03-13-2017, 09:05 PM
The folks at Crosman said i could return the NPXL for a refund. That's what I should do although i know it will cost me another $57 to send it back like it did last time. I also foolishly threw the box away so I would have to figure something out there. At least they stepped up to the plate and offered to take the gun back. In the mean time I let myself get suckered into trying a couple of things and now I don't want to give up.
I sent away for and received the aforementioned UTG 4x32 scope. I also sent away for new piston and breach seals. Finally I ordered a chronograph. I didn't put the new scope on right away because I was afraid that a leak was letting the piston slam against the end of the chamber and unless that was addressed the new scope would be ruined too. There is a test for a leaking breach seal. You drape a piece of tissue paper over the breach area when firing and if there's a leak the tissue will get blown off. I tried that and there was indeed a leak. Right about then the chronograph arrived so I tested the speed before and after changing the breach seal. Youtube videos showed people getting 880 fps. I got 770 fps. Eureka! Sure to be the problem! I eagerly replaced the breach seal, did the tissue test and confirmed no leak, and checked the speed. 780 fps. An improvement of only 10 fps. Bummer.
Well replacing the piston seal intimidated me for a bit but I finally dug into the gun and did it. I read all sorts of thiings about honing the chamber with a brake cylinder hone but I just neatened up the cocking slot edges with a file and wrapped emery cloth around a stick to hone the cylinder. It was not all that shiny in there, ion fact it looked black and sort of rough in there. The cocking slot edges had definitely needed smoothing and the piston seal did indeed show signs of having been scraped up on assembly. I was a bit at a loss as to what lubricants to use. I ended up putting Mobile 1 10w30 oil on the piston and Crosman silicone chamber oil on the seal.
The moment of truth had arrived. The first shots varied between 837 and 865 fps. 100 shots or so later the speed was still around 845 fps. Not as fast as others had gotten but I would have figured good enough to not damage the new scope. WRONG! The new scope crosshairs are now damaged. I initially got some very nice groups and had to stop myself from jumping to the conclusion that I had fixed the problem. Gradually I began to see more variability until I was pretty much back where I started. I began to suspect that the new scope was drifting when I noticed that the crosshairs had broken right where they cross.
I am now pretty darn PO'd with Crosman. The original gun was bad. They then sent me a replacement that was also bad in pretty much the same way. I was able to fix some of it myself, stuff they should have fixed or rather stuff that should not have needed to be fixed. Finally, the gun still eats scopes after all the other fixes. Weirdly I feel a little vindicated in that it seems like the gun CAN group OK until the scope starts to give out. Now I might get my original $260 back if I go to a lot of trouble but not all the other money I have spent so far. I mean how does the gun make it out of the factory if it can't shoot straight?
To some extent it is my fault. I fell for the sales pitch that it was a "super magnum" nitro piston gun, among the most powerful made. Too bad it was made to just make it off the factory floor, not to actually hit anything. I really do wonder about those who report that it is a tack driver. Did they get a good one? Do they not know any better? Are they lying?
Talk about throwing good money after bad but I want to try one last thing. Amazon will give me a replacement scope. I can buy another Nikon M223 one-piece scope mount, this one sized for a 30 mm scope. I need to find some way to suspend the 1" scope concentrically in the center of the 30 mm rings, aimed reasonably well too, while some RTV silicone caulk cures around it. So the scope will not feel metal to metal contact but will instead be rubber mounted like an engine on rubber mounts.
This is driving me crazy.
I sent away for and received the aforementioned UTG 4x32 scope. I also sent away for new piston and breach seals. Finally I ordered a chronograph. I didn't put the new scope on right away because I was afraid that a leak was letting the piston slam against the end of the chamber and unless that was addressed the new scope would be ruined too. There is a test for a leaking breach seal. You drape a piece of tissue paper over the breach area when firing and if there's a leak the tissue will get blown off. I tried that and there was indeed a leak. Right about then the chronograph arrived so I tested the speed before and after changing the breach seal. Youtube videos showed people getting 880 fps. I got 770 fps. Eureka! Sure to be the problem! I eagerly replaced the breach seal, did the tissue test and confirmed no leak, and checked the speed. 780 fps. An improvement of only 10 fps. Bummer.
Well replacing the piston seal intimidated me for a bit but I finally dug into the gun and did it. I read all sorts of thiings about honing the chamber with a brake cylinder hone but I just neatened up the cocking slot edges with a file and wrapped emery cloth around a stick to hone the cylinder. It was not all that shiny in there, ion fact it looked black and sort of rough in there. The cocking slot edges had definitely needed smoothing and the piston seal did indeed show signs of having been scraped up on assembly. I was a bit at a loss as to what lubricants to use. I ended up putting Mobile 1 10w30 oil on the piston and Crosman silicone chamber oil on the seal.
The moment of truth had arrived. The first shots varied between 837 and 865 fps. 100 shots or so later the speed was still around 845 fps. Not as fast as others had gotten but I would have figured good enough to not damage the new scope. WRONG! The new scope crosshairs are now damaged. I initially got some very nice groups and had to stop myself from jumping to the conclusion that I had fixed the problem. Gradually I began to see more variability until I was pretty much back where I started. I began to suspect that the new scope was drifting when I noticed that the crosshairs had broken right where they cross.
I am now pretty darn PO'd with Crosman. The original gun was bad. They then sent me a replacement that was also bad in pretty much the same way. I was able to fix some of it myself, stuff they should have fixed or rather stuff that should not have needed to be fixed. Finally, the gun still eats scopes after all the other fixes. Weirdly I feel a little vindicated in that it seems like the gun CAN group OK until the scope starts to give out. Now I might get my original $260 back if I go to a lot of trouble but not all the other money I have spent so far. I mean how does the gun make it out of the factory if it can't shoot straight?
To some extent it is my fault. I fell for the sales pitch that it was a "super magnum" nitro piston gun, among the most powerful made. Too bad it was made to just make it off the factory floor, not to actually hit anything. I really do wonder about those who report that it is a tack driver. Did they get a good one? Do they not know any better? Are they lying?
Talk about throwing good money after bad but I want to try one last thing. Amazon will give me a replacement scope. I can buy another Nikon M223 one-piece scope mount, this one sized for a 30 mm scope. I need to find some way to suspend the 1" scope concentrically in the center of the 30 mm rings, aimed reasonably well too, while some RTV silicone caulk cures around it. So the scope will not feel metal to metal contact but will instead be rubber mounted like an engine on rubber mounts.
This is driving me crazy.