I Tested The Best Air Rifle, And It's Not The Daisy Powerline 880
The Gamo Whisper Fusion Mach 1 is perfect for target shooting, pest control, and small game hunting. Here are several hands-on reviews to prove you’ll easily get on target for a shot.
FYI, Prices and ratings are accurate as of time of writing.
Gamo Whisper Fusion Mach 1 Air Rifle .22 Caliber with Scope
Top-rated: 2,026 ratings | 325 answered questions
Highlight: Features the quietest noise reduction technology patented by Gamo; equipped with a 3-9x40 scope with RRR (Recoil Reducing Rail) that absorbs the recoil of the rifle (increasing the lifespan of the scope).
Helpful review: "A friend of mine raved about his Gamo SOCOM Extreme for varmint control. I borrowed it, and found it to be on the loud side even for a .177 air rifle. The fact that his rifle is no longer available made buying the Whisper Fusion Mach 1 an easy decision. Since I live in California, I cannot buy a .22 caliber anything without going through a dealer with an FFL and then waiting ten days. .177 would have to do. Early results after 100+ shots is that this rifle is very accurate at short range (10-15 yards). Using the provided scope and the default trigger weights, I can put a 5-shot group under a nickel. That's good enough for me. Every now and then I'll get an errant shot, which I attribute to a bad fit of the pellet: when it fits easily into the breech the shot will fall outside of the group. When the pellet fits snugly the accuracy is consistent. I haven't tried shooting at more distant targets, yet.
The force needed to break the rifle open/compress the air piston is substantial. I like that I only need to do it once, as opposed to less expensive air rifles which need to be pumped 8-10 times in order to reach their maximum power. The force required also seems to increase if you are shooting a lot in a small amount of time. I expect the gas inside the piston is heating up through repeated use and trying to expand, which increases the pressure. The effort required to load the rifle will return to normal if you take a break from shooting. Sound-wise, this rifle is a dream. My friend's SOCOM Extreme sounded like a .22 LR. The Whisper Fusion in .177 is softer than a .22 SR. In either case there isn't the "crack" of gunpowder, but I don't worry about what the neighbors will think when plinking in the backyard with my rifle.
The scope is fine and held its zero after I sighted it in. I'm not a fan of capped turrets (you have to screw off a cap to get to the adjustment knobs), but since I am shooting at the same distance they work fine. A plus is that the turrets can be twisted by hand as opposed to requiring a screwdriver or a coin to turn. The scope has adjustable zoom, but it doesn't hold the same zero if you change the magnification; you should re-zero after zooming in or out. I wanted a scope with exposed turrets and an LED-illuminated reticle, so I purchased one and will review it separately.
I bought the "standard pack" which includes four tins of pellets: Match, Hunter, Master Point, and Magnum. I didn't appreciate other peoples' comments about "finding the right pellet for your gun" until I tried each one of these. They're all accurate, but they're not interchangeable with respect to sighting in the scope. For example, going from Match to Master Point will require you to re-zero the scope. Keeping everything consistent (the range, the magnification, and the ammunition) makes this is an incredibly accurate and powerful rifle. I'm very pleased with it so far." — Jill L.
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Trending review: "I paid the current price for this airgun at the time of purchase. I did not receive anything for this review. I use the Gamo Whisper Fusion Mach 1 airgun to eliminate pests that want to tear up my yard. It shoots accurately with several different brands of pellets. It is also quiet as advertised. The gun makes an audible "thunk" when it is fired but it is not loud. I took out two rabbits at 30-40 feet with it. The second rabbit did not react when the first one was shot. Therefore, I don't believe the second rabbit heard the "thunk" or me reloading the rifle to take the second shot. The gun is well made. It does take some effort to cock the barrel to load it. However, most adults should have no difficulty using it." — Elijah K.
