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Gamo CFX air rifle

Gamo CFX air rifle

Gamo have been a major player on the airgun scene for some time, yet if I’m honest, I have to confess to being less than enamoured with their product line-up in the past, but recently two models have come my way of late to change all that, and force me to re-evaluate the brand.

Last month I looked at the Gamo Viper and it was a revelation, bringing as it does, a radical approach to a break-barrel design. Blistering accuracy and macho good looks akin to a single barrelled shotgun, won me over, along with its red dot sight - all part of an exciting, highly effective package.

Well here’s the other model that’s made such an impression - my test rifle here, the Gamo CFX. I reckon it’s equally suited to hunting or HFT outings too, which is praise indeed given the demands of those disciplines

Precision Design

On first inspection, the specification of under-lever, spring powered action, seems fairly standard, but what sets this rifle apart from many models on the market, is the precise execution and design work that has gone into its production.

Dominating the looks is that ever trendy black synthetic polymer stock. The moulding and detail are crisply formed and with the sleek yet flared fore-end and well defined pistol grip area, the end result is both pleasing to the eye and highly functional. Minor criticisms concern the stock though. Firstly the cheek- piece could be higher towards the rear, accepting that many if not the majority of shooters these days, will be fitting a telescopic sight. Secondly, Gamo’s standard rubber butt pad is just a little hard for my liking. These reservations apart, the stock handles well and feels great to the touch.

On the subject of sighting, Gamo fit fibre optic open sights to their CFX range as standard, and the sight picture is excellent. Fibre optics really do bring a new dimension to the time honoured ‘iron’ sight, offering coloured ‘points of light’ which make up the traditional notch and post arrangement. Making use of any available ambient light creates a bright almost illuminated image, which aids sighting no end. Indeed, I would always recommend playing with this system before rushing to fit glassware, as it teaches some valuable principles of marksmanship at the initial stages.

Gamo use further synthetics for the barrel/under-lever catch assembly, trigger blade, and cylinder end block cover. Again, the quality of moulding is such that the finished parts are wholly acceptable. The refined feel of the under-lever lock up is a case in point.

Faultless Cocking and Loading

The instruction booklet is fairly dismal as they opt for a ‘one guide fits all’ approach, requiring the reader to hunt out the odd paragraph relevant to their particular model. This shortcoming apart, operation is fairly straight forward, once familiarization with the design has taken place.

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Cocking the CFX requires the under-lever to be unclipped by pulling back the spring-loaded knurled tip of the catch, until the lever releases. Unusually, the lever then drops down around 6 inches before the compression stroke begins. Pulling the lever right down until the trigger sears engage the piston is an almost effortless task. Of course the fact that this rifle is full length - and not a carbine - helps in this regard. Obviously the longer the under-lever, the greater the leverage. Yet that is not to take away from the incredibly slick and silky action, for which Gamo deserve full credit. Once the stroke is completed, the lever is then returned until it secures within the barrel clip. Now the rotary breech can be opened using the side tab, opening the chamber to the left hand side until the barrel lip is exposed. The barrel is machined with a lead-in to allow pellets to easily seat flush to the breech; this means the advantage of being able to call a slack pellet has effectively been removed, but it’s the only foolproof way of presenting this design. A tighter pellet fit would result in the rotary breech guillotining the occasional pellet which had failed to seat correctly, causing major inaccuracies and likely blockage. As it stands, and throughout my testing period, the system worked faultlessly.

One point of interest here is that once the action has been cocked, it cannot be de-cocked. Many spring-piston models can be de-cocked by taking up the tension in the barrel/under-lever, then gently pulling the trigger and slowly allowing the barrel/lever to return to its rested position. With the CFX, once cocked, the rifle has to be fired; this is just an observation, rather than a criticism.

That rotary breech incidentally, is identical to that used on the RB1 BSA Airsporter replacement, and a reminder of the tie up between Gamo and BSA. A further reminder comes with the classically curved cylinder end block; harking back, yet again to the good old Airsporter - one of the all time airgun classics.

Stunning Consistency

Unlike the Airsporter though, which had chronically shallow scope grooves machined into the cylinder, this CFX comes ready fitted with a purposeful, no-nonsense chunky scope rail, which incidentally raises the sight line by some quarter inch. Three bolts keep it in place, and if desired, removal would leave conventional dovetails beneath. All in all, an excellent and highly versatile set-up, giving any prospective owner many options for scope positioning.

Over the chronograph, the CFX demonstrated some stunning consistency, with variation in the region of 6fps over 10 shots, a regular occurrence. Air Arms Diablo Field pellets posted sub half inch groups over 30 yards too, proving that the silky feeling, highly consistent action could translate where it mattered. Whilst energy figures were slightly lower than expected, once the action had bedded in, I would expect output to rise to around the industry safety setting of 11ft/lbs in any case. Other pellets would boost power levels regardless if desired.

My test model was rather ‘twangy’ with a fair amount of spring noise on firing, yet with very mild recoil characteristics. Shooting the CFX was a pleasant and thoroughly rewarding experience, despite the average trigger unit.

Stock Option

With impressive performance from a very well thought out design, this CFX really proved its worth, begging the question what a tuned version would shoot like. If synthetic stocks don’t appeal, then the CFX Royal version - the identical action fitted in beech woodwork - is the one to go for.

Either way, credit to Gamo for a high quality yet affordable rifle, fit for purpose!

VELOCITY: Average 545fps using Air Arms Diabolo Field pellets with a spread of 6fps over 10 shot string
PRICE: £243.88
CONTACT: BSA Guns Ltd Tel. 0121 7728543

  • Gamo CFX air rifle - image {image:count}

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  • Gamo CFX air rifle - image {image:count}

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  • Gamo CFX air rifle - image {image:count}

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  • Gamo CFX air rifle - image {image:count}

    click on image to enlarge

  • Gamo CFX air rifle - image {image:count}

    click on image to enlarge

  • Gamo CFX air rifle - image {image:count}

    click on image to enlarge

  • Gamo CFX air rifle - image {image:count}

    click on image to enlarge

  • Gamo CFX air rifle - image {image:count}

    click on image to enlarge

  • Gamo CFX air rifle - image {image:count}

    click on image to enlarge

  • Gamo CFX air rifle - image {image:count}

    click on image to enlarge

gun
features

  • Model: Gamo CFX
  • Type: Under-lever spring/piston
  • Calibre: .22 on test, .177 available
  • Weight: 6.6lbs
  • Overall Length: 45.7inches
  • Barrel Length: 17.5inches
  • Stock: Synthetic composite
  • Trigger: 2-stage adjustable
  • Energy: 10.6ft/lbs average on test
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