by Tom Gaylord, The Godfather of Airguns™
Writing as B.B. Pelletier
Crosman’s 1077 RepeatAir is a classic.
This report covers:
• Some old business — trigger-pull
• Today’s test
• First up — Crosman Premier lite pellets
• Air Arms Falcon pellets
• H&N Finale Match Pistol pellets
• Evaluation so far
Today we’ll look at the accuracy of Crosman’s 1077 CO2 rifle. Just as I said, it’s pretty impressive for an air rifle in this price range.
Some old business — trigger-pull
One of our readers asked me if the 1077 trigger-pull would be too heavy for a 9-year-old girl. I said it would on a new gun; but that I have an older gun whose magazine mechanism is broken-in, and I thought it would be okay.
I told you last time that the rifle I’m testing has a trigger-pull of 8 lbs. I guesstimated that the old rifle’s pull was about one pound lighter; but I wasn’t positive, so today I pulled out my old 1077 and measured the trigger-pull for you. Surprise, surprise! The old rifle’s pull measures 8.3 lbs.! Why did I believe it was so much lighter? I think it has to do with how smooth the worn-in mechanism has become. There’s no pause or hesitation when you pull this trigger like there is on the newer gun.
I also told you that the pull was mostly governed by the magazine mechanism that advances the pellet clip. Therefore, I installed the old magazine in the test rifle and tried the trigger. The pull did not change. So, shut my mouth — I was wrong! I’ve been telling people this for years, and perhaps there’s some truth to it if you compare a broken-in magazine to a brand-new one; but the gun also has to wear in for the trigger-pull to smooth out.
Oh, and for that reader who asked about the 9-year-old — yes, I think she could handle the broken-in trigger. It would seem heavy to her, but I think she could manage it.
Today’s test
I am shooting from 10 meters rested. Each target will get 10 shots with open sights. Since this is a gas gun and has virtually no recoil, there’s no special hold required, so I’m resting the rifle directly on the sandbag.
First up — Crosman Premier lite pellets
The first pellets I tried were the Crosman Premier lite domed pellets that weigh 7.9 grains. They put 10 into 0.761 inches at 10 meters. I think it looks more impressive than it sounds.
When I saw this first 0.761-inch group of Crosman premier lites, I knew my 1077 was going to shoot just as I told you!
RWS Hobby pellets
Before I get to what the RWS Hobby pellets did, I want to tell you how I controlled the group to get only 10 shots. As you know, the 1077 has a 12-shot circular pellet clip. What I did was load all 12 chambers and then shot just 10 shots. After that, I removed the magazine, popped out the clip and removed the last 2 pellets with a ballpoint pen. I think that’s easier than trying to orient 2 empty chambers in the clip when you insert the magazine.
I’m telling you this because I forgot to stop shooting with Hobbys. It’s a 12-shot group instead of 10 shots. The 1077 is so easy to shoot that it reminds me of its firearm namesake — the Ruger 10/22.
Twelve Hobbys went into a 0.63-inch group at 10 meters. How about that? More shots, yet a smaller group!
Twelve RWS Hobbys went into this 0.63-inch group at 10 meters.
Air Arms Falcon pellets
Because I read the things I write and also believe them, I next tried Air Arms Falcon pellets. I’ve told you that Falcons are often accurate in lower-powered .177 airguns, and I couldn’t resist seeing if that was true for the 1077. Glory be — this time it was! Ten (I remembered to stop shooting at 10 this time) Falcons went into a 0.596 inch group that turned out to be the smallest one of this test.
Ten Falcon pellets went into this incredible 0.596-inch group at 10 meters!
H&N Finale Match Pistol pellets
The last pellet I tried was the H&N Finale Match Pistol pellet that sometimes surprises me with its accuracy. This time, they matched the RWS Hobbys with a 0.63-inch group. Of course, there must be small errors in measuring and one pellet might be fractionally better than the other.
The Finale Match group is vertical, which leads me to wonder if the gas is running out in the 88-gram CO2 cartridge that’s on the rifle. It’s been there for several years and for an undetermined number of shots.
Ten H&N Finale Match Pistol pellets made this vertical 0.63-inch group.
Evaluation so far
The 1077 is turning out exactly as I remembered, except for the trigger-pull issue mentioned above. It’s a very accurate rifle that deserves a longer accuracy test. So, I’ll mount the Tech Force 90 dot sight and back up to 25 yards next time.
Not bad for a $40 12 shot semi-auto with a 8# trigger!
Edith or B.B.,
Is there any way I could do this on a trial basis or easily return to what I’ve got now?
https://tonjoo.com/addons/easy-custom-auto-excerpt-premium/
Reb
Reb,
That will have to be Edith.
