The Gamo Whisper X

[Manco 16]

It can be very satisfying to take to the woods or fields with nothing more than a break-barrel spring gun and some of your favourite pellets. It has a back-to-basics, low-tech simplicity that appeals to the purist in me. And I believe that shooting a spring gun is a great way of honing ones marksmanship skills.

 

As an inveterate plinker and occasional pest controller I have taken a shine to the Gamo Whisper X. For a lightweight spring-powered ‘hunter’ air rifle in my view the ‘X’ takes a lot of beating. Its synthetic thumbhole stock, I regard as nothing short of brilliant. To buy a custom stock as good as this would probably cost at least as much as the ‘X’ itself. An integral sound moderator, which works well, is included in the price. Looked at like this it’s a bargain.

 

But give a dog a bad name and it tends to stick like the proverbial to a blanket. Unfortunately Gamos have suffered from rather a bad rep and many air rifle shooters dismiss them out of hand. They quip about their characteristic “heavy trigger†and “typical Gamo spring twangâ€. But for quite a few spring gun enthusiasts it’s a different story. The well-known tuner of springers, Bob Werner, aka ‘Charlie da Tuna’, once referred to Gamos as “diamonds in the roughâ€. His argument was that given a bit of TLC and a few well-chosen mods a Gamo can be turned into an excellent air rifle. (He was referring to the ‘older’ Gamos which have a metal trigger blade and trigger block, not some of the later offerings with plastic triggers.)

 

I have followed this path and my ‘X’ (which has a metal trigger) has been lube tuned and fitted with a GRT111 trigger blade (made by Charlie da Tuna), Maccari E3650 spring and small Apex piston seal, custom Delrin lower spring guide and brass top hat. The trigger breaks cleanly and predictably with a pull weight of just under 2lbs. The typical Gamo spring twang and shock has gone completely; instead there is a dull “thock†and moderate recoil. It’s a very well-behaved shooter for a medium power springer and if I concentrate hard enough during follow-through I can see the pellet strike the target.

 

I have taken the X out on pest control duty quite a bit and for shorter range stuff (up to 35 yards) I have come to appreciate its sterling qualities. I prefer to take standing shots either supported or unsupported and what works for me with the ‘X’ is a modified target-shooter’s stance with the fore end in front of the trigger guard resting on the heel of my supporting hand. With its point of balance just in front of the trigger guard the rifle is relatively easy to hold steady when taking the shot in spite of its light weight.

 

Several reviewers in airgun magazines and on forums have billed the Whisper as “the best Gamo everâ€. It’s worth noting, however, that the internals – piston, cylinder, trigger unit – are exactly the same as on earlier models such as the Hunter and Shadow series. The Whisper has a more robust cocking linkage and the barrel block is held in place in the forks of the receiver by torx screws (as opposed to Philips screws on the Hunter 440 I owned) a definite improvement. The Whisper has a ‘poly’ barrel with a steel liner whereas the Hunter and Shadow series have a solid steel barrel. The jury is probably still out on the merits of the ‘poly’ barrel but my own take is that treated with normal care it should last for years and then some.

 

Should you buy one? That’s the $10,000 dollar question. There’s some stiff competition out there and I wouldn’t stick my neck out and promote a Gamo over a Weihrauch! But I like my ‘X’, it’s definitely a keeper, and that’s good enough for me. If you can find a decent secondhand one for relatively little money it could make an ideal home tune project; something to work on during those long winter evenings. The various mods I mentioned would set you back around £60 off the top of my head.

 

For anyone considering putting a Whisper X on their wish list there is a useful review published by Gunmart magazine (http://gunmart.net/gun_review/gamo_whisper/)

 

POSTSCRIPT

 

Since putting up this post I decided to try a bit of paper punching with the 'X'. Here's a couple of photos of a target I set up at 33 yards (measured by laser rangefinder). Pellets are very expensive in South Africa but I keep some 'quality' pellets (these were Lazadomes) for special occasions and I switched to them. This is why the rifle is not zeroed properly. Using my car bonnet as a support with the fore end of the Whisper resting on the back of my left hand I fired 4 shots, 3 of which are touching each other with the last one slightly below. All 4 shots can be covered by a British 5 pence piece (I managed to find one). Not too shabby a result, and I reckon the Whisper could do even better in the hands of a competent bench-rester.

 

Good shooting and have fun.

Chris

Edited December 27, 2010 by Manco

[pianoman 3,586]

Great review Chris I always enjoy hearing a positive experience from a fellow spring rifle enthusiast. Gamo have come in for a bit of critical stick in recent years but, they continue to make a series of spring rifles for not a lot of cash and that gets a lot of people into the sport and that's only a good thing all round. I'm glad to read that the Whisper X you have has responded well to a tune up. I'd like to hear more of your shooting experiences with this rifle.

 

Thanks for such an informative and well-written write up Chris. I really enjoyed reading it.

 

Simon

Edited December 25, 2010 by pianoman

[Manco 16]

Thanks for your comments Simon, I have added a postscript to my review of the Whisper X which you and other members of the forum may find interesting.

 

Chris