A lot has been discussed about the improvement in barrels on many air gun web sites. The FX smooth twist started it but seemed to be upstaged by the FX smooth twist X, which seems to be the better of the two for overall pellet selection in that the smooth twist was designed for JSB pellets alone.
Seems many have also stated that Daystate is riding in on the back of FX in that they designed an octagon barrel for their larger caliber platform. My Wolverine in 177 uses a time proven Lothar Walther barrel which has often been considered the Caddy, Lexis, Rolls, or Bentley of barrels before the new designs hit the streets.
Now, along comes the Umerex Gauntlet. A cheep Chinese gun that took the air gun world by storm when it first was advertised and then, after the wait, showed itself to be, after a number of needed mods and adjustments, to be a super shooter. If you don't accept that, just check YouTube and see for yourself.
Now, any gun can have a boat load of adjustments and a state of the art barrel (FX'eS) or simply a strong design like the Wolverine R, that has a bunch of high quality components like a Huma reg, an LW barrel and the sling shot hammer. Enter once again, the cheepie --- Gauntlet. We can bet, not a whole lot of bucks or effort was put into the barrel on that thing as compared to the higher quality stuff, but in many cases, it shoots as well as the high priced spreads.
Once the point of aim issues are solved with the Gauntlet (which it seems to be known for) my question simply is this. How can this gun possibly compare to the top shelf guns that have super internals and select barrels? Once the trigger was smoothed out to make it an easy pulling single stage that breaks with no creep and after I came up with a POI shift fix as well as a Jefferson State valve, the Gauntlet can shot every bit as good as the Wolverine. Depending on the day or conditions, at times, it may even shoot better.
So it seems to me, maybe part of the main difference between high end stuff and the cheap Gauntlet centers on the luck of the draw. My Wolverine was tested before being sent to me. I got a target it shot that was one hole. If there had been anything askew, the gun would have been stripped down and the problem corrected for, I'm sure. The Gauntlet was boxed and shoved out the door. In my case and it seems a number of others, we hit a barrel winner because when all is said and done, for the most part, accuracy manly comes down to the barrel and pellet selection to that barrel and cheap guns usually have cheap and untested barrels.
Not to say any of the sub $300 guns are going to win national titles, but wouldn't it be somptin' else if one did.
Here are 5 shots at 40 yards with my Wolverine and Gauntlet. The Wolverine is on the left and Gauntlet on the right. Those targets could easily have been switched around if I tried it again and there were times that they have been.
So the cheap gun does require a little work to get it up to snuff, but the barrel that comes with it is what it is and other than a run through with JB Bore Paste, there isn't much more you can do.
Seems many have also stated that Daystate is riding in on the back of FX in that they designed an octagon barrel for their larger caliber platform. My Wolverine in 177 uses a time proven Lothar Walther barrel which has often been considered the Caddy, Lexis, Rolls, or Bentley of barrels before the new designs hit the streets.
Now, along comes the Umerex Gauntlet. A cheep Chinese gun that took the air gun world by storm when it first was advertised and then, after the wait, showed itself to be, after a number of needed mods and adjustments, to be a super shooter. If you don't accept that, just check YouTube and see for yourself.
Now, any gun can have a boat load of adjustments and a state of the art barrel (FX'eS) or simply a strong design like the Wolverine R, that has a bunch of high quality components like a Huma reg, an LW barrel and the sling shot hammer. Enter once again, the cheepie --- Gauntlet. We can bet, not a whole lot of bucks or effort was put into the barrel on that thing as compared to the higher quality stuff, but in many cases, it shoots as well as the high priced spreads.
Once the point of aim issues are solved with the Gauntlet (which it seems to be known for) my question simply is this. How can this gun possibly compare to the top shelf guns that have super internals and select barrels? Once the trigger was smoothed out to make it an easy pulling single stage that breaks with no creep and after I came up with a POI shift fix as well as a Jefferson State valve, the Gauntlet can shot every bit as good as the Wolverine. Depending on the day or conditions, at times, it may even shoot better.
So it seems to me, maybe part of the main difference between high end stuff and the cheap Gauntlet centers on the luck of the draw. My Wolverine was tested before being sent to me. I got a target it shot that was one hole. If there had been anything askew, the gun would have been stripped down and the problem corrected for, I'm sure. The Gauntlet was boxed and shoved out the door. In my case and it seems a number of others, we hit a barrel winner because when all is said and done, for the most part, accuracy manly comes down to the barrel and pellet selection to that barrel and cheap guns usually have cheap and untested barrels.
Not to say any of the sub $300 guns are going to win national titles, but wouldn't it be somptin' else if one did.
Here are 5 shots at 40 yards with my Wolverine and Gauntlet. The Wolverine is on the left and Gauntlet on the right. Those targets could easily have been switched around if I tried it again and there were times that they have been.
So the cheap gun does require a little work to get it up to snuff, but the barrel that comes with it is what it is and other than a run through with JB Bore Paste, there isn't much more you can do.
