by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier
It’s been a long time since we had a guest blog. Remember that you are always welcome to write a report for this blog.
The air rifle we are looking at today came out last year. I didn’t have time to test it, so when reader David praised his, I asked him to share his experiences with you. Today David tells us about his experiences with the Crosman Legacy 1000 multi-pump pneumatic air rifle.If you’d like to write a guest post for this blog, please email me. Over to you, David.
Crosman Legacy 1000
by David
This report covers:
- Incredible claims
- Getting the Crosman Legacy 1000
- Plastic everywhere
- The trigger
- Loading pellets
- Punching groups in paper
- Crosman Hunting Pointed pellets
- Crosman Premier Ultra Magnum pellets
- Winchester Round Nose pellets
- H&N Sniper Magnum pellets
- Conclusions
Crosman Legacy 1000.
The Crosman 2289G, Crosman 1322, the 1377, the 2100B, and the 2240 — what do they all have in common? These are all modern air guns made by Crosman that are so reliable, fun and unbounded that just about every serious air gunner has them in their collection, and they are often the choice for new air gunners. It may be time to add one to that list, the Crosman Legacy 1000.
The Crosman Legacy 1000 is a multi pump pneumatic air rifle in .177 caliber that will deliver 10 foot-pounds of energy at the muzzle and still maintain a level of accuracy that rivals the 1377 air pistol with a stock added. Released in the middle of last year, this rifle is based on the tried-and-true Crosman 2100B, with a few improvements to increase the power a bit, while maintaining a high level of potential accuracy.
Incredible claims
Seeing a multi-pump made by Crosman that claims to be able to push a lead pellet out of its muzzle at 750 f.p.s. looked like an overly inflated claim, as is so common. In this case the claim is true, in fact mine will send a lead pellet out at up to 794 f.p.s. For a $50 air rifle, this is very impressive.
This is foreign ground to most modern air gunners; the idea of an air rifle living up to the on-box claims is unheard of. This is an air rifle to bring back the validity of on-box claims, to bring back the trust of the customer in the advertised ability of an air rifle.
Getting the Crosman Legacy 1000
My first Crosman Legacy 1000 arrived on December 30th 2016, with a 10-for -$10 test from Pyramyd AIR. I was blown away! This is a rifle that lives up to the manufacturer’s claims in every way. I opened the box, oiled the piston and pivot points, ran a few patches through the barrel, and took it out to shoot. The first few groups were very impressive for an air rifle that I had not previously shot, and it kept getting better.
After this I decided to look at the 10-for-$10 test chrony strip that was also in the box, Pyramyd AIR had only gone up to 8 pumps, using a 7-grain pellet. Despite this the chrony showed numbers above 700 f.p.s. with 8 pumps. As Crosman recommends up to 12 pumps for this rifle, I realized that not only would this rifle likely reach the advertised claims — it would likely exceed these claims.
A week later my second Crosman Legacy 1000 arrived, and this time the 10-for-$10 test showed all the way to 12 pumps, with 12 pumps giving 780 f.p.s.and 794 f.p.s. with RWS Diablo Basic 7-grain pellets. That was extraordinary by any measure! Here is a $50 air rifle that claims up to 755 f.p.s. for lead pellets, and yet it is pushing them out at up to 794 f.p.s., while shooting very accurately for a multi-pump air rifle.
I knew I was going to have to check out the power of this rifle with the pellets that I found to be accurate. I will not be talking much more about the power, as my testing is rather subjective. I will say that the Crosman Legacy is definitely a 10 foot-pound multi-pump pneumatic air rifle.
Plastic everywhere
The Legacy 1000 traded in the metal receiver of the Crosman 2100 for a plastic receiver housing. In exchange this rifle provides a solid metal piston, that seems to be aluminum, as well as a little better bolt head that looks like it may seal the barrel lead [Ed. breech] better than the old one from the 2100. For the power that is delivered I would expect that Crosman has made more changes to the powerplant that are unseen. That seems like a vary fair trade. It keeps the price down while delivering more performance from the same design.
