Tag Archives: Crosman Premier light pellets

Benjamin Fortitude precharged rifle: Part 4

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Benjamin Fortitude
The Benjamin Fortitude precharged air rifle.

This report covers:

  • Setup
  • Pellets selected
  • The test
  • JSB Exact Heavy
  • Cocking and trigger
  • Discharge sound
  • Air Arms Falcons
  • Crosman Premier light
  • Discussion
  • Summary

We start accuracy testing the Benjamin Fortitude today. Sometimes I begin this test at 10 meters and other times at 25 yards. I’m starting at 10 meters today because the Fortitude is a significant precharged air rifle that I want to test very thoroughly.

Setup

I mounted a vintage UTG 8-32X56 SWAT scope on the rifle. The scope was so old it only parallax adjusted down to 25 yards, so I ran it at 8 power for this test. The bull was a little blurry but easy enough to see. When I get back to 25 yards the image should be crystal clear. read more

Benjamin Fortitude precharged rifle: Part 3

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Part 1
Part 2

Benjamin Fortitude
The Benjamin Fortitude precharged air rifle.

This report covers:

  • Second rifle
  • Crosman Premier lites
  • JSB Exact Heavy
  • Trigger
  • Air Arms Falcons
  • Premier lites again
  • Shot count
  • Discharge sound
  • Test target
  • Evaluation

Today we resume our look at the Benjamin Fortitude precharged air rifle. I will summarize where we have been, so folks reading this report for the first time will understand what is happening.

Second rifle

This is the second Fortitude I have tested. Parts 1 and 2 of this report belong to the first rifle. The first rifle’s inlet valve locked up at the end of the velocity test and remained open when I bled the air after the fill. The entire gun exhausted all its air. I tried to fill it several times, just to be sure. So I stopped the test at that point and requested a replacement rifle in the same .177 caliber. While this is Part 3, I will actually run another velocity test today, since this is a brand new airgun. read more

Benjamin Fortitude precharged rifle: Part 2

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Part 1

Benjamin Fortitude
The Benjamin Fortitude precharged air rifle.

This report covers:

  • Point one
  • Crosman Premier lites
  • JSB Exact Heavy
  • Why such a large velocity spread?
  • Air Arms Falcons
  • RWS Superdomes
  • Shot count
  • Cocking effort
  • Trigger pull
  • Inlet valve failed
  • Evaluation so far

Today we look at the velocity of the Benjamin Fortitude. As this is one of the new price point PCPs, this test should be interesting.

Point one

My test rifle leaked down from the initial fill in three hours. I had filled it to 3,000 psi, then set it aside to do other work. When I returned three hours later nearly all the air had leaked out. However when I refilled it, I couldn’t hear a leak. It was apparently slow enough to allow testing, so I proceeded.

Crosman Premier lites

The first pellet I tested was the Crosman Premier 7.9-grain dome. They averaged 885 f.p.s. over 10 shots. The low was 872 and the high was 900 f.p.s. That’s an 18 f.p.s. spread. At the average velocity this pellet produced 13.74 foot pounds of energy at the muzzle. read more

The Stiga Zenit – an EM-GE Zenit clone: Part 2

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Part 1

A history of airguns

Today’s report is the completion of a guest blog from reader Paul that began last Friday. He is telling us about his Stiga Zenit — an airgun not many have heard of.

If you’d like to write a guest post for this blog, please email me.

This report covers:

  • Firing behavior
  • Power
  • Accuracy
  • Wrapping it up

Okay, Paul, finish what you started.

On Friday I showed you the basic construction of my Swedish Stiga Zenit pistol that closely copies the EM GE Zenit made in Germany. Today we will look at its performance.

When the cocking lever is first pulled upwards the spring loaded barrel will also tilt up about 15 degrees; this makes it simple to inspect or clean the barrel from the rear and also serves as a sort of “safe mode”. Swinging the lever through its arc completes the cocking action and requires about fifteen pounds of effort. read more

Benjamin Trail Nitro Piston Mark II pistol: Part 3

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Part 1
Part 2

Benjamin Trail NP MkII
Benjamin Trail NP Mark II air pistol.

This report covers:

  • Adjustable trigger
  • The test
  • Sight-in
  • Aiming
  • RWS Hobby
  • Air Arms Falcon
  • Qiang Yuan Training pellets
  • Additional testing
  • Discussion
  • Summary

Today we look at the accuracy of the Benjamin Trail Nitro Piston Mark II with the factory-mounted open sights. But before we get to that, there is some old business to clear up.

Adjustable trigger

There was quite a bit of interest in the adjustable trigger last time — mostly because I showed that I could not get a screwdriver on it to adjust. There was so much interest that I vowed to try to adjust it for this report.

I removed the barreled action from the stock. All it took was removing the 4 stock screws and lifting the action out of the grip/stock. The safety button fell out at the same time. read more

Benjamin Trail Nitro Piston Mark II pistol: Part 2

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Part 1

Benjamin Train NP II
Benjamin Trail NP Mark II air pistol.

This report covers:

  • The detent and how I open the gun
  • Velocity
  • Air Arms Falcons
  • Sig Match Ballistic Alloy
  • Discussion
  • Cocking effort
  • Discharge sound
  • Trigger pull
  • Summary

The detent and how I open the gun

I’ll start today’s report by answering reader Siraniko’s questions from the last post. He asked me to show the locking detent and how I manage to open the gun for cocking. Here’s the detent.

Benjamin Trail detent
The chisel detent is long and narrow. It’s not under that much spring tension, so it opens easily, but the shallow angle of the slope ensures that it locks the beech securely.

That detent chisel face is long and shallow but the spring is not that strong. I can push it in with my finger. So the long shallow slope of the chisel on the detent is what’s keeping the breech locked so tight. read more

Beeman QB Chief precharged pneumatic rifle: Part 2

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by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Beeman PCP
Beeman QB Chief precharged pneumatic air rifle.

Part 1

This report covers:

  • 2018 Texas Airgun Show
  • Velocity day
  • Crosman Premier lites
  • Discussion 1
  • Hang in there
  • H&N Baracuda Match
  • Super heavyweight pellet
  • Loud
  • Trigger pull
  • Discussion 2
  • Summary

2018 Texas Airgun Show

The 2018 Texas Airgun Show is approaching fast. It’s on Saturday, June 23. The hall is already filled with dealers and they are now selling spaces on the veranda outside. There are new private vendors attending this year, plus the prizes and giveaways have increased! Pyramyd Air has donated a TX200 Mark III for the raffle! They also donated 20 John Wayne Lil Duke BB guns that we are planning for a special giveaway just for kids. This is the most active selling and shooting airgun show in the country, and if you have always wanted to see a show, this would be the one to attend. read more