Air Gun Home :: View topic - Ultra lite pells, lubing pells, dead chickens.

jeager106 · Member

I went shopping at Dicks hoping to find a gas piston gun. Instead I ran into "the sales kid". You know the one. He knows NOTHING and pretends he does. He showed me a $99.00 Rem. budget springer telling me it was a gasser, then cocked it and put it on the rack. I tried to get it through his head that he should put a pellet in the break barrel cheapo, take it in the back room and discharge it thus uncompressing the spring as it's likely it will remain cocked all week-end. "It ain't got so much as one spring it it" he says with great authority and was too dumb to understand that printed on the box it says "power- SPRING". So he locked it in place where it will remain cocked indefinately and left me on my own to look at all the other guns.
No gasser in the bunch but a couple NICE Crossman springers that I passed up on.
I did find some ultra light .177 4.0 grain pells. and some lite in .22.
I shot some 4.0 grainers from my Gamo Shadow and the crack sounded like a .22 rimfire. Accuracy was poor, 2" at 20 yards.
With Crossman Premiers it will shoot through both sides of an empty spray can and bury in the wood back stop.
The 4.0 barely nicked up the paint on the can and bounced clear back to the shooting bench!
The ultra lites are a looser for sure, same in .22 cal.
The chicken test: I had three leg/thighs that went sour so they went to the woods to feed the coons.
The thought struck me it would be a good time to test the Gamo Shadow against real meat. I paced off 25 yards and let fly with Premiers. The thump of the pel against meat was pronounced. Examination showed the .177 Premier broke the leg thigh bone, shattering it, then lodged another inch into the meat. The Gamo/Premier will kill small game.
I did this three times and got good penetration each shot.
The Shadow has the power but that &*#^% trigger spoils shooting.
Is there any trusted source that can clean up the Gamo trigger because it takes two men, a boy and pry bar to set the thing off! Pull is loooooooong and stiff making offhand shots very difficult.
I took ten .177 and ten .22 Premiers, put them in a small plastic lid, and drenched them in dry graphite powder. No good. Groups doubled in size immediately. Didn't Chroney any of them and won't as the accuracy just isn't there.
The graphite will wash off easily with dish soap so pels aren't waisted.
I flushed the barrels with break parts cleaner, being very careful NOT to get the solvent any place other than the bore. That stuff might eat seals.
I dried well with tight fitting patches on a .177 rod. Accuracy returned to normal.
The Gamo Shadow has a lot going for it but the trigger spoils the whole gun.
My Benjamin pumper has much going for it. You don't need an airgun scope-no spring twang and with 7 consistant pumps it's super accurate and powerful enough. Saw a snake in a dirt pit trying to crawl out but the loose dirt ruined the escape. I had the Benjamin with me so the snake is still in the dirt pit! Twisted Evil

The M-48 is going in for a much needed rebuild, the 850 for modifications in power, the Shadow to someone that can improve that awful trigger.
Is the Shadow trigger something I can tackle myself?
All comments, suggestions, most welcome.

Slavia · Moderator

A GRT or GTX trigger upgrade will fit the Shadow:
http://www.charliedatuna.com/GRT-III%20Trigger%20New.htm
http://www.airgunsofarizona.com/

broommaster2000 · Moderator

Light pellets: Bad idea in a springer, unless they don't have power. Shocked

packrat · Senior Member

with what Slavia said....the GRT trigger is one of the very best mods EVER!! It totally transformed my Crosman StormXT. Installation takes like 10 minutes, or less, and makes a world of difference in
the gun. Smile

editd to correct spelling.

Dust · Member

Where are you sending the 850?

jeager106 · Member

The 850 Store when they get back on line and in business again.
Mine is amazingly accurate but lacks power for clean kills on small game.
I need 825 to 850 f.p.s. with Crosman Premier pells.
0.50 groups at 20 yards are a breeze, trigger is good right out of the box.

rualert · Member

packrat · Senior Member

Hi ya Casey Exclamation