Gamo Bone Collector Swarm Gen 3i breakbarrel repeater.
This report includes:
- I learned
- No sight-in
- The 10-shot rotary magazine
- The test
- JSB Exact Jumbo Heavy
- Benjamin Bullseye
- JTS Dead Center
- The other thing
- Summary
Today we back up to 25 yards and see the accuracy potential of the Gamo Swarm Bone Collector Gen 3i multi-shot air rifle. And that is the last time I will write all those names. From this point on it’s just the Swarm.
I learned
In the 10-meter test I learned that the Swarm likes an artillery hold with the off hand forward by the rear of the cocking slot. I also learned one other thing, but I’ll get to that later.
No sight-in
Since the rifle was on targets at 10 meters I figured it would be close enough at 25 yards. Therefore there was no sight-in today. I started shooting groups from shot number one.
The 10-shot rotary magazine
I found loading the 10-shot rotary magazine was a breeze. Though I hadn’t touched the rifle in over a month, it all came back to me. I also want to report that the magazine functioned flawlessly.
The test
I shot from 25 yards with the rifle rested on my hand, supported by a sandbag. I shot 10-shot groups.
JSB Exact Jumbo Heavy
Since the last test was shot with only the 18.13-grain JSB Exact Jumbo Heavy pellet, that was the first pellet selected today. I figured it would be close enough to the aim point to work, and it was — sort of.
Ten pellets went into 1.384-inches at 25 yards. Based on what I see with the next two pellets I think this is as good as this pellet will do at 25 yards — for me. I’ll explain what I mean by that in a bit.
The Swarm put 10 JSB Jumbo Heavys into a 1.384-inch group at 25 yards.
Benjamin Bullseye
Next up was the new Benjamin Single Die pellet that I call the Benjamin Bullseye. It weighs 14.3 grains. The Swarm put 10 of them into 1.244-inches at 25 yards. That number doesn’t sound so good, but look at the group. Clearly a lot of the pellets wanted to go to the same place. This is where I think I start explaining that I am not able to shoot the Swarm that well. The trigger is too vague for me and there is one other glitch I’ll get to in a bit. I’m saying this is one of the rare times when the rifle got the better of me. I think it is a lot more accurate than my test is showing.
The Swarm put 10 Benjamin Bullseyes into 1.244-inches at 25 yards.
JTS Dead Center
The last pellet I tested was the 18.1-grain JTS Dead Center dome. The Swarm put ten of them in a 1.449-inch group at 25 yards. Again it’s a larger group than I like, and again there is a spot where six of the 10 pellets wanted to go.
The Swarm put ten JTS Dead Center pellets into a 1.449-inch group at 25 yards.
The other thing
There are actually two other things. First, I don’t shoot test rifles enough to become familiar with them the way owners do. Over the years I have learned to become very adaptable, but sometimes I just can’t do it. It doesn’t happen often but today is one of those times. I think the Swarm has a lot more potential than you are seeing here. It’s just not a rifle for BB.
The other thing is — do you remember in Part 3 that I had to remount the scope? Here is what I said then.
Sight in
Sight in took five pellets at 12 feet and 15 more at 10 meters. Then I shot a group and discovered the Gamo scope had tilted to the right in the mounts. I told you I’d get back to the scope in a bit and here we are.
Re-mount the scope
So I re-mounted the scope. I was going to re-mount it after today’s test anyway because when I initially mounted it on the rifle the objective end of the scope was too close to the repeating mechanism to allow the scope cap to fit. But since the reticle had also flopped over to the right, I corrected it now. Then I had to sight in again. This time it took just five pellets. Now I could start shooting groups.
Well, by the time I got to the test of the JTS pellet the reticle had flopped over to the right — AGAIN. The scope tube is torquing inside the rings! That’s a first for me. I continued the test and left the scope as it was. That might also have opened the final group a bit.
