Is there problems with the optics?

I just purchased a GAMO Big Cat Maxxim, .177, 1400 fps. I took it out in the back yard to adjust my scope. I found that I can hit the target all over the place except dead-center. My background: this is my first pellet gun, I am retired SWAT (20 years ago), I still qualify yearly for my L.E.O.S.A. license, I can shoot a fairly good group, I still have good eyesight, but I CAN'T SHOOT A PELLET GUN! Is there a possibility that the scope is at fault, the rifle is out-of-wack or both?
 
You are going to get plenty of answers about how to hold your rifle. But make sure you are using one of the heavier lead pellets to calm down that pellet speed. Not easy to group pellets when they get over 1,000 fps. And start shooting targets close? Maybe 15 yards or less.
Or just give it too a neighbor and never look back :) A few years ago I started the same way and thousands later here I am.
 
It could be any, or a complete combination of those factors. First, magnum spring pellet guns are among the most difficult rifles to learn to shoot well. Second, as pointed out above, pellets very seldom group well when pushed beyond 900 ft/s. Third, many gimmicky pellets (pointed, light weight, hollow point, bbs in the nose, and the like) will spiral more readily than domed or round nosed pellets. This opens up groups. Third, magnum spring guns are very hard on scopes and can break them in just a few shots, especially if the scope is not designed for it. Fortunately, if you purchased the rifle with a scope, that scope should be designed for the double recoil that breaks many scopes. Unfortunately, the scopes that come with such airguns are among the least expensive to produce. As such, there can be a significant lack of quality control.

The first thing to do, is read up on what is known as the artillery hold. This is essential for shooting spring airguns. The second thing to do, as was mentioned in the post above, is get some heavy round nosed quality pellets. JSB Exact heavy (10.34 grain) or Crosman Premier 10.5 grain round nosed pellet are two that generally shoot well in most guns. There are exceptions, of course. Third, is to re examine the scope and see if there is anything noticeably wrong. It might do you well to look at a better magnum springer rated scope. Fourth, spring guns can shake things loose. Check the various mounting screws and make sure that they are tight.
 
Have you actually measured the speed of your pellets with a chronograph, o is that "1400 fps" just a label on a box along the rest of marketing bs? In case actual speed is 1400 fps (or anything close to that number), then the problem is your pellets fly way too fast to hit anything with a reasonable grouping. Due to their shape they should always stay at sub sonic speeds, they loose stability when breaking and/or closing the sonic barrier. 

Otherwise, you should keep in mind that double recoil of a springers has way nastier effect on POI than on PCP guns and even a powder burners. That makes spring powered airguns very sensitive to a hold and requires from the shooter to be very consistent with shouldering.and to always use an "artilery hold".

Also, each airgun/barrel usually has its "very individual prefference" when it comes to pellets (head size, manufacturer and even batch number can come into play). Just trying the other pellets may produce drastically different results on target.

Of course, the problem can also be an optics, especially if it came bundled with a gun and. If an optic is not designed to be used on a springer, especially a high-powered one, double recoil can kill such optics in a dosen of shots. 
 
Oh boy...you people have answered many of my questions and made me realize that shooting a pellet gun appears to be more complicated than shooting a Glock 22 or anything else utilizing gun powder. I never thought that I would have to consider things as "breaking sub sonic speed', ""(pointed, light weight, hollow point, bbs in the nose, and the like) will spiral more readily than domed or round nosed pellets"", etc. I think that I will be returning this rifle to the seller and try for something different.

My interest in this rifle was to use for vermin shooting. I am presently involved in my business of removing pigeons, chipmunks and pest birds. The law does not allow me to fire a weapon within 500' from a residence or 200' from a roadway. A pellet gun does not fall into this category as far as my job is concerned so I thought that I had the problem resolved. For the past 34 years I had been using a Crosman 2100 Classic, .177 pellet/BB repeater (~650 fps). I am good at shooting pigeons at 30' but not at 60'-80'. I thought that the faster a round would travel (1400 fps) the farther I would be able to shoot accurately. Guess I was wrong. I think I will be looking for something under 1000 fps.
 
