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Things I liked:Solid construction, no play, firm detents. Things I would have changed:Needs clearancing to clear some receiver tubes What others should know:The sight frequently doesn't work with factory front sights - it won't go low enough. That issue aside - a wonderful sight to use.
Beeman HW30S Air Rifle review entered on 2009-02-05 10:59:38
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Things I liked:Superb accuracy and easy to shoot, easy handling and cocking Things I would have changed:Twangy, poor trigger What others should know:Really a well made and wonderful gun in so many respect, I suggest that the stiff trigger and coarse firing cycle are out of place on a gun at this price level.
The trigger
... Read MoreThings I liked:Superb accuracy and easy to shoot, easy handling and cocking Things I would have changed:Twangy, poor trigger What others should know:Really a well made and wonderful gun in so many respect, I suggest that the stiff trigger and coarse firing cycle are out of place on a gun at this price level.
The trigger is a single stage that is based on half of the Record trigger's geometry, but this partial commonality seems to force certain design compromises that seem to be difficult to get around. Many triggers, for example, rely on springs just to make sure that the trigger levers move into place while the gun is cocked - but this design depends on spring pressure to counteract the natrural tendency of the cocked piston to release itself. As a result it needs a fairly stiff spring. At lease it breaks cleanly enough.
The twang is easily taken care of with a little spring tar.
Things I liked:Accuracy, nice trigger, easy to shoot, good power for a pistol (400fps with 7.9gr Crosman Premiers). Things I would have changed:Do something to lock the pins in place, some of them tend to start working their way out. What others should know:I have the Marksman 2004, which is what the gun was called before
... Read MoreThings I liked:Accuracy, nice trigger, easy to shoot, good power for a pistol (400fps with 7.9gr Crosman Premiers). Things I would have changed:Do something to lock the pins in place, some of them tend to start working their way out. What others should know:I have the Marksman 2004, which is what the gun was called before it was rebadged as the Beeman P17. It is a bit hard to cock and loading a pellet can be a bit tricky, but the gun shoots so well for under $50 that I cannot give it anything less than top marks.
IZH MP 513M pellet rifle review entered on 2008-01-28 16:17:58
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Things I liked:Good power, light weight, spare parts, very accurate Things I would have changed:Cocking leverage, trigger weight What others should know:I bought this gun in .22 after trying the .177 version. With the right pellet, it does about 20 ft-lbs of power, and is very accurate even with Crosman Copperhead wadcutters
... Read MoreThings I liked:Good power, light weight, spare parts, very accurate Things I would have changed:Cocking leverage, trigger weight What others should know:I bought this gun in .22 after trying the .177 version. With the right pellet, it does about 20 ft-lbs of power, and is very accurate even with Crosman Copperhead wadcutters (1/8" at 10 yards). For some reason I can't shoot it worth a dang with the open sights - but it is a killer with a scope. Rough and crude to operate, but it functions extremely well...
Things I liked:Accuracy, adequate power Things I would have changed:Rear sight adjustment range, firing behavior What others should know:There's not much out there in intermediate kid's rifles, and this thing is certainly OK for the price. Granted, it comes off looking and feeling rather cheap, but it begs comparison to
... Read MoreThings I liked:Accuracy, adequate power Things I would have changed:Rear sight adjustment range, firing behavior What others should know:There's not much out there in intermediate kid's rifles, and this thing is certainly OK for the price. Granted, it comes off looking and feeling rather cheap, but it begs comparison to the similarly priced Crosman 795... and it is clearly superior to that thing.
The proliferation of plastic parts aside, my big complaint about this rifle is the very twangy firing cycle. Makes it rather unpleasant to shoot. The trigger could also be better, but this is certainly a lesser issue - it's not a killer like some other low-end rifles.
Crosman Phantom 1000 review entered on 2007-09-13 21:07:04
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Things I liked:Potential for good accuracy and power, good balance and weight, reasonable cocking effort Things I would have changed:Better QC on the barrel lockup, the flimsy rear sight, trigger What others should know:Along with the Quest, this is potentially one of the best buys out there. But you may have to play with
... Read MoreThings I liked:Potential for good accuracy and power, good balance and weight, reasonable cocking effort Things I would have changed:Better QC on the barrel lockup, the flimsy rear sight, trigger What others should know:Along with the Quest, this is potentially one of the best buys out there. But you may have to play with it a bit... the accuracy on mine went from poor to quite good after tightening up the pivot bolt and staking it in place. On a brand new gun, a good barrel cleaning would probably help as well. The power on mine is a bit low at 870's with Crosman Premiers, but I have a Quest that does 920-930 with the same pellet (after installing a new spring and seal from Crosman).
The rifle is based on the Gamo breakbarrel series (although the firing cycle seems to be more civilized than the typical Gamo). The trigger mechanism design is virtually identical, although the stamping and machining don't seem to be as good. Sometimes it is effectively feels like a single-stage trigger.
The rear sight is quite poor, almost pathetic. The FO inserts are very dull, and the flimsy plastic assembly doesn't really leave the shooter with decent detents for the adjustment knobs (especially the windage).
Crosman customer service is quite good, and unlike many manufacturers they offer an excellent selection of service parts at very reasonable prices.
