Monthly Archives: May 2011
Gamo CO2 Extreme – Video Review
Special thanks to Gamo for sending us this rifle and also for PyramydAir for sponsoring this video. Here are some links to products used in this video:
Airgunweb and Crosman Part Company
Hello everyone. I wanted to take a moment and make a statement that I’ve had a heart to heart with Crosman about continuing to work directly with their company. I’ve been going round and round with them about being able to review their products for the past 5 years. What I’ve been asking is that they send me products to review that I keep as compensation for my time. Here is an excerpt of my lastest email with their PR department:
As a corporation, we do not pay for product reviews. The professional outdoor writers, editors and and gear reviewers we associate with do not expect to receive product at no charge. They either return the product to us when they have finished reviewing it, or they pay us for the product at our writer’s discounted price. In most cases, they also allow us to review their editorial before publishing or printing. That way, we are able to confirm that factual information and specs are indeed correct. This protects consumers from the potential of receiving contradictory or confusing information.
Crosman is willing to extend our discounted pricing to you in exchange for editorial consideration before your reviews air. We will simply confirm that the factual information is correct. This arrangement will apply to every product Crosman provides you at the discounted price (35% off Crosman internet prices).
If this is acceptable to you, please respond. If not, we suggest you continue to obtain your product from another source such as Pyramyd Air.
So.. here is my response:
Thank you for getting back to me. I think at this point I’ll keep working the way I’ve been.. There is literally no incentive on my end to review Crosman products under your conditions and then also give you editorial review of the final materials. My guess is that the folks you usually work with are paid by a third party for their writing/reviews. I don’t think anyone does it “free of charge.” I’m in the unique position of having some great sponsors, both monetary and product providers, that see the value of my honest reviews and their benefit to the average consumer. I do understand that I don’t fit your model. I’m ok with that, but I do wish your model was a bit more flexible.
If things ever change on your end and you’d like me to look at your products, please let me know. I’m still open to it, just not under your conditions.
I recently received the following comment from a viewer. This really says it all with regards to my intentions with my reviews:
“btw, Rick, thanks for everything you do on here. i’ve been semi-subscribed (checked the channel for episodes) for the past 2 years now and i’m still amazed that even though you now have all these sponsors and company ties, yet you aren’t afraid to speak the absolute truth about a product or company. it’s so awesome to see that you care about us, the customers, and not looking good in the companies’ eyes. that’s just priceless. cheers to you as well, and keep up the great work!”
Airguns are now my full time job. I love the work. I love talking to people about airguns and working with great companies like PyramydAir.com, Leapers.com, and Gamousa.com. They “get it.” I may not always see eye to eye with every vendor that I work with, but I need them to see the value of having someone that has the courage to “tell it like it is” about their products. In the end, if they listened, they could take the praise when given and use the criticism to improve their products for the benefit of the consumers.
I’ll certainly still be looking at Crosman / Remington / Benjamin products as I can work them in. Maybe some day in the future they’ll change their policy and we can do more with them.
For now, this is Rick Eutsler with AirgunWeb.com, “Keeping it honest, Keeping it real”
Gamo’s new CFR Whisper Combo
Ok.. let me just say this right now.. Run.. Don’t walk to your computer and just get one. In fact, here’s the link: To Order your Gamo CFR Click here! Read more to know why!
Gamo CFR Whisper - First Look
When I first took the CFR out of the box I was very UNPLEASANTLY surprised. It felt like a cheap copy of the CFX that I’ve grown to love and respect. It was clunky and felt rough to operate. BUT, knowing that all spring guns take a little time, I started shooting some pellets down range. After about 50 shots or so the roughness started to smooth out and the rifle settled down.
Gamo CFR Whisper - Adjustable Cheek Piece
The rifle is really a “mashup” of several guns; The SOCOM Tactical, The CFX, and of course the Gamo Whisper. I’m not sure where the pistol grip came into play, but it is a great fit for this rifle. This rifle has the normal Gamo fiber optic sights with the rear sight being fully adjustable.
Gamo CFR Whisper - Front Sight and NDS
Gamo CFR Whisper - Fully Adjustable Rear Fiber Optic Sight
Gamo’s bundled scope was a cheap 4×32 scope that had noticeable distortion and was an insult to this gun’t potential. I tossed it and added a Leapers 4-16×40 MD, IR, AO scope. What a difference. Of couse I always have to run into at least one snag and this was it. My CFR had noticeable barrel droop. That was quickly handled by shimming the rear rest and I was back in business.
