Crosman American Classic .22 caliber multi-pump pneumatic pistol.
This report covers:
- Remember
- The test
- Eley Wasp
- JSB Exact RS
- RWS Hobby
- Discussion
- Summary
Today we revisit the Crosman 1322, to see if we left any accuracy on the table.
Remember
When we looked at this air pistol last in November of 2022 I said I wanted to shoot it for accuracy some more because it is an iconic airgun. I said I needed to ponder what I was going to do. Well, I pondered and today we see the results.
The test
I am shooting the pistol off a sandbag rest from 10 meters. I am shooting 5-shot groups today. I pumped the pistol 6 times for each shot because that was what I did in the last accuracy test. Let’s get started.
In the last test RWS Superdome pellets did well, So I started today’s test with them. That gives us a calibration on me and how I’m shooting. In the last test I shot three 5-shot groups of Superdomes. One measured 0.639-inches between centers, the second measured 1.032-inches. The third and last group of Superdomes last time were five in 0.775-inches. I’m looking for something in that ballpark today.
Today my first group was five Superdomes in 1.019-inches at 10 meters. That’s close enough to last time to tell me I am shooting the same today.
The 1322 put five RWS Superdomes into a 1.019-inch group at 10 meters.
My pondering after the last test lead me to the conclusion that this pistol needs larger pellets to fill out the bore. I say that because it has been my experience that Superdomes have thin skirts that fill the rifling well. So I looked for pellets that I hadn’t shot already and pellets that either have large heads or thin skirts. For that reason I didn’t test JTS pellets in the 1322 because they tested very much like the JSB Exact Jumbo Heavy and that pellet didn’t do well in this pistol.
Eley Wasp
You can’t buy these anymore, but I have a large supply that I bought for my straight grip Webley Senior that reader RidgeRunner now owns. They have a 5.6mm head because they were made for the larger British airgun bores of the 1930s through the ’60s.
It was a nice idea but these pellets did not do as well as I had hoped. Five of them went into a 10-meter group that measures 1.477-inches between centers. That’s actually better than the two worst groups from November 30, but since I have a better Superdome group today it doesn’t compare.
The 1322 put five Eley Wasps into a 10-meter group that measures 1.477-inches between centers.
JSB Exact RS
The next pellet I tested went the other way. Instead of having a large head the JSB Exact Jumbo RS has a larger and softer skirt. The 1322 put five of them into a 1.22-inch group at 10 meters. It’s better than the Wasp but not as good as the Superdome.
The 1322 put five JSB Exact Jumbo RS pellets into a 1.22-inch group at 10 meters.
RWS Hobby
The last pellet I tested was the RWS Hobby. I tested them for two good reasons. First, the Hobby has a larger skirt and might be more accurate in the 1322 if my theory about needing a larger pellet is valid. And second because Hobbys are often surprisingly accurate in many airguns.
The 1322 put five Hobbys into a tight 10-meter group that measures 0.728-inches between centers. This is the second smallest group of the two accuracy tests. The Superdomes did group in 0.639-inches in November.
The 1322 put five RWS Hobbys into this 0.728-inch group at 10 meters.
Discussion
I think I was right about the 1322 liking larger pellets. Not necessarily heavier pellets but larger ones. And it seems to like RWS pellets as well. Based on what we have seen today I might conduct one more accuracy test of this pistol.
Summary
The Crosman 1322 is a fine multi-pump pneumatic in many ways. It’s accurate, powerful and the price is certainly right. A great number of accessories are made for the pistol and it isn’t uncommon for someone to spend many times the price of the pistol to customize it.
On the negative side the open sights are difficult to adjust, the pistol is hard to pump and the trigger is heavy. As the pistol breaks in the trigger may become easier to pull and the pumping might become a little easier, through wear-in or just familiarity with the airgun.
I find I use my repeater airguns far more than the single shot and pumpers—they’ve not been used on a long time.
B.B.,
I love these little guns; Crosman did a great job with them, and I’m happy to own two of them. The first one has been heavily modified to be a target pistol; I mostly shoot it on the 5-meter indoor range; rested (with me out of the equation), it can hit a .22 hull at that distance every time. The second one is a box-stock pistol, except for the addition of a Crosman shoulder stock (cut 2″ short); this one can hit my 3/4″ plastic contact lens rewetting drop bottles on the 15-yard range. Both guns shoot great with regular .22 Crosman Premier 14.3-grain hollow-point pellets; both are tons of fun; and, for me, that’s what airguns are all about…fun. 😉
Blessings to you,
dave
That gun is cookin’!
BB,
At this very moment I have air pistols all over the place. True, two of them do not belong to me. I am trying to fix them. The problem is I was only going to have one, my Izzy. Somehow, I have ended up with five. No, I do not need another one. You are not going to enable me on this one. A Webley, maybe. A Jeffries, definitely. But not this one. 😉
Aww, c’mon RidgeRunner, you know you want to build one of those 1322 mini-carbines to stuff behind the seat of your pickup truck!…like just in case you’re out in the middle of nowhere, and you get a hankerin’ to do some plinking, and all your other gals are back home at RRHFWA. 😉
Yikes! I just realized I don’t have a mini-carbine airgun in MY pickup…oh wait, OK, now I do. 🙂
Happy, happy, happy. 😉
thedavemyster, I do like a cream coloured car interior, not because it helps one find one’s handbag and carbine but, to my mind, it simply brightens and cheers. 🙂
Here in Europe, most cars are a non-distracting black inside. 🙁
hihihi, those are actually my freezer bags *LOL*, the bags to store frozen food when I go out grocery shopping (my wife has MS, so I do all the shopping).
