Crosman 362.
This report covers:
- What the readers said
- The test
- Sight in
- Crosman Premiers
- Baracuda 15
- Baracuda 18
- Air Arms 18-grain domes
- Last pellet — RWS Hobby
- Summary
Today we start the accuracy test for the Crosman 362. Let’s see what happens.
What the readers said
A couple readers were amazed that their 362’s shot pinwheels (perfect centers in bullseyes) on the very first shot. A couple other said their rifles shot to the right. What did the test rifle do?
The test
I shot off a sandbag rest from 10 meters. I shot 5-shot groups until the very last pellet when I shot 10. You’ll learn why as we go.
Sight in
The first pellet hit the target an inch low and three inches to the right. I adjusted the rear sight and was inside the bull two shots later. After that I didn’t adjust the sights for the remainder of the test.
I will say this about adjusting the sights. Each adjustment is separate. Sometimes inexpensive peep sights have one screw that loosens them and both adjustments are done at the same time. I like the separate way better because, even though there are no detents in the adjustments, it’s hard to make a mistake.
Crosman Premiers
The 362 is a Crosman airgun so Crosman pellets should be among those tested. The first three Crosman Premier 14.3-grain pellets are in a small group inside the bull and then the last two are high and left. As far as I can tell there were no aiming errors or pulled shots.
Five Premiers went into 0.917-inches at 10 meters with the first three in 0.372-inches between centers. This is a pellet I will continue to test in the 362.
The Crosman 362 put five Premier pellets into 0.917-inches at 10 meters, with the first three in 0.372-inches.
That’s a pretty good start. Next I wondered about the new Baracuda pellets.
Baracuda 15
The 362 put five Baracuda 15 pellets into an open group at 10 meters that measures 1.271 inches between centers. This is definitely not a pellet to continue testing in the 362!
Five Baracuda 15s went into 1.271-inches at 10 meters. Nope!
Baracuda 18
Just because Baracuda 15s weren’t good doesn’t means Baracuda 18s won’t be. So I tried them, too, Five went into 0.777-inches at 10 meters. I have a gut feeling these are also good in the 362, so they will be tested again.
Five Baracuda 18s went into 0.777-inches at 10 meters
Air Arms 18-grain domes
Since JSB makes pellets for Air Arms I felt testing these Air Arms 18-grain domes was a partial test of JSBs as well. It’s true they don’t perform exactly the same but I felt they might give an approximate impression.
Well, they did and the impression isn’t that good. Though five went into 0.842-inches at 10 meters, the group is open. It’s not what I want to see. By the numbers this pellet is are okay, but visually it is disappointing.
Five Air Arms 18-grain domes went into 0.842-inches at 10 meters. This group looks too open to me.
Last pellet — RWS Hobby
Now I will shoot the RWS Hobby wadcutter in the Crosman 362. The first shot went through the center of the target and the rest of the first five pellets only enlarged the hole. So I continued to shoot unto there were 10 pellets in this group. Ten Hobbys are in 0.712-inches at 10 meters.
Ten RWS Hobby pellets made the smallest group of today’s test.
Yes, ten Hobbys made the smallest group of today’s test. When that happens you know you have stumbled on something important. Hobbys are the pellet the 362 likes. When I scope the rifle and back up to 25 yards you can bet I will try them again.
Summary
Well, here is how the Crosman 362 stacks up. It doesn’t meet its advertised velocity — even when trick lightweight pellets are used. It clacks when you pump it.
On the other hand, the power is good for a multi-pump and the trigger is crisper than others in this category. The sights adjust as they should and the rifle hits what you aim at
For $100 the 362 is a very good buy.
BB,
Could you please measure the amount of noise when pumping? Why are there a lot of people complaining about the clacking sound? Is it really that loud?
Siraniko
Siraniko,
I suppose I can do that. It’s over a 90 dB.
BB
BB,
Thanks! Considering that you recorded 90dB at 4 pumps and 98dB at 8 pumps the clacking sounds seems more of a subjective problem than a real problem in my mind. Then again the pitch might be higher allowing the sound to travel farther.
Siraniko
“In my opinion the Dragonfly Mark 2 has left all the multi-pumps I ever tested in the dust”. B.B.’s comment.
Even understanding everyone’s different economic levels but still…
I would say this may be a good first air rifle for a kid. If after all the pumping they are still interested in killing feral soda cans and such, investment in something like an HW30 may be warranted.
“…this may be a good first air rifle for a kid.”
