Benjamin prowler finding the right way to hold it

[xiholdtruex]

I recently picked up a benjamin prowler in .22 with a nitro piston last week end. Have put around 300 pellets through it. Really enjoying getting to know this rifle. Have tried the artillary hold with mixed results. Have tried holding firmly with mixed results. New to spring gas rifles. Have always had either pumpers or co2 in the past and always shot them like I do powder burners. Have read many posts on people having success using both methods to hold the rifle.

What I do is lay the stock of the rifle with a open palm and gently have a cheek weld and gently grip it. Any advice is welcome.

Using crosman premium hollow points and h&n barracuda hunter extreme if that matters.

[Roadworthy]

If I had another Crosman gun I'd start by doing something with the trigger.  I never could shoot well with the factory setup.  The easiest solution is at charliedatuna.com.  I found a better solution to be replacing the entire trigger pack with an NP2 trigger pack and then work on the pack.  This involves disassembly of the gun so charliedatuna has the easier solution.

[Earl]

I am an old shooter that cannot shoot break barrels accurately.
I have tried several different holds on different rifles.
It will be interesting to see the suggestions here.

[BrushPopper]

My guns seem to like loose hold out front, firm to shoulder, high artillery type hold... this is shooting benched springers.

I try to not let the gun touch anything but my hands/body.

When I zero this way, it seems to carry-over to offhand shooting (zero doesn’t change).

Just what seems to work for me, had a NP gun myself, was a finicky, scope-killing thing..

[Roadworthy]

The hand supporting the forearm also applies any force pushing the gun into your shoulder.  The harder you press into the shoulder though the more shake you'll pick up from your body - heart, breathing, etc.  The only job of the trigger hand is to pull the trigger.  Be sure to pull straight back preferably with the pad of your index finger.  Cheek weld on the stock should be very light as in barely touching.

[Lt. Dan]

My Benjamin Prowler is in a Crosman Vantage  stock and has a Charlie da Tuna trigger. Its favorite pellet is the Vortex Supreme.  Here is a target at 20 yards.

[xiholdtruex]

My guns seem to like loose hold out front, firm to shoulder, high artillery type hold... this is shooting benched springers.

I try to not let the gun touch anything but my hands/body.

When I zero this way, it seems to carry-over to offhand shooting (zero doesn’t change).

Just what seems to work for me, had a NP gun myself, was a finicky, scope-killing thing..

Went over the gun today and found the stock bolts semi loose. tightened all screws on gun stock. setup at 15 yards and

shot about 100 pellets today and sure enough this is the hold that worked the best. firm to shoulder loose out front by the screws at the stock with support hand. shooting about a quarter sized group with both the barracuda hunter extreme and the crosman premium hollow points.

thanks for all the input surley helped out today!

[DanD]

My Benjamin Prowler is in a Crosman Vantage  stock and has a Charlie da Tuna trigger. Its favorite pellet is the Vortex Supreme.  Here is a target at 20 yards.

That, sir, is a fine group for any sporting springer. Have you chronied the rifle?

[Lt. Dan]

My Benjamin Prowler is in a Crosman Vantage  stock and has a Charlie da Tuna trigger. Its favorite pellet is the Vortex Supreme.  Here is a target at 20 yards.

That, sir, is a fine group for any sporting springer. Have you chronied the rifle?

That is on my "to do list". I need to do that.

[Firewalker]

To address and old thread:

I have the Benjamin Prowler from h e l l   Take a look at these targets, 2 days apart, shot from a bench off of 2 different bags, one set soft, think pillows and the second off kitty litter packed bags.

You will see 4 separate groups, they are NOT separate, a few pellets fired go up, a few go down, etc. no rhyme or reason, hand holds are the same , placement on the stock screw is the same, cheek weld is the same and the but is unsupported on a rear bag as well.

I'm DONE! Its a wall hanger from here out!!!

[Stinger177]

Welcome to the Forum David!

You're shooting a Magnum level rifle. Out of the box, one cannot expect true accuracy. Add to the fact that it is a high powered rifle (in the pellet realm).

My first suspicion to your errant shots would be the very high trigger pull effort.

Springers are hard enough to get a consistent hold on, let alone a very hard trigger pull.

How many shots have you put through it?

There are some trigger mod's that can be done, but I would have to dig into my memory of four years ago to dig up any immediate info.