"gaucho10"My interest in this rifle was to use for vermin shooting. I am presently involved in my business of removing pigeons, chipmunks and pest birds. The law does not allow me to fire a weapon within 500' from a residence or 200' from a roadway. A pellet gun does not fall into this category as far as my job is concerned so I thought that I had the problem resolved. For the past 34 years I had been using a Crosman 2100 Classic, .177 pellet/BB repeater (~650 fps). I am good at shooting pigeons at 30' but not at 60'-80'. I thought that the faster a round would travel (1400 fps) the farther I would be able to shoot accurately. Guess I was wrong. I think I will be looking for something under 1000 fps.
Since this is for your business get a quality PCP gun with a quality scope and bi-pod. You're basically talking about targets at less than 30yards, and just about any quality PCP gun is going to give you sub 1/2" 10 shot groups at 30yards. Frankly you'll be effective upwards of 75/yards maybe more.

See if there are any airgun clubs near by or shops that carry several PCP guns and go shot some. Get on youtube and start looking for hunting with airgun videos and reviews of hunting airguns. 

Good luck and don't give up!
 
From experience, I can tell you that the Beeman is a POJ. Bought one in a garage sale for $10 knowing that it was junk but thought it would be fun to mess with. Now i know why they were snickering when I walked away.... 

FYI Patrick ..

Crosman owns the Remington licensing for airguns. Not to be confused with the firearms. .
Crosman Acquires Exclusive License For Remington Branded Airguns[/QUOTE]https://www.crosman.com/connect/cro...-license-for-remington-branded-airguns/embed/



Remington does not own Beeman.

Beeman's low end guns (this is one of them) is made in China and holds true to it's stereotype. 

Check your facts before you post Patrick... Guys here are looking for solid, reliable information, not rabbit holes.. 



To the OP... I believe we may have spoke on the PA chat.

Ammo used can be the culprit of poor accuracy.
You want to use a quality high lead content ammo such as the JSB, Others will tell you that they have had good luck with other brands and this may be true also. But poor accuracy SANS THE SCOPE can be corrected with good ammo_Of the seven brands, and four calibers JSB has always proven to be a contender in my guns. My recommendation is to start with the JSB exact heavy 10.34 domed. these most certainly won't shoot any worse that what you are shooting now.

Quality optics are a must 
The scopes that come on guns are typically not a quality piece. More than likely, the Gamo scope has a parallax set at 100 yards.
(Not to mention that the gun can recoil the scope to death within an afternoon of shooting.)
What this 100 yard parallax causes is the POI to move around every time you shoot it sub 100 yards. If you do a youtube search of "understanding parallax" there are several videos from reputable scope manufactures (not the ones the neighbor kid made in his closet) that explain this so even the most inept person can understand it. 

When looking to purchase a scope, make sure that it has something less than 100 yard parallax.

Look for a statement like this; "Parallax adjustment 5 yards to infinity" or some facsimile 

Two brands that are affordable and reliable that I have used are Mantis and Leapers/UTG. 

Hope this helps and don't give up on the gun yet. 
 
Now that I know what your purpose is, I'm going to suggest (as another did above) is that you get a pre-charged pneumatic. Although you could spend upwards of $2500 to $3500 on a really good rifle and tank set-up, I'm going to suggest something a bit more affordable. That is, the Benjamin Marauder with a Hill pump. You may want to look into SCBA and SCUBA tanks as well, but these will add a bit to the initial investment. 

The SCBA tanks are filled to much higher pressures, which means you can get more fills in your rifle but at a significant higher initial cost. Also, you need to have a fairly convenient place to fill it. Some dive shops cannot fill to the higher 4500 psi that these tanks hold. SCUBA tanks on the other hand will require you to tune the rifle to a lower pressure fill. This may reduce the number of shots between fills, but for most pest work this should not be a problem. Any dive shop can fill to these to their rated 3000 psi fill pressure.

The .177 Marauder is good for pigeons to about 50 yards. You will need to find the best pellet and tune, but any heavy pellet going 800 ft/s or more at the muzzle will be adequate. However, the .22 (if you get a good barrel---which has been a bit of a problem) is a bit better for this than the .177 caliber., as you will get more reliable and quicker kills. If you intend on shooting pigeons at say 100 yards, then you will need a .25 and a better (more expensive) rifle. The Marauder you wind up with may or may not be up to that task in the precision department. 

The biggest advantage to a PCP, is that you do not have to be nearly as careful with your hold to shoot it well. 