Also, the scope was not in focus on 9 power for this test — not even at 25 yards. I could see well enough for the test, but if I were going to keep the rifle a different scope would have to be found.
Don’t take my criticisms too seriously, because they are personal. I think the Swarm rifle is very accurate. It’s just not accurate for BB Pelletier. It might shoot great for you.
Summary
We have now looked at the Gamo Swarm Bone Collector Gen 3i in a reasonably detailed way. I hope this answers all the questions you had about the rifle.
Wow, torquing in the rings.
That’s a new one on me.
That gun must have some serious lateral forces going on during the shot cycle.
Ian
Tom,
Now that torquing in the rings is a known factor what could possibly done to mitigate it from happening? A dab of Loctite between the scope and scope mount?
Siraniko
Siraniko,
better yet, I think this phenomenon first needs to be examined and understood. Considering that there is no coiled mainspring inside the Gamo Swarm Bone Collector Gen 3i, I wonder what could possibly be causing a twisting motion?
Siraniko,
It will require some thought.
BB
I have one of the original Swarm rifles in .22 cal. The scope that comes with it is JUNK. Don’t waste your time with it. Order a nice UTG scope from Pyramyd Air. I found that the rifle has some droop so shim it from the start. The rifle I have shoots well with RWS Super H-Points, H&N Terminator Pellets, and Predator Polymag Shorts. I’m sure there are others but I know these work well. This is a different rifle but it’s a good starting point from one much the same.
Have fun!
Mike
Siraniko,
A bit of scope tape would most likely help with such. Loctite? Maybe.
I think it’s just the nature of the beast. I’m not holding out a lot of hope for this particular springer. You might be able to find an accurate pellet if you tested a boat-load of them but Magnum Springers are notoriously hold-sensitive and difficult to shoot accurately. Also, this is a cheaper springer . In most cases, you just have to bite the bullet and spend more money on an Air Arms, HW or Diana springer. Or go to the Darkside and buy an entry point PCP with the pump or save up for a carbon fiber tank. The Beeman under lever .177 at about $250 I got from your sponsor Is turning out to be a quite nice and accurate gun, even compared to my HW 100.
Looking at the groups, with my admittedly limited experience, they just look like what I would expect from a rested recoiling springer. I don’t know that using a more expensive gun makes much difference.
BM,
Some sproingers rested directly will indeed group like this. Sometimes unfortunately no matter what you do, this is the results you get. Like BB stated in this blog, with time, different pellets and/or experience with this particular air rifle, an owner may get better results.
A better quality sproinger will indeed help. I know of several field target competitors who use sproingers. You may rest assured their particular sproingers are not available at Wally World. They do not use Gamos, Stoegers or the like.
Do not fool yourself. Quality can make a big difference in performance and quality usually costs.
Actually, upon further reflection,, looking at those groups is tantalizing. It’s almost if the gun is trying to do it’s best, but something is holding it back. If the trigger vagueness could be addressed, I think the right pellet may allow this one to shine, like Ridgerunner’s old CFX. Perhaps the right pellet would shrink the groups. The scope twisting phenomenon is a first one for me. I CAN imagine a scope moving backward, but not twisting.
RG
I suggest you take a look at the small “conversation” I had with BB quite further down the posts. I believe it is very important after looking at the accuracy results in Tom’s testing.
Thanks for another well done report. Some scope rings that I have used (I don’t remember which ones off the top of my head) have a small piece of thin double-sided tape on the bottom inside surface. This should help prevent the torque movement described. However, it makes for a bit of a messy removal when that time comes.
Elmer,
It is called scope tape. It may be a little messy if you take a scope in and out of the rings, but it does a fantastic job. You may find that more expensive rings do not need such. They just fit better.
Probably should’ve used a left-hand threaded scope.
