the baffle ID, or .046″ on a side. So the baffles don’t need to be perfectly aligned to the bore, there’s plenty of clearance.
Geo
You would think .046″ a side would be enough.
But you remember me saying that some instructions say to rotate a muzzle brake or whatever we want to call them.
That’s because the hole in the muzzle brake might be off to the barrel. I nother words the concentricity. And I know you know what that means.
So still possibly with that room on either side of the hole for the pellet to go through still might put things close if they didn’t bore the baffles or the outer housing hole true to each other. You know how that goes when it comes to production.
GF1
Yes, the moderator could be eccentric to the bore causing a pellet clip. What would work well to verify the concentricity would be a piece of fiberglass with a length turned down to the barrel bore size and then another length turned to the baffle ID minus a small amount for clearance. You know what I mean? A concentricity gauge made from a soft material that wouldn’t damage the barrel’s bore.
Geo
Yep know what you mean.
And I would say in your case of bumping the barrel. I would just shoot some group’s out at 25 yards and verify if the same as what you have been getting.
At least you have some data of the gun before it happened to compare to. Just think if you were just starting to shoot the gun and bumped the barrel. How would you know if it was ever shooting good.
Geo,
That’s what I found when I checked the same way the other day when BB first experienced his problem.
If you want to narrow it down and eliminate the baffles you could take them out and try to maybe build up scotch tape in two widely spaced spots on a cleaning rod to get a snug fit in the barrel and then just give it a good look over at the point that it sticks out of the moderator to see if there is even spacing. I think it would be a waste of time myself, though, because the barrel band moving and twisting the barrel or the erector tube in your scope slipping seems more likely to me, especially if your group is still good and just moved on ya.
Half
Geo,
That should have said “take them out OR try to maybe build up…..”
Half
Oh, and I loosened the barrel band up and I did not see any movement and the barrel did not appear to be stressed in either direction. I retightened the band and then shot about 15 shots to see if the barrel had moved. The POI was still right on at 19 yards.
Geo,
The way that I discovered that the band and barrel would move in the first place was that I felt it spring into position when I was handling it. I was clamping the unstocked action into my vise and grabbed the barrel and reservoir and felt it jump, sort of like the release of a spring. I think mine may have gotten catywompus in shipping and It sprang it back into alignment when I grabbed it. The same may have happened to yours and now the problem is corrected for you. I hope that is the case, anyway.
Half
ChrisUSA,
Sorry that makin’ all those big bucks is gonna eat into your shooting time. At least I hope you’re getting extra pay and are not a salaried employee. Work it while you’re young cause that stuff will kill ya when you get old and decide to do it.
We were talking about that hammer adjuster the other day so I decided to take a look inside my Gamo .177 Coyote and lo and behold it adjusts the same way. So i have been fooling with it a little.
It came adjusted to 8 3/4 turns and I want to shoot JSB 16.2 grain Beasts out of it if it can do it accurately. It is .177 and I hope the super heavy pellet will buck the wind. If you are unfamiliar with it, it is a very long cylindrical pellet that I think is going to require a lot of spin to stabilize. It has a mushroom shaped head and a dainty little skirt way back at the end of that long cylinder. It’s almost like the fletching on an arrow shaft rather than the wasp waisted diadolo shape we are used to. So as I said, much spin required.
I thought that I had already collected the usual data that I record for each pellet in each of my guns, but when I looked for compares to the new data that just I generated, I found that I haven’t shot it over a chronograph with the factory setting in the past. An oversight that I will need to correct later when I return the gun to factory specs. The only info that I have from the past is a .503″ group that I shot at 20 yards.
What I know now is that the gun is shooting very fast and I hope stabilizing that long pellet. My 10 shot group at 12 yards is .123″ which I think is the smallest that I have ever recorded with any of my guns with any pellets. That makes me hopeful that this will be accurate at longer ranges. I’ll be checking it out soon. would have done it today but Crappie fishing got in the way. I also has a very stable shot to shot velocity, especially when you consider the lack of a regulator.
Here’s the string at 15 turns and a fill of 3100psi on the guns gauge ( 2900 on my SCBA tank).
Halfstep,
Sounding good and looking good. Young? Not so much. Past the 55 mark and ugghhhh!, but still get around well enough. Yup, hourly. Four 10’s are enough. They are pretty stingy with it, unlike in the past, but the schedule appears to dictate it. Keep us posted on the Beast pellets.