I have installed a nitro piston in my own Benji Prowler, but in reality, have put it away as other rifles have taken precedence.

Do some Web research on the the trigger R/C bearing mod, but be careful about your own abilities to do such mod's.

The Benji Prowler, as well as my CZ634 (I put them in the same class), are two of my next projects to try to get tamed down.

Good luck, do some research, and keep us informed.

 

[Firewalker]

I have had the prowler for a while now, the old style. I have done the trigger work and sit at 2# with near zero slack and shoot 500m with powder burners when reloading supplies can be had. I have no issues with trigger pull.

This is 100% air rifle, it acts this way in an artillery hold, firm AR style hold and bench rest. There is something going on with the piston, not sure what....

[Stinger177]

Well, I'm sorry David. I cannot offer anymore additional advice.

I feel for you.

Surely (not Shirley), someone here in the GTA should have some advice for you.

Truly wish I could have been of some help. I'll be following this thread.

Best of luck.

Dennis 

[Blowpipe Sam]

I bought a Prowler about two years ago.  I never could get it to group well.  I loved the fit of the stock and the angle of the wrist but it produced shotgun patterns (2”-3”) at 10 yards regardless of the pellet I tried.  I exchanged it and got a Ruger Impact Max.  I probably put 1500 pellets through the Prowler before I gave up.  I read on another thread on this forum that the Prowler has a reputation for the occasional rough barrel.  Apparently it can take quite a few pellets to lap the barrel in adequately.  Given what I know now I think my old Prowler probably could have been a good gun if I had tried fire lapping and possibly re-crowning the barrel.

[mikeyb]

To address and old thread:

I have the Benjamin Prowler from h e l l   Take a look at these targets, 2 days apart, shot from a bench off of 2 different bags, one set soft, think pillows and the second off kitty litter packed bags.

You will see 4 separate groups, they are NOT separate, a few pellets fired go up, a few go down, etc. no rhyme or reason, hand holds are the same , placement on the stock screw is the same, cheek weld is the same and the but is unsupported on a rear bag as well.

I'm DONE! Its a wall hanger from here out!!!

Groupings are tight but split. I've experienced similar with other break barrel rifles and it was either screws coming loose or a weak lockup issue. IMO the nitrogen spring and piston seal are not the cause, but to really eliminate those you would need the chronograph data that goes along with a split grouping like yours.

Some Crosmans come with bad muzzle crowns (rare but repairable in my experience), but that caused random large groups. I have one Crosman Shockwave (bascally a Prowler in different style synthetic stock). It is THE ONLY air rifle I have (out of dozens) that shoots Daisy Pointed 22s into one hole. Everything else shotguns those pellets. Your groupings suggest to me that your pellet choice is OK and not the problem. I'm still leaning towards a barrel lockup problem.

[Firewalker]

That sounds much more likely with the split pattern since the groups at 20m are not bad at all if taken individually. 

I will remove the shroud covering the crown and take a look as well though such distinct grouping makes that highly doubtful.

BTW-both targets were JSB Jumbos, 13gr and 15.9, this presents itself in the more open group. This gun has been scrubbed and lapped, polished and even waxed then 100 seasoning pellets run through to coat the bore.

I really have done the homework, now I have to chrony the string and report back but will focus on lockup for now.

Thank you all.

[avator]

Just a hint for shooting with any airgun that I found will tighten up my groups.....

Put your first pellet downrange and aim all subsequent shots at that first pellet hole. If you're aiming at a 1/2" bullseye your gonna get 1/2" results. If your aiming at a spot the size of a pellet your groups will tighten up... 

Once your groups tighten up you can fine tune your scope to zero in on that first hole.

[Firewalker]

That is what I teach my "students" as well. The focus becomes tighter if that one fly-hole becomes the target.

This is also very helpful for scope zero, chase the hole and adjust.

[Firewalker]

A quick follow up question before I get started: Do I need to disassemble the hinge to fully access the lock-up latch?

[Lt. Dan]

Just a hint for shooting with any airgun that I found will tighten up my groups.....

Put your first pellet downrange and aim all subsequent shots at that first pellet hole. If you're aiming at a 1/2" bullseye your gonna get 1/2" results. If your aiming at a spot the size of a pellet your groups will tighten up... 

Once your groups tighten up you can fine tune your scope to zero in on that first hole.

Yes!!!