Benjamin Cayden Reviews

The overall look and feel of the gun is very nice. The length and weight is well proportioned and very manageable. The side lever is very smooth and comfortable to use. The magazines index positively. I happen to like the snappy report of the gun. Not overly loud but let's you know you are shooting a gun with some impressive power.

The underneath forestock pic rail is in the completely wrong spot! It is located right where you would place your hand when shooting off hand at the proper balance point. I just leave it off, since I always use a bag rest when bench shooting anyway and then it's not in the way of offhand shooting. The lobes at the fill point serve no purpose other than get in the way when trying to connect and disconnect the foster fitting.

I love the design of the gun but the execution was horrible. This particular rifle had ZERO quality control! Just about every screw was loose. The barrel was off center by a half inch. The magazines would not insert,do to a screw in the breech was not threaded in all the way. The beautiful stock was not machined symmetrically from side to side of the forestock. One of the o rings was torn in the barrel and looked to be dry rotted. Being mechanically inclined and a custom woodworker, I managed to get the gun where it should of been from the factory. There is no excuse for this horrible workmanship whatsoever, especially being billed as Benjamin's "craftsman line". Obviously no one from Benjamin even glanced at this gun during or after assembly! We deserve better than this, especially at this price point!

Accuracy: I can repeatedly hit a golf ball at 80 meters. I'm not sure if you can thread a needle with it. But I am pleased.

It would be unbelievable how GREAT this gun would feel and shoot with a Rekord Trigger. However, I serious question if a Rekord Trigger could be retro fitted. Furthermore, the cost of the Rekord Trigger and Airgun Smithing would surely drive the total cost into the Elite range. Remember, the only way you're going to buy a $2000-$4000 airgun for $600 is if it is STOLEN.

It is easy to take the trigger assembly apart and polish it and exchange the trigger spring with a lighter weight spring. Not a Rekord of 10 meter trigger. But it is better given the limitations. ( Any alterations to any trigger is done at your own risk and Liability. This is for information only. Not action! Any alterations to any Airgun, or Firearm for that matter, is at the risk of injury to the person making the alteration and any and everyone within the range of that instrument. This is solely for information. I am responsible for my actions only. Any alterations you make are your actions and potential Liability.)

Good power, 32 foot pounds. Accurate , smooth side lever.

Add regulator, maybe bigger air tank.

You get 3 magazines , 36 good shots per fill.

Easy smooth cooking effort. Good shot count Very accurate Walnut stock

I put on a "DonnyFl" Tanto.. To quite it's "BARK" a little!

Great Gun Stock was a little Raw... Put #500 , then #1200 sandpaper to it...Finish it as you like? Nice Turkish Walnut stock! Just basically Unfinished. Would "Buy it Again"! Do Yourself a Favor... PA's. 10 for $10 QA.. No Leaks..Comes Aired Up! Just sight it in, and shoot it!

I shot a 1.25 inch 100 yard group with mine today. I'm very pleased with the power, accuracy, and shot count.

It's very accurate, and powerful. And it is very nice looking gun.

A more adjustable trigger.

To back yard friendly you need a moderator.

The Turkish walnut stock is beautiful on these rifles. They are really nice looking and are sold at a very reasonable price. I have had a Benjamin Marauder for years and it has been excellent and solid as a rock. So when in the market for a new pcp I naturally went back to Benjamin. But it did not turn out very well.

Quality control needs to be improved greatly.

I bought one of these and could not get it to zero at all. Two different scopes and 3 different sets of rings. No go!! So I sent it back for another one. Pyramid Air as always was very good and sent me another straight out. The second one had the barrel band installed incorrectly. It was visibly canted to the right, which bent the barrel to the right. There was not enough scope adjustment to compensate for that. So I sent it back for a refund. Two bad ones are enough. They are built in Turkey and the company who is building them needs to step up their quality control badly. I ended up buying an entirely different brand and am happy. PA has been great though and took care of me.

Accuracy is absolutely amazing

Gun is heavy but at least has slung studs.

First gun blew seal requiring to be sent back for replacement. PA did great on the return.

Beautiful walnut stock, perfect fit and finish on the metal work, great accuracy, threaded barrel, This Cayden is ROCK SOLID, a perfect squirrel hunter for those wanting a high quality airgun that can be handed down to the next generation. Expect two full magazines of shooting in the sweet spot for laser-like accuracy from the Cayden. 24 shots and refill. If you are just plinking then you can get 48 good shots before you are getting pretty low on air, but for the absolute best shot-to-shot consistency as a hunting rifle, 24 shots is where you want to stay. If you want more shot capacity than that, buy the Kratos and get about 50 shots in that best part of the shot string.