The trigger
The trigger is on par for a lower cost air rifle from Crosman. It is fairly comparable to other Crosman rifles in the same price range — nothing too poor, though far from a target trigger. It feels like about a 5 lb. trigger pull that’s a little too long and gritty. It does have a nice predictable break, though, that seems to be the same every time.
Loading pellets
So many shooters seem to have trouble loading pellets in these rifles — a task that is so easy. If you look at the loading area, you just place a pellet toward the outer edge of the metal ramp and roll it into place with your finger, and you get a perfect load every time. No dropping it this way or that; keep it simple and roll the pellet into place.
Punching groups in paper
Of course power has no meaning without being able to hit your target. This rifle does very well in the accuracy department, much better than the price and soda-straw barrel would have you believe. We can’t have a decent conversation about such an accurate rifle without showing some groups, though Mother Nature seemed to have different plans.
I was planning on going out and shooting from a bench at 15 meters and 30 meters to show some groups with the rifle, though a wet day in the desert meant my plans had to change. These groups I’m showing were shot at 12 meters indoors offhand, as that is the limit of my indoor range. I do not have any rest setup for indoor shooting. If there is enough interest I may shoot some groups from a bench when the weather allows, and see about submitting another guest blog.
I am a terrible shot. Please take that into consideration when looking at these groups. Most of you could probably do a lot better than this with this rifle. All groups are 5 shots.
Crosman Hunting Pointed pellets
The first target is a group of Crosman Hunting Pointed pellets. At 7.4 grains, these are tiny pellets, the smallest I have. I put these in only because you can get them anywhere, I did not think they would be any good. Turns out they did better than expected in this rifle.
Crosman Hunting Pointed pellets.
Crosman Premier Ultra Magnum pellets
The second target is a group of Crosman Crosman Premier Ultra Magnum pellets. The flier on the left that opens this group up to 7/8ths-inches was my fault, I pulled that shot and knew it when I did.
Crosman Premier Ultra Magnum pellets.
Winchester Round Nose pellets
This next target shows a group of Winchester Round Nose pellets. This is just a pellet I happened to have laying around that does ok in most of my .177 caliber air rifles, including the Legacy.
Five Winchester Round Nose pellets made this group.
H&N Sniper Magnum pellets
And here is the H&N Sniper Magnum. This is usually the best pellet in this rifle for me. For this heavy weight it does need at least 5 pumps to print a good group.
H&N Sniper Magnum.
Conclusions
The Crosman Legacy 1000 is a good deal at its price, being fairly powerful, and fairly accurate. Crosman has set the bar high for future low cost multi-pump pneumatic rifles.
David,
Thank you for taking the time to do this report. I will say that your are a pretty good shot off hand. Compared to you, I should not even be allowed to shoot. 😉 I can do rested indoors and out. It is nice to eliminate variables. After that,… if I choose to shoot off hand,…. then whatever I get will be up to me. At least,… I will know what the rifle “can” do. Some group sizes would have been nice. There are so many choices in that price range, that it is nice to have a review on something else. Nice job!
Good Day all,……. Chris
Thank you, sorry about the delay I did not know BB had got this up yet.
As to group sizes they are from 0.4 inches to 0.8 inches, I would have to dig out the targets to be more precise.
David,
Thanks for telling us about your Legacy. This sounds like it would do an excellent job of thinning out the pack of feral soda cans. It also seems to have the power and accuracy suitable for close range small pest elimination. At this price point I would say it is an air rifle suitable for everyone’s collection.
So long as you do not mind the trigger (or are willing to tinker with it), and do not mind a bit more pumping effort than most others.
Yes it is a great value.
David,
You have to be realistic. In that price range, what can you expect? I have a 1906 BSA that is the Queen of my collection. It has a single stage trigger which is far from the best, but I allow for it and am quite happy with it.
I feel I am realistic. Granted it is no Crosman 140/1400, or Sharp Ace though for its price and time the Crosman Legacy 1000 is a great value. It is more powerful than a stock condition modern Benjamin 397, more accurate than any other modern under $200 .177 caliber pumper I have had the experience of testing, or seeing tested.
