Posts Tagged ‘Benjamin 397’
B.B.’s Christmas gift suggestions for 2012: Part 2
by Tom Gaylord, a.k.a. B.B. Pelletier
Okay, today I want to try to finish my 2012 gift list.
Pneumatic air rifles
I have to list the Benjamin 392 and 397 rifles. Even though the price is rising steadily on them, they both still represent some of the best values in the airgun market. I’m specifically not recommending the Blue Streak because it’s now the virtual twin of the other two rifles, and I feel that its .20 caliber limits the availability of premium pellets too much.
Benjamin 392 and 397 multi-pump pneumatics
The M4-177 is another great multi-pump gun. It’s not as powerful as the first two, but it’s even more accurate at short ranges. If you want a cheap target rifle, this could be the one!
Crosman M4-177 multi-pump pneumatic
What about CO2?
Don’t I have any CO2 recommendations? Well, I have just one, and it’s not cheap. The Walther Lever Action Rifle is a copy of the Winchester 1894 lever action that the world knows so well. It’s an 8-shot repeater that can take a scope, if you need one, but in my opinion deserves to be used as it comes — with open sights! This rifle is slick to operate and deadly accurate at close range (to 25 yards). It isn’t a hunting airgun; but for shooting targets or just plinking, there aren’t many better — especially repeaters.
Walther Lever Action rifle
Beeman P17 single-stroke pneumatic air pistol
Pistols, too
Let’s look at some pistols for a moment. I must include the Beeman P17 single-stroke pneumatic on this list because it delivers several hundred dollars of value in a $40 package. Yes, it’s made in China, but it’s so close to the Weihrauch HW40 PCA that costs $200 more (sold by Pyramyd Air as the Beeman P3) that Weihrauch repairs them in Europe under their warranty. Hans Weihrauch, Jr. told me he has to stand behind the gun because everyone thinks of it as something he makes! How’s that for copying?
IZH 46M single stroke pneumatic target pistol
Another air pistol that made my list is the IZH 46M single-stroke pneumatic target pistol. It’s accurate, powerful and easy to pump. It’s on the heavy side, so some shooters may not be able to hold it in one hand. Besides that, there’s a lot going for this air pistol. It has one of the nicest triggers you’ll every find — short of a real world-class target air pistol.
Beeman P1 spring pistol
The Beeman P1 spring pistol has so much going for it that it deserves to be on my list. It’s accurate, powerful and has a wonderfully adjustable trigger. Although it comes in three calibers (.177, .20 and .22), I can only recommend the .177 because I think it’s perfect for the power level of the pistol.
Other stuff
Ballistol
How about some stuff that isn’t an airgun? It’s stuff you also need.
Let’s start with Ballistol. This stuff is so useful that I’m planning to do a whole blog about it. Removing rust is just one of its handy tricks. I have so many uses for Ballistol these days that I don’t know what life would be like without it. My friend Mac had his house on Maryland’s Eastern Shore flood a couple months ago, and water got into all three of his gun safes through the holes in the bottom of the safes that are used for anchor bolts. All of his firearms and airguns sat in several inches of water for a straight week, yet there wasn’t one sign of water damage on any stock, nor was there any rust on any gun! How’s that for a Ballistol testimonial?
Crosman Pellgunoil
The most popular cleaning and maintenance product at Pyramyd Air is Crosman Pellgunoil. Readers of this blog have witnessed hundreds of old guns rescued by its application over the years. At least you have if you get all the comments sent to you. This stuff is magical! I fixed the neighbor kid’s Daisy 880 a week ago with it! If you shoot CO2 or multi-pump pneumatic guns, you need this stuff!
JB Non-Embedding Bore Cleaning Compound
Another cleaning product that almost every airgunner will eventually need is a jar of J-B Non-Embedding Bore Cleaning Compound. Only those who shoot guns with brass barrels don’t need this product to clean their bores. You know that I use it on new guns to simulate a long break-in, and it does work for that. I also use it to scrape copper fouling from the bores of my centerfire rifles. Benchrest shooters use the stuff, so it’s got to be pretty good!
.177-caliber Dewey 26" coated cleaning rod
I won’t put brass bore brushes on my list, but they’re wonderful if you need them. But I will put what they go on — a .177-caliber Dewey 26″ coated cleaning rod. I used to buy el-cheapo rods that were made in sections. They were aluminum, so of course they bent and their threads stripped with use. Then, one day at AirForce Airguns, while I was cleaning a couple hundred Lothar Walther barrels that had just returned from the bluer, I suddenly realized that the rod I was using — a Dewey — had cleaned a good many thousand airgun barrels by my hand, and who knows how many before me? And, although it was slightly bent and showed some age, this rod was still going strong. My aluminum rods would have given up many times doing the same work. That was the day I became a believer in the Dewey solid cleaning rod. I linked to the .177/.20 caliber rod, but you also need one for your .22 and .25-caliber guns. Like pellet traps and chronographs, this is a bullet you bite if you’re a shooter.
ATK Weaver Gunsmith 36-piece tool kit
One more thing I won’t do without is my ATK Weaver Gunsmith 36-piece Tool Kit. I actually have six or seven similar kits because the smaller blades do break with use. But when you need that perfect screwdriver to fit a screw on a very expensive gun, nothing else will do.