I mentioned that you will need to tune the rifle (and this goes with many, and especially high end PCP rifles). The Marauder is actually quite tunable, both in terms of the ideal fill pressure, and velocity. Fine tuning for barrel vibrations is also possible.

If you are one who has loaded your own ammunition, and tweaked loads for accuracy, and stuff, then the PCPs and tuning will be as interesting. Choice of pellets and head sizes is just one other factor in all of this tuning stuff. However, once you find the right combinations, the precision of these rifles will amaze you. 
 
You most certainly need to be in the PCP world. There are several models with adjustable power levels which would allow you to reach out 100 yards on one pest and then dial it down to tag a bird inside a building w/o pass through to damage a roof behind the bird. Obviously, ammo choice helps in that performance too. PCP's are amazingly easy to put on target but it's not going to be as inexpensive as your springer choice. New, a good tank fill system can run $800 but that system will service as many PCP guns as you own. Cheap PCP guns can be had for $300, not adjustable power, add a scope, etc. The top end of the range is $3k+ so there's a lot to choose from. 

The Marauder is a very good 'starter' PCP that has a ton of upgrades available. Highly tunable. Stock, they are not that quiet and I don't know if that's important to you or not. The barrels on the .22 are reported to be inconsistent so the more desired calibers seem to be .177 and .25. I've shot a couple of .25's and they were accurate and plenty of power on tap. The last time I was with some buddies shooting one had his .25 Marauder and it was hitting targets at 103 yards like crazy. It was an amazingly accurate gun.
 
Dave,
i stand corrected, i remember picking up the box at walmart and reading something about remington on the box.

OP,
i read you want to stay under 300 dollars. but dont have the budget for fill equipment you dont have to break the bank to get a decent PCP
this includes the hand pump, and the dicovery is pretty easy to fill with a hand pump they offer the deal in 177 and 22 cal
http://www.crosman.com/airguns/air-rifles/benjamin-discovery-177-high-pressure-pump
http://www.crosman.com/airguns/air-rifles/benjamin-discovery-22-high-pressure-pump

this doesnt include a scope. BUT it does get you into a pcp that doesnt break the bank, with the addition of HUNDREDS of add on parts and the vast readily available information on this particular rifle on the yellow, talon, and available here makes it a great option.

you could get yourself a decent optic and that combo pack and stay under 500 dollars, then later on add a LDC for indoor or barn work, as the dicovery can be quite loud. there is an added benefit to the dicovery, if desired it can be used with bulk Co2 if desired.

I think that a discovery would serve your purpose fairly well within a reasonable budget. plus you can get a discount on the purchase through AGN, not sure if it applies to combo deals though


Glengiles,
crosman outsourced the .25 barrels to green mountain for the marauder in 25. as for the .22 cal, it is definitely a crap shoot with the 22 barrels.

 
OK, some updates:
I have returned the GAMO Big Cat Maxxim, 0.177, 1400 fps to Dick's Sporting Goods.
I purchased from Walmart the Crosman Nitro Venom NP, .22 with scope. I have purchased some heavier pellets to test.
I will be looking into the (PCP) Crosman Benjamin Discovery for near future.

I have also purchased from Midway USA a Leapers UTG Airgun Scope, 3-9x40.

BTW, I did try the heavier JSB pellets on the GAMO and it did help with the grouping but the rifle is just too loud for my type of work and quite a bit of recoil.
 
I've never shot a Discovery. The 'lingo' in the PCP world for them is a 'disco'. It's my understanding they pump up to a lower pressure level than the Marauder (Mrod). It's also my understanding they that are not backyard quiet out of the box so some kind of aftermarket suppression is needed. The good news is that you should be able to find a used one easy, maybe already w/a scope and LDC.
 
The Disco is a nice way to enter the PCP arena. It fills to 2k vs 3k or better for most other guns. Using the benji hand pump initial fill is around 125-150, refills around 60 pumps . less force is needed compared to the Marauder with 400+ on the initial and around 150 and 140 lbs of down force for the larger fill tube. A 3000 psi scuba tank will give you ok results and the fill mechanism is about 120.00 from PA. You can go crazy with mods from double tubes, various valves, multi shot breaches, after market stocks, and the list goes on. Do a youtube search. They are LOUD and a TKO will help you there. I'm trying to convince a friend that's leaning towards the most powerful break barrel he can find. He's got 3 cheapo dead guns and the busted scopes on 2 of them.