I give you the fair as there have been much better multi pump air rifles made in the past, and there are some with better triggers today, though for everything overall the Crosman Legacy 1000 is a great value for the price.
It is true that a good Crosman 140 will out perform the Crosman Legacy 1000 in all aspects (except that the Crosman 140 is harder to pump than the Crosman Legacy 1000), though they do not make the Crosman 140 anymore.
David,
I am agreeing with you. This seems to be an excellent little pumper, most especially in this price range.
David,
Thanks for the report. Nicely done.
-Y
So many combo bb/pellet guns (notice I didn’t say rifle there B.B.) do not have rifled barrels.
Can you tell if this barrel is rifled?
Belgrath04, Walmart.com says the barrel is rifled.
Well then, David I would be very interested in you doing another series at 30 meters when the weather clears up.
I definitely will do. This has been an abnormally wet winter this year. If it keeps this up they may have to reclassify this as temperate instead of desert 🙂 .
It looks like sometime in the next 7 days I should be able to get in some outdoor shooting, and I will do the 30 meter groups.
It is definitely rifled, and the two I have have good crowns, a rarity anymore from Crosman.
David C
Why what kind of crowns have you been getting from Crosman?
On my 1377’s, 2289g’s, 1322’s, and a 2100 I have had crowns that looked as if they were cut off center, quite uneven. Though it only takes a few minutes to correct the crown so no big deal.
David C
Hmm I typically have good luck with the Crosman barrels.
So basically the chamfer if the crown was off center to the bore and rifling I guess your saying. The face of the barrel was perpendicular to the bore I guess also. That will give a illusion that the crown is not true to the bore.
But yep real easy to correct the crown. I have recrowned many barrels that I have cut off and shortened or adapted to other guns.
And of course it’s nice to have access to a lathe and Bridgeport. 🙂
My experience with the Legacy 1000 has been a bit different. I bought mine at Wally World because it was a price I couldn’t pass up and I like multi-pumps. The gun looks nice out of the box but I don’t understand why they didn’t incorporate these features into the Crosman 2100. It would have saved them a lot more money instead of having to retool for a plastic receiver. With a metal receiver you’re not going to get material creep when you mount a scope. The trigger on my gun was horrible, seeming to break at three different points. If I was an inspector, I would have never let it out of the building. I found the gun very difficult to shoot for accuracy, even off a rest, because of the crappy trigger. It seems like the quality on all the Crosman multi-pumps has gone down over the years. The 760 has devolved into this horrible clam shell body with a plastic trigger assembly. The older 760 trigger seemed to work fine, in fact, it was one of Crosman’s better triggers. Why can’tt’s we stick with what works. It’s sad to see how far amanufacturing has gone down in America. If we’re going to bring it back to America, we’re going to have to have better quality than this. Just have to tear into this kind of see what I can do for it. I’ll get off my soapbox now.
Brent,
What is your favorite multi-pump that you have owned?
Belgrath
I’m not Brent, but I am a huge fan of multi-pumps.
My favorite is the Crosman 2289 also known as “the backpacker” and I think it was also once called “the rat catcher”.
Almost the same as the 1377/1322, it differs from those two guns in that it comes with the shoulder stock and a nicely designed ergonomic pump lever. Commonly called Lego guns, all these Crosmans can be easily customized by a rank beginner into just about any configuration they can imagine. There is a strong cottage industry devoted to making parts for those owners wanting to upgrade this or that (including the bolt probes we discussed a few days ago).
A very close second ( a statistical tie really) is the rocker safety Sheridan Blue Streak. While probably superior in construction to the 2289/1377/1322, they are not as fun to work on. Still, fantastic guns.
Full disclosure, I have never owned one of the Sharp multi pump airguns, though I really really want to.
Perhaps the high water mark of multi-pumps though is the Al Niebecker Quigley rifle. It is gorgeous to my eyes, and tremendously innovative. Unfortunately they never made it into full production, so the prototypes cost several thousand dollars.