RidgerRunner, quite true, for sure; but it also might make a nice thirty-first air rifle for a big kid who never grew up…like me! I’m looking for a spot on the wall in my garage for one of these; it will make a nice “go to” airgun. 🙂
Here here. I like the variable power. You can shoot this in your basement in the winter on 3 or 4 pumps and really make the shots count in the summer outside. You will have to because you will not likely get a second shot if you miss with all the commotion needed to get the rifle ready for the next shot. But when I was a kid, there seemed to be no shortage of targets for my trusty 760.
RG
Ya know what’s funny. I had a 760 when I was a kid. I thought it was the best. I then a few years later got a 392. It kicked butt. All my buddies wanted to shoot it. They wanted to feel and see the power it was making.
But funny thing is today I’ll take a 760 over a 392. The 760 is easier to handle and pump than a 392. But going farther I will take the 362 over the 760 and 392. The whole removable barrel and modular changeability of different parts from other Crosman/Benjamin guns is a big deal to me.
Present day choice a 362 and a Dragon fly pumper. And if Crosman made a 367 .177 caliber pumper or especially a 365 .25 caliber pumper version of the .22 362. I definitely know what guns would be getting pre-ordered today.
Even though it was a smoothbore, i was deadly with my 760 out to 15 yards or so, I’m ashamed to say. I’m with you on the .177 version and on the modularity. It’s nice to have choices and customize things to your liking. I am looking forward to customizing it. I think it would do well with a longer barrel, for example. I have Serial #1313. I may keep that one stock and buy a second one for tinkering with. Or, if mine proves to be accurate, I might spring for the steel breech and put a red dot on it.
RG
Don’t be ashamed. It’s the truth. I’m with ya and I bet others too. Why not a 177 version of a 362.
First off it would be a 5 minute job at the most to replace a .177 barrel and steel breech on a 362. And I might just do that eventually on my 362. I have some different .177 barrels and another steel breech for a .177 caliber barrel.
Be interesting to see how the 362 shoots differently between the 2 different calibers on the same gun. I will try it. Don’t know when but I will. If you do let me know also.
You have a deal.
I may try to remove, JB polish, and replace the barrel soon. I don’t think I would want to put that stuff through the barrel without removing it first.
I’ll report results on accuracy in the next installment of this series.
RG
Good deal. Will be waiting to hear how it all goes.
Not for me. I like the way the 101 is made.
I hear you; if I had a 101 I’d feel the same way; I’ll probably have to get one some day…just to have; they’re a cool gun, as well as being a classic. 🙂
B.B.,
Thank you for doing this set of reports; I like this gun; it will be the next one I get after my Dragonfly Mark 2 arrives; I’m looking forward to the 25-yard accuracy testing. 🙂
Take care & God bless,
dave
P.S. Under the section “Crosman Premiers” perhaps you meant 14.3 grain pellets; thanks again.
Dave,
Boy! I sure did!
Funny thing. I didn’t mention this in the report because everybody is starting to think BB is a boob, but I actually DID fire the first 8-9 pellets in the sight-in with 7.9-grain Premiers. I was shocked to see the rifle group them in three inches at 10 meters. Then it dawned on me — this is a .22! Oh, well, they did load easily.
Sheesh! 😉
BB
B.B., we all do it at some point; I still recall getting awful groups at 5 meters with my 1322 pistol…I was going nuts!…till I pointed the loaded pistol down at the floor for a second…and heard the pellet land on the floor…yep, not too surprising since I was using .20 caliber pellets meant for my Sheridan! 😉
Thanks BB!
That is funny – made my day!
My father taught courses to the Inuit in northern Quebec for a couple of seasons. One of his students arrived late to class all covered with blood. Evidently there was a polarbear blocking him from coming to school so he shot it (lots of meat for the family and $1,500 for the pelt). What makes this relevant is that the boy (14 yo), in his hurry, grabbed a .30 caliber rifle and .22 ammo, realized his mistake ran back inside and got the .22 rifle and the .30 ammo and had to run back again to get the .30 ammo.
I can see something like that happening LOL! I’ve done the same thing – wrong magazine, wrong gun (twice), but got the groundhog anyway.
Cheers!
Hank
Hank,.
Flick said he saw some grizzly bears near Pulaski’s candy store! 😉
BB
Hank, I’m surprised the bear waited for him to get his act together.
I have heard stories of the Inuit hunting bears with .22s, shooting for the eye. Don’t know if that’s true or just a myth. Something about the cost of ammo.
