Hey everyone! First post here (I usually just lurk).
I've been wanting to pick up a backyard-friendly PCP for a while. I’m in a suburban neighborhood, so my max shooting distance is about 25 yards. I was going back and forth between the Stormrider and the Arrow. The Arrow ended up winning just because of the price—$179, plus I had a $10 off coupon. The rep I talked to also recommended the Arrow over the Stormrider, so it checked all the boxes I was looking for to get started in the hobby.
03/25 – Ordered the Gamo Arrow in .177. I added the $10 “check it before shipping” thing just to avoid getting a dud.
03/31 – It showed up.
First impressions:
It felt solid, fit me really well, and was super easy to pump using a hand pump I got from amazon. Took about 60 pumps to go from the low green zone up to around 3200 psi.
The thing shot great. Really quiet too, my phone showed 88 dB for the Arrow compared to 98 dB from a Daisy 880. I got tight groups with Crosman, H&N, and JSB pellets. Even Daisy pellets weren’t terrible, so it didn’t seem super picky at least for 20ish yards
My 8-year-old could handle it just fine. We spent a couple afternoons in the backyard plinking together, and it was nice not having to pump after every shot.
04/15 – By now I had put maybe 500–600 shots through it. I got a second mag and started shooting like normal. First 4 shots were fine. On the 5th shot, it suddenly got much louder, had a harsh recoil (for a PCP), and pellets were flying about 8 inches low. Finished the mag and figured something was off.
Reached out to the place I bought it from, they said it sounded like a blown seal. They offered a return or exchange, and I chose the return. Didn’t want to open it up and risk messing with the warranty.
Before anyone says anything, I did read nobody1’s super detailed review and saw that others had issues with the transfer port. But I figured, eh, that was a while ago, maybe they fixed it? Probably? Maybe? Hopefully? Nope.
nobody1 review here
So now I’ve got a pump and a tank... and no PCP. Back to searching for a new rifle
I've been wanting to pick up a backyard-friendly PCP for a while. I’m in a suburban neighborhood, so my max shooting distance is about 25 yards. I was going back and forth between the Stormrider and the Arrow. The Arrow ended up winning just because of the price—$179, plus I had a $10 off coupon. The rep I talked to also recommended the Arrow over the Stormrider, so it checked all the boxes I was looking for to get started in the hobby.
03/25 – Ordered the Gamo Arrow in .177. I added the $10 “check it before shipping” thing just to avoid getting a dud.
03/31 – It showed up.
First impressions:
It felt solid, fit me really well, and was super easy to pump using a hand pump I got from amazon. Took about 60 pumps to go from the low green zone up to around 3200 psi.
The thing shot great. Really quiet too, my phone showed 88 dB for the Arrow compared to 98 dB from a Daisy 880. I got tight groups with Crosman, H&N, and JSB pellets. Even Daisy pellets weren’t terrible, so it didn’t seem super picky at least for 20ish yards
My 8-year-old could handle it just fine. We spent a couple afternoons in the backyard plinking together, and it was nice not having to pump after every shot.
04/15 – By now I had put maybe 500–600 shots through it. I got a second mag and started shooting like normal. First 4 shots were fine. On the 5th shot, it suddenly got much louder, had a harsh recoil (for a PCP), and pellets were flying about 8 inches low. Finished the mag and figured something was off.
Reached out to the place I bought it from, they said it sounded like a blown seal. They offered a return or exchange, and I chose the return. Didn’t want to open it up and risk messing with the warranty.
Before anyone says anything, I did read nobody1’s super detailed review and saw that others had issues with the transfer port. But I figured, eh, that was a while ago, maybe they fixed it? Probably? Maybe? Hopefully? Nope.
nobody1 review here
So now I’ve got a pump and a tank... and no PCP. Back to searching for a new rifle
