Trail NP2. Not good

[Gunsnlandies]

I’ve owned my Benjamin Trail NP2 for about a year now. It hasn’t been used as my only air rifle as I’m not short of a few different ones to play with. Initially I found it was pretty good and shot consistently. I really like the wood stock and the CBT trigger was a great improvement over the Gamo clones, once fettled.
Twelve months on is another story I’m sad to say. The paint is so soft and thin on the shroud, it has been chipped and scratched by my wedding ring where I cock it. Then I find, it’s been bonded to the barrel so doesn’t remove easily like the old Trails, so I can’t strip and repaint it off the rifle. Silly little things like the plastic coating on the front sling hanger is peeling off. Then lastly, the ram has lost over 3ft/lb of power. As you can imagine, here in the UK we only have a maximum of 12ft/lb to begin with and normally run our rifles just under/over 11ft/lb. This one was shooting H&N FTT’s at 11.4 average with only around 6fps difference over ten shots. It is now shooting between 497-512fps (8.2-8.6ft/lbs). The breech seal is fine and so is the piston seal. So the conclusion is, the ram is failing along with the rest of its cosmetics in a quick decline.
In the UK these are not a cheap airgun. For not a lot more money, a Weihrauch HW95 can be bought, and for a lot less, the HW99 (HW50). This makes no sense at all considering where the components are made.
I used to extol the virtues of my Trail NP2 on the forums. I don’t think I will bother any more. In future I’ll stick to using my Diana AR8 Blaser. It is still as good as the day it was bought, and that was before the Trail came home with me. Oh, they were also about the same cost at the time.

[xtred1]

Though mine shoots good, if I had known what I know now I would have bought HW something. I do not know what you have there for paint. We have Krylon Fusion camo paints. A quick wash to get rid of the oils this stuff will stick hard to plastics. The flat black would look good on the shroud. I camoed mine.

As far as it loosing power I hear that can be repaired. I dont think these had ever been designed to be heirloom quality  guns. ( I wish I could turn mine down 500fps) Sorry to hear about your airgun woes.

Paulus

[Gunsnlandies]

They aren’t meant to be heirlooms over here neither, but I expected it to last longer than a bowl of apples before going rotten. And yes, the respray isn’t a problem, it’s just that it has to be done when Crosman should have had a more durable finish applied in the first place. Even the RRP is not the cheap end of things there, not alone over here. IMO Crosman would do better to stipulate a better quality from the manufactures, even if it cost a few more cents, instead of parading new model after new model, when they are all the same old thing in yet another new dress.

[Roadworthy]

I had good luck with the Crosman gas spring in mine - I'm truly sorry to hear you didn't fare so well.  If you've lost power you obviously need to replace the spring.  You can use another gas spring or you can convert it to s coil spring.  Nick at Tinbum (http://www.airrifletuning.com/ ) can probably fashion a spring guide should you choose to go that route.

[Gunsnlandies]

It isn’t a problem for me to fix this thing up. I have my own lathe and already make spring guides and top hats. I’ve also made the adapters and fitted rams in springers. Been playing these games for years. It’s just annoying that I need to fix a relatively new airgun.

[lefteyeshot]

JMO: I put a spring in it. Stick the receiver in a plastic bag, tape it at the base of the shroud and spray paint it flat black or with pick-up bed liner after sanding.

[xtred1]

Yes I hear you, some of their products seem to be short life disposable. Then there are their other products that seem to be at the other end of the spectrum.   Like the Marauder, the disco, and 13xx series of pistols. It drives others crazy too

[Roadworthy]

I sold my Crosman break barrel and never looked back.  I got a Diana 34 and have been very pleased.  The Diana is not a thing of beauty (bought VERY used and sixteen years old when I got it).  It is reliable, consistent, and accurate.  No more Crosman break barrels for me.

[kenoman742]

I also have a problem with my Benjamin Trail NP2 SBD in .22. The plastic shroud(which is bonded to the barrel) and the barrel both are loose to the breech. I can rotate them slightly by twisting it back and forth with my hand. I also have the same gun in .177 and can shoot a 3/4" 5 pellet group at 20 yards. The .22 won't do better than about 3" at the same distance. Any ideas on how to tighten this barrel/breach on the gun? I guess I could send it back to Pyramid but I hate to do that if there is a fairly simple fix to the problem.

[PEngineer]

Possible fix.
Remove stock.  Loosen set screw,( if it is like the first series NP2 rifles.)  Tighten pivot screw.
Tighten set screw.  Reinstall stock.

[kenoman742]

Talked to Crosman today and my gun is going back to them. We'll see how it goes.

[mobilehomer]

Brian, a new ram is less than $20 from Crosman. If you have a supplier close, it is easy to replace.

[Horatio]

I sold my Crosman break barrel and never looked back.  I got a Diana 34 and have been very pleased.  The Diana is not a thing of beauty (bought VERY used and sixteen years old when I got it).  It is reliable, consistent, and accurate.  No more Crosman break barrels for me.

Ditto. Even the B25 I had and 2 Remington Express I have are far better and about the same or cheaper cost. Interesting that my Dads Gamo 800 was a pretty good shooter. It was good for HOSPs at 20 yards or so.

I would like a modern Crosman 1400 based on the Maximus.

[Gunsnlandies]

Rams might be $20 over there, but over here they are the best part of $37 for the same thing. I often wonder if Crosman really wants to sell anything over here with their ridiculous prices. I’ve just seen the latest Crosman price list which gives the Trail NP2 woodstock at the same price as I can buy a Weihrauch HW98. They appear to be living in fantasy land, would be putting it politely.
I also have a couple of B25’s in thumbhole stocks and an Express in .177. I also have a B41 which is probably the best Chinese made airgun I’ve owned. I think I got lucky with this though, as they were pretty much panned by every one over here with the original model that was imported. As a side note, this was the rifle Crosman commissioned for the Benjamin MAV77.
Any way, back to the ram. I have put a friend on the case. He use to work for the importer.
I’ve also managed to unscrew the shroud. It wasn’t bonded, just very tightly screwed on.

[mobilehomer]

It's not Crosman. It is tariffs, import fees and VAT.

[Gunsnlandies]

If that's the case, why are Remington’s so much cheaper like for like? They suffer the same import tariffs and VAT.
In a way I feel for the importer. They are trying to sell rifles such as a wood stocked Marauder for the same price as PCP's from AirArms and Daystate. They have an impossible task. Now with the likes of the Russian Zobria range and the continuous onslaught from Hatsan, they have little chance of selling any of them at all.
Unfortunately for us with our draconian laws, we don't have the advantage of big box shifters selling cheap or refurbs. So we pay full wack which really doesn't make Crosman competitive in our market. TBO, the only thing that really sells well is the 2240/50. But alas, even that has been hit bad by the Chinese CP1 and CP2 the last couple of years.