I don’t have a favorite. All of what’s available is rather underwhelming. I do wish Crosman would put out Gun Fun’s1377, steel breech, Discovery barrel, Marauder gen 1 trigger, wood stock hybrid he put together. Then I can say I have one 🙂
@Brent
What is your opinion of the Benjamin 392/397 pumps?
Brent
Thanks for the words. It is a nice solid feeling accurate pumper that makes pretty good power at that.
It would really be nothing for Crosman to make one. They already have all the parts available.
But I will have to add. I would like to see them put the new Maximus barrel on it instead of the old Discovery barrels like I have on the one I made. From what I exsperianced with my new Maximus the new barrel making process is definitely a winner.
Unfortunately there will be the low end of QC, and wally is known to make arrangements with many companies to sell factory seconds, I do not know if that applies to Crosman or not.
Sorry you had a bad experience with yours.
Nice report! Any idea if this will likely replace the 2100B? Also is it the blogger software that heavily compresses these images? It almost looks like the image was on an old tube television and a closeup photo was taken from it… just curious.
Chachoze,
I enlarged the images David sent to show the groups better. So the kinescope look is on me — not him.
B.B.
I will have to take higher resolution pictures next time, thank you.
David,
Thanks for an interesting and useful report. I like your contagious enthusiasm. The 1000 looks like a good pumper for the price in today’s market. It should be OK as a beginner’s gun until the shooter is ready to graduate to the 397/392 series, or to a springer, perhaps. I really enjoyed the old metal and wood 760 that my brother had in the late 60’s. It was the first airgun we had that would penetrate a steel food can. Wonder what that gun goes for in decent condition, or what it would cost to make one now.
BTW, I bought a new Umarex Throttle. It’s an interesting gun with some good characteristics and also some pesky small problems. I’m liking it as a backyard plinker, but not sure it’s consistent enough to be a good hunter. It’s now broken in and I’ll be giving it some more rigorous testing in coming days.
My shooting buddy is counting down the days until the Benjamin Wildfire becomes available.
Walt
Walt,
The problem with these guns is this that they keep trying to substitute cheaper parts for parts that work and aren’t that expensive to make to begin with.
Brent
As long as you get a good one it is a good rifle. Though it is a step above the Benjiman 397, I have never seen a stock condition 397 that is as accurate or nearly as powerful as my Crosman Legacy 1000’s.
Though I definitely feel the Crosman Legacy is usually going to be a good deal.
I’ve got the Remington Airmaster 77 version of this airgun, and have had it for close to ten years. I hate the march towards all plastic airguns. Though I do have a few. I have a Crosman 760, Model 66, and a Daisy Model 880. My plastic Crosman 1077 finally developed a problem. Guess I need to thi k about a 397/392 before gthey drop those or convert them to plastic.
Birdmove,
The 880 always catches my eye. I had one as a kid and recently. I gave the recent one away. The kid one,… who knows? It (recent one) got modded with a barrel shroud chop for an arrow shooter. It worked, but not enough oomph. Still,… they nailed the looks on that one IMO. I bet I will end up with another one for no other reason than,…. just because.
Chris U
I had a 880 as a kid. And one a few years back. I will have to say I totally liked the looks and performance of the early 760’s better. I wonder if you even know how they were made back in the 70’s.
The early ones had a steel receiver, rifled barrel and a wood butt stock and pump handle. They were solid very accurate guns and made respectable power.
I kind of have that feeling that the cheaper approach happens way to much now days. Don’t get me wrong. I think the modern day technology of plastic composition and design is way better than it use to be. Definitely better quality “plastic” guns now days. But it is nice to feel a solid wood and steel gun in the hand.
Now days it definitely pays to pay attention to design and types of material and in what places it’s used. Heck look at all the composites on engines now days. Back growing up in the 70’s as a teenager and messing with muscle cars. I would of never thought I would see plastic on a car engine.
Times a change’n as they say.
GF1,
I had to refer to the trusty Blue Book for the 760. I do remember them. The Blue Book shows quite the history on them and many variations. They do look good too.
Yes, plastics have come a long way. I am not familiar with car engines anymore. At one time,… a complete overhaul would be no problem. I do like plastics in guns,… just used in the right spots and not in the wrong spots. I do not think I will ever see why a trigger will be plastic vs steel. I mean really,… how much was saved? and what is the “cost” of the customer’s impression of your product?
