The Gamo Little Cat .177 Caliber Precision Air Rifle is a great starter gun for younger shooters, some older shooters do quite well with it too. Many parents have found the Gamo Little Cat to be the perfect starter gun for introducing youngsters to the world of shooting in general.
It is a great choice to use when teaching the basics of shooting, including gun safety, and is an ideal choice for introducing target shooting. The Little Cat is only 36-inches in length making it the perfect length for young shooters with smaller arms, plus at just under 6 pounds it’s not too heavy for them to hold.
Click Here for Pricing, Pictures and Reviews on Amazon.com
Adults know guns that are too long or too heavy end up being awkward and a pain to shoot, so start kids off right with the right length and the right weight.
Reputation
When it comes to the Gamo name most shooters are familiar with them because of their adult line of precision air rifles. However, to help meet the demands of shooters everywhere Gamo has created a youth line of precision air rifles that are designed strictly for younger shooters. The best part about this new line of precision air rifles is that they are made with the same quality and care as Gamo’s adult line, so parents know they are buying a high quality product for their children to use.
The best part is the new line of air rifles has been manufactured and designed with younger shooter sin mind, so measurements, power, and everything else that goes into designing and manufacturing an air rifle has been altered to give kids the perfect air rifle to learn on.
Reliability
As you are most likely purchasing this to introduce a youngster to shooting you want something that is going to be reliable to shoot. You want them to learn to have fun while shooting, not feel frustrated because they are having a hard time getting the gun to shoot. The break barrel design allows for a single cocking system that most young shooters can easily manage.
However, with a 14 pound cocking effort, some youngsters are going to need a bit more help shooting than others. As an added bonus the air rifle also comes equipped with an automatic cocking safety system, which reduces the risk of unwanted firing.
The manual safety also comes into play in terms of reliability, as you must manually switch the safety off before you can pull the trigger. Now most kids won’t be walking around unsupervised with a loaded gun, single shot or not, but the manual safety greatly reduces the risk of any accidental trigger pulls.
Parents teaching their children how to aim can leave the safety on as they show their kids exactly what to do without having to worry about the child or themselves accidentally pulling the trigger as they learn to sight the rifle.
Power
With this air rifle being designed for younger shooters, usually inexperienced shooters the last thing you want is a super powerful air rifle. However, you don’t want something that isn’t going to have a little kick to it either.
Luckily, the Gamo Little Cat is perfectly situated in between both of these options. As an air rifle it is perfectly designed for target shooting, as well as small and large pest control. It is not powerful enough for small or big game hunting though.
If you are planning to use lead pellets you can expect the rifle to have about 525 fps in terms of velocity, but if you use PBA Platinum pellets you are going to get a bit more power out of the gun, as you can expect up to 750 fps.
But, remember, the one thing you have to remember in terms of power is this gun was not designed with older, more experienced shooter sin mind, so it is not going to pack the same punch as other air rifles. But it has more than enough power to do exactly what it was designed for.
Accuracy
Now even though this air rifle was designed with younger children in mind, who also happen to be inexperienced shooters, you still want the air rifle to be accurate. No sense in teaching kids how to operate an air rifle if you are not going to teach them to shoot it accurately.
Now obviously inexperienced shooters are not going to be able to hit the target as often as experienced shooters nor will they have as tight of groupings as more experienced shooters, but you still want something that will teach them how to achieve these results.
The Gamo Little Cat comes with both front and rear fiber optic sights to help children line up the target. And to help improve accuracy the cheekpiece is not a single pad, it is twin cheek pads that makes shooting comfortable for both left and right handed shooters.
And the lighter trigger pull helps with accuracy, at only 3.3 pounds of trigger pull shooters don’t have to squeeze too hard, so the air rifle won’t pull to either side, causing the pellets to go wide as the air rifle jerks.
Value
When looking at beginning air rifles nobody wants to spend a lot of money, but you also don’t want to buy the cheapest one out there. People want to spend enough money to purchase a high quality air rifle without breaking the bank. But the actually value of the air rifle is more than just the price you are paying.
Value also takes into consideration how accurate, powerful, and reliable the air rifle is. If you were to look at everything the Gamo Little Cat offers you can see just how much value the rifle has. Even with the few minor flaws, such as the loose rear sight, the amount of money you are spending for what you are getting is minimal.
Overall
In looking at everything that the Gamo Little Cat has to offer beginning shooters you really can’t find a better gun out there. How much power you have will depend on what style of pellets you are using, accuracy will vary depending on how well you adjust the sights.
And, even though the rear sight might need to be glued down to hold it steady, it is a fun gun to shoot that is perfectly suited for younger shooters.