Umarex Gauntlet. . . new out of the box Problem and Fixes

[skywagonguy]

My first venture into the PCP air gun world. It was a very tough choice for an air rifle, but after watching too many YouTube videos and forums, etc. the Gauntlet by Umarex got the nod.

I have heard some of the possible problems with this rifle; barrel easily displaced by a bump or other but, if treated right it appeared to be a good shooter. However, mine out of the box displayed an immediate possible problem. Namely, the air bottle seemed "loose". You could easily move the end of the bottle over 1/4" side to side inside the forward shroud piece. Keep in mind that I had no knowledge at this point about how the bottle attaches to the gun. Soon, I discovered that the bottle and its neck adaptor simply screw into the gun receiver. And, I could turn it somewhat until the pressure gauge contacted the shroud.

Next, I learned that the forward bottle shroud can be removed by "one" screw. The screw that also connects to a rifle sling. Don't bother trying to remove the several small screws that are in this shroud. Once the shroud was easily removed, the air bottle could now be screwed in tight to the rifle interface. But, now, that puts the air pressure gauge completely out of alignment when the shroud it replaced.

Next the fix....The air bottle, I believe, must be empty. . !!

Turns out there are 2 allen (grub) screws that lock the air bottle and its adapter together. When these are loosened, the bottle can be rotated and realigned with respect to the adapter such that the air gauge is now aligned correctly with the sight window/slot in the shroud. In the case of my new rifle, this took a 1/4 turn and now the bottle and adapter are tight with no end play and the pressure gauge shows properly.

 

[GLPalinkas]

So, how’s she shooting?

 

[skywagonguy]

Sorry too be so late responding the question concerning my .22 model shooting the 15.89gr JSB Diabolo pellets at 835 f/s

The Gauntlet is shooting well now after several more "fixes" that had to be discovered, figured out and repaired.

1. The magazine could not be inserted without considerable difficulty. I assumed the magazine had a flaw or burr or similar. As the contact flaw was on the bottom of the magazine. Turns out the magazine was not the problem. On the rifles magazine port on the bottom is a large screw that goes down into the receiver section. Under favorable light I could see that the screw head was "cocked". At first, I thought that it had no been screwed fully in and that was causing the magazine hangup. But, no the screw head was cocked just enough that one edge stuck up from its machined receiver hole. It stuck up enough to interfere with the magazine fit.

It looked like if the lope-sided head was carefully filed down that do fix the problem. But instead i took the rifle apart and discovered that the receiver end had been threaded offset. Thus the screw when seated did not align straight. With some careful thread work that misalignment was fixed and worked well.

2. The next item was the tank leaked, very slowly but, leaked air. It took some careful work but, discovered that the tank was leaking at the filler valve. Upon disassembly of the filler mechanism, I could find nothing visible wrong. I was looking for debris or a flawed part. I could not find anything other than a super tiny speck of red "stuff"; maybe a piece of gasket material. I scrubbed out the socket, reassembled the filler parts and refilled. That stopped the leak

3. The "Fore stock" on my rifle did not line up well and some touched the barrel. This is a known problem, probably with the early guns. I tried all the know published fixes, but " none gave a satisfactory "fit" of that plastic fore arm piece. After analysis, i figured out a simple strap brace screwed into the bottom of the fore piece worked to get the alignment correct for a good fit.

4. This rifle has a nice trigger design. It gets even better when you remove the trigger spring and replace it with the simple spring from a ball point pen,...

 

[Vetmx]

Sounds like you were baptized by fire. Welcome to PCP’s. Isn’t it fun fixing brand new guns. Umarex appreciates it. At least you know your gun pretty good right now and won’t fear going in for future repairs or mods. Hopefully it will be trouble free now that you ironed it out.