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Newbie trying to understand why my rifle is inaccurate.

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72chevelle383

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Oct 1, 2019
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Hi,



First post, so hello. I have read on this topic, found answers of course, but there are multiple answers. I'm looking for help diagnosing.



I live along a field, with a wire and a fence line. Bought a Gamo Wildcat Whisper .177 to shoot ringneck doves. (Yes, that's legal here with a pellet gun)



Having wildly inconsistent shots. Last night I went through probably 200 shots, 25 yards, from a bench. I shoot sub MOA at 300 with my 300 win mag so please take my word for my ability and I don't understand where the problem lies.



Obviously the scope that came with it is crap, but seems like it should be better than that. But then I read how that's just break barrel's for you. They don't return to the same exact position, which made a ton of sense once I read that.



I expect a very accurate gun at this distance. Should I take it back and step up? To what gun? Or start with a better scope? Or could it be cheap ammo? Or just the quality of the Wildcat? 

I would love some help on where to go from here. I'm bummed.
 
Break barrels are shot way differently than just about every other gun on the planet... the HOLD is everything with these units. Another poster mentioned it, but artillery hold is a must with a spring air gun. Also as someone who still has three different GAMO springers collecting dust somewhere I can tell you that GAMO guns are wildly inconsistent from one model to the next. Overall, they aren't the most accurate springers around and certainly are overpriced IMO in terms of quality and accuracy. There are much better springers out there for the same or a little more money. If you can take it back I would and get another springer made by another company. The only place for 99% of the scopes that come in these "springer packages" at the big box store is in the garbage. They won't hold zero and you will be trying to solve shooting issues that the scope only compounds. If it were me I would take it back, get a different scope and different gun altogether and research the artillery hold as well. If you shoot a springer like a centerfire you're never going to be consistent or accurate... 
 
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So there are a lot of different great suggestions which can be made here, but I would start by establishing a baseline. I would do this with a gentle hold and resting on bags front and rear. From there, preferably in dead calm air, shoot a couple groups. I personally am partial to 5 groups of 5 shots each. This doesn't have to be at great distance, 25 yards as you said would be great. Then take some measurements and post the groups here. It'll give us a better idea of what to look at/look for in terms of performance issues. 

The other thing I want to mention which leaps out at me is the power of this rifle. This is a 20 foot pound spring rifle in .177. That is a LOT. Such guns aren't easy to shoot well, yes, but they'll also tend to be very pellet picky. Thin skirts can be blown out asymmetrically or the pellet wholesale deformed, and light pellets can go transonic or supersonic. I can't say what pellets specifically will work best in your rifle, but definitely heavier ones, as you'll want your muzzle velocity to be in the neighborhood of 900fps. Much more than that and you'll start to get into transonic flow around the pellet, and that can send accuracy out the window REAL fast. So a little time behind a chrono might be diagnostic as well. 



I hope that helps. 
 
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Posted this to another thread

Norica Black Eagle Air Rifle

For $91 imho this is the best deal out right now,Norica's build quality is above all the other low to mid price rifles out now. I can't recommend Hatsan, the last couple 95's I have here have QC issues, check the turkish forum at airgun gate 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0142BHT6A/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://noricaairguns.com/product/norica-black-eagle/

1569957814_12669973245d93a7b68a0188.08473435_Norica-Airguns-Black-Eagle_0.jpg

 
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I have a Gamo with a cocking bar, no break barrel. Yes the scopes suck and would be better used as a target rather aiming it at one. And even with a solid barrel it is difficult to shoot at best. As above hold is critical or you're wasting time. In my case I feel every penny I spent was wasted and the time lost. I came to this conclusion after getting a PCP. And no it doesn't have to be a high end gun to be an improvement over a Gamo Springer. a $150 PCP rifle and a $50 Chinese hand pump would be a vast improvement IMO. 
 
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Since you live next to a field, you might need the occasional fence post, and now you have one! My experience with the brand is, thankfully limited, but consistently disappointing. If you prefer a spring gun, I suggest an under-lever, such as the HW 97. As mentioned above, shooting a spring gun is a bit different, and a talent on which I gave up. I have an HW 97, and it's a great rifle, which I occasionally shoot in the back yard. Most game animals small enough to ethically hunt with it would be safe from me. That said, from a good rest, and taking my time, it will shot MOA out to 35 yards or so (mine is a 12 fpe model, less powerful than yours). If you are going to shoot an air rifle on a regular basis, including hunting, I expect a PCP is in your future, assuming you are okay with the expense, and the logistics of an air supply. I think the Benjamin Marauder would be an acceptable entry level rifle, although I have not owned one. Good luck, it's an interesting hobby.
 