As for the vehicle, I had no choice on the colors; I wanted a small truck, but my wife found me this 1997 Ford F150 with only 89K miles on it; a few young people stopped to see it before I bought it, but they didn’t want it as it’s a standard; most young folks here have no clue how to drive a standard, and even if they did, they still wouldn’t want it, since, with one hand on the wheel, and one on the shifter, that leaves them no hand left to play with their phone while driving, hahaha! 🙂
I have a 2240 to build. No pumping. I do not care for multipumpers myself. Too much flailing around between each shot. I would rather chop a sproinger or get a short PCP like a PRod or TalonP.
RidgeRunner, I hear you, man; I was just funnin’ with you. 😉
And I’m down with you on old sproingers; they are cool! 🙂
B.B.
How about putting a stock on it and see if that helps with accuracy?
-Y
yogi,
I will consider it.
BB
BB & Yogi
I go back and forth between pistol grips and stock. Just my opinion but the stock helps me deal with the heavy trigger. All 3 of my Crosmans (1377, 1300KT and 2400KT) have coil spring adjustable triggers but they are still heavier than I like.
Deck
Tom,
Reading about your stash of Eley Wasps got me thinking about RidgeRunner and other vintage Webley shooters. Those folks might rank their Webleys in order of “Wasp Worthiness.”
Like thedavemyster I have a modded 1322 with extended barrel, custom forearm, and a replaced valve. Because I am incapable of doing work inside air guns beyond applying a drop of Pellgunoil on a seal, I purchased it from a fellow who had finished the mods, got bored, and then wanted to get something else to mod. They are nice.
Michael
Michael, that’s really cool; his boredom is your gain! 🙂
A couple of my Crosman Mark I pistols seem to like HN Excite Plinking pellets. They look a little rough but they also sometimes will surprise you. Also, my Crosman pistols seem to like Meisterkugelns. I found out recently that Meisters come in different head sizes, but P.A. only carries the standard size for each caliber.
Unlike Dave, I have yet to find a gun that shoots Crosman pellets of any variety well.
They don’t do too bad in the Maximus .177 and .22 rifles but bear in mind FM’s accuracy standards are, to put it diplomatically, pretty low-bar.
Roamin,
I’ve had the same experiences with the .22 caliber Crosman pellets. None of my airguns like them, they don’t shoot “badly” but the groups size doubles when I use them.
The Crosmans used to be economical to plink with but recent increases have put the at similar prices to better pellets so I don’t buy them anymore.
I’m also having good results with the Excite Plinking pellets in my lower power pistols and rifles.
Hank
As BB mentioned in yesterday’s blog, folks sometimes bought shot tubes by the dozen looking for the best one… If this was my only air pistol, I’d consider buying a couple more 1322 barrels from Crosman and see if they do any better accuracy -wise.
I did get a .22 Crosman barrel a few years ago that pellets simply fell right through. The Eley Wasp pellets didnt help that time around either. A replacement barrel took under half an hour to install.
Derrick
While you undoubtedly have the dismantling of these Crosman pistols down to a science, readers should know that when (not if) the spring in the safety launches the little metal ball into the air that it adds another hour and a half to the barrel replacement time.
BB,
I’ve had a couple of these over the years, I always liked the power the had and they were the only real pistol option over Co2.
I was not a pistol shooter because I couldn’t keep a 1 inch group at any decent range. I suspect that was because of the trigger and that I wasn’t very steady after pumping up a dozen shots so I didn’t practice as much as I needed to to improve.
I bought a new 1322 and a bunch of parts with the intent of modding it but ended up trading it (and my P17) for a .22 Artemis PP750. Think that was a wise thing for me as the PP750 is a nice airgun and I get along well with PCPs. I do regret trading away the P17 and will have to replace it.
I still like the 1322 – even if I can’t hit diddly with it and may get one to mod one yet – just for the fun of it.
Hank
Tom,
Do you suppose you have a stock you can attach to this pistol to make a carbine? Would it help make it a little more stable for accuracy?
Siraniko
Siraniko, in case you missed it, yogi had a similar suggestion and Tom Gaylord (B.B. Pelletier) said he “…will consider it.”
I hope he does, as I expect interesting results. 🙂
hihihi,
I chimed in with the repeat suggestion in the hope that from consideration it will shift to “I will”. Decksniper also put in his thought that it aided him with the trigger.
Siraniko
If this was my 1322 I would do a trigger tune. Next I would remove the barrel and push a pellet through it. I am guessing there is a burr on the crown or maybe the leed. A little hone and polish work on the barrel may improve the accuracy significantly. Neither the trigger or barrel work costs more than time and have been covered many times on this blog and you tube.
I feel B.B.’s time would be better spent with new reporting on other airguns.
Don
Hmm. I had one of these several years ago. Although I am not a fan of multi-pump guns in general, I thought this was a neat product. However, no matter how hard I tried, the trigger, sights and lack of precision conspired to make it difficult to enjoy shooting it. I understand why people expend time and money modding and improving them. I was to start doing this, but then I took a different route: I got rid of it and replaced it with a 1701P. it was time to cut my losses and move on.
Yes, I know that even if both are Crosman and look similar they are in totally different categories, from operation to price, but what a difference. The Silhouette is amazing, and a pleasure to use. Lately I replaced the rear sight with micro-dot which works much better with my prescription glasses. Splitting business cards at 8m (garage) is easy again. As it was said, enjoying the hobby is the reason for it.
Henry
I was looking at Hard air magazine and an article about the new Crosman offerings concerning the 362 and a new pcp series that echo on the Maximus caught my eye. At least the newer 362 offering has a steel breech and the pcps have picatinny and iron sights.
BB, have you ever tested the Daisy 599? Looks like a nice rifle for the money