PA_AirHead
HAM Sniper
Where did the air gun fever start for you? Like what was it about em that drew your gaze in a magazine or while shopping for your wife’s “products” in the sporting goods section of Walmart while she sits in the car. “I’ll only be a minute Honey Buns”….
Well for me it was when I bought my first home. It was a 900 sqft piece of the American dream for my daughter and I. We were on our own, so Honey Buns could buy her own crap!!!! That’s whole different story
.
Anyway, we were now in a neighborhood and powder wasn’t going to be even a remote option. Well, there I was, buying fishing gear (men’s products
) at the now long forgotten Gander Mountain store in upstate NY. I made my way through the plethora of here fishy fishy lures and rounded the corner to be greeted by a white and red box with “1100 FPS” printed on it. I looked at this picture of a GAMO break barrel called “Big Cat” in .177. I thought holy crap!!! I can shoot that in the back yard, after all it’s just a “BB” gun. Receipt in hand as well as some here fishy fishy lures and some ballistic tip GAMO pellets, I was loaded for bear so to speak.
I got home and unboxed that howitzer looked at how it works. No magazine on this one. Just likes dads ‘ol 16 gauge single shot. I remember breaking the barrel all the way to the cocked position and thought “S#%*, this things got some ass”. Stepped out back and squeezed the .5 mile long trigger and “CRACK!!!!”
WTH?!!! This is like shooting a damn .22LR. I’m sure the cops will be here if I keep this up . I’ve learned a lot since then. One thing I’ve learned…… more GAMO’s have been sold because of 1100, 1200, 1300 FPS than Chevy 350’s . I hate shooting the Big Cat, it hurts. Yup, I still own it. That was 2009. Fast forward to 2020 and the insanity that happened and I found myself looking for another break barrel.
This time the GAMO had a 10 round magazine. The Swarm Whisper Fusion 10X. This time it was to be a .22, and I had my doubts that an airgun could do much with such a “big pellet”. I still knew jack about airguns, I just wanted another one. I’d never even heard of a pcp at this point. Amazon dropped that bad boy off on my doorstep in a few days. Mounted the basement bargain GAMO branded scope and took it down cellar. I would go to jail if I shot this thing in the back yard of Middletown, NY. I was remarried at this time and had moved (Honey Buns does her own shopping
). Anyhow, I had some plywood down stairs that would surely stop these .22 pellets, after all, how can a break barrel really push these all that fast? Well the plywood didn’t stand a chance and the cabinet door behind it proved it!!!! 
What is this devilry behind this pellet. This thing could seriously wreak havoc on squirrels and chipmunks!!! I was amazed!
Well it wasn’t too long afterwards, like that evening and I was searching youtube for GAMO videos. Then it happened!!! These three dudes from South Africa popped up on a list of videos. These guys were whacking pigeons from 100, 110, 150 yards!!!!! With air rifles?!!!! No way!! Color me curious and with a credit card and nothing but time!!!!!
After doing some research and discovering that I was way under educated on the power of air and also how pricey the pcp market was, I was on my way to my first pcp. But where to start? Well, Amazon had my break barrel, let’s see if they have the fancy PCP’s. A week later my first pcp landed at my door step and I was STOKED to say the least. My Benjamin Akela .22 had arrived. I was amazed at the way this guy felt. It felt “real”. It felt like a powder burner, it felt like I could take it into the back of the gun truck from Iraq and handle my business…. Ok maybe not that real, but you get the point. This changed everything.
I topped the Akela with a Hawk Vantage scope on a catalever mount. Man I was in heaven. I still knew nothing about PCP’s but I had one. Over the next two weeks I discovered Utah Air Guns and in that time period I had .25 caliber AEA Varmint and an Athlon scope in my hands. “Are you kidding me, I spent $***.** on a scope?!!!! Man I grew up with $39.00 Tascos on our .22’s. How the *%** can a scope cost this much?!!!!.
In the next few weeks I spent a fair amount of money on this addiction on another AEA (a regulated Element in .25) and another Benjamin the infamous P Rod .22
It’s now 2025 and I have a decent collection and I still own every break barrel and pcp I have purchased in the beginning.
I’m still buying here fishy fishy lures as well.