I guess they figure that anyone buying a 50$ air rifle is too dumb to know the difference.
Chris U
I probably should get me one of those air gun blue books. Bet there’s a lot of cool guns in it to check out.
GF1,
That is a mass understatement. It is very picture heavy. You will never regret getting it. Tons of printed info. on each gun and misc. other info. Company histories too. Lot’s of reference stuff.
Yes though the earlier Daisy 880’s and Daisy 917’s and others based on the same platform with the steel receiver were not as sturdy as the current Daisy 880, and they had more head space in the pump system do to the way that the check and piston lined up with the crimp in the pump tube that holds the check in place with the old brass pump tubes.
A newer Daisy 880 with the plastic is actually a sturdier and better designed air rifle. They did recently add a limmiter slot to the piston head (around 2010) on the 880, I think we can thank lawyers for that.
David, nice report. Very well done! Thank You
Doc
David,
Enjoyed your report. Great job!
I’ve been looking at the new version of the Remington Airmaster because I like the looks. Now I believe I may have to switch to the Legacy.
Jim
Order it from Pyramyd AIR with a 10 for 10 test, and I think you will have a winner.
Sorry for the delay in responding.
Another offhand shooter! That is some good shooting and at an impressive distance. My only experience with Crosman rifle triggers is for their 1077 which has a different mechanism from yours. I don’t have much good to say about it, but considering its limitations, it is amazing how accurate that rifle is.
mildot52, I don’t know that much about Theodore Roosevelt and have never tried to verify his reputation for personal toughness. Some of it might very well be inflated, but given the widespread sources, I would be surprised if all of it was wrong. If he got depressed that his son was killed in WWI, that is understandable and says more about his feelings for his son than his personal courage. H.L. Mencken is a memorable writer, but you want to be careful about him. He was one of those talented writers with a personal angle which, in his case, was a deep cynicism. This can be used as a tool to uncover valuable insights but you don’t want to accept everything. One thing that Mencken was cynical about was the whole American enterprise, and he coined the phrase, “Boobus Americanus.” That certainly describes some specimens but surely not all.
Matt61
Matt61
Mencken used that word quite a bit, “boob”. I find it difficult to believe that he is considered such a great writer by anyone if he puts so little thought into his insults.
Teddy’s resume is two miles long. Mencken obviously felt inferior and threatened by someone who had accomplished so much while he had accomplished so little. Mencken was an effete and impudent snob, to borrow a phrase.
Theodore is an American legend, Mencken a vile footnote.
The Crosman Legacy 1000 trigger is definitely a lot better than the Crosman 1077 trigger.
Good report. I have one of these and a 2100b. The legacy is more powerful but doesn’t seem as sturdy. I wish they would bring out an updated 2200 magnum.
Can not say anything about how sturdy it is yet. I will have to wait about ten years to see how it is doing before I know anything on that front.
Matt61, Slinging Lead—-Teddy would be happy to know that we have not forgotten him and his place in American history. ——Ed
Ed
I agree. I also think he would be happy to see how the National Park system is enjoyed by millions each year. Perhaps his greatest achievement among many.
Sorry it took me an extra day to reply to everyone. I did not yet know that B.B. had gotten my article posted to the blog.
I will be doing a follow up in the near future, including some bench rested groups at longer ranges.
I do realize that there are a few things I left out of this one as well, so I will have to make sure to include those details.
Thank you all for the interest.
One note, I did use the one that does NOT have a scope on it for the groups. I had not yet zeroed the scope on the other. Thus the groups were shot open sight.
When I get out to the outdoor shooting I will include groups shot open sight as well as scoped, from bench.
David C.,
Thank you for using the scope. 30 yards is a fair bit, though I shoot 100 with other air guns. I would not be surprised if the scoped groups are better. They would be for me,.. by a long shot! 🙂 Be sure to say what the scope is too. I just got a Maximus with a cheap scope included and it works good enough to leave it on. I had a cheapy on the 880 and after some objective tweaking,… it worked for 24′ and 41′ indoors. I swear that scope was set at 50 yards. Leapers/UTG is a good budget scope and you would love the difference,…. even on a 1000. Oh yea,…. don’t worry about the bull,….. just get close and go for group size.