Well, that’s my list for this year. I hope this has been of some use to you, because it’s one of the most tedious reports to write and create. These are all things that I would recommend to you personally if you asked. I’ve used and/or tested everything on this list, and I believe they’ll satisfy you exactly as advertised.
Crosman 2100B multi-pump air rifle: Part 4
by B.B. Pelletier
Crosman’s 2100B is a full-sized multi-pump that delivers power and accuracy with a few economic concessions.
Yesterday, I told you that today’s test was coming; but because I needed to mount a scope for this test, I was prompted to also test the UTG 3/8″ dovetail-to-Weaver/Picatinny rail adapter. There was some interest in this adapter; so I’ll continue to test it with other airguns so we get a good look at the performance. Today, I want to do Part 4 on the Crosman 2100B multi-pump that I promised back in March.
I reread Part 3 of this report to see which pellet(s) did well at 10 meters. From what I see, only 7.9-grain Crosman Premiers did well in that test, so I added a couple pellets I had not tried before to today’s test.
The scope I used is an Osprey 2.5-10×42 that has its parallax fixed at 100 yards. It’s a firearm scope, pure and simple. At full magnification, the target was fuzzy, so I set it to about 5.5x for this test. It has a duplex reticle with mil-dots on the vertical reticle, which is about medium thickness. The optics are very clear, and I think the gun got all the help it needed from this scope.
For the 10-meter test, I pumped the rifle 5 times for every shot. Today, I’ll be shooting 25 yards. Now that it has a scope mounted, pumping is more difficult because I cannot hold the gun at the optimum place, which is on top of the receiver. The scope is in the way, and don’t you dare try to pump the rifle while holding onto the scope! Your hand has to hold the gun farther back, which winds up being the pistol grip of the stock. That isn’t the best leverage to pump the rifle, but fortunately the 2100B has a short, easy pump stroke.
For today’s 25-yard test, I pumped the rifle 6 times for every shot. My thought was to shoot the rifle 5 shots with each pellet and see if it was accurate enough with that pellet to warrant the work of shooting the second 5 shots. This would also tell me whether the shots were walking because the bore needed to be seasoned with each new pellet. As it turned out, though, all three pellets were worth the effort to shoot a full 10-shot group, so that’s what you’ll see.
Crosman Premier lites
The first pellet I tried was the 7.9-grain Crosman Premier dome. The first 5 shots seemed to group okay — about what I expected from the earlier results at 10 meters — so I just kept on shooting and finished the 10-shot group. Ten shots landed in a group measuring 0.809 inches between centers. The group is a little wider than it is tall, but you’ll notice that 9 of the 10 shots are actually in a group that is fairly round.
Ten Crosman Premier lites didn’t do bad at 25 yards. Nine of them made a nice, round group. Total group measures 0.809 inches between centers.
This was better accuracy than I expected, based on the results of the 10-meter test. The group size there was 10 Premiers in a 0.539-inch group; and, at over twice the distance, the group only opened another three-tenths of an inch. I think that demonstrates how much greater accuracy is provided by a good optical sight.
The pace of shooting is slower
One thing about shooting a multi-pump is that everything slows down. It takes a while to make each shot ready, which is similar in concept to shooting a muzzleloading rifle that has to be loaded separately with powder and ball. That slower pace forces the shooter to concentrate more on what he’s doing — or at least that’s how it affects me. That’s why I like single-shot rifles so much — for what they bring out in me.
RWS Superdomes
The second pellet I tried was the RWS Superdome. This 8.3-grain domed pellet is one I don’t try too often — for no particular reason. It’s made from pure lead and has a relatively thin skirt that takes the rifling very well. I really didn’t know what to expect from it, but it’s different enough than a Premier lite that I wanted to see how it might do.
Ten Superdomes made a rather open group that measures exactly the same as the group of Premiers — 0.809 inches between centers. It looks like a larger group, and there’s undoubtedly some error in the measurement of both groups, but I cannot discern any difference between them with the dial calipers.
Ten RWS Superdomes made this open group at 25 yards. It seems to measure the same 0.809 inches between centers as the Premier group, above, but there is always measurement error.
H&N Baracuda Greens
The last pellet I tried was an afterthought, based on the success of the other day. H&N Baracuda Greens made such a great initial showing that I thought I would include them in this test, just for fun. Boy, am I glad I did!
I was unable to see the pellets that landed inside the black bulls because of the parallax setting of the scope, so it wasn’t until I walked downrange to retrieve the target that I saw what the Baracuda Greens had done. Ten went into a group that measures 0.48 inches between centers! Not only is this the best group of this test, it actually outshot the M4-177 I tested at the end of 2011. That’s Crosman’s other hot, low-cost multi-pump, so don’t get it confused with the MAR177 PCP. That kind of performance says a lot about this air rifle and the accuracy that it offers for very little money.
In light of the first two groups, this 0.48-inch group of 10 H&N Baracuda Greens seems amazing. These non-lead pellets are making a name for themselves!
This will be the last time I look at the 2100B, but it’s been an interesting test. After Part 3, I didn’t think the gun had much more to show us — but this final accuracy test changes everything.
We’ve looked at a fine multi-pump air rifle in addition to the UTG scope ring adapters that let you use Weaver rings on an 11mm airgun dovetail. They proved very easy to install and worked exactly as advertised in this test.
