Crosman American Classic .22 caliber multi-pump pneumatic pistol.
This report covers:
- The test
- Crosman Premiers
- RWS Superdome
- JSB Exact Jumbo Heavy
- Adjusted the rear sight to the right
- Adjusted the rear sight again
- Discussion
- Summary
Today we start looking at the accuracy of the Crosman 1322 American Classic .22 caliber multi-pump pneumatic pistol. I say “start” because I’m not exactly sure where this one is going.
Also, today may look like a short test, but I was also testing the Labradar doppler radar chronograph at the same time. Yes, my unit finally arrived and I’m using it. I have a LOT to say about that instrument, but first let’s get back to today’s topic.
The test
I shot from 10 meters with the pistol resting directly on a sandbag. That gets as much of me out of the picture as possible. For part of the test I had the Labradar set up and operating but as I said we’ll get to that on another day.
I pumped the pistol 6 times for each shot because the velocity test showed that was the spot beyopnd where the power increase began diminishing with additional pumps. Since the Labradar was operating part of the time I can report that it agrees with my Shooting Chrony Alpha within one or two feet per second. I shot 5-shot groups because this is a multi-pump and I must report that after about 30 shots my hands were sore. But Yogi, the way I hold the pistol it cannot pinch my finger while I pump. Sorry!
Crosman Premiers
The 1322 is a Crosman pistol so of course I have to test it with Crosman Premiers. I didn’t sight in the gun before shooting this group and that fact will become important to all of you in a few moments.
Five shots went into a group that measures 1.628-inches between centers at 10 meters. It’s left of the centerline and just a bit high, so I adjusted the rear sight to the right. Normally I wouldn’t adjust the sights when the pellets are hitting the paper like this, but for some unknown reason I did — and that was my mistake, as you will soon see.
The Crosman 1322 put five Premier pellets into a 1.628-inch group at 10 meters. This is not the pellet for this pistol.
This is what you do with a new airgun, and to me most of them are new. You shoot your best and seek the best pellet or pellets for that gun. Then you do something with them. I’ll show you today.
As I said I adjusted the rear sight after this group. It was already set as low as it would go but I was able to move it to the left just a bit. The 1322 rear sight slides instead of adjusting in a repeatable way, so it’s that much harder to adjust. You don’t know how far you have gone and sometimes you don’t know if you have even gone anywhere at all. There is an index, but the rear sight also twists, rendering that index line a bit faulty.
I also note that the front sight is tilted to the left ever-so-slightly. No doubt that has something to do with where the gun shoots.
RWS Superdome
The next pellet was the RWS Superdome and the first shot told me I shouldn’t have adjusted the rear sight yet. It hit off to the left of the bullseye, but fortunately it’s still in line with the center, top to bottom. I left the sight set where it was and finished the group. This time five pellets went into 0.639-inches between centers. Ladies and gentlemen, we may have just found the first accurate pellet. I want to see it shoot well again so I know this wasn’t a one-time thing, but look at the difference between this group and the last one!
Five RWS Superdomes went into 0.639-inches at 10 meters. This is a great group, making the Superdome a potentially good pellet for the 1322.
JSB Exact Jumbo Heavy
The last different pellet I shot was the .22-caliber JSB Exact Jumbo Heavy. The 1322 put five of them into 1.979-inches at 10 meters. That takes that pellet off the list, as well.
Cowabunga! And I mean that in a bad way. The 1322 put five JSB Exact Jumbo Heavy pellets into a 1.979-inch group at 10 meters. Definitely not the right pellet for this airgun.
Okay, so what do we do? How about that Superdome? Can we move it more to the center of the bull and will it be as accurate the next time I shoot it? All good questions that need to be answered.
Adjusted the rear sight to the right
So now I loosened the rear sight and slid it over to the right. Then I tightened it down again, hoping it wouldn’t move as I did.
Five more Superdome pellets went downrange into a group that measures 1.032-inches between centers with four pellets in 0.583-inches. The group is all the way over on the right side of the bull but at least it’s a good one.
The 1322 put five RWS Superdomes into a 1.032-inch group at 10 meters, with four in 0.583-inches. Yeah — I’d call the Superdome a good pellet.
Adjusted the rear sight again
I couldn’t resist adjusting the rear sight one more time, just to see what it would do. The last time I adjusted it the group went all the way across the bull, so I tried to move it as little as possible. And that was what I got — very little movement of the group. These sights are not user-friendly!
