This weekend the Fat Man joined the ranks of Gun Show Dealers... at least for the weekend. Our local club held it's Bi-Annual fund raising gun show, and I received a call a few days before it began.... "Hey Carteach, we had a cancellation. You want to take a table so we don't have an empty spot?"
So, a few days scrambling to put together enough stuff to fill a table for a few days, and a rushed Friday evening setup, and Saturday found the Fat Man standing behind a table in a nicely crowded gun show.
What is there to report? Mighty darn little. You see, the thing is... the dealers don't get to wander much unless they have a full blooded helper to man their tables, which Carteach did not. That means my 'shopping' was limited to what was in eyesight most of the time. On Saturday I was able to read through most of Hatcher's Notebook, and on Sunday I spent a very enjoyable few hours talking with a long known but never before met blog friend. That said.....
Carteach went to a gun show and did not buy a firearm.
I'll say that again..... Carteach went to the gun show and did not buy a firearm.
Sigh.
On the other hand, he did come home with a very cool new shooty toy, and has been chuckling over it ever since. It happens the stand holder next to me was the club president, and all round nice guy and known to price things a bit low. Amongst the long gun on his tables was something I'd thought about buying in the past, a Gamo Whisper air rifle
It laid there, looking as if it was unboxed yesterday, and came with a few cans of Gamo pellets as well. The Pres allowed that he was selling it for a friend, who had graduated to a .22 as a backyard varmint eradicator and no longer needed the Whisper. I asked only a single question... "Is it Accurate?" as I've had air rifle in the past that were more blow than go. He responded that his buddy makes ragged one hole groups with it.
It was priced at $75.
A few moments research on the 'Phone which is smarter than I', and I almost stumbled as I turned back to his table and snatched the rifle up. "I Believe I'll have this!", and I spent the rest of the day defending my new prize as it stood in my own tables long gun rack of sale items. Sell it? Hell no! I wanted to use it!
To make a long story short, and I'm probably already too late for that.... I shot this thing a bunch after the show both Saturday and Sunday. It does every blessed thing Gamo says it does... and I sorely wish I had bought myself one the day they first came on the market.
It's named the 'Whisper' because it's factory suppressed, and that works bloody well great. The only sound is the 'sproing' as the spring driven air piston compresses the air to launch the pellet. If heavier pellets are used, it pushed them about 1000 fps with no sound but the rifles action. If the lighter Gamo 'Raptor' pellets (Gamo Raptor PBA .177 Cal, 5.4 Grains, Round Nose, 100ct
) are used, they exceed the speed of sound and the rifle cracks like a .22 with high speed ammo.Let me tell you..... a can of beer fairly explodes when hit with a pellet from this thing (g). As for accuracy, I only fired a few at paper to see... and they all landed in a group no bigger than my thumbnail. Real accuracy testing will have to wait till the 1000 assorted pellets I ordered come in. The rest of my shooting was at steel swingers, cans, fence posts, board knots, sticks, clay birds, and just about anything else in our largish backyard that was target worthy.
Woe be to the squirrel that gets near my garden this Summer!
4 comments:
Yeah, but you SOLD a few didn't ya... :-) Sorry I couldn't stay later, but traffic was going to be an issue. Thanks again for the good price on the rifle!
And of course being the U.S. variant, it will not be restricted to 12ft.lbs. of energy at the muzzle......... sigh.
A couple of young lads wanting to join our local rifle club were deeply upset when the air rifles they had bought with them tested out at 12.5 and 14ft.lbs respectively (in .22).
In the UK, that's firearms licence territory, worth 5 years jail time if they had taken them back home that night. Our club rangemaster did them a huge favour, and kept them as listed club guns until they could be de-tuned.
NFO Sir, it was a distinct pleasure meeting you in person after all these blog years. I hope that rifle serves you as many years it did me.
Now I'm looking at signing up for my own Appleseed course next month. As far as I'm concerned, no one is so good they can't learn some more. Me? I have a WIDE gap to fill up!
Bryn.... I don't know what to say. You folks have my sympathy, to a point.
Hello Carteach0.
My comment was not a plea for sympathy, just a reminder of where America could end up if the State is allowed to grab too much power. I firmly believe that it will take a revolution in Britain before we are allowed an American degree of freedom wrt gun ownership.
I also believe, sadly, that Britain is now populated by domesticated sheeple who will tolerate almost anything by way of Government restrictions - those prone to rebellion & dissent have mostly emigrated if they can, or are swamped by public apathy when they speak of such things as self-reliance and less Government interference in our daily lives.
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