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Dry Firing a GAMO Breakbarrel

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Thedollarsportsman

Thedollarsportsman

Member
Apr 2, 2019
23
4
Utah, United States
Good morning, folks!

I got into a discussion yesterday in one of my video comment threads about dry firing a GAMO break barrel. GAMO specifically engineered this issue out, and while they don’t recommend it, this one viewer could not leave it alone. 


So from your own experiences, have you ever had any issues with accidentally (or purposefully) dry firing a GAMO break barrel?



I may just have to put it through a torture test to see for myself. 
 
From GAMO catalog:

”Repeated test-firing – before launching any new rifle to the market, Gamo tests them by dry firing each rifle model 100,000 times (10 units are shot 10,000 times each). Once the product is launched, two out of every 1,000 are tested again with 10,000 dry fire shots. In addition, ALL of our air rifles are checked part-by-part, and each is shot and tested by a robot to ensure the power, grouping and velocity required by our exhaustive quality control standards – another INDUSTRY BEST.”
 
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A few years ago at the SHOT Show, I visited the Gamo booth. They had a video of a BB in some sort of fixture that cocked and dryfired it repeatedly. So their ad would appear to be true

As a full blown springer snob, I have never paid much attention to Gamo. That was a mistake. Within the last year, two friends have brought me their rifles (one was a Bone Collector - don't remember the name of the other) for a cleanup and basic relube. Both of these guys are mountain folk - serious squirrel and coon hunters. Their rifles must have been shot 100,000 times apiece and looked battered to hell. However, after cracking the innards I found them to be very robust with some simple, innovative features. Kind of "wish I had thought of that stuff " Both were pretty dry and the cleaning and lube resulted in a gain of 100 fps each. And after reseasoning the clean bores, both were as accurate as your average Weihrauch.

Except for the Chinese, Gamo is the largest airgun manufacturer in the world. They also own BSA and Daisy. If you set aside your prejudices, you may be surprised.






 
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From GAMO catalog:

”Repeated test-firing – before launching any new rifle to the market, Gamo tests them by dry firing each rifle model 100,000 times (10 units are shot 10,000 times each). Once the product is launched, two out of every 1,000 are tested again with 10,000 dry fire shots. In addition, ALL of our air rifles are checked part-by-part, and each is shot and tested by a robot to ensure the power, grouping and velocity required by our exhaustive quality control standards – another INDUSTRY BEST.”
Click to expand...

Seems there is a vast difference in testing for failure of mechanical parts and commonly accepted springer practice. IIRC, the main concern with dry firing a springer is unbuffered impact of the seal on the end of the chamber. I've never repeatedly dry fired any break barrel and can't speak from actual hands on experience but I do recall pictures of seals with the chamber head shape imprinted into the rubber body of the seal and this was attributed to dry firing in that article. It might not have been the reason but I've never felt it wise to test the idea.
 
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1577413679_10876273275e056c2f740841.84902164_DSCN1771.JPG
I just got into air rifles less than two years ago. I had no experience or anyone to guide me so I was flying blind. When my Mach1 arrived not knowing any better I dry fired it about 50 times to get a feel for the trigger since it was winter and I had no indoor range yet. After over 20,000 shots I took it apart recently to replace the piston seal which I figured was probably shot by now. I will probably never buy another Gamo, not because of quality but simply because they will not sell parts. But as you can see the inner parts have held up well. Also the new models allow barrels to be removed easily and I was amazed at how tight the barrel pivot and cocking parts still are.
1577413563_18930120065e056bbb0f9ae9.99936153_DSCN1772.JPG

 
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Thats all nice I guess. But, there has been more than one member here on AGN that have tried to purchase replacement gas springs and the like and GAMO refused to sell them the part. GAMO stated that they would not sell a replacement spring without a FFL license. That is aFederal Firearms License. Really.......first off, an air gun is NOT a firearm. Secondly, I personally would never deal with nor spend a penny with a company like that. Don't care how many dry-fires they do with their air gun implements.

TR
 
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All outstanding responses; thank you, everyone!

SO the big question: should I do a video testing this very thing? Maybe 100 dry fires?
Click to expand...


It is your gun but do chronograph it before and after. They didn't say in their advert how the rifle actually performed before and after their supposed tests. I find it hard to understand the point of dry firing a spring rifle 10000 times to test it's ability to stand up to such abuse. I also don't understand how you can build a rifle that can compete in the market being both light and having high performance AND being able to withstand that sort of abuse.

I've seen a Beeman R10 destroy a spring in ONE dry firing and I've had a D48 break a spring when it was dry fired. Both guns were made in the late 80's or early 90's so maybe they have improved spring tech?
 
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All outstanding responses; thank you, everyone!

SO the big question: should I do a video testing this very thing? Maybe 100 dry fires?
Click to expand...


It is your gun but do chronograph it before and after. They didn't say in their advert how the rifle actually performed before and after their supposed tests. I find it hard to understand the point of dry firing a spring rifle 10000 times to test it's ability to stand up to such abuse. I also don't understand how you can build a rifle that can compete in the market being both light and having high performance AND being able to withstand that sort of abuse.

I've seen a Beeman R10 destroy a spring in ONE dry firing and I've had a D48 break a spring when it was dry fired. Both guns were made in the late 80's or early 90's so maybe they have improved spring tech?
Click to expand...

" It is your gun but do chronograph it before and after. They didn't say in their advert how the rifle actually performed before and after their supposed tests. "

Good point! Saying that the rifle will still fire after dry firing is not the same as saying it will fire as it did BEFORE dry firing !
 
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