My new Legacy 1000, and it's another long one...

[Viper1357]

Recently I picked up a new Crosman Legacy 1000 multi pump .177 air rifle for under $45. before tax. I was really intrigued at the possibility of a fairly powerful and accurate yet inexpensive modern pumper to add to the stable. I had a Daisy PL 880 a few years ago, but gave it away to a friend who had no airguns, nor any spare cash to get one. While not a bad little gun, the 880 really didn't do very much for me. I had my 1377's and a 2289 BP that I was satisfied with at that time. Also a Benjamin Sheridan 392P needing repair, I didn't know I had, but that's another story. Of course that was then, and I've added a few more guns that do it for me. Wanting to add another less expensive plinker in the mix, I considered the Legacy 1000 over the Daisy 880 for the hope in slightly more power and just didn't care much for the 880 in the past.

After I did a little research on other folk's experiences with the 1000 it seemed that the biggest issue/complaint was the mostly all plastic exterior construction, especially in the receiver area. I was not looking forward to that either, but for $45, and if it was functional, accurate, and reasonably (or better) durable, it would not really be an issue for my use, and besides I could always bring it back, or use the warranty if it was not right. I seriously didn't have high expectations, as a .177 replacement barrel for other projects costs nearly as much some places.

So after buying it and unpacking, I was having mostly good vibes from the purchase so far. I had also purchased a chrony in the recent past, so I was really excited to see what numbers the 1000 would actually put out. As I was fondling/fiddling/checking it out, it was really glaringly obvious that this is a very plasticy (not a word I know, but so fitting) rifle. Now, that wasn't all a bad thing considering when shouldered I could have held it up as long as I wanted to, I mean wow it's really feather light weight. So if you were to carry this around for a couple hours or more it would not be much of a burden at all. Of course the possible con to the all lightweight plastic is how durable will it be long term, especially where the barrel and tube mount in the front of the receiver. I can deal with the concept of the receiver being plastic, but when the top edges (center of the dovetail groove scope mount) move, that bugs me the most. When I mounted a scope, I was careful to try and squeeze (mounts with fasteners) slowly and evenly with just enough (just a guess/experience) pressure or torque to hold tight but not distort. I have a really nice 3/8 dovetail to picatinny adapter with a full mounting rail below I was really tempted to use, but I want to stay as low a possible with just rim fire scope and mounts. Time will tell on this as well. I like the front pump arm plastic and texture as it feels and functions (good size and contour for my grip) really great, but the butt stock and combined hand grip is a bit slick for me. I plan to coat them with Plasti-Dip or FlexSeal rubber coating when I have a chance. That will also deaden out some of the hollow sound and overly plastic feel in the butt stock as well.

Okay on to more facts and less feelings/opinion. While handling, pumping, dry firing earlier, I had noticed the barrel and/or tube was a little loose either where they came out of the receiver, or the upper front barrel/tube clamp pivot screw. In either case the owner's manual under A. General Maintenance states:
 "1. Periodically tighten all stock fasteners."
Seemed at this point to be periodically time to tighten the fasteners. Again, it's difficult to know how tight to go (if at all, as some were very tight), so I just was careful to use as much torque/power as prior experience/guess guided me. I remembered some reviews I had read stated those owners had stripped, the receiver body plastic internal screw bosses were split, etc.. Hard to say what happened in each case, but I had just to be concerned with mine. I was happy to find that after 'snugging up' several of the screws, the barrel and tube looseness was much less to nil.

 Moving on I cleaned the barrel as I always do with any new gun to remove left over mfg crud, rust, etc. It was not overly dirty or rusty as I've seen in many other new guns I've purchased. I was a little more thorough on not leaving much oil residue in the barrel as the owner's manual under A. General Maintenance states:
"2. To ensure your rifle maintains it's uniform power, it is important you apply a drop of Crosman Silicone RMCOIL every 250 shots.
  a. Put one drop of Crosman Silicone RMCOIL (available at crosman.com) on the pump pivot pins and the pump cup mechanism.
   b. DO NOT use petroleum distillate based oil or solvent, and do not over-oil as this can cause damage to the rifle."
You can draw your own conclusions on the silicone based vs. petroleum based oil/lube in a multi pump. Maybe fps/heat?

I finally started shooting it at a paper target with the fiber optic open sights just to get some air and lead through it, and see if it shot straight and break it in just a little before I chronied it. Did I mention how excited I was to use the chrony on it? You guys were right about how much I'd like/love the chrony, and even the short time I've had it, I would now have a hard time being without it. Still learning the specifics and details with the software I use connecting it to my tablet, but it's still nice to get the numbers on each gun, pellet, pumps, etc. Where was I again?  Oh yeah, so when on this first (and second, about an hour later) couple tests I wasn't using the software on the tablet, and the unit itself only gives the FPS and no other data so that's what I'm going to list here just like I wrote it down on paper. Later on my last test I have all the data from the software loaded on my tablet.