Derrick,
Okay, wise guy. You’re supposed to put a smilie face after a crack like that! 😉
Yea Derrick, a newbie is likely to start searching for one of those, along with a spool of coast line. 😉
I’ve shot 3-4 of the break barrel gamos and never gotten one to group. Same pellets I can pretty consistently outshoot the scoped gamos with my 30ish year old iron sighted b3. I’ve realized since then that the gamo brand pellets I’ve tested are sub optimal in the b3 and my p17 so im wondering if thats exaggerated in the gamos and causing issues, or now if gamos just don’t play right with me. Need to get one out and experiment with pellets again.
CKChevorlet,
My experience with Gamos, and many others is that they are not the best sproingers to own. My first airgun was a Gamo CFX. After modifying the trigger and the scope mount and trying many, many pellets, I found it really liked the H&N Field Target Trophy in 4.51mm. It did not like the FTT in 4.52mm or any other pellet for that matter. Please take note that the CFX is NOT a magnum sproinger.
Gamo, like so many other manufacturers, has fallen into the velocity wars. It is most unfortunate, but speed sells to the newbies, most especially those that are coming from the powder burner world.
They also sell some of the cheapest sproingers available. This is another big selling point to newbies who have as of yet not learned that you have to pay for quality, which is kind of strange because those coming from the PB world will not buy the cheapest PB guns.
With Gamo and many other manufacturers, it is a numbers game. The more you sell, the more profit you make. So they lie about the quality and velocity.
This is why you folks have to put up with this fat, old, balding, dum’ ol’ cuntry boy here. I have learned over the years that I can depend on what BB writes/says about these things. Sometimes you may have to do a little reading between the lines. Quite often there are remarks from other airgunners that can be most illuminating.
Agreed, seems to me that gamo’s bread and butter sales are from having the highest velocity and/or lowest priced guns on the shelf at Walmart. The scopes and sights don’t hold up but once a decent sighting system is in place they’re adequate for small game and most buyers probably don’t care about anything beyond that. Mines fine for pest control but I have zero interest in shooting it recreationally and because of that when pests need controlling I usually favor the b3 or a wheel gun full of .22 shorts just because I’m more familiar/comfortable with them.
BB,
Thanks. I guess I had high hopes for this Gamo. I know they have been redesigning their triggers over the years, but your blog tells me they are not there yet. I myself have a pretty good idea how to fix it, but most newbies are likely clueless and it does take time and experience to learn how.
I had also hoped that its mass would help to calm it down and make it less pellet picky. But with the use of an overly powerful gas sproing, which I am not sold on myself as of yet, they have managed to overcome the mass and continue their race for the top of the velocity heap.
Would a bit of scope tape help with the apparent scope twisting or is the erector tube turning inside of that cheap Wang Po Industries scope? I have seen this particular phenomenon in inexpensive scopes before, as I am sure you have also.
At least they have figured out how to marry a rotary magazine to a springer.
I wonder if the pellets going through the mag affect accuracy some how.
Anyway, every so often, I get curious about how this class of airguns may have evolved. Now we know.
RG,
Unlike so many others, I am not a magazine fan. Even when I was into powder burners, almost all of my rifles were either bolt action or more frequently, single shot. Of all of the airguns I own, only one has a magazine and I am looking for a single shot tray for it.
Sometimes the pellets can indeed be deformed while being shoved through the magazine, but there are some good quality magazine operated airguns that work well without doing such.
Just so you know, all of these Gamo sproinger air rifles with magazines can be easily converted to be single shots and most of them are available as such.
“Even when I was into powder burners, almost all of my rifles were either bolt action or more frequently, single shot.”
RidgeRunner, I’m with you on that; outside of a .308 Ruger M77 I got from a friend, and an old Winchester model 94 in .30-30, all of my powder burner long guns were single shot. And mostly, that was a carry over from my youthful days of hunting with my .20-caliber Sheridan C-model: when you know you’ve only got one shot, you learn to be patient, wait for the right shot, then make it count. 🙂
RR
I will second that last part. I, too, have had the internals rotate and it was very disconcerting and took me a while to figure out. Still have the scope. I like to think I was saving it in hopes of finding a fix,,, but it’s more likely that I don’t tend to discard anything shooting related.
