Gamo Whisper

[SOLAteeda]

I am looking to purchase an air rifle with enough umph to kill an armadillo, preferably as quiet as possible. I will be going for headshots at about 50 yards.

Would the Gamo Whisper be a good choice? If not, what would you suggest?

 

[Snookie]

PM sent
Call me in the morning!

 

[SOLAteeda]

Replied, thanks.

Still looking for opinions on the whisper or other quiet air rifles.

 

[AK shooter]

I have one, they are pretty quiet quiet with lead pellets and powerful enough to kill armadillos.

 

[sgt z]

I shot an armadillo with mine, a gamo shadow 1000 w/o whisper and it runnoft under the empty house next door and died. Lead pellet (probably 7-8gr). I have gone to a 10.5 gr crossman lead pellet w/o much better success on squirrels. I tried a 17gr lead pellet with limited success. Lighter grain pellets tended to pass thru the squirrels. I ain't good enough to hit the brain so don't go there. I have collected kills with head shots that didn't result in instant death. Head shot a possum once and it walked pretty far with a bullet in the head then shot in the side of the chest kilt him but not dead enough so I shot it in head again.

 

[SOLAteeda]

I've been doing some reading, and really am not sure which air rifle I'm going to get. Some people have poor opinions of the Gamos, but the high quality air rifles cost so much it is rediculous.

Some people say that the break barrel air guns are inherently inaccurate, any opinions on that? Anyone have one of the heavy duty air rifles? If so, is it worth it?

 

[smith625]

I have one of the sporstmans guide chinese models they sold about ten years ago and it is fast, but far from reliably accurate. Oh and it is a center break rifle.

 

[gbundersea]

I wage an ongoing battle with the rats which occasionally come from the ditch to eat bird seed. I'm using a Crosman Storm XT (.177 caliber, 1000FPS) at ranges of 13-15 yards. At first, I used the Crosman pointed lead pellets from Wal-Mart. While I was getting kills, they were overpenetrating. I switched to Crosman hollow-point pellets, also from Wal-Mart, and did some crude ballistics testing, which I will post in this forum when time permits. They definitely expand, so I'm sure that they do indeed transmit more energy to the target, and cause more damage.

Surprisingly, some of my head shots were not instant kills, regardless of pellets. Rats are amazingly tough, and I guess their brains are pretty small. I think most of my instant kills have been from forward center-of-mass shots, which probably took out the heart. Even the hollow points sometime fully penetrate a rat, leaving me impressed with the power of this gun. The other day I hit a rat from 15 yards on its left side, around the shoulder. The HP pellet went through the body at a 45-degree angle, making an exit wound on the rat's rear right side. A small amount of viscera protruded from the exit wound, which was probably 3/4" in size. The rat dropped dead immediately. Upon taking the shot, I saw water splash in the ditch, so I knew it had penetrated the rat.

(BTW, I have the PERFECT kill zone, with nothing but a ditch right behind it, and I'm shooting on a downward angle. Misses or overpenetrations are no problem, as they go right into the natural backstop of the ditch.)

A few days prior to this kill, I hit another rat with a shot which struck the eye area from straight on. The HP pellet cleaved right through the head and part of the shoulder/back, killing the rat instantly. It was a gruesome wound.

However, after other head shots, some rats hobbled away, usually to a secluded spot near the ditch where I'd deliver the coup de grace, or where they'd die a few seconds later on their own.

I have to wonder, after seeing my own results and reading similar observations about armadillos, squirrels, and other animals, how effective a .177 caliber airgun would be against them. Head shots are iffy with regard to both target size and survivability, and COM shots to an armadillo may not penetrate sufficiently. Maybe a .22 caliber airgun? I've seen a dual-caliber Beeman at Wal-Mart for $149, which isn't bad.

 

[Suburbazine]

I've been doing some reading, and really am not sure which air rifle I'm going to get. Some people have poor opinions of the Gamos, but the high quality air rifles cost so much it is rediculous.

Some people say that the break barrel air guns are inherently inaccurate, any opinions on that? Anyone have one of the heavy duty air rifles? If so, is it worth it?

I have a heavy duty .22 Diana (350 Magnum). It's a break barrel...Not sure what this rumor about inaccuracy is, but I can pick bottle tops off at 50 yards pretty consistently with a scope. Follow up shots are probably twice as fast in a break barrel as compared to a side or undercocker.