Chris USA,
I will tell you one thing…we you retire you won’t look back and say “I wished I’d worked more overtime”. Time is precious and you can’t get it back once it’s gone. I too worked a ton of overtime when I was young. But once I got to age 60, I refused most all overtime. Let the young guys do it. Of course, I never let the company own me. Meaning I did not accrue a lot of debt and live check to check. I always had at least 3 months savings so if anything ever happened with my job, I would still be in good shape. Some people will say “I had to work Sunday”. NO, you don’t HAVE to work. It’s your choice to spend you time at work, or at home with the family. I always chose the family. If they made it mandatory, I just told them “write me up, I won’t be here”.
Geo,
No worries mate. I just work a tad slower and give myself a break along the way. I try to shoot for a year back if I can. Any extra beyond a certain amount and I start looking at adding to the IRA/ROTH, car upgrade/pay down or mortgage pay down. No 401 offered at the moment. It is just me here, but I help out the parents (80+) every week at least for a few hours.
I can say for sure that I do not have the “gumption” for it as much as I once did. 🙂
Hopefully I won’t end up too weak to pump or too blind to shoot by the time I do retire!! 😉
Chris USA,
During the first 36-37 years that I worked for my company I was never given an opportunity to work a double shift. The last 5 years, in my mid 50s, I was offered 2 or three doubles every week and a seven day workweek every week for nearly that whole period. There was one week, the year before I retired, that I worked 12 hours on Monday and 16 hours for the next six days. I could barely dress and feed myself at the end of that week. Because I worked 3rd shift and received a higher pay rate and I was also the lead man on my shift and that payed higher as well, I have the proud distinction of having drawn the largest paycheck for that week that was ever issued to an hourly employee in the history of that plant.
For reasons that are too complicated to explain here, getting that overtime offered at that late stage in my career boosted my pension to a much greater extent than if it had been worked at a more reasonable rate, spread out over the 42 years that I worked there. Everything happens for a reason, I guess.
Half
Halfstep,
Yes, I am aware that higher earnings prior to retirement can boost SSI. I subscribe to AARP and they cover stuff like that. About 5 years ago, I worked a bunch for round 5 years. It depends on what you are doing, but doubles can be very unsafe for a hands on worker. I played it smart and maxed the 401 and knocked off 30K plus off the mortgage.
With the way the company runs now, it will not last any longer than it has too and in the mean time they will look for any reason to cut it. That’s ok. On the plus side (or negative side) the engineering dept. can’t get their act together to save their lives,…. so we are always getting into jams. Oh well,… I’ll just ride it out and save away. 🙂
At 803 average velocity that’s over 23 foot pounds of energy. I think that has to be pretty high for a .177 pellet. Now I have to check for accuracy.
Half
Geo,
I warned BB the other day about the barrel band. It is difficult to get tight and If you bump the barrel hard enough to make the band slip on the reservoir it will bind and stay there, causing the barrel to point in a different direction. If you give the barrel a tap in the opposite direction it will probably free up and spring back in place. I’m going to be working on a solution to this as it is a pretty serious shortcoming on an otherwise great gun.
I’m curious as to whether the gun is still laying down the same size group, just in a different spot now or if your groups have opened up. The former would indicate a barrel that is pushed out of alignment with the scope and the latter could be baffle clipping.
Half
Half,
Hope the Crappie fishing went well, as I remember you are in mid to south Georgia? Could be wrong on that but even if the fishing was not so great it was a very good day weather wise.
Mike
Mike,
I’m in North Central KY and the weather was great here too. We caught fish all day but the lake that I was fishing has a new 10″ minimum size limit this year. We were throwing back 9 1/2″ and 9 3/4″ fish all day. I think I have 11 crappie and one white bass to clean when I get done here. I stole those Georgia crappie earlier this year on a week long fishing trip I take down there with some buddies every year. They turn on about 5 or 6 weeks earlier there than they do here.
Half
Half,
That brings it back, unless my memory is really lost, you came to West Point Lake for some fishing, thought for some reason you were in Georgia.
Good deal, glad you got some.
Mike
Halfstep,
I loosened the barrel band up completely and did not notice any movement or binding of the barrel.
I used the palm of my hand and gently bumped the barrel on one side and then the other. Then I tightened the band back up. I shot about 10 shots and the POI seemed to be pretty close to where is was before loosening the band, and the groups are still hole in hole at 19 yards.
I just can’t understand what caused the 3″ shift to the left of the POI. I didn’t really bump it that hard. But something sure changed. I have since bumped the barrel with my palm on each side and then checked the POI, no change from doing that. I guess I don’t really see the barrel band as a serious shortcoming as you say. I just have to be more careful to not bump the barrel…I do know better 🙂
Geo,
I posted a new thought somewhere in here a few minutes ago I know you’ll see it with the RSS feed. I think it explains what happened to both of us.