And the Baracuda Green gets another pat on the back. This is a pellet worth considering when you search for the best ammo.
All things considered, I would say this was a fine end to the test of a really great and also inexpensive air rifle!
Oops! My Benjamin 397 has valve lock!
by B.B. Pelletier
The Benjamin 397 (left) is a powerful multi-pump. Obsolete 397 carbine at right.
Today, we have a critical report about airgun maintenance and operation. So, if we’re being critical, let’s start with the title. It’s a It’s no one’s fault — let’s all get along title. It should read, Oops! I really screwed up! And when I say “I,” that’s exactly what I mean!
About a month ago, a friend of mine — who shall remain nameless, unless he repeates what I am about to tell you — received a new Benjamin 397 multi-pump pneumatic. Hurray!
I went over all the operational and maintenance steps carefully with him — pump it no more than 10 times per shot, always store it with one pump in it, use Pellgunoil on the pump head etc. — and then turned him loose with his new rifle. Last week the rifle came back to me with the complaint that it didn’t fire pellets anymore.
I must have looked like that old plumber who knows just where to tap the pipe to get the system going again, because before I even examined the rifle I told him it was over-pumped and therefore valve-locked. Then, I took the rifle and opened the pump handle, which sprang open with a lot of force. Yep — it’s valve-locked, all right!
I listened carefully to the story of how it couldn’t possibly have been anything that he did wrong. I’ve heard that same story a hundred times before; but like a compassionate priest, you have to let them confess everything as you listen in silence. On about the third go-round, I got the real story.
It seems he was at work, shooting his new gun with a buddy who was also shooting his own multi-pump. Remember, folks, we’re talking Texas, here. Depending on your job, shooting at work isn’t that uncommon. Perhaps not at a funeral home or at a fast-food franchise, but there are a lot of outdoor jobs where shooting is possible and not objectionable.
They were shooting at a metal sign that the buddy’s gun wasn’t able to dent very much, but the 397 put a big ole’ dent in it. However, something wasn’t right! It seems the other guy’s pump gun was much easier to pump than the 397. What was wrong with the 397?
What was wrong with it was that it wasn’t a Crosman 760, like the other guy’s gun! At least that’s my guess. I’m still waiting to hear what the other guy’s gun was.
So, his new gun was harder to pump, but it was also a lot more powerful. MAYBE he wanted to see if the 397 would go all the way through the sign, thus vexing his friend, which is the tradition whenever two guys shoot together. He pumped it ALL the way up, being VERY CAREFUL not to exceed the 10-pump limit, as I’d instructed him. But that time it fired only weakly.
He handed his rifle to his friend, who then pumped it up again, also being VERY CAREFUL not to exceed the 10-pump limit, because the owner was watching him. This time when the trigger was pulled, the gun just went CLICK and no pellet came out. So, now he knows that his gun doesn’t work anymore.
At least he stopped when it got to this point. He didn’t keep loading pellets and pumping it a couple more times just to be sure. I have seen owners do that before.
He brought me the rifle and asked if I could possibly help him. I told him there are two ways to go about this. One is to wait a couple months and hope that the gun leaks down enough that the valve is no longer locked. If the gun had not been properly oiled with Crosman Pellgunoil, that might have been a possible solution. But it was well-oiled, and I didn’t think it would leak down in even a year!
I decided to go the other way. I would remove the extra air mechanically by partially disassembling the gun and rapping on the valve stem with a heavier hammer. That’s how the repair center fixes guns that are over-pumped. Or, at least it used to be! This is where the “old plumber” became a student, again.
I discovered that the new 397’s design is vastly different from what I was used to. You can no longer do what I just said because the gun is not designed to allow it. The new design is much cheaper to build and easier to repair — except when the gun is over-pumped. I’ll describe what I did and what happened as a result — and I don’t see any other way of doing the job.
Poor photos today
I apologize for the poor photos that follow. I was working on the gun and getting dirty, so I used the flash on the camera to make the work go faster. That’s why everything is so over-exposed.
What appears to be the stock screw also holds the valve inside the pressure tube. If the rifle is pressurized, this screw will be under pressure from the valve body trying to move! If this is the case, remove the bolt before you loosen this screw!
The new 397 valve is held in the gun by the single stock screw. That screw fastens the trigger group to the action, and there’s no way to rap out the air the way I described it earlier. I did an internet search and discovered there were no instructions on what to do! In fact, everyone dances around this design almost as though they don’t understand it, though I’m quite sure most of them do. It’s so much simpler than the guns I’m used to. When a gun is over-pumped, there seems to be no good way of depressurizing it — other than to remove the single screw I just described and let the air blow out. But before you do, be sure to remove the bolt first!
Remove the two sideplate screws and the sideplate and cocking plate will come off (right and left, respectively in this photo). Then, you can remove the Allen screw from the bolt.
Once the Allen screw is out, the bolt slides out of the receiver.
I didn’t know it while I was doing it, of course, but when the stock screw backed out sufficiently far, the air exploded out of the gun as the valve moved within the pressure tube. It caught me by surprise, but in retrospect I can’t see a better way of doing the job. If anyone knows of one, I’d like to hear what it is.
