We got
this comment last week, and I promised an answer as a complete posting
because this one will take some time. Butzback asks,
"How does the
Gamo compare to a Beeman? The Beeman is so much more expensive [that]
it makes me wonder about quality, performance etc." Let's get to it!
First we do Gamo
Gamo
is a company that dates back to 1889, when they were founded to produce
high-quality lead.In 1950, the company decided to start production of
lead pellets to satisfy the growing demand in Europe. In 1961, Gamo
introduced their first airguns to the Spanish market.
Today, they are the largest airgun maker in Europe.
Gamo guns have been coming into this country since the early 1960s. Their models have always been different and innovative.
The Expomatic was a repeating diabolo pellet rifle, made at a time when
pellet repeaters were not well-known. Gamo guns today range from youth
models to the extremely powerful Hunter 1250 Hurricane.
Most of their rifles have been springers, which is what I will
concentrate on in this posting. However, they're also a leader in CO2,
and they've built a few single-stroke pneumatics. The big rumor on the
street is that they'll soon offer a precharged rifle. Because they own
BSA, who already knows precharged technology, they have access to those
designs. They're also supposed to be working on a new type of hand pump,
which should hit the market when and if a PCP comes out.
Gamo springers
All Gamo spring rifle models are different, but they do share some common characteristics. The dry-fire capability
we discussed last week is one of those, as is the Gamo trigger. The
trigger starts out as a very stiff and creepy unit with an ambiguous
release point. However, the more you shoot the gun, the better this
trigger gets. There have been other airguns with this same
characteristic - notably the BSF spring guns from Erlangen, Germany, and
many of the Webley rifles of the 1980s and '90s. I've shot a Gamo
Hunter 440 with 6,000 shots on the trigger, and it was as smooth and
predictable as most spring gun triggers - certainly as good as an RWS
trigger.
Moving on to Beeman
Unlike Gamo, Beeman doesn't make airguns. They are an importer that puts their name on models they decide to sell.
When
Robert Beeman headed the company, he carefully built a reputation of
quality and performance that American shooters had never dreamed
possible. Since selling the company in 1994, there have been major
changes to the quality of the guns that carry the Beeman name. In the
beginning, this was limited to the trimming of certain low-sales guns
like the HW 55, but as time passed, the Beeman company grew more
"corporate" and lost some touch with its roots. They stopped publishing
the full-color catalogs Robert Beeman used to build the company's
reputation. They are closely associated with Marksman,
an American maker of inexpensive, mass-marketed airguns and have had
ties for a long time to large retail outlets such as Wal-Mart. Both
companies are owned by SR Industries.
A marketing move to extend
sales for Beeman was to take Spanish airguns made by Norika and put the
Beeman name on them. When Robert Beeman owned the company, they carried a
few Norika guns, but Beeman never put his name on them - just as he
never put his name on the Yewha shotgun, the S&W pistols or the Sheridan Blue Streak. But, now, it's possible to see Beeman air rifles in Wal-Mart. This has diluted the Beeman name somewhat.
It no longer conveys quite the panache that it did when the founder was at the helm.
The bottom line
Because
of this situation, you see how difficult it is to write about the
quality of a Beeman airgun. They're all over the place! The R-series
rifles are made by Weihrauch and are as good as they ever were, but
there are increasingly cheaper guns carrying the Beeman name today. So,
there is no such thing as "Beeman quality" any longer.
To talk about Beeman air rifles, you must pick a model and get specific.
The answer. I hope!
Now,
butzback, I'm going to assume that you were referring to the R-series
rifles when you asked your question. How do THEY rate against Gamo air
rifles? They are better in the following areas. They have a much
better and more adjustable trigger. They have a better (well-rifled and
uniform) barrel, as a rule, and they can out-group the Gamo rifles.
HOWEVER, all companies have good and bad days. On a bad day for
Weihrauch, their barrel is not going to be as good as a good Gamo
barrel. In other words, there are exceptions to what I say about
barrels. The Beeman (not Weihrauch, but Beeman R-series) stocks are
better shaped and generally nicer in form and feel. The Beeman R-series
powerplants CAN be better, but this is an area in which Gamo is rapidly
closing the gap, in my opinion. And, Weihrauch is slipping just a little
at the same time.
Everything I said in the paragraph above IS JUST MY OPINION.
I can't back up any of it without sitting down face-to-face with
someone and comparing two rifles side by side. That would involve
shooting as well as a physical examination. So, this opinion is worth
about what it costs.
Take what I say and evaluate the guns for yourself.