gamo and umarex quality?

I own a Umarex Octane. I purchased it this past April. I have put about 500 rounds through it, and I still don't like it! 

Umarex told me, the accuracy gets better after about 1,000 rounds. Oh? Well, about every 10 to 20 shots, you have to retighten the stock screws and the cross bolt. If you don't, you can't keep pellets on a 25 yard target, much less in the 10 ring. Not wanting to go through that constantly, I put a groove in the stock so I could tighten the cross bolt with out removing the stock. I then used red LocTite to hold the screws in place. That helped a whole lot, but the groups average about one inch at 25 yards if I do my part. The most accurate pellets hover around 14 grains. Anything under 10 grains scatter like a shotgun!

The scope it came with failed after about 50 shots. Just as well, as the reticle is in the wrong plane, which means the aiming point changes with your eye placement. It is not serviceable (or worth it) in my opinion. I replaced it with a Stoeger 4x16x40 which has held up fine. 

One caution. If you have to remove the stock, be very careful! The pins which hold the trigger, sear, etc., are held in place by the stock. Lay the innards on its side, and the pins fall out. Getting things back in place almost requires three hands!

And folks wonder why I like my Benjamin 397 so much!
 
I don't know if this counts, but I have a Browning Leverage (made in China, distributed by Umarex). It is fairly accurate with some pellets, and looks nice out of the box, but is a TOTAL JUNK-BOX. Kinda contradictory, I know. I've had it apart several times, and have done more work to it in the hopes of improving it than any of my other springers (all the rest are Crosman/Benjamin). It is so obviously poorly manufactured that if I'd have gotten to handle one first, I'd have passed on the purchase. I've had to replace the piston seal twice, the spring once, had to re weld the rear air tube screw tab back on, tried several different lubes, tried to smooth out all the trigger bits, and soldered some tin sheet metal in the piston (surrounding the spring). Accurate and powerful enough to be a good hunting gun, junky enough that I can take it out in rain and snow and not care if gets a little jacked up. Definitely "love-hate." If all Umarex guns are similar quality, I will never buy another one, and will likely never sell this one (it's a sickness).

apologies: I do not mean to say "Umarex sux" as a brand. I am saying "I do not recommend buying a Leverage."
 
kirker23,
Umarex makes many quality guns, replica old west revolvers (co2/bb) that look and feel like the real thing, they also make Walther spring guns, the LGV and LGU are very good rifle's. These are made at their plant in Germany not farmed out to China. It all comes back to you get what you pay for.
Tom Gaylord over at Pyramyd Air's Blog page thinks the Walther Terrus is the beast value in a new springer, easy to cock and shoot and about $300.

Good luck with your hunt,
Noel

 
No problem.ive seen so many videos from pyramid air and i think its airgun web on utube.gamo and umarex have some rifles i really like octane being one of them.i also like the benjamin np 2 trail.i want to get a .22 cal and was going to go to cabelas to look at them just was wondering if they were decent which ones to look at.Thanks for the replies
 
You mention the Benji Trail as a possible. I find the first gen NPs to be solidly built and accurate enough for hunting, if maybe not for competitive target shooting. I have NPs in both .177 & .22, and my preference is for the .177. I think the powerplant (which is the same for both calibers) can be a little enemic in .22, but others have different experience (again, first gen NPs). Really the worst thing about the Crosman/Benjamin product is the trigger, which can be pretty easily improved upon with some effort and/or a CDT (Charlie DeTuna) trigger. The Crosman product can be had for a reasonably low price point, and their customer service is really good. While I don't have any experience with the NP2s, I've heard both good and bad, but they may be worth consideration also. Velocity seems increased over the first gen stuff, and they claim an improved trigger, but the jury is still out on that one.
http://www.pyramydair.com/s/m/Benjamin_Summit_NP2_Air_Rifle/3757/7211
I've been eyeing this guy up for a bit...keeps shifting my focus from a much "better" (and much more expensive) rifle.
 
 Do try to get to any airgun match/shoot if at all possible. Driving several hours would be well worth your time. If you showed up at one of our local clubs and were dead set on a nitro piston ( and I have one folks can try) I would sell it cheap! Yes I shoot FT and some rigs a pricey but you also see walmart rifles show up as well as the latest greatest not even released rigs and everything inbetween.

One note on "RWS" Umarex,... might you ever need warranty work? Or will you be able to fix your own when needed?
Buy used, jump all the way up to $500 (maybe) for a used and tuned TX200 and you would have a springer that is a breeze to work on if needed and will last a life time.

Cant recall who but someone has the "rws" maybe "panther"(?) 34 on sale for just under $200, THE best overall value in springers I know of right now, also fairly simple to work on and will last, excellent triggers and barrels also.


John
 
best to check the sources of the gun itself and read reviews. Amazon is a great resource for reviews. PA and Air gun Depot also have review sections for each product.

Example of sourcing, I just purchased a Beeman p17 pistol. It's virtually identical to the P3 (from reading the reviews). The P3 is German, the P17 is Chinese. The P3 is $240 on PA, whith the P17 being about $40. On the plus side, the P17 (Chinese) fit and finish is excellent. After 5 whole pellets, I can hit targets at 10 meters, though need lots of work on my end.

Check your country of origin, check the reviews, and expect to pay enough to get quality. Yes, quality does cost.

Good luck.
 
The Browning Leverage is actually a Xisico XS46U made in China. I have 1 I got from MM at Flying Dragon and got it with the gas ram in it and it is a super gun, not as hold sensitive as other springers and shoots really well with both light and heavy pellets. I have actually shot some 50yd groups with it that were around 1/2'.
I have not had any problems with my gun!