In retrospect, I should have removed the bolt from the gun before removing the stock bolt. To do that, remove the two screws that hold the sideplate to the left side of the action, exposing the Allen screw on the bolt that cocks the hammer. Then remove the Allen screw, and the bolt slides out of the action.
The action can be removed from the stock when the one Phillips screw is loose. The screw is captive inside the stock and doesn’t show here.
At this point, I finished the disassembly, checked all the parts to see that they were okay, which they were, and assembled the gun again. There’s a trick to assembling this gun. The pump arm must be swung forward to allow the valve to go forward enough for access to the screw hole. If you do that, this is an easy pneumatic to assemble. If you don’t — good luck!
You’re looking through the screw slot in the triggerguard at the brass valve body and its fastening screw hole. How many people would realize that their one stock screw is holding all this?
This picture shows why you cannot just rap out the air anymore. The rear of the pressure tube is blocked by the back of the trigger assembly, which has to be removed to gain access to the valve.
And how does it work?
The rifle now works fine, but I’ll run a little test to see how fine. I’ll shoot the gun through a chronograph on six pumps, and keep increasing the number of pumps until there air remains in the gun after the shot. Then, I can tell the owner what the exact maximum safe number of pumps are for this specific gun. That’s another great reason for owning a chronograph!
Checking the velocity
I decided to use Crosman Premiers in the 7.9-grain weight for my test pellets. This is what the gun now does.
Pumps…Velocity…Air remaining?
6………….613………..No
7………….650………..No
8………….688………..Yes! A soft pop was heard.
9………….713………..Yes — a second shot went 555 f.p.s.
Chronograph reveals what happened
It’s easy to see what happened to this rifle. I told the guy that 10 pumps was the maximum, because I thought that was what the owner’s manual said. But it isn’t! Crosman has folded the Benjamin rifles and Sheridan rifles together, and now they all top out at 8 pumps. So, I was responsible for the owner over-pumping his gun! Several years ago, when the Benjamin and Sheridan brands were different, the Sheridan stopped at 8 pumps but the Benjamins stopped at 10. But those days are over. Now they all stop at 8. So — shame on me! Apparently this is my week for confessing my sins.
What if you don’t own a chronograph?
But you don’t care about that! You care about your own air rifle, and, since you don’t own a chronograph yet, how can you determine the exact number of pumps that are maximum for your rifle? It’s simple. Do what I did above and increase each shot by one pump. Then cock the rifle afterward and fire it again without a pellet. Listen for the pop of escaping air. When you hear it, back off one pump and that is the maximum number of pumps your rifle can handle.
Just to be safe, pump your rifle to the newly established maximum number of shots five times and shoot it. After the fifth shot, cock the gun once more without pumping it and fire it again, listening for a pop. Sometimes the amount of air that remains is so low you cannot hear it, but after a cumulative five shots, you should be able to hear it very well.
Lessons learned
I got the tables turned on me this time. And I also learned how easy it is to work on these new Benjamin rifles. And you readers got to watch everything over my shoulder, plus you got a new way of testing the maximum number of pumps for your specific pump rifles if you don’t own a chronograph. I would call that a good day’s work!
Crosman 2100B multi-pump air rifle: Part 3
by B.B. Pelletier
Crosman’s 2100B is a full-sized multi-pump that hopefully delivers power and accuracy with a few economic concessions.
Blog reader J was alert and noticed that I had not yet done the accuracy test of the Crosman 2100B multi-pump. I was astonished to find that he was right, so today we’re going to look at it. But before we do, I want to show you something I did at the range last week. Some of you who have been reading for a long time will remember that over a year ago I was suffering from eye problems. It turns out that my diabetes had dehydrated me so much that my eyesight was affected. And it took a long time for the situation to correct itself. I wondered if I would ever be able to shoot with open sights again.
This past Thursday, I was out at the range testing several firearms and airguns and a friend of mine happened to bring his Remington RangeMaster model 37 .22 rimfire target rifle for me to try. The model 37 was Remington’s equivalent to Winchester’s model 52 target rifle until the model 40X was created, and it (the model 37) has the reputation of being incredibly accurate. My friend can no longer use open sights and is scoping all the rifles he intends to keep. But this one is a rifle he has owned for decades but never shot. It still has the factory non-optical target sights.
The Lyman 17A front globe has a post-and-bead like target shooters used back in the 1930s and earlier. You put the post at the 6 o’clock spot on the bull. With good eyes, this kind of sight is considered second only to a properly sized aperture front sight out to 200 yards, and world records have been set with it. But notice I said, “With good eyes.”
I shot it at 50 yards with Winchester Super-X high-speed ammo, which is hardly target ammo! When I saw the group made with five shots I was ecstatic, because it proves that I can still see good enough to use open sights. I stopped at only five shots because who wants to ruin a group like that? However, after an involved trade with my friend, I ensured many more years of shooting this 37, and eventually I will shoot 10-shot groups. That’s important for today’s report, because the Crosman 2100B has a square post-and-notch sight, and the front has a bright green fiberoptic bead.
Five shots in 0.30 inches at 50 yards with open sights! The old man can still see! Sorry about the over-exposure.