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Reassuring review: "I have owned several Gamo air rifles over the past many years. This one was a replacement for my old .22 Hunter Model 890. Gamo makes a dependable high quality product and the Whisper Fusion Mach 1 is no exception. The scope went on and zeroed easily and has dime size groups at 25 yards without much break in. I want to see how it settles in after 500 - 750 pellets have been ran through it. Please note that I am shooting from a bench and not offhand. Pellet choice can vary from gun to gun and what works for some may not for work for others. I have had tremendous success with H&N Sport Baracuda Hunter Extreme pellets in the 18.52 grain weight. They feed well and their manufacturing quality control is high. A fun gun to shoot and the report (noise level) is somewhat quieter than traditional air guns. I would buy this gun again if the need arose." — Tim L. Ward
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Most-discussed review: "Started with a sub 100$ pump bb/pellet air rifle. Great for plinking but never consistently accurate enough for any hunting of any sort. So I upgraded to a Gamo Whisper Fusion Mach 1. After putting a few hundred pellets or so through it, this is what I know. First, out of the box, it’s easy to see that this is a quality product. It feels surprisingly solid more like what i would expect from a centerfire rifle vs an air rifle. The composite stock, from the butt, through the trigger guard and to the forward grip, is very solid and well made. The rubber kick pad is comfortable. The small square filler pieces, come out easily when they're new, but if you remove them, handle them and put them back they seem to stay in place a lot better. The forward grip is comfortable, but wider than what you might expect due to the break barrel. The barrel seems well made and breaks solidly. Dovetail rails in the rear with the RRR (Recoil Reducing Rail) already mounted. The manual sights are good quality and very easy to see. They were also dead accurate out of the box at 30 yards. The scope was not mounted and the mount/rings were already attached to the scope. Typical one piece, two ring, 1 inch, low profile, dovetail style scope mount. Needless to say, it was easy to install. It looks nice, the view is pretty good, the adjustments are audible and solid clicks. I didn't have any trouble getting it zero'd and was able to shoot a quarter size pattern at 30 yards consistently.
The problem with the scope isn't that it doesn't work, it works, and seemed to stay as zero'd fairly well after i locktighted all the screws in the mount, including the screws for the RRR. The gun is so shockingly accurate, you’ll want to take it up a notch with a better scope. I picked up a Simmons 3-9x50 for about 30$ and it was worth the effort, until it broke, then I tried a Barska that was "designed" to withstand the reverse recoil. It also broke. So now im trying a UTG Bugbuster. If that breaks im going back to iron sights...
When it comes to shooting: The break barrel is a little tough to work at first. People claim its gets easier as it gets broken in. I think i just got used to it and also learned to grab the barrel a little further toward the front sight where the extra leverage makes it easier to cock. The Trigger is awesome. At first I wasn't too sure about the positioning of the safety right in front of it, but i got used to it quickly and don't mind it a bit. The first and second stage of the trigger are setup for long pulls by default. I prefer them much shorter and had no trouble adjusting both stages to a more suitable setting.
As far as noise and accuracy go, that's somewhat dependent on the pellets you shoot. The sub 1100fps pellets (the heavier ones) are pretty quiet (about 93db). The Gamo Platinum pellets that do 1440fps in this rifle are loud. They break the sound barrier in between 1100 and 1200 fps and there's a loud crack sound (like a centerfire rifle) as the pellet passes the sound barrier. So, Subsonic pellets in the back yard, YES. Supersonic pellets in the back yard. Probably not a good idea in suburbia. I'm having good luck (consistent accuracy) with the H&N Baracuda Hunter Extreme pellets at 9.57 grains and the H&N Hornets at 10.03 grains. Dime size patterns at 30 yards. Overall, I'm very pleased. So far it seems like a well manufactured, high quality product and it’s deadly accurate…" — Stephen J. Rustum
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Updated review: "Purchased .22 calber Gamo Mach 1 Fusion Whisper in August. Before shooting, used blue LocTite to set and torque stock / barrel screws. Barrel clean and shiny on arrival but used bore snake with Ballistol to remove all manufacturing residue. Currently mounted with a UTG AccuShot 4-12x44 AO scope on medium UTG 30mm rings. Using Crosman Premier hollow point 14.3 grain pellets, have fired about 750 rounds.
Note on scopes.: have returned a couple UTG True Hunter and Hawke Vantage scopes due to failure after ~100 shots. For this gun, suggest investing in the best scope you can, similar to a firearm. That is, pay at least as much for the scope as you do the gun.