Well for me it was when I bought my first home. It was a 900 sqft piece of the American dream for my daughter and I. We were on our own, so Honey Buns could buy her own crap!!!! That’s whole different story
. Anyway, we were now in a neighborhood and powder wasn’t going to be even a remote option. Well, there I was, buying fishing gear (men’s products
) at the now long forgotten Gander Mountain store in upstate NY. I made my way through the plethora of here fishy fishy lures and rounded the corner to be greeted by a white and red box with “1100 FPS” printed on it. I looked at this picture of a GAMO break barrel called “Big Cat” in .177. I thought holy crap!!! I can shoot that in the back yard, after all it’s just a “BB” gun. Receipt in hand as well as some here fishy fishy lures and some ballistic tip GAMO pellets, I was loaded for bear so to speak. I got home and unboxed that howitzer looked at how it works. No magazine on this one. Just likes dads ‘ol 16 gauge single shot. I remember breaking the barrel all the way to the cocked position and thought “S#%*, this things got some ass”. Stepped out back and squeezed the .5 mile long trigger and “CRACK!!!!”
WTH?!!! This is like shooting a damn .22LR. I’m sure the cops will be here if I keep this up . I’ve learned a lot since then. One thing I’ve learned…… more GAMO’s have been sold because of 1100, 1200, 1300 FPS than Chevy 350’s . I hate shooting the Big Cat, it hurts. Yup, I still own it. That was 2009. Fast forward to 2020 and the insanity that happened and I found myself looking for another break barrel. This time the GAMO had a 10 round magazine. The Swarm Whisper Fusion 10X. This time it was to be a .22, and I had my doubts that an airgun could do much with such a “big pellet”. I still knew jack about airguns, I just wanted another one. I’d never even heard of a pcp at this point. Amazon dropped that bad boy off on my doorstep in a few days. Mounted the basement bargain GAMO branded scope and took it down cellar. I would go to jail if I shot this thing in the back yard of Middletown, NY. I was remarried at this time and had moved (Honey Buns does her own shopping
). Anyhow, I had some plywood down stairs that would surely stop these .22 pellets, after all, how can a break barrel really push these all that fast? Well the plywood didn’t stand a chance and the cabinet door behind it proved it!!!! What is this devilry behind this pellet. This thing could seriously wreak havoc on squirrels and chipmunks!!! I was amazed! Well it wasn’t too long afterwards, like that evening and I was searching youtube for GAMO videos. Then it happened!!! These three dudes from South Africa popped up on a list of videos. These guys were whacking pigeons from 100, 110, 150 yards!!!!! With air rifles?!!!! No way!! Color me curious and with a credit card and nothing but time!!!!!
After doing some research and discovering that I was way under educated on the power of air and also how pricey the pcp market was, I was on my way to my first pcp. But where to start? Well, Amazon had my break barrel, let’s see if they have the fancy PCP’s. A week later my first pcp landed at my door step and I was STOKED to say the least. My Benjamin Akela .22 had arrived. I was amazed at the way this guy felt. It felt “real”. It felt like a powder burner, it felt like I could take it into the back of the gun truck from Iraq and handle my business…. Ok maybe not that real, but you get the point. This changed everything.
I topped the Akela with a Hawk Vantage scope on a catalever mount. Man I was in heaven. I still knew nothing about PCP’s but I had one. Over the next two weeks I discovered Utah Air Guns and in that time period I had .25 caliber AEA Varmint and an Athlon scope in my hands. “Are you kidding me, I spent $***.** on a scope?!!!! Man I grew up with $39.00 Tascos on our .22’s. How the *%** can a scope cost this much?!!!!
. In the next few weeks I spent a fair amount of money on this addiction on another AEA (a regulated Element in .25) and another Benjamin the infamous P Rod .22
It’s now 2025 and I have a decent collection and I still own every break barrel and pcp I have purchased in the beginning.
I’m still buying here fishy fishy lures as well.
) Well I was quickly led to Airarmshuntingsa YT site and in astonishment watched small birds being plinked with ease at 40, 50, 100Y+
....with....what's a pcp?! Matts enthusiasm was real. After a goodly amount of research I went with an S510 in .22 and a TX200 in .177. Now a Brk Ghost HP rounds out the AG family, thanks in part to Hams stellar review of one.
. It was stolen from my father in-laws cabin in the desert some time in the early 80s. I bought a rws34 in 1990 then picked up a used rws 48 2 years later. I made the mistake of giving my son the 34 and he left it behind the seat of a moving truck.
It wasn't until 6 or 7 years ago I pulled the old 48 out and was trying to get it zeroed. It seemed under powered so I joined GTA to get info on how to rebuild it. Then the dark side got ahold of me and all of my savings disappeared.
Beginning: With a $99 springer/scope set, from the bottom of the bargain barrel.
....if I wanted too
-smiley as response to your post above. 
