Gaim VR Compact Hunting Package

GAIM is a sister company to Aimpoint, the Swedish pioneer of red-dot hunting sights that remains the prestige brand in this strongly-contested sector. GAIM’s role is to incorporate Aimpoint’s designs into a virtual-reality environment, where shooters can appreciate the benefits of red-dot technology as they hone their skills in a variety of scenarios. Within that environment, you can equip your virtual shotgun, rifle or pistol with Aimpoint’s Micro S-1, Micro H-2 or Acro P-2/C-2 optics, adding a 3X or 6X magnifier as desired. Or, alternatively, you can make things much harder for yourself by choosing a simple bead or open sights!

Let’s get started

I reviewed the original GAIM VR system in 2022. It comprises a nicely finished and stippled wooden gunstock that’s equipped with a Bluetooth trigger unit that slaves to the R/H controller of the bestselling Quest 2 VR system from Oculus (now Meta). The controller sits in a cradle at the tip of the stock, where it is secured by a Velcro strap to provide a reference point within the simulation. Plus, the stock is weighted to simulate the inertia of the barrel(s).

After downloading the GAIM app and activating it with the code provided with your GAIM purchase, you can access a virtual lobby that displays the range of scenarios available to you. Start by entering the configuration zone and collimating the virtual reality seen in the headset with the tactile reality provided by the stock, tweaking the parameters (length of pull, cast, cant, drop, pitch, orientation, etc.) until each of the guns in the simulator (a shotgun, a sporting rifle, and an AR15) is a perfect virtual fit. This will make a major difference to your level of success. Next, add your choice of Aimpoint optic, adjust its dot size, and set the desired degree of choke for the shotgun.

Have a go

Now it’s time to try your hand at one of the core hunting scenarios (bear, moose, stag, waterfowl, and wild boar) or get some practice in via the SimPro zones, which let you configure and shoot not just clay and practical layouts, but also the full range of animal and bird models. For instance, you can set 1-5 pheasants to fly in from up to 8 directions, at distances from 15-80m, altitudes of 10-40m, and speeds from 35-75 kmh. Alternatively, you can do the equivalent at ground level with foxes, chamois, fallow deer, red deer, moose, keilers, sows, piglets, or bears. Each model has anatomically correct kill zones and will crumple dramatically when you hit the right spot. A replay function allows you to analyze your shots, reviewing the path of the gun and the lead given. Note that the Quest 2 tracks movement better than position and may glitch when aiming at stationary targets. To remedy this, track up or across on static targets and swing through moving ones, both of which are good real-world techniques.

Practice in SimPro will do a lot for your technique, but move into the hunting scenarios and the challenge takes on extra dimensions, both literally, as the flat terrain of the SimPro environment gives way to undulating fields and hilly forests, and mentally, as you strive to keep a clear head and prevent frustration or fatigue from impairing your judgement or technique. Each ‘run’ is limited by round count only (30), so there’s a value to taking your time and picking your shots, and a wounding shot hurts your score more than an outright miss.

The updates

All great fun, but the GAIM system is also a work in progress. Thus, in the last year they have made their interface more immersive and intuitive, enhanced their landscapes, improved the look and movements of their moose, fallow, and red deer models, plus introduced some challenging new ‘behaviours’. For example, animals may now pause or change direction unexpectedly. Or, alternatively, cross in different directions, overlapping in the prime kill spot and forcing shots to be taken before or after it. Most decisive, however, is the tendency of hunting dogs to dash suddenly into the shot, since accidentally shooting one will (rightly) end your run.

Several new scenarios are also available as add-ons. These include competitive clay layouts and for the hunter, driven pheasants and the fantastic ‘Corn Field’. Here, you can position yourself at different spots around blocks of standing maize, from which boar (and the occasional fox and chamois) are driven into the open before disappearing into the surrounding woods. Ranges run from almost zero to over 100m, target speeds go from ambling to full tilt, and the terrain isn’t quite as flat as it looks. All of this makes for exciting, varied, and testing shooting.

There’s new hardware, too. This is centred on a Gen 2 trigger unit, whose improvements include adjustable travel, an LED status indicator for easier headset-pairing, and a modular design that works within both a new polymer trigger guard for the gun stock and GAIM’s new training handgun, which is a genuine Arex Delta frame (c/w 9mm magazine), attached to a blue 3D-printed slide topped with a controller cradle.

I enjoyed reviewing the original GAIM system so much that I bought one, so I’ve done a great deal of shooting with the Gen 1 trigger. Even so, as soon as I put the new trigger in my stock, my scores started rising. The original is good, but its successor feels crisper and resets faster. The Gen 2 trigger comes with all new GAIM packages and is available separately as an upgrade.

Conclusion

I have shot tens of thousands of virtual rounds through my GAIM system over the past year, using it every week and sometimes every day, and I am sure it has made me a better shot. Even if it hasn’t, it has been tremendous fun. As for the Aimpoints, they are the perfect complement for GAIM’s dynamic shooting scenarios, though I’ve never felt a need for an in-game magnifier. I’m not yet won over by the shotgun-specific Micro S-1, either, but will be shooting one for real later this month, so I’ll let you know how that goes in a future review.