Gamo Viper Express Air Shotgun / Rifle Review

This may be a bit counter-intuitive, in reviewing a product that some stores are seemingly pulling off their shelves, and given rumours that Gamo may completely discontinue this product, but for the benefit of those who have access to purchase this very unique product, I will share with you my thoughts on the Gamo Viper Express Air Shotgun / Rifle Combo.

First, you may ask, what the heck is an air shotgun. And what does combo mean? Yeah, I had a similar sentiment when I was first introduced to the Viper Express. What I can tell you in unequivocal terms, is that this is not a "real" shotgun. In other words, don't buy this to go duck hunting. Or shoot skeet or trap. There's not enough power, despite Gamo's claim to the contrary. Plus, the shells all use #9 shot, which is like, the smallest and weakest shot you can buy. Add to that that it is air-propelled rather than gunpowder propelled, and you get the point.

The reason why this gun is so attractive is because of its uniqueness, not because of any superior functionality or raw power. I don't want to say that it's not powerful, since it does shoot the #9 shot at 1200FPS (according to Gamo - I haven't put this over a chrony yet) and 850FPS using a .22 caliber pellet. It also does require a firearms licence to purchase (at least in Canada) but compared to a "real" shotgun, there's no contest. I'd say that this gun is good for target shooting and also for pest control, though we're not talking raccoons here, but smaller rodents.

A little about the gun - it's mainly a shotgun that is break-barrel. The functionality of this is quite simple, and is not much different than many other break barrels. With not a whole lot of cocking effort, the shooter would break the barrel (bend it down until it clicks and engages), load in your shotgun shell (which is extremely small - maybe the size of the standard drywall screw plug), pull the barrel back up so it locks in place, release the safety, and then point and shoot (just like a real shotgun, there are no sights - just the bead near the end of the barrel). Once shot, the shell has to be manually removed by breaking the barrel.

It is also a rifle, because the Viper Express comes with a chamber adapter that is the same size as the shotgun shell, but is brass and it allows a .22 caliber pellet to fit into it. Loading and shooting is the same except that there is no shell to remove.

The gun is about 37-40" or so in length, including the barrel (I don't have the specs in front of me so my number may be a bit off). It is not that heavy. Most of the gun is made of a grey plastic compound. There are checkered grips on the gun, for the shooter to be able to hold it comfortably. In fact, the colour and the rubber grips are pretty much the only thing that distinguishes the Viper Express from the Viper Shadow (which is about $50.00 cheaper, but also looks considerably cheaper). Both models feature a vented rib barrel, which looks cool, but serves absolutely no purpose, since there's no way the barrel will ever get hot enough to vent fumes or gas. Also, while the external diameter of the barrel does make it look like a real shotgun barrel (at least from the side), looking from the front, you'll see that obviously the opening is much smaller than the side profile would suggest.

The safety is in front of the trigger and is easy to use. It comes also with mounting rail slats so you can choose to attach any number of optional optics to it, if you wish.

Because it is a break barrel, you obviously do not have to worry about noise - if you've ever heard a shotgun blast before (a real one), it's pretty loud. You'll get more of a "doink" or "chunk" sound coming from this for the #9 shot, and a slighly more prounced "thunk" when using pellets.

Now, some pros and cons.

PROS:

1. Good construction. I remember handling this the first time I saw this in the gunstore and I thought, "feels great". Not too heavy, not too light. Rubber checkering on grip areas are well thought out and feel excellent to the shooter - it just feels solid.

2. Innovative product. Sure, it may not be able to be best-in-class for either air shotgun or air rifle, the fact that Gamo took the risk in producing a combo gun, should be applauded.

3. Great alternative to a "real shotgun". Sometimes you just need a gun that you don't have to aim and sight in. Perhaps you are in an area where you will be in severe crap if the neighbours hear anything resembling a firearm going off, but you need to take care of some pest control or want to hunt some small game (like smaller birds, squirrels, etc.). This is a good choice that will likely not result in the cops being called.

CONS:

1. In order to facilitate the ability to shoot shot out of this gun, the barrel is, to no one's surprise, smoothbore. However, the decision to make this a combo gun is a poor one, based on the smoothbore. Without a rifled barrel, your .22 caliber pellet ain't going to shoot very straight, or achieve much accuracy. Maybe close distances are fine, but that sort of defeats the whole purpose of a rifle, doesn't it? Anyhow, even though I have the chamber adapter, I never use it - just keep it as a shotgun.

2. The air shotgun ammo is expensive and cannot be found anywhere...and from what I can gather, it only comes from Gamo. I made the decision, even before I bought the Viper Express, to stock up on the shells, since I knew I'd be buying it at some point. At around $7-$8 for a box of 25 or so, that's not a great deal. Now, I know what you'll tell me - I can go out and buy a box of 25 Winchester AA 20 ga. shells for the same price, but remember, you are getting very little shot here in a much smaller package. And while it is technically possible to be able to reload the plastic shells, it is not like the usefulness of spent 12 or 20 ga. shells that can easily be reloaded and re-crimped. Plus, if Gamo ever discontinues the ammo, you're now stuck with this as a crappy .22 caliber inaccurate rifle.

3. It is either discontinued, about to be discontinued, or is not selling well. As a result, you'd be hard pressed to find too many gun shops that carry this.

All that being said, I am pleased to have purchased this. It is a unique product that will turn heads, but also has some limited use as a pest control gun (I use it as neither - for me, it's more of a novelty, albeit an expensive one). I would have perhaps put some wood into it, so it doesn't look 100% synthetic, or design it so that it has interchangeable barrels - this would make this a more attractive option as a rifle.