Gamo CFR Whisper - With Mounted Leapers 4-16x40 AO, MD, IR Scope
Being that the rifle was a fixed barrel design like the CFX, I expected good accuracy and I was not disappointed. Before we get there, let me mention the trigger. The trigger is still Gamo’s “new” trigger which is much smoother than Crosman’s counterpart, but still has a very long 2nd stage. Too long really. Gamo does this for liability reasons and really who can blame them. There are options out there if you really want a better trigger and then the liability is on you. Just a note, the adjustment in the rear of the trigger adjusts the length of the 2nd stage. IF the screw were LONGER, you could reduce the length 2nd stage down to something more reasonable. Again, liability and safety issues are why Gamo doesn’t do this already.
I tossed the “PBA Platinum Pellets” aside and went straight to a pellet that worked wonders in my CFX, the Gamo Red Fires. What a dream to see each pellet hit one after the other almost tearing a perfect hole in the bullseye. The shots bellow were from 10 yards and shot indoors.
Gamo CFR Whisper - Red Fire Pellets, 10 Yards, .137" CTC
Velocity with the CFR is less than the rest of Gamo’s line up. That is just fine with me. With its accuracy and an average of 848 FPS equaling 12.98 ft-lbs (with the Gamo Red Fire pellets) anything inside 20 yards would have a very short life expectancy. I achieved a tiny .137″ CTC 5 shot group at 10 yards.
Gamo needs to do a few things to make this gun a little better.
- Stop shipping that crappy PBA ammo.. Ship it with Red Fire pellets that can do the job
- Smooth out some of the rough edges before shipping.. I shouldn’t have to waste 200 or 300 pellets for the gun to stop feeling “crunchy.” A $300 dollar gun should not start out feeling like an $80 Wal-Mart special.
- Include a decent scope. BSA makes some nice variable powered scopes with AO and Mil-Dot features. Include one of those with the CFR and not a disposable 4×32.
- Lastly, how about an IGT version with just a touch more power?
Despite my above wish list.. I’m in love with the CFR. Like Goldilocks and the three bears.. Not to hard, not to soft, just right. We will have a more in depth look at the CFR coming up next month!
Until then, Thank you reading.
Keeping it honest, keeping it Real – With Rick Eutsler & AirgunWeb.com
Gamo’s New pellets fall short on accuracy.
Do you all remember the “new coke?” Frankly I thought the old Coke was just fine the way it was. Well, very quietly, last year Gamo re-tooled and subsequently redesigned their pellet manufacturing. The first batch of pellets that left the factory were horrible.. cast lines, some pellets actually had “wings” where the two halves met. They were terrible. Take a look at the photos below:
These are the "old" Gamo Hunter pellets.. pretty ugly, but uniformly so...
These are the "new" Gamo hunter pellets.. Notice the horrible casting lines.
I finally got a call back from Gamo explaining that there were issues in the retooling and that some bad batches shipped out.. No kidding.. So Gamo agreed to send me a fresh supply of the “corrected” pellets. I patiently waited for them to arrive.
Well they came in about 2 weeks ago and I’ve been working with them on and off since. Much to my disappointment, the “fixed” pellets are just a cleaner version of the “new” design. See the photos below:
The highly noticeable cast lines are gone and while cleaner, they are not the original.
As you can see, the new pellets are NOT the same as the old Gamo Hunters.
Now all of this would be a “much of a muchness,” as my South African wife would say, if they were as accurate or more accurate than the original pellets. But like “new Coke,” they are just not as good as the real thing.
For the shot tests below I used a Gamo CO2 Extreme shooting at 10 yards. I used the CO2 extreme because it is very accurate and being that it is not a spring gun, recoil issues would not play a role in our accuracy tests. The original Hunter Pellets shot a nice, respectable .334 CTC group from a rest. See photo below:
The Original Gamo Hunters gave me a .334 CTC grouping at 10 yards.
While not match accuracy, I’m happy with those results. When I moved over to the “new” Gamo hunters I had very different results. I used the same position, same conditions, same rifle, the only thing different was the pellet. The groups opened way up. the best group I got was a unimpressive .775 CTC at 10 yards. I’m not a math major, but if it opens up by over .5″ at 10 yards, what will it be at 20? See the photo below:
A .775 CTC at 10 yards is really unimpressive when the original Gamo Hunter Pellets shot a .334 CTC group from the same distance.
So what do we do now? Well, my hope is that enough folks let Gamo know that we want the old pellets back and they return to the old style pellets. If not, we’ll just move to another brand like JSB, Crosman, H&N, or RWS. Don’t get me wrong, I respect Gamo as a company and understand that they need to earn a profit as much as I need (and want) to earn a pay check. But, I think they did a little switcharoo here and I don’t think that is right to do to your customer base.
If you are concerned that you’ve purchased pellets that were not what you were expecting, call Gamo at 954-581-5822 and let them know. You can give them the link to my website and they can see the article or contact me with questions. In the end the Customer is always right, or they should be.
Keeping it honest, Keeping it Real..
Rick Eutsler
Editor AirgunWeb.com