Roamin,
The bear was busy rooting through the garbage pile at the time. Being the apex predator the bears are not overly concerned (or impressed) with humans.
My father is not into guns or hunting so I loaned him a pump 12 Guage shotgun and a bunch of magnum buckshot (SSG) shells to carry when he was away from town. Not a good idea to wander about unarmed.
The Inuit always had a .22 and a rifle with them when out and about. Never heard of them using a .22 on a bear.
Everything up there is crazy expensive! Like $2 for one egg, $7.50 for a sandwich and $20 for a small bag of flour – and that was 20 years ago. My daughter used to send food up to a family there because the costs were so high. They gifted her a beautiful pair of hand crafted polar bear mitts which she gave me as a Christmas present.
I do know of Indians using a .22 on deer and a .22 magnum for moose. I was told that they take a lung shot and just follow the animal until it expires.
Hank
Wow, Hank! That’s a great story; I read the full story below, but couldn’t reply there. Yet stories like this are another thing I love about this blog. Keep ’em coming. 🙂
Here’s my story, re. calibre mismatch:
Over the years I’ve come across many good words for the AirArms TX200 that I began to want one too.
Oh well, I’m going to be dead soon enough – heck, let’s get a nice walnut stock version in .177″ calibre (besides, when I looked, the .22″ ones were sold out).
It arrived, looking all sparkly in it’s box. Without further ado, I mounted the brand new scope I had ordered at the same time and went outside to find out what all the fuss was about, ie shoot… I even wore gloves to prevent my new ‘Precious’ from showing fingerprints.
Oddly, all my .177″ pellets loaded much too easily, the gun shot with an awful shattering bang, and, to my horror, the scope fell off… several times.
Many airguns have their calibre stamped on the action. Not my AirArms. So I double checked the order confirmation: .177″ or 4,5mm. What the heck?!
Hmm, I felt very angry at having been deceived into buying this piece o. sh..!
Finally I thought, I might as well try’n’see if I can squeeze a larger calibre pellet into the barrel for better luck…
…and HURRAH, that was the solution: I had actually been sent an AirArms TX200 in .22″ calibre, doh!
Thankfully, the air rifle still works (much nicer/softer) after, what effectively were many dry fires. And the scope, though looking rather unloved for having repeatedly bounced around on concrete, still works too (and has remained on the receiver ever since).
Yes, I behaved without rational thought and increasingly overwhelming emotions. Happily, I also remained incredibly lucky! 🙂
Great story.
I did the same thing with my 362! But the initial groups were not so bad at 10 yards as to question them until I decided to switch pellets. Seeing how much bigger the .22 pellets were, I realized my mistake. Oh well, I need the exercise….
Sounds like something I might do!
I am glad you were not maimed pumping this brute up. It’s gota be a 30% markup on this unit, so, I think the Icon with a floor pump would be a good package deal at $200. at little less than the Dragonfly is. I bet the Dragonfly crushes as far as accuracy goes.
Rob
Good morning everyone. My 362 took about 80 pellets to start breaking in. I noticed the groups getting smaller and the rough spots in the trigger pull smoothing out. I had two spots of creep, first when you initially squeeze the trigger to take up the slack, that bit does not come back when you release that initial pressure and start over, so I think that is a touch of mechanical binding after cocking, which has not gone away, yet. Then there is another bit of creep as you increase pressure about half of the way to the release. The second bit of creep has now gone away.
So far, I also got good groups with the Hobby pellets and also with H&N Sport pellets. “Good” at this point means the holes are touching and all inside 1″ at 10 yards. Will need to do better that that at 10 yards to stay inside an inch at longer ranges, I would guess. I will go back and retest some of the Crosman domes I used for the break in period and some others and report back again for comparison to B.B.’s results.
I agree that this would make a good youth gun. The stock seemes sized for smaller hands and arms, at least off the bench. I like to see what pellets consistently perform well before switching to offhand shooting.
I had some felt with adhesive on one side, and I cut a strip to lay on the inside of the forearm, but still getting the clacking. I guess I still have to find that sweet spot or try another material from the prior suggestions. GunFun1’s finesse method works, but really takes a bit of muscle memory and concentration to keep the noise down, especially after the 6th pump.
I am tempted to take the barrel out to run some JB paste on a brass brush through to polish up the bore. Is it hard to figure out how to do that? I can wait until I see how B.B. does it when he installs the steel breach. The outside surface of the barrel is very rough compared to the pump tube underneath it, so I assume the bore is also a bit rough. That’s what makes me want to polish up the bore. I envy the folks who are getting great groups out of the box.
