After some help with Gamo CFX .177

[Gauci204]

Hi guys,

just wandering if there is anyone who may be able to spare a half hour or so to help sort out my air rifle. Im sure it must be something that im doing, but i just cant get any decent accuracy out of it no matter what pellet i put through it. It is really starting to give me the sh*$s. i bought the gamo as a practice gun so i dont wear out the barrels of my centrefires, but i really like to shoot it, i just cant make it shoot as well as im told that it should.

I am in sydney and would appreciate any advice/help afforded.

thanks

chris

[fenring]

Just a few questions about things that often cause accuracy problems.

What accuracy are you getting?

How are you shooting it - offhand or from a rest like a bench or a pillow etc?

Is it scoped, if so is it an airgun scope?

What sort of mounts does it have?

Are all screws tight - scope mounts, stock screws etc?

Have you shot it with open sights to see if that makes any difference?

What pellets have you tried and what calibre is the rifle?

Is any smoke coming from the gun after firing?

[chris thomas]

Hi

Depends on what accuracy you want from it ??.

One hole groups at 10m forget it. Expect around 25mm at 20.

Not what you want to hear but sell it and buy a decent air rifle, The triggers are junk, barrel pivot tension screws never set tension correcly, far too much power to control with a trigger like they have and a barrel that moves .

I see it all the time "i just want a cheap slug gun for the kids". How can any one learn to shoot accuractly with a inaccurate rifle , 6-10 pound triggers ,vibration and piston clap.

Cheap why does everyone only want to sell cheap.

Look for a used FWB 124 or 127, or HW 80 , 77,95,97 or Beeman R1,R9,.

Same with scopes forget those cheap air rifle scope. They get away with calling them air rifle scopes only because they focus down to 10m. Think about it how can a 2-7,3-9,or 4-12 scope including a mount cost only $100-$150 be any good.

People talk about how we are getting ripped of with high prices on products we use we are not getting ripped of on this stuff. We are being ripped off with being sold cheap poorly made junk .

Regards

Chris Thomas

[RayG]

Here! Here! Chris. And so say all of us! You always get what you pay for. If you are not sure about what AG to buy. Always talk to somebody who knows air guns well "BEFORE" you spend your hard earned.
Ray.

[ogre6br]

Waht level of accuracy were you told it should be able to achieve??

You might be trying to make this cheapo AG achive accuracy that only happens when Marketing/spin doctor type people write advertising material

So what's it shooting now for 5 shots at 10 and 20m? and under what conditions were these groups shot?
indoor range, indoor not range, outdoor range, outdoor paddocks? and under what rest conditions- front and rear bag, front bag only , full BR rest setup??

Are your stock screws tight and about the same tension on both/all screws??
sometimes you do up the screws un evenly and it will warp the way the action sits in the stock

P

[Gauci204]

Hi guys,
i am away from home at the moment and so cant get to the safe to find what type of pellets i have tried.

the gun is a fixed barrel, with the underlever cocking action, with the little door that opens to let you insert the pellet.
it is in .177 cal

when i have shot at st marys, i have been using bags front and back, and tried to shoot it the same as i do with my centrefire (only holding rifle with the back hand etc)

i have only been to the range with this rifle 4-5 times for a couple of hours each, but i was expecting to be able to shoot say a 50c peice size hole at 10m and hopefully 25m, but cant seem to get them to group consistantly like this.

most of the time 2 or three consecutive shots will be in a slightly different spots.

I shoot centrefire, and so have a little idea of what to check for . have tightened and tensioned scope rings and mounts, tightened and tensioned the action to the stock to what gamo have reccommended.

the damn trigger is harder to pull than a good looking chick that can cook! and i have returned it TWICE for warranty work because the mechanism that opens to let you insert the pellet, isnt wide enough or deep enough for most pellets, and the door likes to slice a little bit of the pellet off! (when i am testing it i make sure that this hasnt occured)

think i might take the advice of a few of you guys and bin it and look for something a bit better.

thanks for the help though.

[kjd]

Gday mate,

The best bet for springers is to go a Beeman go to http://www.beeman.com.au" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and contact Lewis he will help you.

As far as your technique goes champ shooting an AG is not like shooting a centrefire. You have to hold the foreend with every shot or else it won't shoot consistantly even on bags. Try doing that it might tighten those groups up a bit.

