Crosman Vantage review
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Crosman Vantage review
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Topic: Crosman Vantage review (Read 897 times))
mikeyb
Expert
Posts: 1939
Quattro Trigger Animation
Real Name: Michael
Crosman Vantage review
«
on:
November 28, 2019, 11:06:42 PM »
A couple months back I found a good deal on a new Crosman Vantage Nitro Piston 22. Had some recent employment changes and typical old vehicle repair distractions just after receiving the rifle and haven't had a good time to open the box until this morning. Looks NICE! Really liking the wood stock. NOT a looker like a Turkish Walnut, but "feels" comfortable. Nitro piston cocks smoothly and firing cycle is the expected nice solid "thump". Trigger could use a little fine tuning but it is surprisingly good right out of the box.
I started sighting it in using the open sights like I do on all my springers. That's when things started to go downhill fast. Shots were way low and way right. Adjusted sights to compensate. Elevation was almost to the point where the adjustment screw fell out. Windage was almost full left to get the pellet near the center line at 30'. Front sight looked a little rotated left which would explain windage setting.
That was disappointing, but the groups were the real problem. Plus/minus 1" left-right and plus/minus 2" vertical! A real shotgun pattern. NEVER seen anything that bad out of the box with open sights. Something was wrong.
I did clean the barrel before firing any shots. Not too dirty needing only 3 wet patches and 2 dry. Also checked all screws, breach seal, barrel pivot and lockup latch. Everything checked out good.
After the bad groups I tried pushing a pellet from breach to muzzle. Nice and smooth right up to the crown. Then dead stop. It wasn't a choke near the muzzle, it was a burr where a crown should have been! Shame on you Crosman for that really sloppy workmanship
I heated the front sight & barrel with a heat gun on LOW and pulled off the sight. It's just a press fit. Crown was ROUGH! Looked like both the barrel cut and crown were made with an ANGLE GRINDER! I shouldn't call it a crown because there was no visible rifling. A Q-tip hung up on a significant inside burr around at least half the bore circumference.
This was my first re-crown so it was a learning experience. I didn't have any screw heads the right size, but I did have some old ball bearings the right diameter. I TIG tacked a small piece of welding rod to one ball bearing and chucked it up in my drill. Didn't have any lapping compound, but there was this old (1980's K-Mart!) tub of Rubbing Compound on my paint shelf that looked like it might work. It DID work, but it was slow going.
I plugged the bore with a wet patch just inside the muzzle. Took my time adding fresh compound while rotating the drill around in small & large circles. After about an hour of light pressure I got the results I wanted. Crown looks GOOD and I can now SEE the rifling clearly. The Q-tip says the "burr" is GONE!
I have read many re-crowning posts on this site so my success is mostly due to advice from the good folks here at GTA. Thank you!
I pressed on the front sight with a slight rotation "right" which almost centered the rear sight in its adjustment range. Vertical adjustment on rear sight is still near the upper limit. I'm still puzzled by that and don't understand why... yet.
Groups are now better at around 1.25", but I expect a springer in this price range (~$60) to group 10 pellets into a nickel (.84") or better at 30' with open sights. There is still room for improvement on this particular rifle. Could be it doesn't like the cheap CPHP pellets. Also don't think I've found the optimum "hold" yet to get best accuracy. Still a work in progress.
Polishing Ball (custom)
Rubbing Compound (OLD)
New Crown (View 1)
New Crown (View 2)
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USA, NY, Rochester
Too many toys & not enough play time!
mac
Sharp Shooter
Posts: 786
yes
Real Name: scott
Re: Crosman Vantage review
«
Reply #1 on:
November 29, 2019, 10:28:41 AM »
Nice review Mike and it sounds like it will be a good shooter. I like your ball bearing crowning tool. I just recently started shooting my Vantage again. I have had it probably close to a year but haven’t shot it much lately.
I really do like the shot cycle and is a pretty good looking piece. I know all of them are different but Mine was getting its best groups with a light artillery hold. Open off hand at the balance point with real light thumb pressure on the top center of stock with my trigger hand. I had pretty much no cheek pressure and light to medium shoulder pressure. If I changed any of that it shot worse.
I only have Crosman pellets in the tin, Winchester domes and some AA 7.3 . It definitely liked the Winnie domes shooting a 3/8 five shot group at twenty yards. My Optimus and Steel Eagle np2 also shoot them the best. Yes,I know,I need a better variety of some quality pellets lol.
Anyway, nice write up and nice work repairing the crown.
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IL
A.K.A. Tommy Boy
No High Quality Guns Here. All "Bottom Shelf" Air Rifles Small Game Hunter
GTA Senior Contributor
Posts: 9661
Rusty the Dog & Elvis the Cat Pals Forever
Real Name: Tom
Re: Crosman Vantage review
«
Reply #2 on:
November 29, 2019, 01:35:24 PM »
Excellent Review Mike !
Best Wishes - Tom
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The North Woods - We have 2 seasons, Winter & Mosquito/Tick season
********* My Menagerie of Bottom Shelf Air Rifles *********
.25 cal. Hatsan 125TH Magnum - Coil Spring
.25 cal. Hatsan Edge - Crosman NP Gas Spring (Now a Mini Magnum - Thank's to mikeyb)
.22 cal. Walther Talon Magnum - Coil Spring (A Hatsan 125 Magnum)
.22 cal. Gamo Magnum GR - Coil Spring
.22 cal. Crosman Summit Ranger - NP2 Gas Spring
.22 cal. Crosman Diamond Back - NP Elite Gas Spring
.22 cal. Umarex Surgemax Elite - TNT ReAxis Gas Spring
.177 cal. Hatsan Striker - Vortex Gas Spring
.177 cal. Stoeger S3000C - Coil Spring
.177 cal. Umarex NXG APX - Multi Pump
The Crosman Nitro Gas Spring conversion parts in the Hatsan Edge were a gift from
mikeyb
The 22 cal Walther Talon Magnum Rifle - A 22 cal. Hatsan Edge/ Striker Barrel - The Edge rifle stock on the Hatsan Striker - were gifts from
SteveP-52
A Picture of Some of My Rifles:
>
https://www.gatewaytoairguns.org/GTA/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=202334.0;attach=413068;image
RBQChicken
Expert
Posts: 1648
Real Name: Randy
Re: Crosman Vantage review
«
Reply #3 on:
November 29, 2019, 09:40:18 PM »
Nice crown job! Are your rear sights the plastic variety? If so, they have a lot of slop in them and could explain your less than desired group sizes. If you want to stay open sights, get a dovetail mounted peep sight.
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U.P. of MI
The first time I hit it, I missed. The second time I hit it in the same place.
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Crosman Vantage review