Next, I tried my custom .17 HM2 that this same friend made for me on a Mossberg 44 US action. This rifle has a Leapers scope, so there’s an even better chance of hitting the target. This time, five shots went into 0.266 inches at the same 50 yards. I was on fire! Unfortunately, I haven’t yet mounted the scope on the FWB 300S, so I didn’t have that to test, but everything I shot that day went where I wanted. Since I couldn’t see the group through my scope, I knew it was a small one. And, once again, I chickened out after 5 shots. If I were reporting on the guns and shooting for the record, I would have shot 10 shots with each gun.
Five shots in 0.266 inches at 50 yards with a scope. Not that much better than open sights. It looks better because the .17-caliber bullet is smaller, but the actual size of the group isn’t that much less than the first group.
On to today’s test
I decided to begin shooting pellets with the 2100 at 10 meters. That way, if the rifle proved somewhat inaccurate, I could still keep them inside the trap. The 2100 has a .177 rifled barrel, so pellets should be more accurate than the steel BBs it also shoots. Since this is a Crosman rifle, what better to begin than with 7.9-grain Crosman Premier 7.9-grain domes?
The first thing I did was oil the pump head with several drops of Crosman Pellgunoil. I did that for the velocity test, as well; but since it’s impossible to overdo this step and it does ensure the best compression, I did it again.
I decided on 5 pumps for this test because the velocity test showed that was enough to get all pellets into the 500 f.p.s. range. At 10 meters, that’s all you need for good results. So, this test was very easy on me.
A new way of loading
Many owners may already have discovered what I am about to share; but while I was shooting the Premiers, I discovered a foolproof way of loading them. The loading port on the side of the rifle is too small for most adult fingers, and until now I’ve found it difficult to load the pellet so the head points forward. But during this test, I accidentally discovered that I could drop in a pellet in any attitude and simply elevate the muzzle of the rifle with the receiver rotated to the left so the loading port is angled up. The pellet would then try to right itself at the bottom of the loading channel; and, if it wasn’t aligned, all I had to do was push it forward slightly with the cocking handle and then pull the handle back and the pellet would align itself every time. I tried this with the JSB Exact RS pellets, as well, but they got stuck and didn’t align as easily as the Premier lites. I can’t wait to try this method on my old Crosman 2200.
Sights are okay, but not great
I found the sights easy to acquire and very sharp and crisp, but the method of adjustment leaves a lot to chance. I never did get the group shooting where I wanted it. Also, though I elevated the rear sight nearly all the way, it was still just hitting at the point of aim at 10 meters. Forget about shooting longer distances unless you learn how to hold the front post above the top of the rear notch. But the sights are not important, because this will not be the last test of this rifle. Just like the M4-177 rifle I tested last year, I found the 2100B was far more accurate than the price indicated! In a word, it was phenomenal — which is why I told you about the state of my eyes in the beginning of the report.
Ten Crosman Premier lites went into this 10-meter group that measures 0.539 inches. This is fantastic accuracy for an inexpensive multi-pump with fiberoptic sights.
Next, I tried the JSB Exact RS pellet. I was expecting to see a similar group, which is why what I got surprised me so much.
Ten JSB Exact RS pellets made this huge 10-meter group that measures 1.05 inches. This is obviously not the pellet for this 2100!
What a difference! Crosman could use this as an ad testimonial for Premiers, if they wanted. We all know that the JSB Exact RS is a premium pellet; but in this rifle, the Premier lite is the clear and obvious choice. I already demonstrated that my eyes are up to the task, so there’s nothing to blame in this case but the pellet.
BBs next
After testing two pellet brands, I switched to Crosman Copperhead BBs and fired 10 from a standing supported position at 22 feet. If the group was small, I would then try other brands of BBs, but as you will see that wasn’t necessary.
Ten Crosman Copperhead BBs went into this 2.219-inch group at 22 feet. This demonstrated that it wasn’t worth pursuing BBs any further. My photo inadvertently cropped off a BB hole on the right of the group. It’s on the 5-ring, as it ends on the right margin.
The results
This rifle is deadly accurate with Crosman Premiers and not very good with BBs. I wouldn’t even bother with BBs in the 2100 anymore because I have a host of BB pistols that will out-shoot it. But with Premier lives, it’s a different story.
The 2100B has earned the right to a special 25-yard test with a scope sight. That will come in Part 4, and I charge blog reader J with making sure I don’t forget to do it!
Crosman 2100B multi-pump air rifle: Part 2
by B.B. Pelletier
Crosman’s 2100B is a full-sized, multi-pump that hopefully delivers power and accuracy with a few economic concessions.
Today, we’ll look at the velocity of the Crosman 2100B multi-pump, and a strange thing occurred during the test. Actually it was two strange things — one an amazing coincidence and the other just weird. Both relate to oiling the gun, and both will be informative.
First, the coincidence. As I was writing this blog (last week, because I’m in Las Vegas at the SHOT Show this week), I got a question from a reader whose 2100 wasn’t pumping air. I asked him if he had oiled the pump piston head like he was supposed to, and I directed him to the online owner’s manual that tells how to do it and to a blog I wrote years ago that tells the same thing. A couple hours later, I get a thank you message that he’s oiled the gun and it seems to be holding air.
So, there I am in my office pumping the gun and shooting it for velocity and I ask myself about the state of the pump piston head of the particular gun I’m testing. Sure, it’s brand-new, but that doesn’t mean that it has enough oil. I look, and the pump head appears to be dry. For those who wonder what I’m talking about, please read the manual.