I just used a little setup in my laundry room with my overly used duct taped together catalogs as a backstop, standing about 2 feet away from the chrony and pumping, loading, shooting and writing away. I was also testing my recently modded 1377 with long metal breech and 14" bbl. After several hundred (many several hundred that night..lol) pumps that night, my recently mostly healed tennis elbow surgery flared up, and my arms shoulders and chest pumped up (well felt pumped up) like I was back working out in my younger years. Yeah, I felt it the next day too.  Hopefully the way I list this data is okay, like I said the later data (further down) is more comprehensive and complete. The reason I'm listing all of this, is the gun improved (also used several diff pellets 3rd test) over three different tests over two different days.





Day 1,  Test 1                              Day 1,  Test 2  (one hour later, and two drops lube pump cup)

3 pumps ea, CPHP 7.9 gr.                    3 pumps ea, CPHP 7.9 gr.

     435                                                                 459
     435                                                                 461
     436                                                                 462

4 pumps ea, CPHP 7.9 gr.                     4 pumps ea, CPHP 7.9 gr.

    495                                                                  520
    502                                                                  519
    499                                                                  527


5 pumps ea, CPHP 7.9 gr.                    5 pumps ea, CPHP 7.9 gr.

     546                                                                568
     537                                                                565
     538                                                                567

 
6 pumps ea, CPHP 7.9 gr.                    6 pumps ea, CPHP 7.9 gr.

    572                                                                 599
    580                                                                 605
    578                                                                 604
 
 

7 pumps ea, CPHP 7.9 gr.                    7 pumps ea, CPHP 7.9 gr.

    598                                                                625
    604                                                                630
    601                                                                628


8 pumps ea, CPHP 7.9 gr.                    8 pumps ea, CPHP 7.9 gr.

    625                                                                646
    628                                                                644
    627                                                                640



9 pumps ea, CPHP 7.9 gr.                    9 pumps ea, CPHP 7.9 gr. 

    641                                                                 671
    646                                                                 675
    643                                                                 672


10 pumps ea, CPHP 7.9 gr.                    10 pumps ea, CPHP 7.9 gr.

    676                                                                  687
    681                                                                  683
    680                                                                  686



11 pumps ea, CPHP 7.9 gr.                   11 pumps ea, CPHP 7.9 gr.

    685                                                                  688
    688                                                                  689
    684                                                                  685



12 pumps ea, CPHP 7.9 gr.                   12 pumps ea, CPHP 7.9 gr.

    701                                                                 711
    700                                                                 714
    703                                                                 712


******

Day 1,  Test 2  cont...

12 pumps ea, H&N Sport Match Green WC 5.25 gr. Lead Free
                   
  850                                         
  837                                         
  844                                       
--------------------------------------

That was a good bit of pumping and I was really happy to see an improvement with a couple drops of lube added to the pump cup. I assumed it was pre-lubed during assembly, but it looked dry as I was shooting the first test. While the numbers look not bad, the 750 fps claim with lead pellets came up a little short, and the 1000 fps with alloy was way off. I figured it just needed a little more breaking in, so I just shot a few different pellets styles and pump # combos off and on for a couple days, and just mounted (but not sighted in yet) my favorite little 4 x 20 Westernfield rim fire scope just before chrony test 3.

----------------------------------------

For chrony day 2, test 3 I wasn't as interested in the lower number of pumps as much as some 12 pump max FPS/FPE with a few different pellet styles and weights, and to see if the Legacy 1000 could meet it's claimed fps numbers. I should mention that after shooting test 1 and 2, and the extra couple days shooting many dozens of more shots, I found the barrel and tube felt a little loose again, and I tightened/snugged up the receiver/stock screws as mentioned in the maintenance section of the owner's manual I quoted earlier. Just like my experience before, the looseness was resolved. I also added another drop of lube on the pump cup as I started to hear a squeaking type sound when pumped and the wiper/cup looked pretty dry. Also for this chrony test I had my tablet with the Caldwell Ballistic Chrony Data software charged up and ready to go.






Here are the results Day 2, Test 3:


Description: crosman legacy 1000 @ 12 pumps - cphp 7.9 gr
Notes 1: indoors 68 f.