B.B.
Reb,
I believe this is not something you can use. This is for the owner of the wordpress site (Pyramyd Air).
Edith
Thanks for letting me know! now I’ll just terminate the ad.
Hi B.B.
I love the New Look to this Blog. Everything is & looks much better. Its a pleasure to access the hallowed archives now & I’m loving it. THANK YOU SIR!! The header is in my favorite color & shade (woodland / jungle green). Sorry for the late comments.
Errol
I had to put some “Transmission Stop Leak”, or whatever it is called, in my 1077. I had not shot it in a couple months and the first CO2 cart just fizzed away. The next one I put some stop leak on the tip of the cart to stop the leak. It did ok, I got to shoot some 2 clips before all gas was gone. I just love this rifle, I have a laser sight on it now, old eyes makes it hard to use the “iron” sights. I have been using Hobbys.
Another stop-leak testimonial. Good Job!
Falcons swoop in and make another impressive appearance.
For airgunners that shoot pellet guns with a maximum velocity of around 750 fps I would strongly encourage you to buy a tin of air arms falcon pellets and jsb rs pellets for your accuracy testing especially if your pellet gun is .177 caliber.
kevin
Kevin I agree.
I know I have been watching the Falcons in BB’s tests. They seem to be having good results. The fps spread always is close on the velocity tests. That’s a good thing when hunting for the right pellet.
I just put a tin of each in my cart. I’ll give them a try in my HW50S. Thanks for the recommendation.
Randy
Well, it shoots better than the Umarex Fuel!
David Enoch
B.B.
Thanks for the additional information on the trigger. Sounds like a 9 year old might get this for a Christmas present.
GF1
Here you go. He is all thumbs .
http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z244/twotalon/DSC_0009_zpseae93763.jpg
http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z244/twotalon/DSC_0015_zps676b34f9.jpg
http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z244/twotalon/DSC_0021_zpscb67824c.jpg
http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z244/twotalon/DSC_0022_zps47996581.jpg
http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z244/twotalon/DSC_0023_zpsad03cb1e.jpg
twotalon
Good lookin’ cat! On just the front paws or all 4? These are my sister’s favorite cats, she’s had 4 of them at last count. My favorite so far is the Manx’s( except for the flesh shredding part!) My brother had one that started spraying inside the house so his wife, in all her wisdom (sad) opted for neutering which resulted in his death due to the anesthesia. RIP Mookie.
Reb
He got extra on all four.
twotalon
TT
Wow really. That’s cool. They usually don’t have a extra on all paws do they?
GF1
Some do and some don’t . You don’t see thumbs on the back because it’s just an extra toe along the side. You have to know how many they are supposed to have in the first place to get a good count.
This little guy has a very small one between the thumbs and the rest of the paw on the front. That is about usual. Did see one that just had extra all the way around on all four that looked normal, but were too many of them . What feet he had !
They do have more trouble getting stuck on screens . Often need rescued from the doors and windows.
twotalon
TT
I could see that happening with the extra claw probably hooking at a different angle. Ouch.
Pure bred? I’m surprised whoever had him gave him up,they can be worth money!
Reb
No. Just a cat.
Hemmingway had a bunch of mitten foot cats.
twotalon
Ok but.
http://www.catsnow.com/cat-ad-585
TT
Good looking kitten. He looks like he’s going to be a little character.
The girl cat we have looks very similar in the face to your cat. It has the striping but not as much as the cat you have and its long haired and more grey with brown striping. I will see if I can get a picture posted before I go to work.
TT
Here’s a picture of our cat. She’s not to happy. I woke her up to take the pictures.
http://i1373.photobucket.com/albums/ag362/gcars/Mobile%20Uploads/IMG_20140903_121033759_zps4ac638c5.jpg
http://i1373.photobucket.com/albums/ag362/gcars/Mobile%20Uploads/IMG_20140903_121020501_zps27cebf8e.jpg
http://i1373.photobucket.com/albums/ag362/gcars/Mobile%20Uploads/IMG_20140903_120937276_zps2cefd5f9.jpg
GF1
Nothing like a big fuzzy cat to rub on. Big soft feet are nice to play with if they let you.
twotalon
TT
She’s a lap cat without a doubt. She will usually come up to me when I’m on the computer and meow then jump in my lap. She will just lay there til I got to get up. She is like that with me and my oldest daughter. She will go buy the youngest daughter and my wife but wont let them hold her.
She was a kitten when we got here. The wife and the kids found her stuck up in a tree by the corner of the yard were the woods start. Guess who had to climb up in the tree to get her down.
Got to go now FedEx just delivered the Evanix Speed.
How many hours does the battery need to charge?