Keep on shootin’
RG
It’s actually pretty easy to do that pump method I use that you mentioned.
The trick is when the handle is almost closed grip the pump handle and kind of start pulling away as your almost closed. Its a timing thing. Once you get the feel of it. It gets easier to do the more you do it.
I wonder, if we took some silicone caulk, and just filled in the cavities in the forearm…
And I think a bit of work on the bore is definitely a good idea.
Thanks for that idea. I’ll consider that if less drastic measures won’t yield satisfactory results.
Everyone,
Thanks for all your stories. Now BB doesn’t feel like such a doofus — or at least he has a lot of doofus friends! 🙂
BB
I resemble that remark. ;o)
BB, a long time ago in a place where you can no longer shoot – too much development – FM went with a cousin to shoot a good ‘ol ‘03 Springfield bolt action, which is still in the family.
We couldn’t understand why the necks of the brass cases had stretched out after being fired until we realized we were feeding 7.62 ammo meant for an M14 to the 30.06 Springfield which had no trouble “digesting” the mismatched cartridges. This was not the first time we had fired that rifle and should have known better – it was thankfully the first and last time we messed up so at least lesson learned!
Off topic, but is there any chance we will have the Texas Airgun Show this year in Mansfield?
Jonah,
I just asked Jeff Cloud — Cloud9.
BB
Jonah,
Yes! September 24 with an FT match Sep 25.
BB
Great! Thanks.
Jonah
Great news. I will plan to be there!
Does anyone’s 362 (or any multi-pump pneumatic) sort of creak like a haunted house door as you pump it? The manual says to oil the hinge points with pellgun oil, but that has only worked temporarily. I have some graphite lubricant that is used for car key slots (remember those?). Thoughts?
RG
No graphite.
Put some 3 and 1 oil on the hinges. Well if that’s where the sound is coming from. I have had the pump seal make noise when I pump the multi pump guns I have had. They will wheese and even will whistle sometimes. I use 3 and 1 oil on the pump seals and felt wiper too. About 7 or 8 drops on the seal and wiper.
How long will it hold pressure? Does the air leak out like a single pump pneumatic?
RG
Don’t know haven’t really thought about checking it.
R G,
Mine does the same thing. Thought about it for awhile and I believe what we are hearing is the HPA forcing its way into the valve body. Haven’t had a reason to tear int a 362 yet but I know on my 101’s there is a spring loaded check valve between the end of the pump tube and the valve assembly. On the pump stroke the air is forced through the check valve into the main valve body to be stored till the trigger is pulled. Same thing happens in hydraulic systems, we used to call it throttling. You take a large quantity of a high pressure substance ” oil, air ” and force it through a small regulated opening it tends to make that substance produce noise, heat, and pulsations in the fluid flow. A spring loaded check valve is constantly pushing back against flow and will tend to pulsate even more as the spring pressure and fluid pressure are fighting each other. My 101’s / 100’s don’t make near the noise the 362 does but they still do right at the end of the pump stroke. Was wondering myself if a different material was used in the 362 pump cup seal that might make it perform better / differently?
If your valve seals are good, well oiled and clean they will hold pressure a long, long time!
BobF
Thanks, Bob. Good info. Based on your comments and RidgeRunner’s, I may just have to find a 101 to compare.
My bad, but, I have stated here many times that I often go way back in this blog to read, or reread the articles. Was just doing that with the Air Venturi TR-5. I know there was problems with the five round magazines having consistent hole sizes. I an wondering if that air rifle could be loaded one pellet at a time without using the supplied magazines?
I’ve just received my second 362, this one with a metal breech (the Al one, from Baker). I’m giving the first one to a young guy who was very interested in some of my other rifles. This is a modern update to the old Sheridan idea. It appeals to me in a number of ways. First, it is pretty accurate. It’s also solidly built, has mechanical integrity you can feel, lightweight, easy to pump, and hits hard. All this with a great value proposition, from a stable and reliable American manufacturer. With the obvious paths to upgrades and customization, the C362 is a very significant new offering. I do think Crosman should address the cocking noise, and I think they can readily do so – it may take an insert added to the cocking arm. And I believe they need to do something about the vibrations created by the hammer mechanism. When you hold the cocked (but not pumped) rifle lightly and dry fire, just feel this. My best rifles are WAY different. Seems to me accuracy is improved with a firm hold – but it should be possible to address this, too. Way to go, Crosman!