Gamo 220 Hunter Combo .177 Review

Overall Rating

Easy handling, extremely accurate after a little fiddling. Seems to be hit pretty hard.

Needs fiddling out of the box, scope is not sufficient for the gun

I have an old pump pellet gun that I have been using for the distinguished job of rodent eradication. It gives decent power, but I got sick of having to give it ten hard pumps to get the job done. This caused me to head out into the scary world of spring loaded air guns. I settled on the Gamo Hunter 220 Combo because I didn't want something Chinese, and I was reasonably happy with the reviews that I had read.

I bought the gun 2 weeks ago and for the first 4 days was extremely disappointed with the gun. I ended up visiting my local gunsmith and whined to him about the inaccuracy of the gun. He asked me if I was bench resting the gun. I told him that I was, and how else did he expect me to aim properly? He then told me that with spring loaded air rifles the complex recoil makes bench resting the gun impossible if you want accuracy. The spring gives the gun a jerk when you pull the trigger, and the pellet leaving the barrel gives another jerk. The gun basically goes back, forward, and then back again. By resting the gun on a firm surface you make the jump worse. I left a bit downhearted. I bought the gun for accuracy, and holding it freehand was going to basically defeat the purpose, which was to wreak havoc on the growing squirrel population by my house. I went to Walmart and picked up an inexpensive air gun scope with a 3x9x32 adjustment (the stock one is a 4x, and I wanted something adjustable) and went home. Before I put the scope on, I took the entire gun apart, wiped off the excessive grease, and oiled everything (trigger, spring, and all other movable parts) with air gun oil (thick and red). I put the gun back together and was very impressed with the results. The oil took the creep out of the trigger (it is still a long pull, but without a trigger job, I'm happy), greatly lessened the twang of the spring and overall greatly improved accuracy. I'm now hitting the 10 ring at 30 yards. I lightly rest my hand on the window sill while holding the gun firmly. It seems to work well. As for the prey, I shot a squirrel this morning about 20 yards a way, the shot was with a Crossman Wadcutter. It left quite a bit of damage. After a bit of research and tweaking, I'm very satisfied with new addition to the arsenal. I have a neighbor with a raccoon problem. I'll see how the power handles the coon, then I'll report back.

Members' Comments onJasonPatrick's Review

• Bertie on 24th May 2006

  ........" I'll see how the power handles the coon, then I'll report back." Jason.........you can have one of my surplus apostrophes if you want...it will surely clear up any misunderstanding of that sentence! I may be a little over-cautious here, but I would think your '220 -- unless well into UK FAC territory -- is somewhat short of the ME necessary to humanely kill a raccoon unless you get very close to it and hit it in the eye.

• brucemg51 on 29th Jun 2006

  I had the same gripes with mine at first. The unique recoil of a magnum springer does take some getting used to, but now I am consistently shooting one hole groupings at 30 yards. Just for kicks, I put an official NRA target, with a bullseye about the size of a dime, at 65 yards out. To my amazement, I was able to hit it. If you are used to pump-up rifles, shooting a springer is totally different, but if you're willing to work with it, it will be worth your time and effort. Also, I have put down a raccoon with my 220, but as with any type of shooting, shot placement is everything. Aim for the base of the skull, and that raccoon will be on his way to the rodent afterlife.