Ed
Ed,
The scope’s internals didn’t rotate. The entire scope rotated in the rings — twice!
BB
BB
I’ve had that happen, too. I have since then overtightened the rings much more often than under tightened. Sometimes to the point of indenting the scope.
But, as I mentioned, I tend to hoard anything shooting,, or hunting,, related, so I’m the only one who sees my mistakes.
Ed
Please forgive this plug from RRHFWA concerning airgun shows.
Two years ago, I bought an used .22 AirForce Talon SS with an Hawke Optics scope for less than what this costs new.
Last year, I purchased an used .25 Benji Armada with a few extras for less than what this costs new.
If you are willing to shop around and willing to dicker a bit, there are some fantastic deals to be had. Also, if you know what you are looking at and willing to sometimes take a risk, auctions sites can be a superb place to pick up some great deals.
This has been a public announcement from RidgeRunner’s Home For Wayward Airguns.
Guess the Gamo from Spain don’t shoot so well, that’s plain. Don’t know what you could do to “calm” it a little bit, unless there is a custom gas spring available out there to “de-power” the rifle. The whole effort to improve this rifle could be an exercise in tilting at windmills. 😉
FM,
You can be so right with this statement. Once upon a time I had a very accurate Gamo. It was extremely hold sensitive, but once I modified it and learned how to hold it and shoot it, I could put ten shots in a group at twenty-five yards that you could literally hide under a dime. At fifty yards I could not cover a ten-shot group with my hand, fingers spread.
De-powering this air rifle MAY help it some, along with some trigger work. I would rather spend what little time I have left in this world tilting at windmills.
RR
Although I understand your objections about this Gamo it seems that the main problem for the inconsistent groups lies elsewhere. Please read my comments down below and Tom’s remarks.
BB,
You know that I love anything and everything that shoots a projectile – regardless whether it’s a pleasure or a challenge to shoot.
For me, after tweaking, tuning, optimizing and practicing, the weapon gets assigned a category suitable to its power, range and the accuracy that I can achieve with it.
The Swarm looks to be a 25 yard can-plinker and, maybe a 15 yard (one-inch) spinner gun for you.
I worked with engineers my whole career. Sometimes they can get too focused on a particular feature or problem and other aspects of the design don’t get the attention they need. Seems that the repeating function is the best part of the Swarm, maybe Revision 2 will have a decent trigger.
Hank
Hank,
Gamo has been working on their trigger assembly for over fifteen years now. I have personally seen four different trigger assemblies being offered by Gamo. I seriously doubt they will ever figure it out. Weihrauch, Air Arms, Sig Sauer, even Hatsan have figured it out. Why cannot others?
As for being able to hit the broad side of a barn while standing inside, they might pull that off, but I also doubt it.
“Why cannot others?”
RidgeRunner, that is an excellent question.
Perhaps because they care more about flash, bling, and high velocity than they do about triggers?
In the old catalogs, Dr. Beeman said the R7 was good for a 1″ group at 30 yards.
(Note: I’m going by memory here; and my memory is not what it once was.)
My little HW30S hovers at just over an inch at 50 yards (off a bench! =>).
I attribute much of that to its excellent trigger.
If some of these other manufacturers cared as much about triggers as Weihrauch…
(“cared” as in, put their development MONEY there)
…then they, too, would have excellent triggers…or so I do believe. 😉
“Sometimes they can get too focused on a particular feature or problem and other aspects of the design don’t get the attention they need.”
Hank, sadly, over the 45-year course of my engineering career, I saw that a LOT!!! 😉
When I recently tried target shooting with reasonably powerful break barrels I noticed one thing right off.
I can’t keep the rifle exactly on target long enough to pull the trigger. Nonstop wandering. My age?