Thanks again and no problem on the delay. We all have other things going on in one way or the other.
No problem. The scope is an unbranded 4x32mm 1 inch tube, 32mm Objective and primary bells, have to adjust the objective the hard way (like the cheap scopes). I will make sure to mention this in the next part.
I will not use the scope that comes with the Crosman Legacy because it will not fit the rail of the Crosman Legacy 1000. Also do to the pump effort high rings are needed so you can still grab the receiver to pump (holding the stock will not give you enough leverage to comfortably pump).
Thanks David for an interesting review. I was interested in this gun because I had a 2100 and 2100B (or was it 2200, the .22 version?) that I spent MANY hours with as a teen. Velocity is definitely amazing at this price. Would like to see some bench rest accuracy testing. My 760 and 2100 were only fair in accuracy but pellets have really seen major improvements in the past 30 years! 😉 My Mk-177 is surprisingly accurate at 10 yards.
I will be doing some bench accuracy testing for the next part in the next couple days. The plan was to do 15 meters and 30 meters, though to keep it simple I may just do a couple of 20 shot groups at 20 meters.
As modern low cost pumpers go the Crosman Legacy delivers more than one would expect.
David C
I’m one for the 30 yard test. Matter of fact I say bring it out to 50 yards even. Especially if your bench resting.
Ok I can do that then. At least at 30 meter, possibly a 50 meter group. Thank you for the input.
David C
That would be great. I like to push the distance. Found some interesting surprise’s that I thought would not of turned out as good as they did.
Will be waiting for your next report. And hopefully there will be a surprise with the longer distance shooting results. In a good way of course. 🙂
HiveSeeker
Did you have a 760 with a smooth bore or rifled bore?
That would make for a nice guest blog. 😉
David
$50 is a good bargain for a Legacy 1000, considering thats only about $20 more than what Red Ryders are going for in most places. My old Benjamin model 317 (circa 1969) was a pretty good bargain too, It went for $25. New.. I dont know what the velocity specs were back then (who had a chrono)? But today it shoots 7 grain pellets at 784 fps, with 12 pumps (max). After that there is still enough air left in the chamber to make a 2nd shot at 530 fps. Advertised velocity on a 317 was 750 fps, as I remember. These numbers were made with LEAD pellets, not alloy.
Yes it is a good deal at the price, same price as a new Daisy 880 in most places, with a bit more power than the Daisy 880.
Walt
The Crosman 760 your brother had was a nice gun. Nothing but metal and wood, of course. I bought one in 1967 and people today think 10-12 pumps is alot to pump a multi-pump! The owners manual of the early 760s allowed the shooter to go as high as 20 pumps, if you remember. With an earth-shattering velocity of 660 fps!! The early 760s had a blow-off valve system, like the Crosman 140/1400 series guns. Just pump, load, and shoot. No spring loaded plunger to cock, as with most multi-pumps. The manual never specified if the 660 fps was with using pellets or BBs. The Sharp Innova is also a blow-off system. Great power-just the trigger gets a little on the heavy side at full power. The only problem I had with my 760 was, at higher power levels, the closed brass bolt would get blown past the lock and all the way back open when the gun fired. I had to rubber band the bolt to the trigger to keep it closed when shooting. Of course the fact that Crosman didnt use an Oring on the bolt didnt help.
So that everyone knows, I am waiting for a new scope to arrive before I get on with testing for part two.
I shot some 30 meter groups and the open sight groups were way tighter than the scoped groups. So I checked my scope over and found it had a broken reticle spring, oops. Getting a 3-9×20 this time, even though it will mean palming the barrel shroud to get the leverage for pumping. I will finish out testing once I have a new scope mounted on one of my Crosman Legacy 1000’s.
I got the scope today, will be finishing up the shooting tomorrow, hopefully will get the next part to B.B next week, then when ever it fits in I guess.