Things I liked:Light, easy to cock, plastic shrouded barrel, almost full size Things I would have changed:Poor barrel lockup, stiff trigger, harsh firing cycle, flimsy rear sight. What others should know:The barrel lockup on a breakbarrel rifle is extremely important, the one on this gun is pathetic. Granted, it's not
... Read MoreThings I liked:Light, easy to cock, plastic shrouded barrel, almost full size Things I would have changed:Poor barrel lockup, stiff trigger, harsh firing cycle, flimsy rear sight. What others should know:The barrel lockup on a breakbarrel rifle is extremely important, the one on this gun is pathetic. Granted, it's not as disastrous as it would be on a more powerful gun - but because of it (I believe) the rifle isn't as accurate as it could be. Still, it's a step up over a Red Ryder, and the cocking effort is super light considering the reasonable "kid-gun" power of about 5 ft-lbs.
The trigger is also rather crude and stiff, and the spring "gongs" when the gun is fired. Fortunately, this rifle is super easy to tear down, and some heavy grease on the spring will improve the firing behavior (the compression doesn't seem to be enough to initiate dieselling).
Overall, it would be a decent rifle at the price if the barrel lockup was better, or if the price was significantly less. Regardless, as I said, it's still a passable step up from a BB gun... more power and accuracy, and very easy for a kid to operate.
Diana RWS 94 review entered on 2007-09-13 20:39:08
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Things I liked:Very nice trigger, moderate weight and cocking effort, good power Things I would have changed:Install fiberoptic sights, make it a little less twangy What others should know:The one I've got isn't even a new one (it's a factory refurb), but it acquits itself nicely. Definitely a step up over a Gamo in terms
... Read MoreThings I liked:Very nice trigger, moderate weight and cocking effort, good power Things I would have changed:Install fiberoptic sights, make it a little less twangy What others should know:The one I've got isn't even a new one (it's a factory refurb), but it acquits itself nicely. Definitely a step up over a Gamo in terms of trigger pull and firing behavior, (although still a bit buzzy), and my general sense is that the accuracy is comparable.
Cocking may be a bit tougher, but then again this example it is healthier than any Gamo I've tested - it pretty consistently pushes 7.9gr Crosman Premiers out at over 970fps. It's a little strange that this gun, rated a smidgen less than 1000fps is actually more powerful than many rifles rated higher. I guess there's more honesty behind the manufacturer's claims.
Daisy Powerline 15XT review entered on 2007-08-23 17:58:56
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Things I liked:Accuracy not bad for a BB pistol, many shots per cartridge, simple and reliable design. Things I would have changed:Trigger is too heavy, loading is a little tough. What others should know:A solid little BB pistol for the money. It's a "double action", which means that the trigger pull is long and a bit
... Read MoreThings I liked:Accuracy not bad for a BB pistol, many shots per cartridge, simple and reliable design. Things I would have changed:Trigger is too heavy, loading is a little tough. What others should know:A solid little BB pistol for the money. It's a "double action", which means that the trigger pull is long and a bit stiff. Accuracy is decent, considering that it's a smoothbore BB pistol and that it is inexpensive.
Things I liked:Accuracy, accuracy, and accuracy. And easy to cock. Things I would have changed:Less twang, better trigger, better rear sight. What others should know:Awkward to load, a little more muzzle-heavy than the breakbarrel Gamo's. Trigger and firing cycle very similar, but it is easier to shoot well. A very accurate
... Read MoreThings I liked:Accuracy, accuracy, and accuracy. And easy to cock. Things I would have changed:Less twang, better trigger, better rear sight. What others should know:Awkward to load, a little more muzzle-heavy than the breakbarrel Gamo's. Trigger and firing cycle very similar, but it is easier to shoot well. A very accurate gun.
IZH MP 513M pellet rifle review entered on 2007-08-16 22:00:31
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Things I liked:Good accuracy, not hard to shoot well, very good power, light weight, spare parts included. Things I would have changed:Lighter trigger, more robust rear sight, better leverage on cocking What others should know:This gun is marginal in .177 unless you use heavy pellets... something like a standard Crosman
... Read MoreThings I liked:Good accuracy, not hard to shoot well, very good power, light weight, spare parts included. Things I would have changed:Lighter trigger, more robust rear sight, better leverage on cocking What others should know:This gun is marginal in .177 unless you use heavy pellets... something like a standard Crosman Premier (7.9gr) occassionally goes supersonic! I suspect it'll really shine in .22. All that power translates into a gun that's hard to cock - much worse than something like a Gamo Shadow or Crosman Quest.
Things I liked:Price - seems to be the only pellet as good as this one in its price range. Almost every gun I've tried like 'em (although there have been a few exceptions) Things I would have changed:Less flashing on the pellets! Hopefully Crosman will keep up the QC on these. What others should know:With pyramyd's '4
... Read MoreThings I liked:Price - seems to be the only pellet as good as this one in its price range. Almost every gun I've tried like 'em (although there have been a few exceptions) Things I would have changed:Less flashing on the pellets! Hopefully Crosman will keep up the QC on these. What others should know:With pyramyd's '4 for 3' deal, the price on these gets down to $6/tin, and if you buy a boatload of them you don't even have to pay for shipping. The next closest decent pellet, price-wise, would be the Gamo Match pellet... which some guns certainly do well with. But at longer range (60 yards) I found that the Gamo Match just scatters waaayyyyy too much no matter what is shooting it. When I shoot the Benji's at this range the target paper gets torn and pushed back when the pellet hits (not punched cleanly), and I can usually see a little round circle on the paper where the pellet went through. This is an impression left from the hollow point tip, and shows that the pellet is still flying straight when it gets to the target, which greatly contributes to this pellet's good accuracy at that range.
My only reservation is that in the past, Crosman's identical sister pellet (the Premier HP) has had some sever QC issues - and one batch I got shot VERY badly. That was a couple of years ago, so hopefully that was only a fluke that will not repeat itself.