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]

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]

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.

Has anyone seen the Mk 2 Target with the upgraded rear sight ( looks like the one on an Original Model 10).

This model is shown in "exploded" format on the Chambers site and reveals a slightly longer cylinder and shorter end cap to accomodate the revised design rear sight - also shown on page 75 of the 4th Edition of "The Airgun Book".

If anyone has one like this for sale - please send me a PM with the details.