Hi all, the names Naz. I was born at a very young age and now cleverly disguised as a responsible adult ! I just thought I would share my experience and thoughts on my particular air rifle. Now, it must be said that this post will not prove useful to most or even seem to have a point to it. There will be tons of hyperbole,fragmented sentences and much to my spellcheckes dismay, spelling and grammatical erros. You have been warned.
My experience with air guns is very limited; in fact, I can count on one hand the number of air guns that I have owned in my lifetime. My very first air gun was a Daisy revolver, model 179 that I received when I was around 8-9 years old. I used to carry that gun with me everywhere and literally shot it to pieces. In the end, it was held together with hanger wire, tape and a bastardization of mismatched screws and bolts. Eventually I gave up trying to fix it and trashed it in a fit of rage one day, much to my regret now!
It looked like so:
A short while later, my father bought me a Daisy rifle, model B102. I used to hang it on the wall above my bed and fired thousands of BB’s through it, back then you could buy the 1500 count shot that came in the cool silver box! I had it for many years but eventually sold it to a friend. Again, regrettably!
Like so:
Fast forward to the present(like the last 10 years) and the only other air guns I bought were a pair of junky, Chinese under lever rifles. They worked when pushed into rodent control duty but they were awful, dangerous things to shoot. More so to load, as they had the finger chopping style of loading into the breech while the piston(or something) was held back when half cocked. Incidentally, I found one of those guns in my shed recently and sold it for what I paid for it! It was this sale that got me interested in air rifles again. So I went into my cupboard and dug out my 2004 Gamo CFX Royal .177.
Now, since we all know that the interweb was invented in 2006, I didn’t have access to reviews and forums like we do today and knew nothing about Gamo or any other air rifle brands for that matter. As far as I was concerned, my rifle was awesome. Until I decided to Google it. This is when I found out that Gamo rifles break after only 2 or 3 shots! And that just by holding one you could contract leprosy! And that they are made in a factory that uses old, discarded kitchen utensils to machine their air guns.
Suffice to say, the rifle that had for so long served me well, performing flawlessly with rodent control, plinking in the yard or out in the bush, staying lovingly protected in the warmth of my cupboard for all these years had now suddenly become a useless paperweight. I mean if the internet says it’s a piece of crap then it must be! I was not to be defeated though.
I read up about how there were people out there that actually worked on air guns. They could fix things, replace stuff, shine a dog turd. My excitement grew. There might just be hope after all!
Before pic
I found a company called NYCA in Johannesburg that was conveniently located a mere 20 mins from me. I duly sent them an email, explaining my tale of woe and asked if they could help. I told them that I heard of this magical thing called a “ Gas ram spring” and that it does wonderful things to a spring air rifle. DO they have one? Yes, they did. I also asked them if they could tune and lube it (technical term for some other sorcery that is done on air rifles) and again, yes. What about making it look TACTICOOL? Yes, we can do that too!
So , Tuesday morning at 10am, I dropped the rifle off at NYCA hoping for the best. Wednesday morning at 10.30am I get an email saying that my rifle is ready. Talk about a speedy turnaround time! I was there at 11 am to collect. They did the gas ram mod, changed the wooden stock to a synthetic one (sacrilege for some!) , replaced my missing front sight (no charge!) and mounted my scope with some new scope mounts. Thanks to my car's 147kw motor, I was home in no time for the all important testing phase!
First thing I noticed, the gun looks awesome! TACTICOOL!
Like so:
Secondly, it was so much easier and smoother to cock. Gone was that old crunching sound from the old spring (which the guys at NYCA told me was broken!) and it was now smooth as silk. Plus my tennis elbow hasn’t acted up once like it used to with the old setup. Recoil was significantly less(or rather, perceived recoil is more accurate) and the rifle was also quieter when fired. I did a few quick accuracy tests and for me, it was perfect!
First couple of test shots at 15m using Gamo pro match pellets 7.9gr (I think)
Things started to tighten up as you can see below, Gamo pro hunter pellets, 7.9gr, 15m distance.
Now, don't get me started on what the old interwebs say about Gamo pellets, that's a whole nudder story! My Gamo likes Gamo ammo, so for now, I will shoot what I have.
So what does this long story have to do with the price of eggs? Absolutely nothing. It’s just my experience of taking an old junker and giving it a new lease on life and most importantly, getting me shooting again.
In summary:
Rifle is much easier to cock
Much smoother to cock
Less perceived recoil
Quieter than before (I suspect the old set up was dieseling or something)
Accurate enough
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