Half
Half,
You could be correct. Though I never felt the barrel move or anything. I had checked the tightness of the barrel band back when you first mentioned the issue with yours. I didn’t loosen it though, I just checked it for tightness. Mine was tight. I can’t come up with a better explanation as to the cause of the POI shift by 3″ so your theory makes sense. I’ll keep an eye on it and be more careful not to bump the barrel into anything.
Geo,
Good deal! Now,…. back to pesting!!! 🙂
Yup, yesterday afternoon I saw a starling land on my woodpecker feeder. I grabbed the Urban and snuck out to the garage to get a shot. Starlings are very wary. He flew up to the top of a big maple tree in the front yard. I crouched down behind my SUV and he stayed long enough for me to get him in my crosshairs…one less starling to contend with. Guess the Urban’s still accurate 😀
I’ve a friend that purchased an Urban for just over $200. Had a chance to try it at the range, but winds didn’t allow a good test past 25 yards. Now seeing your results, my intrest in the Urban has risen to the top of my next pcp purchase.
Would make an excellent beginner, or training rifle. Trigger, bolt action, and magazines worked flawlessly.
Looks like the Urban will be my 1st Gamo product
Thanks for the great review, your persistance paid off, showing that sometimes a good rifle needs a good test, they don’t always shoot perfect out of the box.
I suspect that a proper tune would yield even better performance, and accuracy, especially at the highest fill pressure. I bet there are a few tweaks that can really let the Urban shine, I aim to explore the possibilities asap!!!
Thanks BB
FYI, the Urban has the Gamo name on it but the gun is basically the BSA Buccaneer in a synthetic stock. It’s manufactured in the Birmingham BSA plant in England and has the hammer forged barrel. It is a high quality airgun unlike some of the other entry point PCPs. I couldn’t be happy with mine. Just thought you should know.
Erockrocket,
Did you know that the hammer spring is adjustable on this gun? If not, look back through the comments on the other parts of BB’s report and you will see some some charts and graphs of the results that I chronographed on my two Urbans as I adjusted them from 0 turns to 16 turns on the hammer spring preload adjuster. I posted some pics of the easy mod that I did to allow adjusting the hammer without removing the action from the stock.
Another thing you may not be aware of is the trigger adjustment. The screw supplied in the gun is not long enough to give you any noticeable second stage let off. Replace it with a 10mm screw found at a r/c hobby shot and you can get a really sweet trigger pull.
Half
BB,
How about a test of this rifle with a regulator. Some people are saying that the air tube is so small that the regulator will take up too much space to make it worthwhile. A test will determine the truth. I am VERY interested in getting an Urban. ALL my Gamos (4) and BSA’s shoot well.
Ton,
At least one reader has installed a reg, if I’m not mistaken.
B.B.
Ton
Here is something I did with my WildFire.
It has a pretty small air resivoir tube compared to a Maximus or a Discovery. But I put a Huma regulator in it after I had good luck regulating my Maximus. Which as Chris mentioned above done to his Maximus after I told him about mine.
But back to the small air resivoir tube on the WildFire. On a 2000 psi fill it would get 36 usable shots and have leak down problems.
Now the WildFire gets 84 usable shots on a 2000 psi fill. Plus no leak down. I’m thinking that’s because I have the regulator set at around 1000 psi which is close to Co2 working pressures. I think that is keeping the higher pressure from the transfer tube and o-rings and the valve. So all in all the regulator worked out good in the WildFire with the small resivoir tube.
Gunfun1
Thanks. Looks like a regulator will be an add on to my future Urban. That rifle looks like it has everything I like in a rifle except shot count. If a reg. can fix that it’s perfect! It will increase cost quite a bit, but almost all my guns have cost over runs lol. I love tinkering as well as shooting.
Ton
If you do regulate your future Urban I would like to hear the results.
I’m thinking you will be happy.
The thing that kills the shot count on the Urban, in my opinion, is hammer bounce. If you take out the magazine housing you can see how many times the hammer hits. If someone could figure out a hammer debounce device the shot count would increase dramatically because the valve is very well balanced.
Rambler
I know it works in Marauder’s. In my opinion it would be a good mod.
GF1,
You mentioned a oring debounce solution the other day when the RSS feed was messing up ,so I don’t know if I was following as well as I should. Would you be willing to describe that or point me to a link that would show how. I’d like to try something. These guns have a really small reservoir and every little bit would help. Except for the reservoir size and the barrel length the Urban is just like the Coyote. I guess they wanted a shorter barrel on the Urban and had to shorten the reservoir also to keep from running into the silencer.