At the end of the day you have an el cheapo airgun and it will never perform quite like a Beeman or Weirach FWB or Diana.
Speak to Lewis spend 700-1000 dollars (Beeman R9 is great at around $700) on a really really good springer and you will never look back.

If you want an airgun that fires exactly like a centrefire/rimfire get a Pre Charged Pneumatic (PCP) which uses compressed air and that is just like having a firearm rather then an airgun but a 2nd hand one will set you back atleast $1500 but it is well worth it!

[ogre6br]

If you are considering stepping up in quality- talk to Lewis about what he has- you cannot go wrong dealing with Lewis.

Here is some information I borrowed about caliber/pellet selection for hunting
(snip)
HUNTING AIR RIFLES:

In addition to reasonable accuracy, (two inches at 50 yards) hunting or field air rifles must transfer three to five times as much energy to the pellet as target airguns. The energy of a hunting rifle pellet should be at least as high at the target distance (pest birds, for example), as target airguns are at the muzzle (4 ft. lbs.).

PELLET CALIBER & WEIGHT:

A. Caliber. By far the largest number of airguns are sold in .177 caliber, and this is the pellet size of choice for nearly all target shooting, plinking and some small pest hunting. .177 caliber offers the highest velocity for a given amount of airgun energy, and results in the flattest trajectory. However, the speed of sound--1080 fps at sea level at 32°F--sets a practical upper limit on the energy with which a pellet can be propelled. Breaking the sound barrier results in a loud crack--just like a firearm--and generally sends the pellet tumbling wildly. It would take 16.8 ft. lbs. to propel Beeman's Laser pellets to 1080 fps, and 21 ft. lbs. for Beeman/H&N Match pellets in .177 caliber.

.20 caliber (5mm) is a perfect example of obtaining large ballistic gains in performance with small, optimal changes compared to .177 caliber. The 5mm trajectory remains nearly as flat, but its heavier weight lets it carry about 40% more energy for the same velocity. This is the best general purpose caliber.

The .22 caliber has a large gain in pellet weight and size is only useable in the highest-powered hunting rifles. The range of the .22 caliber is less than the .20 caliber, and the downrange energy less than the larger .25 caliber pellet. .22 might be the choice if you owned a single hunting rifle.

.25 caliber is unbeatable in carrying the most knock-down force to the target because of its maximal pellet weight and resulting incredible shock value. It is the perfect round for the tough tree squirrel and the right caliber in high-powered air rifles for any of the larger furbearers such as woodchuck, opossum and even raccoon.

B. Pellet Type. The single most important factor in choosing a pellet is to obtain one that is accurate in your airgun! Only personal experimentation will let you discover the most effective pellet for your airgun/target combination. Each airgun varies slightly in the way it handles different pellet types. Since the accuracy of pellets themselves will vary slightly from batch -to-batch, it is wiser to buy a year's supply of pellets at one time than to buy in smaller quantities.

Using the same powerplant, a light pellet will accelerate rapidly and leave the gun barrel at high speed. Its time in the barrel is the shortest, thus reducing the effects of an unsteady hold. The light pellet's time-to-target is also shortest so gravity can pull on it for only a split second. An accurate, very flat trajectory is the result. Yet in some high-powered rifles, light pellets are ejected so rapidly they do not dwell long enough to get the full energy transfer of the decompressing charge of air. While the same rifle can propel an 9.2-grain .20 Laser pellet to 850 fps and a 13.32-grain Kodiak pellet to 700 fps, these figures show the Laser only acquired 14 ft. lbs. of energy while the Kodiak obtained 15.5 ft. lbs.

The speed of a heavier pellet is lower in the same airgun versus a lighter pellet. And, because of its slower speed, a heavy pellet takes a longer time to get to the target; this gives gravity a longer time to pull it down. Note that the drop of any pellet has nothing to do with its mass or weight--all pellets are pulled down by gravity at the same rate. The only thing that counts is how much time gravity has to do the pulling. It is only because heavy pellets take longer to get to the target that their trajectory is more bowed. A lightweight pellet traveling as slowly as a heavy weight would have an equally bowed trajectory.

(endsnip)
this is not my work but i found it somewhere and thought it was good enough to cut and paste to keep it- cannot remember where it came from.



Now some options as to what you can look at if you are considering upgrading

Bear in mind that a lot of the reviews I will be linking to will be for English airguns and a good 50 % of those reviewed will be 12 FPE ( FPE= Foot Pounds Energy a good measure of actual airgun performance)
In England you can buy a 12 FPE rifle without having a firearms certificate- so there are heaps of them about- people use them in their back yards and hall ways perfectly legally.
Airguns in Au are full power versions and more power is a good thing.



