Top value gun: Gamo Force 15 PT77

Tim Finley gets black to basics with the Gamo G-Force 15 PT77

In the current trend of lookalike plinking rifles, the Gamo G-Force 15 is styled to resemble an AR-15, hence the ‘15’ in its title, presumably.

The AR series of rifles harks back to the first, the M16 from the 1960s. They were named ‘black rifles’ due to being made of black, synthetic materials and they were a step change from all the rifles before, with their wooden stocks. They are easily recognised and have a square magazine in front of the pistol-grip trigger, and a stock in line with the barrel.

The Gamo’s action is a spring-powered, break-barrel held in a synthetic stock – black, of course – and Gamo have moulded in a faux full-bore, bullet-sized magazine in front of the trigger guard. There is even a faux ejection port cover on the right-hand side of the stock above the moulded-in magazine.

The pistol grip is made for small hands, but it can accommodate adults too, even Yorkshire ones, and the grip on a live-ammo AR is thin to make it as universally useable as possible. The cheek piece and pistol grip are ambidextrous and the rear stock looks like an ACE skeleton, butt stock made for ARs.

The break-barrel action is cocked in the usual way – a wedge-shaped detent catch holds the barrel in place, and the steel barrel sits in a synthetic breech block, which in turn sits in synthetic jaws, and the breech seal is not on the barrel, but the action. A good tap of the top of the barrel with the palm of your hand will release the barrel lock, but always, always set the safety catch to ‘safe’ before cocking the rifle.

Safety

The manual safety catch is situated right in front of the curved trigger blade and pulling back toward the trigger sets it on ‘safe’. The gun is fitted with an anti-bear trap device so the trigger cannot be activated when the barrel is not locked shut, hence the manual safety, I suppose.

When the action is cocked, and you are still holding the barrel open, a pellet can be inserted into the breech. Once loaded, and with the barrel shut and locked, the safety catch can be taken off. There is a handy ‘S’ an ‘F’, and an arrow, on the left-hand side of the stock above the trigger to remind the shooter how the safety catch works. This can simply be pushed forward with the trigger finger to take it off. The trigger pull is 1.9kg and cannot be called light, but it is very useable. Over the chronograph, the gun gave a power rating of 3.9 ft.lbs. with 7.9 grain 4.5mm lead pellets, and the power is perfect for back-garden plinking.

Sighting and barrel

As for sights, the gun does not have an open-sight system, but a 175mm-long, 11mm optical sight rail machined into the top of the steel cylinder of the action. Gamo supply the G-Force 15 with a Gamo Quick-Shot 30mm red-dot sight. The red dot is dead easy and perfect for new or younger shooters. The pull length of the stock was short for me at 310mm, but with the red dot mounted forward on the long rail, that was not a problem.

The steel barrel is 375mm long and is fitted with a faux muzzle brake that looks like the real thing, but it doesn’t have the open slots that you normally find on a muzzle brake.

When accuracy testing in my six-yard loft range, the gun really impressed me. The trigger, although not light, was predictable and the groups it shot were outstanding. It shot well under 10mm – five- and even ten-shot groups. Yes, this is an accurate rifle and red-dot sight combo.

The stock is robust and the thick ventilated rubber butt pad really takes what little recoil the rifle has, and makes the gun pleasant to shoot. I found it easy to handle and it is quite pointable.

The only criticism is that they didn’t make the faux bullet magazine into a removable compartment for pellets. To me, it wouldn’t have taken much of a manufacturing change and would have been a cool finishing touch. The angled front screws of the stock are ultra-modern, Torx-headed and that means they don’t work loose, and overall, it is a quality-made rifle.

Verdict

With a price tag of a penny under a hundred quid, with the red dot sight thrown in as well, the gun is top value. The fact it looks like an AR is a bonus. Whether for pure plinking fun or as a training rifle, for left- or right-handers, it’s a real winner.

SPECIFICATIONS

Manufacturer: Gamo

Country or origin: Spain

Distributor: BSA UK Ltd

Model: G-Force 15

Type: Air rifle

Power: 4 ft.lbs.

Barrel length: 375mm

Calibre: 4.5mm (.177) pellet

Action: Break-barrel

Sights: Optical only (Gamo Quick Shot 30mm comes with kit)

Trigger weight: 1.926 kg

Overall length: 915mm

Pull length: 310mm

Weight: 1.9 Kg

RRP: £99.99

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