Running review of the Benjamin Trail NP2 .22 cal Synthetic

[aceflier]

You might try the washer mod on the trigger. I never had any luck finding a catch in my 2nd stage it would just fire with no feeling of a release point. With the washer mod and removing the spring I just set it with a short pull.

[ezman604]

Thanks Brother,

Wish this thread had been left on the general airgun forum to get more traffic, ....Ho well


Just started my 1st battery of testing and accuracy, downloading pictures right now.

LOL
It's a REVIEW and belongs in the Airgun Review Gate.
And 525 reads in 48 hours?
I think your thread is doing fine Manny.
Thanks for the review.

[Buldawg76]

Manny
If you want a smooth crisp second stage release for cheap you can do the RC bearing mod on the trigger. It removes the adjustment of the first stage length with the screw but uses a bearing riding on the sear so that it is not a gritty dragging feel in the second stage since the bearing is carrying the load from the sear.

Go to a Hobby shop that sells RC planes, cars and such and buy a 5mm ID x 8mm OD x 2.5mm width RC roller bearing ( about 4 bucks for a pair) and remove the trigger blade by popping the C clip off the pivot pin then with the blade out of the housing remove the wire spring and the pin it is held in the trigger slot with as those parts will not be reused. Then remove the first stage adjustment screw and plastic block it threads into and save with the previous removed pin and wire spring. Then locate the dual diameter pin that is also in a hole in the rear of the trigger blade and protrudes out the side of the housing to create part of the beartrap mechanism. The bearing goes in the slot in the trigger blade over the large 5mm diameter of the dual diameter pin so that it rides on the sear. just make sure you orient the p dual diameter pin so that the small diameter aligns with the cutout in the left side of the trigger housing ( right side if action is upside down in your lap) so that it lock the trigger from moving when cocking ( beartrap).
Then with the bearing inside slot of trigger and pin in place thru bearing in correct direction install the trigger blade back into the housing insuring that the sear fit up in the trigger slot to ride on the bearing, you will have to compress the sear and trigger some to reinstall the pivot pin and replace the c clip and stock and you are ready to shoot and should have a decently light first stage pull with a crisp and smooth second release.

Almost as good as a GRTIII two stage trigger at 1/10 the price.

Mike

[JoeV]

I may be wrong, but I don't believe the RC bearing mod can be done on this trigger group. The Trail NP had a different trigger group, and was able to accept the bearing mod.

[Nomadic Pirate]

Now I know why that old scope had been sitting in a corner for years, I went to shoot today and POI was 2-3" high.

Only other scope I have is a 4 x 32 Bug Buster, it's now on and I'm resuming shooting.



For all those that chimed in about the trigger,

I'm not into making any big mods, all I want to do is take the grittiness out of the 1st stage, if I can't do that by simple screw adjustments I'll leave it as is,...I can deal with it

[Nomadic Pirate]

*******CORRECTION*********

I was shooting all over the place with the 4 x 32 and I know that that one is a good scope, so I stated checking the gun and I found that the shroud was loose and causing clipping, tighten it down, got the 3-9 x 40 back on and immediately I was shooting bulls eyes

[Buldawg76]

I may be wrong, but I don't believe the RC bearing mod can be done on this trigger group. The Trail NP had a different trigger group, and was able to accept the bearing mod.

Joe
You are correct I forgot the NP2s do have a different trigger group so the bearing will not work and in actuality the NP2 trigger is much easier to improve by just replacing the coil spring under the trigger blade with a lighter one and adjusting to the desired first stage travel and with the lighter spring it will a much better feeling trigger IMO.

Thanks for the catch as my mind comes and goes as it pleases and obviously it was not present last night . LOL

Mike

[JoeV]

Called Crosman and they said to send the rifle back for repair or replacement. It arrived at Crosman today, so I. Should hear something by mid next week.

Started setting up my son's NP2, only to find it has baltrel droop to the tune of -7" down and 4" left. More than any scope has the ability to compensate for without base shimming. Grrrrrrrr...time to look at another manufacturer. This baloney is getting old, and. I'm not even tough on the guns, just having a string of bad luck with them.

Zero problems with my Hatsans. 1,200+ pellets through he 95 Vortex .25 cal,  and just as strong and straight as day one.

[Buldawg76]

Joe
Sorry to hear your bad luck streak with crosmans and can understand your frustration with them. I had a Hatsan 200s in 25 that was still under warranty when the safety link broke on it and did not want to hassle with sending it back for repair as I could fix it myself but they would not send me the parts and I even offered to pay for them but they said it was a liability issue so even if the gun was out of warranty I would have been out of luck.
I think their PCPs are great but just lost faith in their springer's, I found it  shared it parts with a Walther Talon/Falcon ( Hatsan made the Talon/Falcon for Walther) so I contacted Umarex and they gladly sold me the parts to fix it. Just an FYI for the future if you need any trigger parts don't ask Hatsan for parts.

You can bend that barrel straight if you so desired as I have bent a few with good success.. Just optically center the scope and clamp a piece of PCV pipe in a vise that will allow the first 6 inches of the barrel to slide into and bend in the correct direction and then shoot at target to see where it hits and repeat till you hit within an inch of the bulls and away you go. 

Mike

[mpbby]

As for hogs headshots penetration is critical, I would do some 18 yards tests comparing accuracy and penetration for the Baracuda Match (5.5?) and Baracuda Power (5.50).

