Thread: GAMO being sold
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Old November 17, 2012, 11:02 AM   #7
B.L.E.
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Join Date: December 20, 2008
Location: Somewhere on the Southern shore of Lake Travis, TX
Posts: 2,603
Quote:
just waiting on the PCP. It seems the cheapest are about $500 and I would prefer to wait to get a decent one.
There's the main problem with air rifles. Air rifles are just as complicated as firearms, the parts need to be machined just as precisely, the pretty wood costs just as much, yet we expect a quality air rifle to only cost a hundred bucks or so.
We demand cheap air rifles and cheap is exactly what we get. Horrible triggers with a mile of creep, cheap chintzy plastic sights, stamped steel parts, etc etc.


Have you considered a recoilless springer like the RWS 54. These work like a howitzer where the barrel and action slide on rails in the stock and as a result they are extremely accurate. No matter whether you hold the stock tight against your shoulder or hold it real loose or even put it on sandbags, the action is allowed to free recoil during the firing cycle.
And you don't need the support equipment of a PCP.

Also, pneumatics, precharged or pump up have a hard time matching the power of a springer.
That's because the upper bounds of velocity of an air rifle is the speed of sound. If you release compressed air, it can only accelerate itself to the speed of sound. Increasing the pressure gives the compressed air more energy but it also increases the mass of the air that has been compressed so you are right back where you started.

Compressing the air very fast right at the time of firing causes a large increase in the air's temperature, high enough to ignite the lube oil if you use the wrong airgun lube. The speed of sound is higher in hot air than cold air so spingers can actually shoot supersonic.

Of course, you could precharge a PCP with helium if you want supersonic velocities. I think the speed of sound in helium is something like 2700 fps.
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