I’ve been waiting for a day like today to put this rifle through its paces. This morning things did not look like they were going to work out, but as the afternoon rolled in, things really cleared up. Other than being a little gusty, it was a great day to do some shooting.
Make: Gamo Model: Hunter 440 Pellet Rifle Serial Number: 04-1C-115459-97 Year of Manufacture: Unknown Caliber:.177 Pellets Action Type: Single Shot Break Open Markings: The left side of the receiver is marked “Hunter 440 / Cal 4,5 (.177) / 04-1C-115459-97 / Made In Spain” and “Gamo”. Barrel Length: The barrel is 17 7/8”. Product description The Gamo hunter sport sends pellets flying at 1200-Feet Per Second. This rifle is a spring-piston break barrel gun and comes with a 3-9x40-Millimeter BSA scope and rings. The fluted bull barrel will make this rifle the envy of your friends.
Before we get to all the fun stuff, I want to take a little time to talk about how I came to own this rifle. A while back a friend of mine was having a squirrel problem and his old pump pellet gun just wasn’t cutting the mustard. He picked up a Crosman G1 Extreme at the local Wal-mart and could not stop talking about it. That same day I was out at ATP Gun Shop and Range practicing with my new Taurus PT111 pistol and on the way out noticed they had gotten some air guns like I’d never seen before. I decided to get a Remington Genesis with 3-9×40 Scope. At first this was a great rifle and my friend was a little jealous. After careful inspection we both noticed that they were basically the same power plant but with different stocks. The Remington actually came with Crosman instructions.
Anyway about a week later I noticed that the barrel was no longer locking tightly back into place after I cocked the rifle and it had loosed up left to right as well. In fact I was convinced that all break barrel rifles were inherently defective because of the experience. But after reading and researching I concluded that I must have just had a dud. Frustrated, I took the rifle back to the dealer and exchanged it for a different rifle that was on the rack the other day when I bought the Remington. The rifle that I exchanged for was a Gamo Hunter 440. After getting the rifle home I knew immediately that I had purchased a completely different class of air gun. First of all the Remington is made in China and the Gamo is made in their own factory in Spain.
Gamo Hunter 440 Front Sight
Gamo Hunter 440
The Gamo Hunter 440 that I purchased, for the same price as the Remington Genesis at $189, came with a 4×32 AO scope as well as front and fully adjustable rear fiber optic sights. The stock was well balanced and had nice checkering for positive a grip. Perhaps the nicest part of the rifle was how it cocks, smooth as silk.
Cocking Effort of 38lbs is easy because of the long stoke
Gamo Hunter 440 .177
The stroke is very long and makes for very easy cocking, about 38lbs effort. The power plant states that it throws lead at a maximum of 1000 fps. We’ll be able to confirm just how fast when our new chronograph comes in and we talk about speed and accuracy.
I’ve been shooting this rifle for about 6 months now and their are a few things that you need to know before you go and get one. First thing is that it is VERY hold sensitive. You need to be able to hold and fire the gun EXACTLY the same way EVERY time to achieve any accuracy. This was proven today on the range with spreads as great as 2″ to 4″ just using different holds and rests. I did finally find the secret to shooting this rifle, at least how I need to shoot it, and will share the technique in the next post. Although the day was not perfect because we had some gusty conditions, we managed very small groups at 10 meters and less than quarter size groups at 20 meters. Here are some sample groups just to help wet your appetite for out next report!
.75″ group at 20 yards with Crosman Premier hollow point pellets
3/8″ group at 10 meters with Gamo Rocket Pellets
Check back in a few days to see how our new chronograph worked out with this rifle. We’ll look more in depth of how to hold this rifle and what pellets yielded the best groups.
Written By,
Rick Eutsler AKA: AirHead
Editor / Owner www.AirGunWeb.com
editor@airgunweb.com
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