Reb
Say’s 8 hrs. first time then 5 hrs. after that. I got a quick charger from my RC plane stuff that will charge all kinds of battery’s. Just got to get the connectors worked out it will be a lot faster.
I know you already know this, due to you RC toys but make sure it gets as much of a charge as it will take.
Reb
Yep I know. Wish they were Lipoly. Was going to change over but decided to stay with the ni-cads.
I did order a extra battery so hopefully I won’t be wanting to rush the charge.
I just hope that one battery PAC will give a bunch of shot counts.
Cute kitty! I’ve got one that looks very similar. He’s about 13 now. How old is your kitty and have you named him yet?
Charles
I guess somewhere around 5 months. Name is Bammy . Long story behind that.
twotalon
TT
I was wondering what you named him. And how did he get that name? Long or short version of how he got the name. My oldest daughter named ours Kitty Bell. And don’t ask me why. Not sure exactly what reason but that’s what we call her.
GF1
We used to have a really big tiger cat with mittens . He was more spotted than striped. The wifes’ son named him Bam Bam. Bammer for short. So this little tiger needed a name something along the same lines.
twotalon
My cat is named Verl. He wandered into my backyard in 2002, and reminded me of a previous cat I had named Vern. I didn’t want to re-use the same name so I modified it. I can’t post a picture link because I don’t have a social media account anywhere, and the blog won’t let me paste a picture directly into this reply.
About a year ago, a local alley cat had a litter of kittens in my backyard. Mama was in the habit of eating sparrows and eurasian-dove I frequently dispatched for raiding my bird feeders.
One of the male kittens had an extra-toe on each foot.
Just before I placed the kittens with a family in-the-country, the kitten reached five-months-old.
And, I noticed the extra-toed cat had an additional claw extending from the middle of the large-pad of his front paws.
For a total of seven claws per front foot.
The only disadvantage of this gun is that it will run you low and gas and pellets because it’s so much fun. Nice shooting B.B. Maybe I missed this but did all those hours of dry-firing the trigger on the 1077 while watching TV make a difference? This is definitely my idea of an appropriate gun for a 9 year old.
Matt61
I can think of another disadvantage to this particular air rifle. This air rifle is powered by CO2. Besides the cost of supply, there are the temperature issues. When this air rifle is operating at it’s peak, I am seeking shelter inside and when the performance drops off, I want to be outside doing things, like shooting.
A JDS bulk-fill to paintball adapter (http://jdsairman.com/MiscProducts.html) can be used to convert a 1077 for use with a regulated Ninja bottle (https://www.archerairguns.com/Regulated-HPA-Tank-for-QB79-and-QB79-Repeater-p/ninjapro13shp.htm).
This will avoid any CO2 related issues.
Edith,
F5 worked on my ‘puter at home also, but I never had to do that before.
RidgeRunner,
Glad to hear you’re back in the swing of things!
Thanks,
Edith
B.B.
When you are shooting from a bench rested position, how much does your rifle hold resemble the artillery hold? What breathing techniques do you use to steady your hold so that you can shoot such tight groups? I did some of my own 10 meter bench rested shooting tests with my 1077 this past weekend, but most of my groups were in the 1 to 1 1/2 inch range. One of the pellets I used was also the RWS Hobby, and I nearly did as well with it as you did. Using my little 6 inch ruler, I measured the center-to-center group at about 7/8 inch for a 12 shot group. If I treat one outside shot as a flier, the remaining group of 11 measured about 3/4 inch. As I shot I tried to maintain a relaxed and loose grip and hold my breath as I pulled the trigger. Is there a problem with this technique that I need to adjust?
Here are some of my other 10 meter 12 shot groupings:
Crosman Premier Super Match: 3/4″ (no fliers)
RWS Meisterkugeln Rifle: 1 3/8″ (3/4″ minus 2 fliers)
H&N Match Rifle: 7/8″ (no fliers)
H&N Finale Match Rifle: 7/8″ (5/8″ minus 1 flier)
Also is there a generally accepted rule that defines how far a flier must be away from the rest of the group to be called a flier? For example, 10 of 12 shots of H&N Field Target Trophy are about 3/4″. Of the other two shots, one is about 1/4″ away from the group, and the other is about 1/2″ inch away from the group. Which of these two should be called a flier?
Charles,
There is a tradeoff. When the trigger is DAO, you cannot use the artillery hold. But the 1077 is a gas gun that doesn’t recoil, so it doesn’t matter as much.
Fliers are generally pellets that you cannot explain. No distance requirement. If you know you moved when the shot went, that is called a pulled shot.
B.B.
BB
A little off topic if I may.