Not a thing. A Cayden in .25 would be slick though! I have airguns in my collection that go from the Crosman 1322 pumpers all the way up to American Air Arms, and every Benjamin you can think of in between. The Cayden is solid. Pick it up and use it. No POI change between shooting sessions. No flimsy wobbly shroud. No el-cheapo plastic stock, The only thing a airgun snob could possibly nit-pick about it is the trigger pull. The trigger is not marauder quality, there is no discernible first stage and maybe just over a pound or so of weight for it... but it works just fine. Pull the trigger the pellet gun shoots and the squirrel falls out of the tree. Simple enough.

If you are considering buying it, go ahead and make out the order. Fantastic squirrel rifle. I can not say enough good things about the Cayden. I am a collector of Benjamin airguns and I criticized Crosman for outsourcing this series of rifles to a Turkish manufacturer, but the quality and performance of my Cayden and my Kratos is head and shoulders above what I expected. They have definitely raised the bar for my expectations of Benjamin airguns in the future.

Update to my Oct 10 2020 review. I've put over 16 tins, 8000+ shots through mine. I polished the trigger surfaces and tightened the set screw to lighten trigger pull, but kept the stock trigger spring. That gave a smooth 1st stage and a crisp predictable break, mine was crunchy feeling when new. I tightened the set screw that sits behind the magazine in the rear picatinny rail, that makes the side lever snap into place more firmly. Mine sometimes opened up when shooting. I set my hammer spring 3 1/4 turns in. That gives JSB 18.13 Avg 893 Hi 900 Low 881 Spread 19 STD Dev 3.9 31.6 FtLbs with 36 shots. Hades Avg 945 Hi 956 Low 930 Spread 26 STD Dev 6.1 30.7 with 36 shots. 48 good shots to 2000 psi. JSB 15.89, FX 18 & 15.9, Air Arms 18 & 16 grain gave similar numbers and accuracy with slight POI change. JSB 18.13 and Hades are my go to pellets, on full power to keep things simple for remembering windage and holdover at distance. Turn the power dial and everything changes.

I wish the manual told you how to adjust the trigger and the closing tension of the side lever. I found the trigger info on Air Gun Detectives. The lever adjustment starts on AirGuns of Idaho at 3:15 on a Kratos teardown. The gun fits my wants. Wood stock, adjustable comb, side lever, Picatinny rail, conventional looks, 1/2x20 UNF, no auto safety, 32 FtLbs, and it's more accurate than my rookie skill set. The Donny FL KOI looks like it belongs and tames the bark. All I hear is the hammer spring and the whack of a Hades center mass on a Starling. Without it I need hearing protection. I also got a Ronin for it, which looks out of place to me on an unshrouded barrel, and no quieter than my KOI to my ears. Its girth prevented filling the gun without removal. So I got 2 Best Fitting Quick coupler elbows, 1 ¾ long for each end of my hose to connect to male foster on the bottle and the gun. It clears the Ronin by ¼” to fill, I use them with the KOI too because its a one handed connection.

Groups at 30 yards are one ragged hole, nickel size 12 shot groups at 40 yards off a rest. My Air Venturi Crazy Eights is set up at 55 yards and the paddles are cupping from impact. Chairgun says 20.3 FTLbs@55 yards with JSB Exact Heavy 18 grain going 893 Ft/s. When new, it shot JSB 18.13’s in the 830’s. The hammer spring was ½ turn from fully backed out. It backs out on its own while shooting so I put a blue non permanent thread locker on it, that still allowed further tuning. When I decided on 3 ¼ turns in for my setting I turned it in an extra 2 turns and put a thread locker on those 2 threads and backed it out to my 3 ¼ where it's been since January, never moving. I’m hooked, I bought a FX chrony, Donny FL KOI with cone end cap, 75CuFt bottle and an Omega Air Charger reviewed elsewhere as “Grumpaz”. Starlings and squirrels are one shot kills at 30 to 40 yards off quad sticks, I’m not steady enough for humane free hand shots.

Beautiful woodword, adjustable power, adjustable cheek rest, lots of shots, accurate, what else do I need to say? This thing is well worth the money you'll spend on it.

Easier way to degas the tool if needed to work on, there may be a special way I haven't figured out yet. dry fire for now. I'd also like to see two studs for the pic rail, it likes to spin on one.

Very nice looking rifle. The wood on the stock is simply outstanding. The stock looks to be an low or no shine oil finish which really makes the wood stand out. I have not yet had a chance to shoot my new rifle due to our winter weather. However, once spring gets here I'll do a follow up om how it shoots.

Not sure I would change anything.

This is a great rifle for first time air rifle shooters as well as anyone who has been shooting air guns for a long time. The price is great, the look is great so how could you go wrong? I say buy one for yourself and enjoy shooting.