I need a clean breaking second stage trigger that is ready to fire without any further movement. Right now, when the sights line up, if you know what I mean.
Any trigger that is single stage or has a second stage that is not hard enough to stop trigger take up will take too long to pull, for me to stay on target, or result in an unintended trigger pull.
I imagine it would take a lot of practice with the rifle to be able to deal with it. And, hard to remember if you have a dozen or so others to shoot.
All part of getting to know your airgun intimately for the best accuracy possible I suppose.
Unfortunately, I don’t spend that much time target shooting with break barrels and will probably continue to stick with quality PCPs with good triggers and little to no time spent getting to know how it likes to shoot.
Hopefully I may be surprised with a few quality break barrels, like the TX200 MkIII, when I get around to shooting them. At least for the target / trigger pull coordination.
Bob,
You just did a far better job of describing why I didn’t shoot better with this rifle. The vague trigger had me guessing, while the natural movement of the rifle (only 1/4-inch or so, but it does matter) probably cause those wild shots.
BB
By the way, I don’t recall seeing any posts from ‘Chris USA’ lately. Still have his email address from when I bought his RAI Marauder, so I dropped him a ‘Hi, how you doing?’ and it came back undeliverable. He may have had a life changing situation. Any info on him?
He’s a great guy; I pray he is OK.
B.B.,
If you were a Newbie to scope mounting i would ask you if it was just the reticle rotating or the entire scope…but your are not.
Some folks dust a Rosin bag on the inside of degreased rings (might work as long as your rings aren’t bottomed out on an undersized scope tube) or even dust a piece of Parchment cut to fit inside the rings to keep the scope body from rotating.
Having Gamo put the scope in the rings might have been done by some assembler after fingering some CHURROS at breakfast or Tapas at lunch. LOL!
shootski
May sound obvious but could that Riser / Adapter be loose? I know you are not grabbing, or bumping, the scope when you break open the barrel and the ring caps are not bottomed out. ( A file could help there ) Just thought others may check. Does it actually have enough power to induce torque twist from the rifling?
Also scope rings with 6 cap screws each may help, if not just keep adding more of the same scope rings !
If all else fails … mount the rings to a mils-spec Weaver or Picatinny rail for good spacing and scuff the rings and scope and apply some JB Weld 😉 You can always use a dovetail adapter if needed later.
Only happened to me when I failed to tighten ALL the cap screws, alternating evenly with the proper torque wrench, gradually increasing the torque as you repeat the tightening sequence in a temperature controlled, dust free room with no distractions and good lighting. And no tight-fitting clothes or jewelry worn. Don’t forget eye and ear protection, except when using a clicking torque wrench of course.
Have a safety spotter on hand in case a life-threatening situation develops.
Needless to say, you will need your gunsmith license and California permit on hand.
BB
I suppose that you have already sent it back but in case it is still there could you please take some shots even at 10 meters with another scope or a red dot you trust?
I also suppose that you checked the buffles for strange signs…
You should try shooting a couple groups using only certain positions on the magazine. For example a 5 shot group all fed from the #10 cylinder.
What I found with mine was that it fed pellets differently from different cylinders and it did it with multiple magazines. Removing that auto-feed/magazine contraption was the best thing I ever did with that rifle.
SawneyBean,
I think that is way, way, WAY too much trouble for a pellet rifle. This was a test to see what the rifle can do as it is made, and I think I showed it.
BB
BB
Excuse me but your term “what the rifle can do as it is made” certainly doesn’t include that scope assembly. I really feel that it deserves a simple 10 meters/10 shots test with a red dot, after taking a look at the silencer internals. Then again who am I to ask you for such things.
Biull,
What I meant and did not say clearly is I tested the rifle as it was made to be sold to the public. The scope was part of that.
The rifle itself is novel and innovative, but it also has some flaws that were pointed out.