The original Diana D34
I understand they are using the 34 model number on some of the new AG's they are bringing out under the RWS branding
I have NFI if these new models are as good or dependable as the original D34's are
have a look here for info and opinions on the original D34.
http://www.pyramydair.com/p/rws-34-air-rifle.shtml" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
A D34 overhaulled by Lewis with a Maccarri kit is something you are quite likely to leave to your grand kids.



One of the current Beeman flagships and worth a serious look at
the R9
http://www.pyramydair.com/cgi-bin/model.pl?model_id=554" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
there are plenty of reviews etc on the R9- google is your friend in finding them
There are plenty of members here who have R9's and they love to sing their praises.



Here is a quality underlever Weihrauch HW 97K
http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews1750.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
If you like the underlever style of Airgun


This is an older model high end gas ram that puts out gobs of power 20+ FPE
Weihrauch HW90-- I own one of these and it's a ripper of a hunting rifle and it's a gas ram also so you dont loose any power as the spring gets old- theres no spring to get old and it shoots the same, day in day out all day long. Mine puts out a bit more than 20 FPE- but I chose 20 FPE as that is an easy figure for the HW-90's to do with a quality pellet.
Running the figures on my airgun ballistics program at 20 FPE with an JSB Exact pellet (A grade pellets) in .22 Caliber
Gives you a 40 yard zero, 3/4 inch high at 25 yards, 2 inches low at 53 yards with 12 FPE energy left -- your current rifle would be lucky to do 12 FPE at the muzzle
http://www.pyramydair.com/cgi-bin/model ... el_id=1731" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;



In simple terms this is the modern Version of the HW-90
If Lewis still has this one
It would be a massive step up for you in quality and hunting options
Yes it carries a price tag - but the performance increase would be worth the $$
http://ausvarmint.kjd84.com/forum/viewt ... =18&t=6472" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
This rifle will do 20 FPE as well in .20 cal
It will match the trajectory above almost exactly but will have 10 FPE remaining at 53 yards rather than 12 like the 22 caliber will- nothing to worry about- the rabbit will still be dead and it's head will still be mushy



And then there is PCP's but thats the subject of another essay
Easiest to say the PCP is the best and most powerfull upgrade path- but it also is the most expensive and has extra equipment requirement issues

A high quality springer is a great option and the simplest in terms of extras and other issues that PCP's have.

hope this helps rather than confuses

P

[curan]

the damn trigger is harder to pull than a good looking chick that can cook!

You'll fit in here! I'm sure of it!

good luck, curan.

[Predator]

think i might take the advice of a few of you guys and bin it and look for something a bit better.

It is good advice. I shot several air rifles at the range yesterday and the Beemans (specifically a tuned R9) came out on top in smoothness and accuracy, Gamo came out on bottom. Webley Patriot (.25) was quite satisfying to shoot although had a bit of twangy recoil and the Baikal IZH-61 has a very very nice trigger for a complete cheapo, weak, but fun air rifle/toy.

I did the research before buying my first air rifle and the guys at these forums definitely put me in the right direction. I forked out for a Maccari tune kit and Lewis Reinhold from Beeman Oz did his magic. I can't emphasize how happy I am with the quality (beautiful stock) smoothness and accuracy from this tuned R9. The pigeons are also amazed, for a microsecond.

[native hunter]

Where do you live.????
Regards

[Predator]

hes in Sydney mate

[makrand]

Google "Artillery hold for air rifles" to get the best out of your CFX.
In brief you should hold it as little as possible but in your hands, not on a rest of any kind.
The idea is to let it jump as it fires and it should always jump in the same way.
Other things are using the finger tip always in the same place on the trigger etc etc.
Try to squeeze the shot off between heartbeats if you want to get really silly about it.

But having said that you still have a cheap air rifle.
I'm about to get a PCP for the pleasure of being able to (hopefully) shoot single hole groups at 50m.

[trevort]

Chris, did you write that post for me!! just put a deposit on a Gamo cos...... its cheap

[kjd]

Chris, did you write that post for me!! just put a deposit on a Gamo cos...... its cheap

We tried telling you Trev.

Not our fault you didn't listen. Just dont fire a quality airgun and you wont notice the difference.