The non-shrouded barrel

Not sure I like a choked barrel

Best bang for the buck hard to find non-shrouded barrel guns anymore makes it easier to clean when you dont have to take the shroud off

The weight, the triggers function

Add a single shot tray

It has a beautiful Turkish walnut stock! It is unfinished, but it is beautiful wood. The owners manual is adequate, albeit way too short. Nevertheless, enough to get you started.

After the end boxing, I quickly noticed that all of the metal parts, barrel, air cylinder, etc, etc... dirty and finger smudged. Took me two hours to clean. This was very disconcerting especially since $600 was spent in the purchase.

Double check all of your grub screws.

I have 3 PCP air rifles. My best one is an Air Arms S510 XS. The Benjamin Cayden, right out of the box shot as accurately and is just a bit more powerful. Also I had to do some adjustments to get the feel with the S510 but I have not made a single change to the Cayden in nearly 200 shots. The accuracy is every bit as good as the S510. For half the cost of the Air Arms S510, the Cayden is a real performer.

The only short coming compared to the S510 that the power is not as consistent as the S510. Filling both rifles to the same 3000 psi, for a 10 shot average on the chronograph, the Cayden averaged 953 fps with a standard deviation of 17fps. The S510 averaged 930 with a standard deviation of 4. Now the power settings were not exactly the same. Maybe the Cayden would be more consistent at a lower setting. I shot the Cayden as it was delivered.

My third PCP air rifle is a Benjamin Marauder. I have done a lot of work with this rifle and it has a regulator. It also has accuracy close to the Air Arms and the Caryden but it is not as powerful nor as consistent in the same chronograph test. All three rifles were tested at the same time. The Caydem is more expensive than the Marauder but to get the Marauder up to something close to the same performance you will have to spend the difference in cost on the Marauder and still not really match the Cayden's performance.

I ordered the 22 caliber Benjamin Cayden after watching Shooter1721 review the Kratos. My last air gun was a Sheridan 5mm 8 pumper in 1972, I haven't shot one since. I ordered the Cayden on 10-7-20 at 10am and received it on 10-9-20 from Pyramyd Air, cant beat that for fast service. Also got the Benjamin 3500 psi hand pump and UTG 4x16x56 bubble scope at the same time. The 10 for 10 test shots were done with RWS Hobby 22 cal 11.9 grain. Speeds 996-1035-1029-1019-1025-1023-1028-1024-1028=1028 at 3000 psi. Im a total newbie at this, never mounted a scope or sighted one in before. Gun came filled to 3000 psi, I shot 60 Crosman Domed Ultra Magnum in 14.3 gr. I set power at a screwdriver blades width above half, after reading article 3 by B.B. Pelletier here. During 1st 60 shots at 30 yards I started getting dime sized groups with my shakey hold and old eyes. That took me to 2000 psi, 125 slow pumps pausing top and bottom and back to 3000 in about ten minutes. Pump was barely warm. Love it!

Nothing yet, I'm happy with it.

Very happy with the super fast service from Pyramyd Air. Wow, 2 days from order to delivery. I sat on the fence to long before ordering the ASP20 and now its always on backorder. After Shooter1721's video on the Kratos and its accuracy, I decided to jump on the Cayden before they get snapped up!

Love this gun! This replaces my Beeman R1 I sold on eBay. I wanted to get rid of the massive recoil. The trigger on the Cayden is excellent as far as triggers with free play in them go. I hate free play in the trigger but sometimes you just have to put up with it as there doesn't seem to be much choice with the air guns. The free play travel is very short as is the over travel. Out of the box there was creep that about 1.5 turns clockwise on the sear adjustment screw took care of. Now probably 1-2 lbs crisp pull. The gun has preservative in the barrel that needs to be cleaned thoroughly. I used Beeman degreaser and that worked good. With a clean barrel it shoots excellent with 5 shot groups at 45 feet that measure about 1-2 tenths of an inch. My .22 gun likes pellets that weigh about 16 grains the best. The stock is an excellent shape and is very good for off hand or on the sand bags. Just a great design and wonderful workmanship. Just wish they had put a coat of satin varnish on it.

My only regret is I didn't have this gun 45 years ago!

Great gun! Mine arrived with 3100 PSI and was triple boxed !!! Perfect condition. I did have to adjust the forward barrel support band as it had been displaced to one side a little bit during shipping. Just loosen two 1.5mm (hex wrench size) set screws that are on the side of the band and re-center the barrel. Everything is fine after that.

I enjoy the side lever and the power adjustment. also the threaded barrel so I can put on a silencer. So far it is working like a champ.

at this time nothing

this is not a light weight gun