Then, I recalled that someone had guessed that this rifle would shoot in the low 600s with lead pellets, because someone he knew had tested it. Lo and behold, it was shooting only about 622 f.p.s. on 10 pumps (which is the maximum) with Crosman Premier 7.9-grain pellets. Wow! He was right!
But, wait! The pump head was dry, so I oiled it with some Gamo oil for CO2 guns. The velocity jumped to 658 f.p.s. with the same pellets and 10 pumps. But after about 10 shots the velocity started declining again.
So, I oiled the pump head again — this time with Crosman Pellgunoil. The velocity jumped to 690 f.p.s. before sliding backward to the 620s.
What did I learn?
First, I re-learned for the umpteenth time how important it is to oil a multi-pump gun. That was all it took to fix the reader’s rifle! Second, I saw that the test 2100 rifle responds to oiling immediately, but falls off again almost as fast.
So, the published velocity of 725 f.p.s. can probably be achieved with real-world lead pellets for a brief time, but this test gun won’t hold that velocity very long. Maybe the material the pump head is made of needs a break-in period? I don’t know. What I do know is that I can change the velocity of this gun by 70 f.p.s. simply by oiling it.
It doesn’t end there, however. While that story was unfolding I was also experimenting with the speed of my pump strokes. Since the pump head seemed somewhat hard, I figured that faster pump strokes would build more pressure. And they did! I could increase the velocity by 10 f.p.s. at least, just by changing the speed at which I pumped. I’ve tried the same thing in the past with other multi-pumps, but this one is particularly sensitive.
I think the most representative method of testing this rifle for velocity is to let it sink back to its lowest velocity and stabilize there. That way, the velocity test will also represent the velocity at which the accuracy test is conducted, because I’m certainly not going to oil the pump head after each and every group! Undoubtedly, there’s sufficient oil in the gun right now because of the two oilings I mentioned.
Crosman Premiers
The first pellet tested was the 7.9-grain Crosman Premier. Since the 2100 is a multi-pump, I decided to test each pellet and BB at 5 pumps and 10. That gives us a good picture of what the gun can do across the entire range.
On 5 pumps, Premier lites averaged 540 f.p.s. when the gun was pumped fast. They ranged from 537 to 543; and at that velocity, they produced 5.12 foot-pounds On 10 pumps, again with rapid pump strokes, this pellet averaged 630 f.p.s. The range went from 628 to 635 f.p.s., and the average muzzle velocity was 6.96 foot-pounds.
JSB Exact 8.4-grain dome
Next I tried the 8.4-grain JSB Exact dome. On 5 fast pumps they averaged 526 f.p.s., with a spread from 517 to 531 f.p.s. The muzzle energy averaged 5.16 foot-pounds. On 10 pumps, they averaged 608 f.p.s. with a spread from 595 to 611 f.p.s. The average muzzle energy was 6.9 foot-pounds.
JSB Exact RS
For a light pellet, I tested the JSB Exact RS. The name of this pellet includes the word Match, but they’re domes, not wadcutters, and cannot be used in formal match shooting. At 7.33 grains, they’re very light, yet I’ve had some good luck with them in other pellet rifles.
In the 2100, 5 pumps gave an average 559 f.p.s. The spread went from 555 to 563 f.p.s. The average energy was 5.09 foot-pounds. On 10 pumps, the average velocity was 646 f.p.s., and the range went from 635 to 654 f.p.s. At the average velocity, the muzzle energy was 6.79 foot-pounds.
So, the reader who said the 2100 wouldn’t get to 700 f.p.s. was right. As long as you don’t shoot it immediately after oiling with Pellgnoil, it won’t shoot that fast. But oil it, and it’ll probably top 700 f.p.s. with lighter pellets.
On to BBs
BBs were next, and with them things are much more standard. Though there are subtle differences in BB brands, they don’t vary as much as pellets. We’ll now see if the advertised velocity of 755 f.p.s is reasonable. Since this is a Crosman gun, I tested it with Crosman Copperhead BBs.
BBs are loaded into the large reservoir, then the gun is shaken and they fall into the smaller spring-loaded magazine. Once the magazine is empty, you can shoot pellets again, even though there BBs are still in the big reservoir; if they aren’t in the magazine, they won’t load automatically.
On 5 pumps, Copperheads averaged 570 f.p.s. They ranged from 564 to 578 f.p.s. At the average velocity, they generated 3.68 foot-pounds of energy at the muzzle. On 10 pumps, they averaged 678 f.p.s. and ranged from 672 to 682 f.p.s. That’s an average muzzle energy of 5.21 foot-pounds.
So the bottom line is that the test gun doesn’t meet its advertised spec for velocity. It falls at least 73 f.p.s. short. It does the same with lead pellets, so I’m withdrawing my remark that the gun is suitable for light hunting. Clearly, it’s below the safe margin. Yes, it will kill small animals, but I could not recommend it for that task based on these results.
I also note that the barrel is starting to loosen at the breech. It rotates slightly at this point, and I’ll keep an eye on it. And the pump lever hits the gun with a loud slap on every pump stroke — there’s no cushioning material to deaden the sound.