But the Superdome pellets are good in this pistol! This time five went into a 0.775-inch group at 10 meters.
The third group of RWS Superdome pellets are in 0.775-inches at 10 meters! Note those three pellets in the bottom hole.
Discussion
So this 1322 is accurate, as long as the right pellets are used. The sights are difficult to adjust to where you want to shoot, and that’s not going to change if other changes are not made. I guess that is why shooters modify these pistols.
I find the pistol hard to pump. I hold it in a non-standard way so I don’t pinch my fingers, and no doubt that’s partially responsible for the difficulty I’m encountering, but it is what it is. This is still a multi-pump gun.
The front sight is rotated to the right with no easy way to fix it. That’s a drawback.
And the trigger is harder than I would like. It could stand a trigger shoe to spread some of the pull weight.
Summary
I don’t think we are finished with the 1322. It’s too iconic for that. But I need to ruminate on it awhile. Stay tuned.
BB,
Would accuracy improve if you shoot it with a stock and use the peep instead?
Siraniko
Siraniko,
B.B. may not find it necessary, but I am older and shakier than he is; hence, I found it helpful to add a shoulder stock to the 1322 I bought that came with a canted front sight. Using the shoulder stock and the peep sight (and holding the front sight vertical which requires canting the carbine a bit clockwise), I can hit the bottoms of soda cans at 25 yards offhand, while I cannot do the same with my 1322 pistol (not offhand, anyway); the limit for that would be 15 yards, and the reason would be lack of offhand practice.
I don’t know if these are available in your country, but they are great little pistols and they make a wonderful small carbine. I wanted a really small carbine, under 2 feet long, so I trimmed the stock down; for reference, the Leatherman tool above it is the old original model, and is exactly 4″ long.
Blessings to you,
dave
Dave,
I think that carbine with a steel breech and decent sights would be a dandy little popper.
RidgeRunner,
I think you’re right; the only reason I haven’t done so yet is I took the 1/8″ square front post and shaved it down to a very thin Perlkorn configuration (that I like just as much as you do =>). Adding a steel breech would require that I use a higher-mounted peep sight, which would require a higher front sight (which would then have to be trimmed down to a Perlkorn configuration). I’m not saying I won’t do that someday; but I’m getting lazy in my old age, and this thing shoots so well the way it is that I think I’ll just enjoy her a bit “as is;” she is a great plinker of feral soda cans, for sure. And at 15 yards, due mostly to the Perlkorn front sight, she can hit some small targets, the little half-inch diameter disks that I could not see to hit with the original sight. 😉
Blessings and happy shooting to you,
dave
Ain’t no use in messin’ up sumptin’ thet wurks, eh?
Siraniko,
I don’t think so, but I really don’t know. Those bad pellets would still be bad though.
BB
BB,
I was thinking the peep sight would help in evaluating the accuracy potential. Fitting a stock would allow use of the rudimentary peep rather than the open notch rear sight.
Siraniko
“It could stand a trigger shoe to spread some of the pull weight.”
B.B.,
For sure. Both my Mountain-Air-customized 1322 pistol and my dave-modified 1322 carbine are much easier to shoot accurately with their trigger shoes, both of which are 1/2″ wide. 🙂
Blessings to you,
dave
B.B.
Glad you survived without a pinch!
Waiting on the good, the bad, and the ugly on the Labrador diopler crony.
-Y
Yogi,
I have decided to make that one tomorrow’s blog, so your wait won’t be long.
BB
Yogi,
The ugly on the LabRadar is the price.
B.B.,
I’m enjoying this review of such a well known air gun. I appreciate the table of velocities with the number of pumps and noting the number of pumps where diminishing returns begins. These Crosman MSP pistols (and long guns with open sights) reside on the fun side of shooting airguns. They allow us to experiment at the lower end of pellet velocity, which is just another way to have fun shooting..
I have fond memories of shooting a 1377 at water balloon targets from various distances with friends Water balloons are dramatic targets and are worth the process of filling a bucket with the little wet bulbs, setting them up and then cleaning up the bits afterward. Four pumps and using holdover to arc the pellets into the target from ALMOST too far away was a great time. Plinking feral soda cans is great fun, but plopping water balloons is like plinking dessert.