I have now examined the baffles inside the silencer and they do indeed have lead deposits around their rims. If the rifle was mine I would run a drill down the bore to enlarge the baffles. But it’s not mine. It has to go back to Pyramyd AIR.
So putting a better scope or a dot sight on it wouldn’t help much with those baffles in the way.
BB
Thank you for your response. You should consider, for the readership’s benefit and for fairness to the rifle, to mention that baffles thing in the main accuracy testing comments.
Bill,
what a surprising discovery! 🙂
Another cause for inaccuracy but one that should help those owners, who have yet to examine their baffles. I wonder if Honest Bob and Sawney Bean will read this and tell us, here in the comments, what the condition of theirs is like?
Somewhat in Tom Gaylord (B.B. Pelletier)’s defence, in the article above, he wrote:
“… I think the Swarm has a lot more potential than you are seeing here…”
“… Don’t take my criticisms too seriously, because they are personal. I think the Swarm rifle is very accurate. It’s just not accurate for BB Pelletier. It might shoot great for you…”
Wouldn’t it be interesting, if those readers, who own a Gamo Swarm Bone Collector Gen 3i multi-shot air rifle, were to report on their experiences with further examinations, sights, pellets, accuracy tests, etc… ? 🙂
——–
The thing that still puzzles me is, why the scope rotation?
Bonjour hihihi
It could be that cheap scope assembly’s own fault. That’s why I insisted on a simple scope exchange for even a red dot and a small test even in a short distance along with leaving the baffles out of the silencer.
BB has done it in several cases but this time he was obviously under bad vibes.
As one who has this rifle, I will share from my experience that it is not a tack driver capable of dropping pellet on pellet at 25 to 50 yards. I can get consistent 3/8″ 5 shot groups at 10y and 3/4″ groups at 25 with mine though. That level of accuracy combined with the superb 10 shot magazine and 25fpe power level make it a very good, if slightly heavy hunting gun. Mine is not pellet picky either which is always nice and is my dedicated squirrel gun. So while not a great target paper punching rifle, it does make and can be a great hunter once you learn it.
Also, as to the trigger, replacing the rear allen screw is said to make a world of difference for it for just a few cents and minutes of time. I am sorry but I do not recall if it requires a shorter or longer screw, longer would be my guess though.
Bob
Honest Bob,
that’s not too shabby at all ! 🙂
With those very nice groups at both 10 yards and 25 yards, I suspect that your baffles are clear. But still, have you checked them for even just slight signs of pellet touch?
I would be interested to know what improvement that trigger modification has on yours.
Finally, what are your thoughts on scope rotation that Tom Gaylord (B.B. Pelletier) observed on the airgun he reviewed?
Triple Hi,
No, i have not checked for silencer residue and the rifle is out at my river home right now so I can not check it but I will the next time I am there. I am the worst person to ask about triggers as I seem to shoot them all the same, heavy or light, single stage or double, crisp or muddy. I saw the screw upgrade on Airgun Detectives on Y-tube and read about the change on other forums with positive feedback. I have not tried it myself.
No idea on the scope rotation as I have not experienced that with my 2nd gen or this 3rd gen model. I would look at the rings though as the possible culprit and go from there. I am sure Tom though of that already with his experience. Could be a manufacturing defect in the circumference of the scope tube as well. I have a couple of stock Gamo 3×9 scopes and have not had an issue with either but production quality can and does change over time for better or worse.
Honest Bob,
Thanks for your reply. When I read “… out at my river home…”, I thought, wow, a second house at water’s edge, or maybe even on the water, as in a floating house boat, and imagined how I would make that my primary home, complete with boaty toys… yeah, I like water. 🙂
Well, I don’t know about your trigger technique but, however you pull that thing, the resulting groups seem to be rather good ! Thanks again. 🙂
——–
pictured below is the nearest big body of water to me. Loadsa pictures online of the ancient Canal du Midi but not so many, showing it emptied over winter, apparently for maintenance…