Added an Airgun Detectives trigger adjustment screw, which is essentially longer than the stock screw, thus reducing pull weight. This is NOT recommended by any manufacturer, and must be done very carefully, as you can override safety features and fire the gun while cocking it or if it is bumped. That said, pull is down to around a pound.
Textured synthetic stock gives positive grip. Gun is well-balanced and sculpted. Grip has a comfortable angle for prolonged shooting. Gas-piston vs. spring technology removes the double recoil of spring guns. Recoil is upwards and back, similar to a .22 caliber firearm. Cocking effort is moderate to stiff - you are creating a lot of pneumatic pressure, but gaining velocities in the 1,000 fps range with lead. I find a firm grip and cheek weld - similar to a .223 firearm - works well for this rifle (vs. the artillery hold for a spring-piston gun).
Zeroed the gun at 30 yards. Resting on a chair back, can consistently shoot 1/3-inch groups at that range. Groups of 1/2-inch at 40 yards, 1 inch at 50 yards, and same hole at 10 yards. Need to raise the scope ~2.5 MOA at 10 yds. and also at 40 - 50 yds., but very predictable trajectories. Windage adjustments were not required under 40 yds, ~1 MOA drift at 50. Weak link in the accuracy chain is me...have not fired from true bench rest yet, but this sucker is a tack driver.
Pellets will penetrate a 3/4-inch pine board at 30 yards, and I drilled a gray squirrel with 1 shot at 35. Effective range for 1 and done likely around 50 yards for grays. This is an air gun for responsible adult use, because of its power, full-size, and cocking effort. With the scope it is probably in the 9-10 pound range. It arrived on schedule as promised and in ready-to-go condition in the box. While I shoot with a scope, the stock open sights are very good. After testing scopes and pellets on two other spring guns and one gas-piston (all in .177) the Gamo Mach 1 is my hands-down go-to." — K. Owens
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Well-received review: "I like this rifle. Accuracy: It comes with the Gamo brand 3-9x40 scope. I read in a few places that people didn't like the scope so, I bought a UTG scope of about the same specs and mounted it instead. I used the Gamo scope on a Gamo Varmint .177 and its fine. Not sure what folks were complaining about. Anyway, I used an actual 15 meter tape measure over and over again to finally measure out 50 yards/meters in my back yard and set up my target so, I'm sure of my distance. Seems like some people guess at their distances and come back with crazy reports as to range and accuracy. Scope mounted and known distance to target, CHECK. Now to zero. The first pellets I tried were 22 grain hollow points. Barely made it on target. They weighed a ton and so dropped a ton before getting out to the target. I figured I'd save the rest of them for hunting at a closer range. Next, I tried Gamo brand Rocket pellets at 14.5 grains. These shot pretty well. Trajectory was way more flat. They're advertised as a hunting round and I'm sure they'd do fine for that but, I kept using them to zero my scope because I didn't think to buy target pellets at the time I was shopping. They did the trick.
My first groupings were all over the place, but that was operator error. I hadn't shot a rifle really since like 20 years ago in the military and back then, we had iron sights. (I tried a few shots with the iron sights before mounting the scope and my eyes just were not up to the task so I didn't even bother zeroing those.) I finally got 5 shot groups on target and shrinking. When it comes to windage and elevation, REMEMBER: MAKE BOLD ADJUSTMENTS. The best I could do with my groups were about an inch and a half. That's not terrible at 50 yards. I'm no sniper and I'm just barely getting my grasp of marksmanship fundamentals nailed back down. The rifle and scope setup can do better, the weak link is totally me. I tried a variation on the "Artillery hold" most airgun guys preach. I rested the foregrip on a cheap range rest that I filled with rice and lightly held the grip. Just tight enough to get a good sight-weld. That actually required an adjustable cheek rest I also bought here. The distance between the stock cheek rest and a position for good eye relief in the scope was just too great. The scope has to mount with enough clearance to see over that bulbous barrel and the iron sights. I didn't like "muscling" the sight picture with no cheek-weld. So, the adjustable cheek rest option was only about $15 here on Amazon so I went for it. Over all, this is a good quality rifle. I mean you definitely get your money's worth." — Matthew H.
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