Regards,
Will
Will,
I had a similar idea. Long distance shooting competition – I placed several balloons (filled with air) on a small tree. The distance was about 150 yards. What great fun! And the sound of the balloon exploding came with so big delay, which gives a sense of distance. The balloon, upon impact, simply disappeared, “boom” came with a delay, each time great event. It was a bit windy so not each shot went straight, great excersise for wind correction 😉
I never tried water filled balloons. 🙂
BB
Easy way to lighten the trigger is to remove the grips and pinch down the trigger spring with your fingers. Careful not to go too far as it won’t cock
Ade,
I’ll look into that. Thanks,
BB
This pistol should be way more accurate than that at 10 meters. My 1322 shoots best the RWS Hobby pellets
bNb,
Okay, I will try them next. Most pellets load hard because of the sharp angles in the breech, so I avoided Hobbys.
BB
check the crown, have had luck with a light touch up…. leaning front sight? check barrel alignment at inlet port, could just be sight needs straightening….
MikeinIowa,
Dittos! Spot on about the barrel installation in the sloppy plastic breech!
shootski
I have seen the recent reports on the 1322 you have been doing BB. Trying to stay out of it.
In other words just let the gun be what it is. And they are nice from the factory. But they can be so much more. And that’s a good thing.
Other blog contributors have already mentioned where they have went.
Ok BB old Gunfun1 is getting older so I don’t remember everything anymore. But have you ever moded a 1322 or 1377? And if so. What do you think about the mods you did?
GF1,
No I never modded a Crosman pistol.
BB
BB
Hmm, really. I thought you would of modded one at some point in time.
I know got alot on your plate. But maybe one day you will?
B.B.
Just wondering about the hard pumping. Could this design benefit from a pump arm linkage assembly like the Seneca Dragonfly Mark 2 ? I know it would be smaller, just wondering if it would work or not. If so, someone should hop on it.
Doc
Doc,
I don’t know if it would work but wouldn’t it be nice?
BB
B.B.
YES! I think so. Just as it’s always been said a single pump pneumatic would be too hard to pump if it were more powerful. I say make one with this butterfly linkage then lets talk. It doesn’t need to be a magnum, but .177 around 700 fps, that would be sweet.
Also with the rear sights on the 1322, I’ve had those same sights on my Crosman 2260 C02 rifle. Yes they are awful. And I’m an open sight guy.
Doc
A long time ago I bought a 1377. It was very easy to pump. I hope this is just a break-in issue for you.
David Enoch
B.B.,
2300S rear sight on a Steel Breech; or at least the LPA MIM rear sight.
Reciever/breech:
/product/crosman-177-cal-steel-breech-kit-fits-1377-1740-1760-pc77-air-guns?a=4386
Great Sight:
/product/crosman-williams-rear-sight-notched-blade-elevation-windage-adj-3-8?a=2008
Good enough sight:
/product/crosman-lpa-mim-rear-sight-for-crosman-guns-with-a-steel-breech?a=4385
Why fight the junk Crosman sight?
Easy installation.
shootski
Shootski,
I agree. But it all adds over $100 to the stock gun. Shame Crosman doesn’t up the game a little. Geez it was steel breach in the day.
Doc
Doc Holiday,
I don’t ever remember the 13XX basic platform being equiped with a Steel Receiver/Breech since my return to being an airgunner in the 1980s. It was always the first thing I removed and replaced on a 13XX/22XX pistol or rifle because it was so prone to shifting the barrel even in mid shot!
I still have a collection of them with Lothar Walther barrels as well as Crosman barrels that were selected from multiples (CrapfShoot method) purchased from Crosman Parts keping only the “accurate” barrels and selling/giving away the rest after a new properly done re-Crown and bore paste polishing. I also did grip replacement, valve/TP mods, trigger work and trigger replacement or trigger shoes.
When you look at the cost to achieve a precise shooter it cost less than buying IZH46, 2300S, 2300T and other pistols of similar performance it really was a good deal.
BUT the drop ins I recommended in my post above are a minimum that can result in at least smiles from any shooter compared to the Original parts.
shootski
I can see where this would be a fun little pumper. The idea of a little carbine would be nice also. I would have to up the ante with a steel breech and some decent sights though.
Crosman/Velocity Outdoors needs to bring back the 100 and 101.
With Ed back with them, I wonder what he is up to?