Gamo Compact experience

[CB200]

494, that's coming on. Skanaker is a good source of information, well worth following the guidance in it, but keep in mind although much works for many not everything works for all, as we are all individuals it sometimes happens that we have to adapt some aspect to suit our individuality, but it's a good starting point.

Interesting about the Gamo Match pellets being too tight in your barrel. I was going to suggest that you might like to try them as a possibility if you hadn't already done so. It's a good idea to try a few types to find which pellets suit your own pistol as some are more suited than others. It's not even possible to say brand x pellets always shoot well in a model y gun. Barrels, even within a particular model may well exhibit a 'preferance' of one pellet or another. There's a wide choice available nowadays & with the size variations available it can get to be expensive & involved in finding the very best one for your pistol. I've tried a few, i like Hobby pellets, they seem generally pretty good, but match pellets from RWS or H&N are my first choice.

Thanks for your input Trajectory: helpful as usual - do you think it’s helpful to ‘bench rest’ test different pellets?
I’m going to get another (weaker spring) for my trigger and see if that brings down the pull weight. I’m sure if I get the trigger weight down, my scores will improve.

[trajectory]

Thanks for your input Trajectory: helpful as usual - do you think it’s helpful to ‘bench rest’ test different pellets?
IÂ’m going to get another (weaker spring) for my trigger and see if that brings down the pull weight. IÂ’m sure if I get the trigger weight down, my scores will improve.

Thanks.

Ok, bench resting; the compact has a recoiless mechanism so bench resting should be fine BUT a couple of things. It's a new technique so it might need a little getting used to. If you sit square on to the target with a two handed grip it's very different to classic offhand technique, it's not hard, just different. Changes usually need a bit of practice. The Compact has a shortish sight base, so double handed the rear sight might be appreciably closer to your eye. This will have the effect of making the rear sight notch wider & thus harder to consistently centralise the front sight. Different lighting conditions may help or exacerbate this.
Possibly not much you can do about this other than keep the lighting consistent. You could stick a narrower rear sight notch to the rear or a wider one on the front but for all the messing about it's probably not worth it. If they are fixed on well they might mark the pistol, if they aren't fixed well they will move.........neither is any good.

Good light & concentration should be a help, & a bit of practice.

The trigger. In an ideal world maybe it would be 505g, break like a glass rod & be 100% consistent. However in any world it must be totally safe. In all instances safety is the prime requisite. Swapping out standard parts might offer a way forward but the proviso of safety remains. Maybe there is something not quite right with one or more of the parts in your one, maybe it's a manifestation of manufacturing tolerances, I don't know.

[CB200]

Thanks.

Ok, bench resting; the compact has a recoiless mechanism so bench resting should be fine BUT a couple of things. It's a new technique so it might need a little getting used to. If you sit square on to the target with a two handed grip it's very different to classic offhand technique, it's not hard, just different. Changes usually need a bit of practice. The Compact has a shortish sight base, so double handed the rear sight might be appreciably closer to your eye. This will have the effect of making the rear sight notch wider & thus harder to consistently centralise the front sight. Different lighting conditions may help or exacerbate this.
Possibly not much you can do about this other than keep the lighting consistent. You could stick a narrower rear sight notch to the rear or a wider one on the front but for all the messing about it's probably not worth it. If they are fixed on well they might mark the pistol, if they aren't fixed well they will move.........neither is any good.

Good light & concentration should be a help, & a bit of practice.

The trigger. In an ideal world maybe it would be 505g, break like a glass rod & be 100% consistent. However in any world it must be totally safe. In all instances safety is the prime requisite. Swapping out standard parts might offer a way forward but the proviso of safety remains. Maybe there is something not quite right with one or more of the parts in your one, maybe it's a manifestation of manufacturing tolerances, I don't know.

Okay thank you for that, I’m not sure I’m actually going to do bench testing now: my groupings and scores have just improved today! Just to put you in the picture: I measured the trigger weight without cocking the gun - 2.5lb, so regardless of what I did to the sear surfaces or reducing the sear contact surface, I was always going to have a trigger weight of at least 2 1/2lb! I changed the trigger spring for a lighter one. I cocked and drop tested it, to check it never fired before shooting 6 cards (one practice) - big improvement in groupings and overall score! I’ll be looking for 510-520 at my next 60 shot on February 15th (I do one 60 shot a month). Watch this space!