Had the day off with no one around, nice weather and a new air rifle (Browning Leverage in .177 caliber) so why not shoot.
Hello Pa.OldMan. How hard is it to cock the Browning Leverage? I have a Vantage NP and have a hard time cocking it. Have COPD and my chest has no muscle strength . Was thinking about going with a underlever.
Thanks!!
Don
Don,
It’s easier to cock than my Benji Trail NP. More arm muscle than chest involved in cocking it.
David
Thank-You!
PAO,
Welcome to the blog. I’d rather be shooting that almost anything.
B.B.
Guess this thing still has bugs, seams most of my post is missing
pa.oldman,
You posted this earlier at 7:40 PM Eastern:
BB
A little off topic if I may.
Had the day off with no one around, nice weather and a new air rifle (Browning Leverage in .177 caliber) so why not shoot.
Then, at 7:41 PM, you posted it a second time. I moved the second posting to the trash since they were identical.
Are you saying you posted a longer comment that disappeared?
Edith
Yes, ran the spell check then hit post comment, this was all that posted. The entire post was still showing in the comment box so I hit post comment a second time same result.
David
David,
I’m going to send your comment to Pyramyd Air’s IT department. Others have had issues with comments, and I want to get to the bottom of this. If they want to ask you some questions about your comment problem, would you mind if I pass along your email address?
Thanks for bringing this issue to my attention!
Edith
No problem pass it on
BB, so Happy Happy Happy. I was reading this report, thinking it would be the last and thinking I wish BB would go back to 25 yrds and give her a try. Poof, wish granted! Looking forward to it.
BB
Quick version of the lost portion of my post. Shot 130 rounds through the new .177 cal Browning Leverage today. Last 30 were all with the same pellet to season the barrel as Edith suggested to you a while back. The very last 10 the best group of the day. I don’t know if this was a fluke but it was interesting.
David
David,
Thanks for the report on your new Browning Leverage in .177 caliber. What size 10 shot groups are you getting and at what distance?
I wasn’t familiar with the Browning Leverage so went to the Pyramyd AIR site. The manual for this gun suggests shooting two felt cleaning pellets through it after a pellet jams! There’s even a comment in the Customer Reviews on this gun complaining that felt cleaning pellets are tough to load in the Browning Leverage! Hope you’re not shooting felt cleaning pellets in your gun.
kevin
Kevin,
Yesterday shooting at 10 meters best group was a .493 today shooting at 22 meters my best group was .692 which is good for me. Cleaning pellets didn’t group very well in my Ruger Air Hawk and go super sonic in it, haven’t tried them in the Browning yet
BB, When the 1077 jams, is it better to push the pellet back with a rod, or move the barrel forward (as per crosman instructions)? Will moving the barrel eventually cause enough wear at the breech end, to affect accuracy? Ed
Ed,
I eject the magazine and push the pellet back. Of course I don’t get any jams in mine, because I stop shooting before the CO2 runs low and I always seat the pellets deep.
B.B,.
“So, I’ll mount the Tech Force 90 dot sight and back up to 25 yards next time.”
Why not mount a 3-9×32 BugBuster or a 6×32 Bugbuster rather than a red-dot for accuracy testing at 25-yds.
Is there anything … realistically … that can be done to reduce to trigger-pull?
Or, is there a way to operate the trigger-mechanism in single-action mode … like a revolver.
A.O.,
No, there is nothing that can be done about the trigger pull. But on a gun that’s been well broken-in, it isn’t that bad. It’s just DAO, where single action produces the crispest pull.
B.B.
What about mounting a scope on the 1077 for accuracy testing at 25-yds?
A.O.,
Well I had planned on mounting the Tech Force 90 red dot sight, because I am also testing it at this time. I know a scope would be a little better, but I think the dot sight can show us what we want to know.
B.B.
What happened to the blog? This one has been around for quite a while.
Michael in Georgia
Michael,
The blog has had an updated theme. Refresh/reload your browser. Go here to see today’s blog and all the others you seem to have missed:
/blog/2014/09/big-bore-bullets-part-1/
Email me if you continue to NOT see the current blogs each day: edith@pyramydair.com
Edith
Nice shooting BB! Crosman will have a real winner if they do something about that trigger pull! Eight pounds does not get it in today’s world.
Mike
@B.B.
Knowing that you can shoot a lot better than that I am guessing that your 1077 just does not do very well with those particular pellets?
The best of those groups looks more like the worse I would expect from my Crosman 1077 at 15 yards with a 36 shot group. Wish I had a digital camera, I would post some pics of 36 shot groups shot with my Crosman 1077 using lubed 9.8 grain Winchester Round Nose pellets. For that matter today I did a 72 shot group, same size as the 36 shot groups.