I recently received the new Umarex Gauntlet 2 Side Lever .25 cal. to test out.
I have the original Umarex Gauntlet but the side lever model is the newest version with some exciting new improvements.
I was excited to test it out but it had an air leak and that I couldn’t figure it out so I ran to Shooters Bench which is an airgun store located in Nampa.
They’re probably the largest/best airgun store in the NW Pacific.
The Umarex Gauntlet 2 Side Lever shot some impressive groups right out of the box.
I also had three air compressors that I was having issues with. My whole airgun world was falling apart!
Ok, I’m being a little bit of a drama queen but it was time to run down and see if I couldn’t get some immediate help.
Sure, I could ship my Gauntlet 2 back to the factory and they would have fixed me up for free but I didn’t want to go through the cost and hassle of shipping it back plus encounter the wait time.
Turns up they were able to have me back in the saddle in no time at all. It was a simple fix. (Another reason I didn’t want to ship it back to the factory.
Sighting in my new Gauntlet 2 air rifle.
They would have made fun of me and asked me why I hadn’t tweaked things myself. I should have known the solution).
After surviving the above series of crisis’s, I was now ready to sight in my new Gauntlet II and get ready to hunt with it.
Shooters Bench has two shooting rooms and each has four shooting lanes, specifically for airguns.
That makes it nice if you get a new airgun and want to sight it in or if you just mounted a new scope and need to sight it in.
I didn’t measure it off but the range is about 17-18 yards and I assume that if no one else is there that you could move in a little if so desired.
Shooters Bench offers a nice indoor range for us airgunners.
SCOPES
On my airguns I like something around a 4.5-14x power with a 4-16x being even better. I’ll be hunting small game with a small kill zone so a 3-9x just doesn’t cut it for me.
I had an old Bushnell 4.5-14x laying around so I slapped it on.
It also had an AO (Adjustable Objective) which is also pretty much necessary for an airgun scope otherwise you just won’t be able to focus when shooting at 15-20 yards.
PELLETS
All pellets are not created equal. We all know how important it is to select the correct ammo for our big game rifles if we expect to obtain any degree of accuracy.
It is just as important with our airguns. I get my best groups with the JSB Diabolo pellets (Or their diabolo shaped dome pellets). So that’s what I used to sight in my Gauntlet 2 Side Lever.
TARGETS
When sighting in a rifle I get my tightest groups if I use the old Allen targets with the square orange boxes. I can line my cross hairs on the corner and dial it in. But Ugg, Allen quit making my favorite targets so I’m going to have to maybe make my own.
As is usual when mounting on a new scope it was way off center. One click should adjust your point of impact ¼-inches at 100 yds. or 1/8-inches at 50 yards or 1/16-inches at 25 yards. But it never seems to equilibrate out for me at the closer ranges. But, after a few shots I got it dialed in.
The good news though was that right off the bat I got an 1/8-inch group. I’ve had super good luck with accuracy with Umarex Gauntlet 2. Almost unbelievable good accuracy.
Even better than other airguns that cost almost twice as much. So, the Umarex Gauntlet 2 is my go-to PCP.
Now I have to take it out on a pigeon/Eurasian dove hunt and next spring I plan on burning it up on whistle pigs! I don’t want to sound too simple minded but hunting whistle pigs with an airgun is one of my most favorite hunts of the year.
But-since we are in the middle of deer hunting, I’m going to have to lovingly put my Gauntlet 2 in the corner for three more weeks before I can take her out on a pigeon hunt. More to come.
Tom Claycomb is a hunting enthusiast and writes a bi-monthly column for Great Basin Sun.