Half
Halfstep
The only o-ring debounce I have tryed was in a .25 Marauder I had some years back that had a double air resivoir on it cause I had it shooting pretty hot.
I was trying to conserve as much air to get some kind of shot count.
It’s basically 3 or so o-rings the size of the air resivoir tube. You place them in front of the striker. Basically the valve stem is verily exsposed and the o rings cushion the striker so it doesn’t bounce the valve again.
There is other stuff out there but I haven’t messed with it.
GF1,
Thanks for getting back to me. So you are saying to use orings that have an OD equal to the tube and have an inside diameter that is small enough that the hammer (which could be chamfered on on its face) will strike the oring as it is depressing the valve stem? Am I trying to keep the hammer from bouncing on the stem or on the face of the valve?
Half
Halfstep
The o-rings can be slightly bigger diametet than the tube so they fit the tube and stay in place. They will rest up against the face of the valve. And yes the inside diameter of the o-rings needs to be smaller like you said than the striker for the reasons you said.
And your trying to keep the striker from bouncing on the valve stem. So your o-rings will be stacked up about even with the valve stem. It just all depends how hard your striker is hitting the valve stem.
GF1
OK, I think I get it. Thanks.
Half
Halfstep
If you try it in your Urban let us know what o-rings you use and how many you needed.
And of course the shooting results.
I’ve been shooting my Urban for about 3 or 4 months, I’ve put about 1500 pellets through it and I am making improvements in consistency. Below is a 10 shot group of Crosman Premier domes, shot at 40 yards. I’ve found them to be just about the best pellets I’ve tried so far, cheapest, AND the best, that puts a smile on my face. In the picture the green bull is .5 inch in diameter, and the outer ring is 1 inch. Not all my groups are this tight, but I’m starting to learn how to hold the gun the same every time and that is helping me get greater consistency
Toddspeed
That should be good enough for pest birds out to 40 yards anyway. Sqerrials should be no problem at that distance with group’s like that.
I would be happy especially with those pellets. Have you tryed any other pellets?
Have I ever, CPHP were not good at all. My first tin of JSB 13s were great, but I just got a second tin, and they aren’t doing so well. JSB 15s and wadcutters were the worst. JSB 14s and 18s were both very good, but not as good as the Crosman domes. H&N 18 grain snipers have been doing well, I think they will be my choice for a heavier pellet, but I plan on stocking up on Crosman domes next time I’m in Tractor Supply. I have an order in with Pyramid for some Air Arms 16s and H&N Baracudas too although I think the 21 grain Baracudas might be too heavy for the Urban.
Toddspeed,
It’s pretty easy to jack the velocity up a little if you want to try it for your heavier pellets.
Half
Toddspeed
What I wonder about the Urban is why the ones people have are so dramatic on the pellets they like. One person’s gun likes on pellet and another’s gun won’t shoot them good at all. Makes me wonder if there is some kind of tolerance differences from say one batch of barrels to another.
Anyway. It’s good that people are finding pellets that work in their guns.
Toddspeed,
That’s some good shooting with a sweet shooting rifle. I get pretty good results with one of my Urbans with those ( assuming that you mean the round tins of Crosman Premier Ultra Magnums and not the batch numbered Premiers in the cardboard box) I can hit a small tomato paste can with them repeatedly at 50 yards, and while that is a lot of fun and very cheap and gratifying it is not in quite the same league as what you just showed.
I have to warn you though that some tins ( I’ve fired groups out of over 10 tins so far just to see) are going to probably have more flyers than others. If your baby seems erratic when you feed her out of a new can it’s probably going to be specific to that can and not her fault. It’s just kind of the way things are with Crosmans ( and Benjamins )
Half
Yes I have the round tin of Crosman’s, can’t find the box anywhere. Are they still available in the box? Where?
Toddspeed,
The .22 are no longer available. They are available in .177 in 2 different weights one of which corresponds to the Crosman .177 Ultra Magnums and the other I think is unique to the cardboard box. They are frequently referred to as Premier Heavy and Premier Light respectively and I think the packaging says “For Field Target” or something along those lines. I think when BB uses the term Premier he is referring to the cardboard box ( Lucky guy apparently has a stash of ’em in .22) Other writers and testers will refer to Premiers then show the Ultra Magnum tin not realizing that Crosman precedes nearly every pellet that they make with the term “Premier” now. Their super cheap wadcutters used to be Premium Competition but now even they have been renamed Premier Match. Marketing guys! I just want to wring their necks sometimes!