I hope these results don’t disturb owners of this gun, because they in no way condemn it. The accuracy test is still to come, and we might get a big surprise there.
Crosman 2100B multi-pump air rifle: Part 1
by B.B. Pelletier
Crosman’s 2100B is a full-sized multi-pump that hopefully delivers power and accuracy with a few economic concessions.
I’ve been reviewing some basic and even classic airguns and air rifles for the past month, and today’s Crosman 2100B multi-pump is one of them. It was initially my plan to get all these at least started by Christmas 2011, but I didn’t even make that date. Next year, I need to start in early October, because other things do get in the way.
I know many of you are 2100 fans because you’ve said as much in the comments.
I may be the last guest to come to the party where the 2100 is concerned. Only Crosman’s smoothbore 760 Pumpmaster is more popular; and, of course, with the release of the rifled M4-177 late last year, that will be a tough act for any airgun to follow.
Think of the 2100 as the 760’s older brother, though there are a couple very important differences. For starters, this powerplant is completely conventional. You can pump the gun and leave air in the reservoir without cocking it first. That’s a big plus in my book. And the piston stroke in the 2100 is longer than that of the 760, so the power is greater, as well. Best of all, the 2100 has a rifled barrel!
The power level is elevated over that of the smaller multi-pumps. Crosman rates the rifle at 755 f.p.s. with steel BBs and 725 f.p.s. with lead pellets. Naturally, I’ll test both numbers for you, and Crosman Copperhead BBs will be involved. So, this is a more powerful airgun than most of the others in its class.
Sights
The sights are a fiberoptic bead in front and a plain notch in the rear. The rear sight is adjustable in both directions, though the adjustments are crude. There’s an elevator wedge for elevation, and the entire sight can swing in either direction for windage. A screw then locks it in place.
The stock and forearm/pump handle are plastic, but the rest of the exterior of the gun seems to be metal. Only the bolt handle and barrel band are plastic, while the exterior of the barrel is jacketed in some metal around a soda-straw steel barrel. This barrel is rifled, as mentioned, yet the rifle can handle steel BBs if you’re so inclined.
Cocking
The bolt retracts to open a funnel-shaped loading port, similar to what we saw in the review of my vintage Crosman 2200 multi-pump rifle back in 2009. I’ll wait until I’ve loaded the gun several times before reporting on how easy it is to load. Naturally, this time, there are also steel BBs to be loaded from an internal reservoir, so I’ll cover that later as well.
The effort needed to cock this gun is considerable, and buyers should know that before they buy. This isn’t the gun to pick to train your 10-year-old. Think of it as more of an adult pneumatic. I compared it to my vintage 2200, which is much easier to cock, so there’s a possibility that this will wear in with time and use.
Most people love the 2100!
I looked at the owner reviews of the gun, and only one of them was really negative. Apparently, the buyer expected a $125 rifle for $60. He said the barrel is plastic, but it isn’t. It’s metal, but as noted, it’s just a jacket around a soda-straw steel barrel. He was terribly upset about the construction of his gun. So much so that he forgot to report how it shot.
There were 32 others, however, who gave the gun five stars, and I think what they say is a lot closer to the truth. I’ve tested Cannon multi-pump air rifles from Indonesia that are all metal and wood, but don’t shoot worth a darn until their valves are rebuilt by their owners. Even then most of them don’t even perform to spec, and only after they’re made to work at all do the owners discover that the barrels are often less than accurate. I expect more from this Crosman rifle and will be shocked if I don’t get it. A little plastic where it doesn’t matter (and, no, Michael…the one person who gave this a negative review, the bolt handle will not break when you cock the gun — even 10,000 times!) is not a detractor if the performance is there. That’s what this report will determine.
The rifle
Weight-wise, the 2100 is light, but not overly so. At just 4.8 lbs., it lays light in your arms but it doesn’t float the way many similar smaller multi-pumps do. For many people, that’s a good thing. The length of pull is an adult 13-3/4 inches that will work for older kids, as well. The molded plastic stock and forearm are both checkered with large, sharp diamonds that really do grip your hands. Overall, the rifle feels pretty good in the offhand position.
Pellets are loaded singly, but the BBs are poured into a 200-shot reservoir that’s accessed through a discreet hole in the bottom of the pistol grip. Just slide the grip cap to the rear and pour in up to 200 BBs. Pull the BB magazine follower to the rear and lock it in place, then, while holding the muzzle down, shake the rifle from side to move BBs into the 17-shot visible magazine on the left side of the receiver. Finally, release the BB follower. Every time you cock the gun, a magnet on the bolt tip will grab a BB until the BB magazine is empty. It’s possible to have BBs in the larger reservoir and not in the magazine and to shoot pellets single-shot without BBs getting in the way.
The 17-shot BB magazine is located on the left side of the receiver.
Trigger
I measured the trigger-pull with my Lyman electronic scale. The trigger is two-stage with a very short first stage. It’s not adjustable. Stage two breaks very consistently at between 4 lbs., 10 ozs. and 4 lbs., 12 ozs. — as long as the squeeze is slow and consistent. Yank the trigger, and the pull goes over 5 lbs. on the test gun.