[TF89]

Changing the trigger.  It has been a long time so pardon my memory.

I have a Remington npss, thinking it is similar in design to the NP and NP2 (I think). I was looking for the article that showed me how to do the poor man tune it and did not find it.  I will keep looking.

Basically I put a slightly lighter spring (optional) from the stock trigger spring and then added a longer adjustment screw.  This reduced the pull weight slightly as I still wanted a hunting trigger.   I only slightly cleaned up the bearing surface on the sear to get rid of the grittiness.  The stock screw is too short to make the required adjustment (added one that was 3/16 to 1/4" longer) and then adjusted it.  I removed the 1st stage giving me a much shorter pull and made the trigger more predictable (IMHO).  Improved my accuracy as well.  All the work was easy to do and the trigger is still very safe.  Once the lighter spring (optional) is installed, the trigger can be adjusted with the gun together which makes it easy to tune to your liking.

 *NOTE* The screw will need to be glued with red or blue lock tight because with the recoil the screw will not stay at the same setting.  I found this to be true of the stock screw as well once I made any adjustments. 

Edit: As a general note to whoever reads this.  As with all trigger adjustments, it does not take much to go from a safe to a dangerous trigger.  Most times just that extra 1/8 turn will turn a safe gun into one that is not.
Dave

[Charles Outdoors]

Between starting my own business and bow/crossbow hunting I have not been on the forums much since last fall. I come back and Manny's quit hunting with PCP's and now using A Crosman NP2. I know the NP2 can drop a hog with no problem in the right hands, But Manny with an NP2. I though you rather disliked break barrels and Crosman lol. I feel I really missed something and it's just getting to the good part. Definitely following this thread and the hunting thread.   

[LeadBreakfast]

Glad to see you picking up the AG again Manny, will tune in for this!

[Buldawg76]

The NP and NP2 trigger are different is respect to the type spring they use for tension on the trigger blade since the NPs has a wire spring that is only coiled a couple turns and sits inside the trigger blade and the NP2 uses a normal coil spring between the blade and the sear so not sure if the NPSS is like a NP or NP2 but the longer adjustment screw would accomplish the same result on either trigger and yes it only takes a very small difference in the screw to go from safe to unsafe.

Loctite works good to secure the screw but so does some weedeater fuel tubing cut and slipped over the screw so it compresses the tubing against the head of the screw to hold it in position and you don't run the risk of the Loctite stripping the threads in the plastic screw block.

Mike

[Nomadic Pirate]

Between starting my own business and bow/crossbow hunting I have not been on the forums much since last fall. I come back and Manny's quit hunting with PCP's and now using A Crosman NP2. I know the NP2 can drop a hog with no problem in the right hands, But Manny with an NP2. I though you rather disliked break barrels and Crosman lol. I feel I really missed something and it's just getting to the good part. Definitely following this thread and the hunting thread.   

You see, that's the Great missconception.

Yes I had my big battles against the Rogue, yes I had my big battles against Crosman marketing procedures, yes I still don't like aspects of the Marauder ( and I tried hard having owned 5 of them )

But if you go back years now, I've always praised the Nitro pistons and Disco and recommended them extensively in the right circumstances, also I recommended Marauders in the right circumstances several times in the past.

Unfortunately things get bunched up and people lose sight of the big picture.

[mobilehomer]

Manny, I just put a UTG 4-16X44 on my Steel Eagle NP2. It's a big scope, but I really like it so far. I wait with bated breath for your first hog with yours. Go get you some!!

[Charles Outdoors]

Between starting my own business and bow/crossbow hunting I have not been on the forums much since last fall. I come back and Manny's quit hunting with PCP's and now using A Crosman NP2. I know the NP2 can drop a hog with no problem in the right hands, But Manny with an NP2. I though you rather disliked break barrels and Crosman lol. I feel I really missed something and it's just getting to the good part. Definitely following this thread and the hunting thread.   

You see, that's the Great missconception.

Yes I had my big battles against the Rogue, yes I had my big battles against Crosman marketing procedures, yes I still don't like aspects of the Marauder ( and I tried hard having owned 5 of them )

But if you go back years now, I've always praised the Nitro pistons and Disco and recommended them extensively in the right circumstances, also I recommended Marauders in the right circumstances several times in the past.

Unfortunately things get bunched up and people lose sight of the big picture.

I was just joking around about you and Crosman. I know how much you loved the Bulldog too .   My Trail NP is still one of my favorites. I just keep puting off getting a new Nitro Piston for it. It's been getting weaker every year,

[TF89]

Thanks Mike (alias buldawg76) for the info about the tubing.  I never thought of using that, I suppose a spring would work as well.  The NPSS trigger also has the longer spring, didn't know that the NP was any different.  I was thinking that for the most part it was all just different stocks with the same guts. 

[Nomadic Pirate]

Trigger actually smoothed out nicely, I'm fine with it and will leave it as is.

Gun is shooting great with the Baracuda match and if I do my part I can put a bunch of pellets in a pretty small rugged hole.


I've been having trouble with rings, I need to get that situation sorted out.

[mobilehomer]

Manny, I use Weaver Quad Lok rings. I know they are cheap, but they work. Never had a scope slip with over 10000 through my Trail NP2.