Overpenetration is an issue though, I did a lot of squirrel and raccoon hunting. Every squirrel shot would overpenetrate, even using wadcutters. I'd gut them from head to tail sometimes. Magnum pointed pellets would overpenetrate the average raccoon every now and then, usually was a one shot kill though. Opossums took 2-3 shots because they either overpenetrate or the opossum just didn't understand that it was supposed to be dead. I even picked off a 25lb nutria at 45yds, shot through the head.

Didn't get to try any armadillos.

 

[jimdana1942]

I have one of the 19.95 Chinese under barrel cocker guns. Had for about 10 years. I think it shoots in the 800+ range. Only shot it few times, still like new. Quite accurate.

Will it kill a squirrel being its probably in the 800+ velocity range?

 

[angrycookieman]

Don't know if you've gotten one yet or not, but I've had a whisper for a little over 2 years. It is extremly accurate with pellets that it likes, and mine likes the crossman premier and most benjamin pellets. It does not like any gamo pellets i've tried, and has horrible groups with most of them. The trigger, the biggest complaint aginst gamo, is not good at all, but a 30 dollar grtIII turns it into a completly different gun. I also had a gamo hunter pro, and while the hunter pro was a nice gun, it never felt as smooth and sweet shooting as the whisper.

 

[xobelkcat]

I have an old Chinese air rifle with the undercock lever, I would guess it to be1000+fps. It will shoot through any varmit Ive shot.(birds, squrrils, mice, rats, even some fence boards!)
Ive had it probably 15+ yrs now. Ive shot tens of thousands of rounds through it. It is still accurate enought to hit a tree rat in the eye from 20yrds open sights, though it may be losing some ummpf.

In my expierence the break barrel does not shoot very consitantly

 

[PAPACHUCK]

Anybody got opinions on the Beeman line of airguns? I've been shopping as well and this is one I've been studing;
http://www.airgunsbbguns.com/Beeman_Air_Rifle_Sportsman_SS1000H_p/bee1062-64.htm

 

[angrycookieman]

This is a good place to start looking for prices and customer reviews. http://www.pyramydair.com/
That is probably a pretty good rifle for the money.

 

[angrycookieman]

Oh, and if you're new to airguns, the breakdown spring type rifles like these need quality scope mounts. The unique recoil is very hard on scopes and mounts not designed for it. Try to find a nice one piece mount for the scope.

 

[MotorBoy]

Beeman does not make air guns they just stamp their name on them 20 years ago they sold mainly German guns very good very expensive now they sell to a price point I would they away from most of them the Gammos are what I call the top of the bottom not junk just not really good right now the best deal in air guns if you can not afford to spend $500-700 is the RWS 34 or the RWS 54 side cocker both are just plain jane looking but shoot very well both work well with Crossman premier pellets 177 7.8 gr or 22 14 gr the 34 shoots about 900 fps in 177 and 700 in 22 cal the 54 does 1000 fps in 177 and 900 fps in 22 cal remember you do not want to break the sound barrier in any air gun it ruins the accuracy both these guns with a clean barrel will shoot better than 1/2 inch at 50 yds and both will do the job in 22 cal we have an old saying 177 has less drop but 22 more pop

 

[MotorBoy]

Also if you still are looking at Beeman look for the ones that say made by Weihrauch those at the good ones.....

 

[PAPACHUCK]

Beeman does not make air guns they just stamp their name on them 20 years ago they sold mainly German guns very good very expensive now they sell to a price point I would they away from most of them the Gammos are what I call the top of the bottom not junk just not really good right now the best deal in air guns if you can not afford to spend $500-700 is the RWS 34 or the RWS 54 side cocker both are just plain jane looking but shoot very well both work well with Crossman premier pellets 177 7.8 gr or 22 14 gr the 34 shoots about 900 fps in 177 and 700 in 22 cal the 54 does 1000 fps in 177 and 900 fps in 22 cal remember you do not want to break the sound barrier in any air gun it ruins the accuracy both these guns with a clean barrel will shoot better than 1/2 inch at 50 yds and both will do the job in 22 cal we have an old saying 177 has less drop but 22 more pop

All this and not punctuation mark #1. Dayum, that's hard to read.

 

[PAPACHUCK]

But thanks for the input. I'll re-read and re-read it 'till I get it all.

 

[angrycookieman]

Basically he's saying that the RWS is better, and in the higher end stuff it probably is, but in this price range, I'll keep my whisper with aftermarket trigger. I find it hard to beat. As for the 177 to 22 debate, I like 177 because pellets are more common, and I can plink at longer distances. If I need the power of .22, I have a bolt action .22 I can shoot CB shorts in and it's a good bit quieter than the pellet rifle anyway.