#     FPS    FT-LBS      PF
3     722      9.15     5.70   
2     722      9.15     5.70   
1     714      8.94     5.64
   
Average: 719.3 FPS
SD:   4.6 FPS
Min:  714 FPS
Max: 722 FPS
Spread: 8 FPS


-------------------------------------------


Description: crosman legacy 1000 @ 12 pumps - cp pointed hunting 7.4 gr
Notes 1: indoors 68 f.

#    FPS     FT-LBS      PF
3    757      9.42      5.60   
2    753      9.32      5.57   
1    753      9.32      5.57
   
Average:  754.3 FPS
SD:    2.3 FPS
Min:    753 FPS
Max:   757 FPS
Spread:  4 FPS

-------------------------------------------


Description: crosman legacy 1000 @ 12 pumps - rws hobby wc 7.0 gr
Notes 1: indoors 68 f.

#    FPS      FT-LBS      PF
3    761       9.00      5.33   
2    765       9.10      5.36   
1    774       9.31      5.42 
 
Average:  766.7 FPS
SD:    6.7 FPS
Min:   761 FPS
Max:   774 FPS
Spread:  13 FPS


--------------------------------------------


Description: crosman legacy 1000 @ 12 pumps -h&n sport match green wc 5.25 gr lead free
Notes 2: indoors 68 f

#     FPS     FT-LBS      PF
3     863      8.68      4.53   
2     863      8.68      4.53   
1     856      8.54      4.49
   
Average:  860.7 FPS
SD:   4.0 FPS
Min:  856 FPS
Max:  863 FPS
Spread:  7 FPS

--------------------------------------------
 


Again I was glad to see the numbers improve with both the CPHP 7.9 gr. and the H&N 5.25 lead free, even though they still did not reach the advertised velocity/power maximums. That said, I was really happy to see the numbers for CP Pointed Hunting 7.4 gr. and RWS Hobby WC 7.0 exceeding 750 fps. I also shot a few CP Copper Magnum 10.6 gr. at 12 pumps each and recall numbers 58X-59X,(?) but lost the data trying to change some notes. The software on my old ver, Ipad is glitchy, and I also have sloppy touch screen skills. But none the less, this little plastic rifle continues to impress me. I'll need to re-test those heavier Copper Magnum pellets as the loading area, bolt and barrel chamber loved them, they loaded firmly, yet smooth as silk. Shot nice too. They are however, kinda spendy for just plinking.


Now onto the final trial/test of scope zeroing, and the plastic receiver mount holding zero, (as I know the scope is rock solid) and how accurate this 1000 is, or how accurate I can shoot with it. Sometimes that's not always the same, but that's usually more my issue than the gun.
Note: I have not had to re-tighten the screws any further, nor add any more lube as the cup/wiper has a light lube sheen still.

I made sure the scope and rings were still straight and snug (one mount screw needed a minute twist of a dime) after a couple days (mounted it before chrony test 3) of shooting and handling so that was a pretty good sign I hoped. As I was testing in my garage at about 30', standing but rested on a box on a cabinet drawer, and at about 22 degrees f. I wasn't expecting target expert sized groups, but hoped to nail it down to a nickle size until I could really test it seated comfy, warmer, etc.
As you can see by the pics below I was struggling a bit with choosing different pellets and # of pumps/power just to get a handle on things. Somehow I ended up with the Beeman WC 7.7 gr. which was an interesting choice because they needed to be finessed just right into loading area and barrel chamber (kind of a pain) but they turned out to shoot really accurately. Once the rifle and I settled down and in, I couldn't believe how accurate it was, and how relatively powerful, for the whooping price $45. It's also kind of interesting and very honestly my experience so far, that the more you handle it, and it performs, the less I pay attention to it being all plastic, or thinking it's an issue. I will still rubber coat the butt stock and grip to knock down the slickness, but that's a personal want and no con to the gun itself.









The only con or negative aspect is the loading chamber area being small and glitchy to close with several different pellet styles and sizes. It's annoying, but as long as I don't have to load up quickly to fight off hoards of zombies, I can live with it. It's a fair trade for the all the positives and in-expense.





Time will tell as with all things, but so far this is a keeper. I had little to no real expectations but hoped it would be reasonably powerful and accurate, and durable. So far it's exceeded my expectations by quite a bit.

Lastly, and sorry not mention sooner, I know it's also a bb gun but I don't plan on ever using it as such so I didn't cover any info or data on it. Hey, if I do need to fight hoards of zombies the bbs are supposed to be screaming fast out of this, and sure to load easier. There you go, and thanks for reading this! (or just skimming anyway)





"

[A.K.A. Tommy Boy]

Mark :   Excellent Review and Write Up !       Very Very Detailed and Very Very Good Job !        Best Wishes - Tom

[WesBob]

Thanks for sharing! A lot of power for the money, and looking accurate as well with those last groups.