Gamo Whisper
I remember many years ago a commercial on television that stated if you wanted someone's attention.....whisper! Of course, that was a beautiful woman selling perfume, but this Gamo Whisper will help you avoid the unwanted attention of disturbed neighbors with a sound reduction of up to 52%. As stated in the item description on Airgun Depot's website, the sound reduction isn't very noticeable to the shooter because the mechanical action of the firing is still prevalent since it is right next to your ear. But downrange and to the side, the dampening effect of the permanently attached moderator is apparent.
The Gamo Whisper comes with an ambidextrous, synthetic stock that is comfortable, and great at reducing the weight of the gun. The barrel is enclosed in a polymer substance, so you lose that metallic clank when you bump against something.
The muzzlebrake on this gun is permanently attached, and as mentioned above, does a fine job of reducing the report of the gun. It's not fully silenced, but it is softer on the ears.
The Gamo Whisper comes with a Gamo 3x9 AO scope that is clear and quite useful. I had no problem getting on target, and one juvenile starling in my neighborhood will no longer pester my bluebirds and woodpeckers!
I tested the Gamo Whisper over my chronograph, and noted that the advertised velocity is right on par with the results I achieved. PBA ammo from Gamo does go almost 1200 fps. A five shot string averaged 1156.8 fps, so close to 1200 that you could round up without feeling guilty about your claim!
I tested 7 different kinds of pellets in the Whisper. Below is a list with the average velocity of a five shot string:
PBA - 1156.8
Gamo Match - 927.2
RWS Meisterkugeln - 878.8
RWS Superdome - 876.6
RWS Super Hollow Point - 967.2
Gamo Hunters - 927.2
Chinese Domes - 844.4
The best accuracy at 20 yards was achieved with the Gamo Match pellets. They gave me sub 1" patterns from a new gun with only about 200 warm up shots through it. As the gun wears in, I'm sure the patterns will tighten up as well. Other pellets ranged from almost as good to dismal patterns of 1.5 inches at 20 yards. The juvenile starling you see above met a pellet from the Far East, one of the Chinese domes, at 26 yards and never made a twitch as he fell over. The gun is an excellent candidate for pest control and small game hunting.
The scope and rings that come with the gun work very well. It's interesting that there is a rail that attaches to the grooves already cut into the gun. Then the scope mount, a one-piece unit from Gamo, attaches to that rail. But it works, and works well. You get 3 allen wrenches included with the scope to make sure you can tighten everything down well.
The safety is located inside the trigger guard, as is common on many airguns these days. The trigger guards is plastic, but the trigger and safety are made of metal.
For the price of $224.90 at the time of this review, you get a gun that is quieter, easy to carry, plenty accurate for pest control, and easy to cock. The price is a bargain these days as the dollar loses value against European currency, so give the Gamo Whisper a chance in your arsenal. And instead of getting attention, avoid it with the Whisper!