Half
Toddspeed,
Very nice. I am surprised with the Crosmans. But hey,… they are obviously working for you. Keep us posted.
I borrowed a friend’s Urban a couple of weeks ago but was only able to shoot two magazines worth of the Crosman Domed Ultra Magnum that he had bought at Tractor Supply. I like to shoot at 30 yards because I’ve found that it gives me about the best trajectory for Hunter Field Target with my Beeman R1 in .177. He has one of those Center Point Summit 1st Focal Plane 4X12X44 mounted on it. The first 5 shoots were at 12X and went into a 3/4 ” group CTC. I dialed the power down to 6x an got a 5/16 inch group a 1/2 inch slightly below. The last two shots climbed back into the first group so I think that the second group my have just been operator error. I have gotten the impression that the POI is not supposed to change when you change the power but I may be wrong. For $179, this scope is certainly worthy of a review, BB.
I should mention that this was a pretty windy day with the winds gusting to 12-15 mph. I tried to shoot when the wind was down but may not have always been successful. The 50 yard group was about 2 1/4 inches strung about 80 degrees vertically. Disregarding the high and low shot, the group was about an inch CTC. I definitely like the fit and feel of the gun and the trigger and especially the lower weight. The only thing I don’t like is the low shot count. I don’t really know what I was doing wrong with the pump but it really put me off. Only way that I would consider this gun was with a carbon fiber tank, about $800-900 investment, which is probably going to remain out of my ball park for at least another year. I am seriously considering the Nova Vista Freedom. My airgunsmith bought one and likes it but thinks that the trigger is “horrible”. He hasn’t had time to work his magic on it yet. Once he does that, if I get to shoot it and like it, I’ll probably try to buy it from him. He’s got so many high dollar airguns in his collection, I don’t think he’ll ever miss it 🙂
Well, that’s my story and I’m sticking with it. Oh, and the Crosman’s shoot really well in my 1400 in my 6 yard indoor range. I’ll have to get out to the range and see how they shoot at a longer distance.
borrowed a friend’s Urban a couple of weeks ago but was only able to shoot two magazines worth of the Crosman Domed Ultra Magnum that he had bought at Tractor Supply. I like to shoot at 30 yards because I’ve found that it gives me about the best trajectory for Hunter Field Target with my Beeman R1 in .177. He has one of those Center Point Summit 1st Focal Plane 4X12X44 mounted on it. The first 5 shoots were at 12X and went into a 3/4 ” group CTC. I dialed the power down to 6x an got a 5/16 inch group a 1/2 inch slightly below. The last two shots climbed back into the first group so I think that the second group my have just been operator error. I have gotten the impression that the POI is not supposed to change when you change the power but I may be wrong. For $179, this scope is certainly worthy of a review, BB.
I should mention that this was a pretty windy day with the winds gusting to 12-15 mph. I tried to shoot when the wind was down but may not have always been successful. The 50 yard group was about 2 1/4 inches strung about 80 degrees vertically. Disregarding the high and low shot, the group was about an inch CTC. I definitely like the fit and feel of the gun and the trigger and especially the lower weight. The only thing I don’t like is the low shot count. I don’t really know what I was doing wrong with the pump but it really put me off. Only way that I would consider this gun was with a carbon fiber tank, about $800-900 investment, which is probably going to remain out of my ball park for at least another year. I am seriously considering the Nova Vista Freedom. My airgunsmith bought one and likes it but thinks that the trigger is “horrible”. He hasn’t had time to work his magic on it yet. Once he does that, if I get to shoot it and like it, I’ll probably try to buy it from him. He’s got so many high dollar airguns in his collection, I don’t think he’ll ever miss it 🙂
Well, that’s my story and I’m sticking with it. Oh, and the Crosman’s shoot really well in my 1400 in my 6 yard indoor range. I’ll have to get out to the range and see how they shoot at a longer distance.
Sorry for the double post. I had some trouble with the server saying that I didn’t have access.
This is for all the people that would like an Urban but don’t like the shot count. If you can live with less power, it is really easy to make an adjustment and get more shots per fill. I have taken it to the extreme and I’m getting 40 shots at 700 FPS ( I only pump to 2000 PSI) This works really well for me at distances up to 40 yards.
John,
That is good information. I have not done anything to my Urban and I can get 30 (3 mags) shots from a fill. I usually refill when it gets down to 1500-2000 and pump back up to 3000. It’s easier to pump up if I don’t let it get much below 2000 psi.