Gamo Centre and Target Pistol

[zooma]

I bought a Gamo Target pistol off the BBS this week and it arrived this morning, so I took it to the Rossendale Club tonight and was pleasently surprised - as well as enjoying a small overdose of nostalgia.

After setting the sights to shoot at 10 metres, even I was able to get all 10 shots in the black after the pistol had "settled down" a little and stopped deiseling ( I had forgotten about this sort of thing) and it brought back fond memories of when I first started shooting target air pistols back in Exmouth in the early seventies. The recoil, the sound and the smell brought the memories flooding back!

In those early days our target pistols varied from a Webley Junior, an HW70, an Original Model 5, Walther LP53, and several Gamo Centre underlever pistols as they were the best value for money and they shot well enough "once you got used to them"- but all the pistols were .177 - so we did it right.

We never had this "posh" GAMO Centre "Target" version at all surprisingly - but if we did I am sure it would have been very popular. Probably by the time this version came out the first of the recoiless pistols like the Original Model 6 had arrived and spoiled its sales potential hugely, and that's probably why we never saw one in the Exmouth Club.

When compared to the standard Centre pistol, the plastic grip gained an adjustable handshelf and a better trigger - both a good upgrade over the standard Centre. I still have an old GAMO Centre so the comparison was very interesting.

The Centre has a grip that is adjustable for rake, so it was possible to get the classic "wrist down" free pistol position for those that wanted it - not possible with the Target, but the trigger was not so good in comparison, but it was still OK once you had practiced with it and it was actually lot better than the Webley.

Overall, a great experience and already we are talking about a monthly "springer" competition to help drag all those old springers back into action and fill the range with those old sounds and smells!

[Iain K D]

Although the Center was introduced in the early seventies, and the simplified Falcon in the early eighties, the Target version was only introduced in 1986. John Walter, though, still compares it favourably to the Daisy 717, although at least partly, it would seem, on the basis of quality of construction - blued steel against alloy. While the Daisy was, I think, imported into this country only somewhat intermittently, the writing was perhaps already on the wall for springer, recoiling target pistols. Gamo themselves had already introduced the PR15 and again John Walter, lamenting its limitation in only firing ball ammunition, notes that "it is believed that a pellet-firing variant is under development."

I agree though there is a certain satisfaction in shooting a recoiling pistol at 10m targets - I still enjoy the occasional plink with my IZH-53M (the 'target-grip' version, as well!).

Iain

[18 Wheeler]

...John Walter... "it is believed that a pellet-firing variant is under development."

And he was right, as this 1990 ASI advert shows, in the form of the PR-45 and Compact models.

The Target model also wears an upgraded trigger blade to compliment the anatomical style grip.

[zooma]

Thanks for the input to the thread guys - very interesting, and the ASI advert clearly shows all of the 1990 GAMO pistol range with the 3 variants of the underlever springer pistol.

I had no idea the "Target" was so late being released and this explains fully why we never saw any of them in the Exmouth Club in the seventies.

With three varaints and the late introduction of the Target model, GAMO must have had a very successful production run.

ASI must have done OK at the time as well - we bought our Feinwerkbau Model 65 and 80 pistols from them, and the beginners were buying the Centre pistols so they had both "ends" of the market to feed from for quite a few years!

[paul404]

Hi guys does anyone know who stocks spares for the old centre?
The leather washer and retaining screw specifically.
Cheers
Paul

[p.m.h]

It's something I'd have thought Chambers did, but I just had a look at their sight and they don't.

Have you tried calling Manchester Airguns to see if they can get them.

Kind regards,



Phil

[zooma]

Yup - we had a full set of GAMO underlevers in action at RMTC on Thursday.

Falcon - Centre - Target.

All shot very well and surprised us with such good performances.

[p.m.h]

I have the PR15. Quite good for a close range plinker. The lead BBs also auto feed.

A pellet firer was later introduced, being the PR45.

I scoffed at the Centre, etc, when I first saw them back in the day, dismissing them as cheap and nasty.

How very naive of me, as I do nearly as well with the Gamo Falcon as I do with my ROHM Twinmaster.

It really is refreshing for such guns to be resurrected and put to regular use.

Kind regards,



Phil

[zooma]

I have the PR15. Quite good for a close range plinker. The lead BBs also auto feed.

A pellet firer was later introduced, being the PR45.

I scoffed at the Centre, etc, when I first saw them back in the day, dismissing them as cheap and nasty.

How very naive of me, as I do nearly as well with the Gamo Falcon as I do with my ROHM Twinmaster.

It really is refreshing for such guns to be resurrected and put to regular use.

Kind regards,



Phil

That is what the MPL is all about - dragging all those great old classic .177 pistols back onto the ranges and reminding ourselves how little real progress has been made - apart from the lack of effort needed to cock the PCP pistols and the price we pay for the privilege.

[zooma]

Hi guys does anyone know who stocks spares for the old centre?
The leather washer and retaining screw specifically.
Cheers
Paul

We picked up a new washer and seals from Manchester Airguns for ours this morning.