Pump effort
I have to comment on the effort it takes to pump this gun, because it could surprise some buyers. Where the 760 Pumpmaster and its derivatives all pump easily, the 2100 does not. It pumps as hard or even harder than a Benjamin 397 multi-pump. I may need to measure this for you. I checked it against my 2200, and it’s close to the same effort for both, so this is probably not going to change.
Hunting?
Yes, and no. Yes to the five percent who can reliably hit a quarter at 30 yards offhand five times out of five. And no to the rest who can’t, but just want an extra-cheap airgun to do what it isn’t made for. And the five percent are also the ones who know better than to try to hunt with such a light air rifle.
Yes, this airgun probably has enough power to take very small game humanely at close range. Unfortunately, too many shooters will try to stretch the distance well beyond what the gun can reliably do. So, please, think of the 2100 as a plinker and not as a hunter.
Overall
This will be another enjoyable rifle to test, because it has so much going for it. No wonder it’s a classic — it feels and handles right!
Benjamin 347 multi-pump pneumatic: Part 3
by B.B. Pelletier
Benjamin’s 347 multi-pump was sold between 1969 and 1992.
Let’s shoot this old classic Benjamin multi-pump and find out just how accurate it can be. This is a test of a rifle you can’t get anymore, but the Benjamin 397 is a very similar airgun, if you’re interested.
Before we begin
I must first comment on the open sights; because after many trips to the range with the .22 rimfire target rifles I’ve been using for the CB cap test, I was shocked back to reality by the wide open notch in the rear sight blade on the 347. It isn’t a precision sight in any respect, and the rear notch is about three times too wide for the front post. I had to guesstimate if the front post was centered in the rear notch, because it’s too wide to know for sure.
Some readers might be inclined to mount a scope or a red dot sight on a rifle like this, but I’m not going to. It has always seemed to me that a rifle like this was meant to be shot with open sights, plus the mounting methods for optics on these multi-pumps leave something to be desired. The mounts can flex the barrel solder joint, eventually breaking it. There’s no good repair when that happens.
I also want to comment on the trigger. Compared to a modern “lawyer” trigger, this one is downright decent. Oh, it isn’t super-light, nor is it especially crisp, but it still breaks at less than 3 lbs., as we discovered in Part 1 of this report; and that’s a trait I like in a sporting rifle. I wish all modern airgun triggers could be this nice.
I decided to shoot at 10 meters, partly because I didn’t know what to expect from this rifle and partly because this is a sporting rifle, after all. It isn’t supposed to be a 50-yard tackdriver.
This rifle does have one quirk. The pump link is loose at the pump handle; every time you pump the rifle, it shifts position with a click. That could easily be fixed with a new link and bushing.
Accuracy
The first shot was offhand from about 15 feet to establish that the pellet was going pretty close to the point of aim. It was, so I moved back to 10 meters, where I rested the rifle for the test.
The first pellet tested was the RWS Hobby wadcutter. The 347 is a .177-caliber rifle, and in that caliber the Hobby weighs just 7 grains. I decided to use five pumps per shot, which is enough to shoot even farther than I was for this test.
After the first test shot, I figured that the pellet would rise a bit at 10 meters, and it did. Since the rifle has no scope, I used binoculars to verify that the pellet was hitting the point of aim, which was a six o’clock hold on a 10-meter rifle bull.
The shots were landing slightly low and to the left, but they were within the bull, so I left the sights exactly where they’d been.
Though they landed a little left, these 10 RWS Hobby pellets went into a group that measures 0.458 inches.
Next up were Beeman Kodiaks. I’ve found over the years that these heavy pure-lead domes usually perform well in multi-pumps. They are one of my “go-to” choices. As before, the gun was pumped five times.
Ten Beeman Kodiak pellets went into this group, which measures 0.558 inches across. That’s one-tenth larger than the group of Hobbys.
For some reason, this rifle didn’t like the Kodiaks as much as I thought it would. They made a slightly larger group than the Hobbys, but I thought it would be just the other way around. This is still a good group, but it isn’t as good as I expected.
The final pellet tested in the 347 was the Crosman Premier lite. Where the other two pellets had some resistance upon entering the breech, there was none with the Premier lite. It went in like it was made for the rifle…which it is, in a way.
Finally, I got the performance I was looking for! Ten Crosman Premier lites made this 0.39-inch group. You can see that the dime will cover the group easily. This is the pellet for this rifle!
Because I’m shooting 10-shot groups, I don’t have to keep shooting group after group when the results are good. Ten shots eliminates a lot of the randomness of a 5-shot group. To put it simply, it’s far more difficult to shoot 10 shots and have all of them be right than it is to shoot just 5.
So, the 347 is a shooter, just as I thought it would be. It’s right in there with all the other good-quality multi-pumps.
One other thing to note is that the points of impact for all three pellets were remarkably close. Hobbys being very light and Kodiaks being on the heavy end should have spread these points of impact more than you see; but this was shot at close range, and a pneumatic is less influenced by pellet weight than a springer. That’s something for hunters to bear in mind.
The bottom line
A vintage multi-pump like this one has a lot going for it. It will have a much nicer trigger than contemporary models; and unless it’s been abused, it should shoot just as well as a modern pneumatic. With all the aftermarket support that is available for rifles like these, you can be sure they will be doing their thing for decades to come.
Just remember to oil the pump piston head with Crosman Pellgunoil and to store the gun with a pump of air at all times.