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Sorry to disappoint you, but I have significant experience attempting to help a friend with two of these he purchased for his kids for Christmas, and then brought them over to my indoor range for sight-in. While my rifles will shoot a 1/4" groups at 18 yards indoors, the best these rifles would do was about 3 1/2" to 4". They were shooting well over 1300 FPS, while my rifles are tuned to shoot in the .177 900 to 1000, with the best performances coming in around 930. I did help them out a little by going to very heavy .177 Jumbo Monster pellets to slow them down, but they were still more scatter gun than rifle.

In America, we tend to think that everything bigger (faster) is better. That simply is not true in the air gun (pellet) world. The recommendations given above for a good Diana, Weihrauch, or Walther LGU are right on - yes, +/- $500 but one generally gets what one pays for.




 
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A nitro piston is still a springer and all the above rules still apply. Still need to master the artillery hold and most of them are still overpowered because high FPS is a selling point for those who are new to air guns when in reality too much power just makes them shoot worse. A good German or British springer under 12fpe would be a good choice if you really want to master those tricky bastards. I really admire people who can. I gave up and went down the PCP rabbit hole.
 
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Both the rifle, the rings, and the scope are crappy, that's why. Sell it to your worst enemy, lol.

I was raised with high quality spring air rifles, owned some other modern ones, and the only one I really liked was the FWB 300S and that's because it has a recoil-less system. Then bought a FWB 601 single stroke pneumatic instead. 

Yes you need a PCP air rifle and don't cheap out too much with either scope, the rings, or the rifle. The cheapest PCP, and a pump up air rifle as well, that I personally would try is the Nova Freedom.

The cheapest scope I use is a Athlon Talos. I hate cheap scopes but this one is actually decent.
 
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I really appreciate the help. I am truly disappinted, I was hoping this would get me and my kids shooting everyday. I honestly had no idea they were this complicated.



I have a shop with a compressor and what not, but for me the whole idea really looses its allure once it get more complicated than a real gun. Who knew.



I returned the gun, no problems at tractor supply. Not sure which direction I go. The kids have a cheap 10 pump gun, iron sights, that in all honesty is just as accurate as the POS I just returned so....



Input the decoys on the fence, maybe we will just setup a blind super close. 
 
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I really appreciate the help. I am truly disappinted, I was hoping this would get me and my kids shooting everyday. I honestly had no idea they were this complicated.



I have a shop with a compressor and what not, but for me the whole idea really looses its allure once it get more complicated than a real gun. Who knew.



I returned the gun, no problems at tractor supply. Not sure which direction I go. The kids have a cheap 10 pump gun, iron sights, that in all honesty is just as accurate as the POS I just returned so....



Input the decoys on the fence, maybe we will just setup a blind super close.
Click to expand...

Thats most likely not the compressor you need, get a quality Springer made in UK or Germany. Wish you would have posted here before you bought, youd be less frustrated. 
 
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my rifle getting back into airguns was a gamo whisper raptor. the scope broke within 30 or so shots. i didn't know what i was doing and couldn't hit the ground if i put the muzzle in the dirt. then i started reading on the forums and wouldn't you know, i did everything wrong. so i went and started over. after a few weeks of practice and hundreds of pellets, i hitting everything i aimed at. a friend of mine, who is much smarter than me, immediately noticed the double recoil and asked how he should hold it. he was hitting grasshoppers at 25 yards with nary a miss. he begged me to sell him the rifle and i did. then i went to an NP2 trail. this one took a couple of years to get used to, but a couple of weeks ago i shot a squirrel in the head from 56 yards. 

sometimes it's the equipment, sometimes it's the operator. ok, it's usually me.😏
 
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I hear that. I wish I would have too.

But honestly! Who knew? Sure I would have guessed that some guys got SUPER into air rifles, but to someone who doesn't know much, they sure advertise those things as pretty damn accurate.



I knew the scopes were crap, and what have you. But I think 99% of the guys I know would assume a $200 air rifle would drive tacks at 25 yards. Like I told my father in law today...



"Turns out I dont know poop about air rifle's, and neither do you" lol
 
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