Gamo Hunter 1250 Review

Overall Rating

Very powerful, good accuracy, nice looks

Long trigger pull, the gun is very big and heavy, harder to cock than most other spring guns. 58 lbs. cocking effort.

The Gamo Hunter 1250 is not recommended as a first air rifle or for a woman or child. This gun is for those who have experience with shooting spring piston air rifles. I'm only 5' 8'' and 160 lbs. and this gun is a bit big for me, 49 inches long and 9 lbs. I have gotten used to cocking it though. The 58 lbs cocking effort takes some getting used to. Not much of a problem once I got a technique down, but for a person without good upper body strength this gun will be too much to handle.
The accuracy is very good. I can hit a soup can at 40 yards every time with just the open sights. I shot a black bird at 45 yards yesterday and hit it right in the center of the chest. Loose grip and heavy pellets are vital for tapping into the guns accuracy. Recommend using a pellet that's at least 10 grains or more in .177 cal. Beeman's Kodiack pellets work the best for me. I tried Gamo's Magnum pointed pellets (8.1 grains) and they didn't work well. 3 inch groups at 12 yards. The light pellets break the sound barrier with a sonic boom that sounds just like a 22 long rifle. Way too loud for backyard shooting. The heavier pellets 10.6 grains, are shooting at about 1050 fps. Much quieter and far more accurate. The 8.1 grain pellets are shooting at 1130 fps and you can truly get 1250 fps with 6.5 grain pellets but if you can't hit what your shooting at it's not worth it. Anything that goes over 1100 fps will brake the sound barrier and likely not be very accurate.
The power is amazing! I've owned several springers: Gamo CF-X, Gamo Shadow, Mendoza 2003, and a RWS Model 34. The Mendoza was the most powerful of these, but still doesn't compare to the Gamo 1250. I was putting .177 cal. Beeman Kodiack pellets all the way through a 1 inch thick piece of pine at 25 yards. Even the lighter pellets at 8.1 grains were breaking all the way through the board. None of my other springers can do that. This gun could kill just about any small to medium size game you would come across. This is the only spring rifle that could kill a deer at close range with a head shot! (Not recommended though). There is no drop in the trajectory of the 10.6 grain pellets for the first 45 yards. At 55 yards there is about 2 inches of drop, and about 6 inches at 65 yards. Very good for longer range shooting. My Gamo Shadow rated at 1000 fps only shoots the 10.6 grain pellets at 790 fps. with about 20 inches of drop at 65 yards. Big difference! If you want power and long range accuracy in a pellet rifle, and can handle the large size of the gun, it's a very good choice.

Members' Comments onMarkthebum's Review

• Markthebum on 21st Sep 2006

  As I've been shooting my Hunter 1250 over the last several days I noticed something worth adding to my review. I've been trying a wide range of pellets in this gun just to see what the results are. By far the best pellets for this gun are Beeman's Kodiak extra heavy pellets .177 caliber. I did try Beeman's Silver Arrow pellets which are even heavyer than the Kodiaks but for some reason the gun just doesn't like them. Very inconsistant grouping. The only other pellets that group even decently are Beeman;s crow magnums. They group nice out to about 20 yards but beond that they don't do well. Only the Kodiaks shoot well at all ranges.
  Now to my point. After shooting many lighter pellets that go faster than 1100 fps (you will know because they brake the sound barrier and "crack" like a .22) with poor results. I went back to using the Kodiacks which are what I've decided to use from now on. There was an issue though, all of a sudden I lost accuracy even with these!!. I was getting very frustrated and began to inspect my rifle carefully to find the problem. 3 inch groups at 10 yards just isn't acceptable! They shot great before, so what's the problem??? I looked into the barrel and quickly found out what it was. There was lead caked into the grooves of the rifling. I bought a .177 cal. one piece cleaning rod and ran a dry copper wire brush through the barrel several times. Small clouds of lead dust puffed out of the barrel as the lead was scraped away. I couldn't seem to get it all but most of the lead was eventually removed. I began to shoot at 10 yards again with the Kodiaks and this time the group shrunk to half an inch with 5 shots at 10 yards. All holes touching. WHEW!! much better! After doing some research I discovered that any gun that shoots a lead projectile faster than the speed of sound, will cause the lead to heat up enough to melt and stick to the inside of the barrel. Do this enough times and your basically shooting a smoothbore gun. So, my advice is to ONLY use pellets that are 10 grains or more. My gun goes supersonic with anything under 9 grains so I use 10 or more to be safe. Unfortunatly there isn't much to pick from in .177 at that weight level.I truly wish that Gamo didn't discontinue this model gun in .22 cal. The Hunter 1250 is just too much power for a .177 caliber pellet. I bet this gun would be a dream in .25 cal. Gamo has made a huge mistake in limiting this wonderful airgun to only .177 cal. Luckly, there are a couple of companies that make extra heavy pellets in .177. Other wise the gun would be nothing but a nice wall piece. Funny thing is that none of the pellets that Gamo makes work well in this gun. None of them are heavy enough! You would think that Gamo would've done enough research to know this, and make a .177 cal pellet siutable for their crown jewel air rifle. Ending this gun in .22 cal was a huge, huge, huge mistake. Gamo should stop the .177 line and instead make it in .20, .22, and 25 cal. instead they only chose to make it in the one caliber that is almost incompatible for the awsome power level that this airgun produces. "sigh" Oh well. Hope Beeman never goes out of business! I'll be SOL!

• Mike4310 on 28th Sep 2006

  I have a ten year old friend who can cock this easily with one hand.

• Markthebum on 4th Oct 2006

  Well, good for your 10 year old friend! What type of steroids does he use? Hook me up! Could use some of them good old "pump you up" roids!

• Gwalshy on 23rd Mar 2008

  Where to start?would like to know how you cock your (well chosen)piece?If you don't already,try placing barrel hand just below muzzle break,rather than using it to cock...I await your reply...

• Markthebum on 28th Mar 2008

  I hold the wooden stock just below the rear sights with my right hand, the top of the butt pushes on the inner thigh of my right leg, then I grasp the large muzzel break with my left hand and pull it down until it catches. Once you get the hang of it it's actually quite easy. Markthebum

• Markthebum on 28th Mar 2008

  P.S. I choose not to grasp below the muzzle break because the sweat, dirt, and oils from the hand can cause the barrel to rust. If you choose to cock the gun this way, be sure to wipe the area down with a little airgun oil or anti-corrosive. Markthebum

• Joel Eladio on 8th Sep 2009

  I found this review very helpful because I have been facing those problem myself with my gamo hunter 1250, and still looking for the best use of this particular gun!