Best Air Rifle?

[birdmove]

I'm no spring piston break barrel marksman. I do know that they, maybe more than any other type of power plant, need a healthy break in period. Like maybe even 500-1000 shots. MY two break barrels aren't too consistent, but even my Crosman Phantom has produced "some" good groups. It also, no matter what I do, makes the scope slide backwards, and it destroyed (as in stripped out) the windage adjustment inner mechanism.

I think maybe a moderately powered "springer" might be easier to shoot well than a magnum level. Umarex now makes a break barrel where the receiver actually moves when fired to negate some of the recoil movement in the air rifle. As for me, I seldom shoot my break barrels due to the loudness of these airguns. And since one has to build a spring compressor to take them apart to do a "lube and tune", that kind of leaves me out.

The Walther brand of break barrels seem to come set up easier to shoot well than some other brands, but, you pay for it. I just think, for some of us, buying a break barrel can be a very humbling and disappointing experience that can make us doubt our shooting abilities. I have CO2 and multi pumps airguns that shoot well with not much of a learning curve. PCP's are easy to shoot well to.

I also don't care for the "assault" weapon copies, like the Crosman M4-177. I worry about what a neighbor might think seeing someone walking around with what totally appears to be a real AR-7. I don't need that kind of attention or drama.

Jon in Keaau/HPP

[MarkP]

I just came in from a session with the NPXL. Granted that if it is my aim I won't know it because I am aiming at the bullseye as best I can with each shot but what gets me is that my groups are not just a uniform spray like from a shotgun. I get several that seem to group OK for a while but it never lasts. I got one pattern that spread out from left to right but up and down was pretty good. I got a later group where they were pretty good left and right but spread out vertically. On one occasion my first shot just clipped the 3" target at the 5:00 position. The next shot either missed entirely or hit very close to the first. The 3rd, 4th, and 5th were clustered around the bullseye. That sort of thing. I am balancing the rifle on a sock filled with airsoft pellets right under the center of gravity so that I can pretty much take my hands off and it will stay on target. I have to touch the gun to pull the trigger but if I was yanking the gun off target I would not be getting these periodic bouts of uniformity. I swear sometimes I get a couple of shots way on one side of the target then the next 2 or 3 will be on the other side of the target.

One of the things I liked about this gun was the weaver rail. I never could keep the scope rings from sliding in the dovetail grooves on the old Gamo until I glued them in. The scope started slipping in the rings when I did that. I gave up on the scope for the Gamo. With the NPXL the rings could not slip on the weaver rail of course but the scope slipped in the rings til I glued it in. I still got lousy groups. That's when I sent the rifle back thinking that it must be a bad fit where the barrel is hinged to the rest of the action. They didn't fix it, they just gave me another. I bought a one-piece Nikon M-223 scope mount which I like except that I can't say it has allowed me to hit the target. The shifting groups remain the same.

[MarkP]

I found a U-tube video where the guy in the video recounts exactly the same symptoms as I have been experiencing. His patterns even looked the same. He fixed it by putting on a simple 4x32 fixed magnification scope. Apparently the 3-9x40 Centerpoint scope was failing inside due to the recoil. I had such a simple scope lying around, a Centerpoint 4x32, so I put it on. I didn't even get the pellets on the target before the reticle started to rotate so it looks like an X instead of a +. Now that is not auspicious but I am game to buy a UTG 4x32 as I have gleaned the impression that they are better made. The model I am looking at comes with or without and adjustable objective. On the one hand the AO promises to eliminate parallax problems. On the other hand the whole reason I am doing this is to get away from as many moving parts as I can. The one without AO is set up to be parallax free at 35 yards. I can tell you right now that 25 yards will be a long shot for me so I will almost always be shooting that or less. How much am I likely to miss having AO?

[birdmove]

Most likely you actually Can adjust the front objective on the 4x32 scope. I have done it on 3-4 Centerpoints, and some other brands also. What you do is to adjust the front objective lens to get your target, at whatever distance you want, in the sharpest possible focus. Do that, and then double check your cross hairs for focus, and correct that with the rear adjuster. Every scope I've done this to has worked out well. Not as convenient as a scope with AO, but still doable. Here is the method:

http://www.pyramydair.com/blog/2010/12/r...bo-part-3/

Jon in Keaau/HPP

[MarkP]

The 4x32 Centerpoint I put on the NPXL has been ruined in about 10 shots. Minor adjustments had the corrections going inches in the wrong direction, at one point I could see what appeared to be the round ring at the perimeter of the reticle, and there is now a comically large parallax error even after having undone all the changes I had made. I have never taken a scope apart but based on some youtube videos where people did there is a tube in the center that holds the crosshairs that is captured between the adjustment screws on one side and springs opposite the screws. In some cases everything is only held in place by friction so it is no wonder that recoil plays havoc with scopes unless they are specifically built for it. It is extremely frustrating that these unsatisfactory scopes are even advertised as being for spring guns and I don't know where to go from here except to try a different model that gets good reviews.

There are a couple of things that could make this gun particularly hard on scopes. When the pressure builds up as the piston comes to the end of its travel it creates the well-know reverse recoil that is particularly hard on scopes. However if there is a leak somewhere the pressure may not build up enough to stop the piston before it hits the end of the cylinder. In that case the impact would be even more like a hammer blow. Since the gun is brand new that shouldn't be happening but I keep reading about how seals get damaged during assembly when impatient workers just cram things together. The breech seal could also leak and create the same effect. In that case a heavier pellet would compensate by slowing the escape of the air going the proper route down the barrel. I really resent having to even consider such a thing on a new gun.

[birdmove]

Maybe you can fix that scope. You have nothing to lose. My Crosman Phantom damaged a 2x7 Winchester AO scope. It damaged the windage adjuster. I think it would need some parts to fix it, so it may be a lost cause.

Jon in Keaau/HPP

[rocketman]

These guys here are talking about cheap springer scopes
http://www.network54.com/Forum/79537/mes...ted+scopes

Not cheap, but I've had a Leupold 3-9X33 EFR scope on my R9 for many years with no problems.

[MarkP]

Holy mackerel! The Maximus kit that was $309 10 days ago is now $468! I guess I missed an opportunity.

[MarkP]

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.

[rocketman]

MarkP... 20% off today only at Crosman.com. get your Maximus kit for $280. Use code 20OFFTUESDAY at checkout.