John has already stripped, cleaned and re-lubed the pistol and reports that it is shooting very well indeed.

We thought it was working well enough at the RMTC club last night to be honest, but it is even better now and should be even more more consistant as we think this was its first ever service!!!!

.not too bad for a pistol that was bought in the 70's, and so with the benefit of a very careful rebuild and modern lubricants we may get even longer out of it this time!

[zooma]

Does anyone know anything about an alloy loading hatch that was made to replace the LT027 moulded plastic original part by any chance?

This would be a good upgrade for my GAMO Centre or Target pistols, but although I have been told about them, I have never seen one and I don't know who made them or where to find one.

[zooma]

John rebuilt our GAMO Centre pistol after a rumage through a box of old leather washers produced something that could be forced into service and then used a knife to cut away the solidified grease that must have been inside it since the Spanish factory slapped plenty of it on everything way back in the seventies.

The leather washer needed plenty of soaking in thin oil followed by John "treading" it like he was in a barrel of grapes to coax it into a more supple format - followed by shaping it to size in a Jubilee clip until it conformed to a suitable size.

The old piston washer was as hard as a brick and complely useless - how the pistol spat lead until now is a mystery.

The trigger adjusting screws were "welded" into place and immovable until the kife cut away the solidified grease from this area as well!

With a bit of TLC, a rebuild and a relube with his secret "special grease(s)" and a lot of work forcing the leather washer into a shape that would fit into the cylinder the pistol now shoots amazingly well for such an old and well used example of this 70's classic.

The measured muzzle velocity is so consistant that it puts some of the PCP pistols we have measured to shame - amazingly good - but the cocking lever drops away when the pistol is shot as the cocking lever itself has a large oval slot where the pivot pin should be giving a lot of "slop" in this area.

Since the pistol is working so well, John is hoping to get a bush made so we can fit it where the original drilled hole has elongated, and keep this pistol alive for a few more years. If he succeeds this weekend, then a few of us are tempted to use it in the MPL next week as it will be fun and "in keeping" with the spirit of the competition.

It is hard to believe that we paid for this pistol to be serviced, adjusted and lubricated a year ago by a local dealer - but we checked the bill again last night - and it definately says it was - so it must be true!

Anyway - if we can find the source of the alloy loading hatch to replace the worn moulded plastic original then we will have a very nice recoiling pistol for our club to use in the MPL series. The nylon one we have on our Centre now is as worn as the rest of the pistol is/was to the extent that some pellets drop straight through it - but a replacement is not available anymore, although I have placed a couple on back order with Chambers in the hope that they may get some more in stock soon.

[zooma]

John tested the Centre to see which curently available pellet fitted and worked the best in our worn 1970's Centre target pistol:-

RWS R10 - loose fit - fell out of the worn loading hatch - 265 fps.

RWS C02 - very variable between 280 to 370 fps.

H&N Match second best choice and produced 350fps.

GECO - very consistant (!) - 357fps.

This test turns the results we would have expected upside-down - and the results we usually get from most other pistols we have tested would have been the exact reverse of these shown here!

Anyway - this more than surprising result also shows similar results on the 10 metre groupings - so for the Centre pistol used in the MPL competitions we will be using GECO pellets - and I can't beleive I am saying this - because they work the best!

[paul404]

It's something I'd have thought Chambers did, but I just had a look at their sight and they don't.

Have you tried calling Manchester Airguns to see if they can get them.

Kind regards,



Phil

Thanks for that Phil. Sorry over delay in replying, today is the first chance i've found to check forum posts!
I have found a washer specialist on tinternet and 2 are on the way.
Seems your idea re Mcr airguns was spot on!
The Centre is getting very popular after R1 of MPL ! Unfortunately it looks as though I will have to dust off my 65 for R2!
Thanks
Paul

[zooma]

Thanks for that Phil. Sorry over delay in replying, today is the first chance i've found to check forum posts!
I have found a washer specialist on tinternet and 2 are on the way.
Seems your idea re Mcr airguns was spot on!
The Centre is getting very popular after R1 of MPL ! Unfortunately it looks as though I will have to dust off my 65 for R2!
Thanks
Paul

Good luck rebuilding your Centre Paul - we have been surprised just how well they shoot at RMTC - even our very "high mileage" example is working well since John rebuilt it - and it has a nice trigger too!

If we can fix the elongated slot that used to be a round hole for the pivot pin that holds the underlever it could be quite good - but ours is so worn that it drops down as the shot is fired and has some effect on the grouping!

With the MPL scoring system - any good "kicker" has got to be very competetive ( the rules were made this way to encourage the use of these less complicated and therefore cheaper pistols) and I hope a few more of them get pressed into service in the future to show what they can acheive. The top score and Round One MPL Club Champion for Rivvy used a kicker to beat all the other Rivvy shooters so there is some proof already to show what can be acheived with them.

Keep us posted about the progress with the Centre rebuild and don't hesitate to contact us if you need any help - I did notice ( after we already fitted the leather washer to ours) that Chambers have a nylon washer in stock and that would fit with a lot less work.