Short test with a Benjamin Trail stealth in .177 wood stocked

[rickt300]

It came while I was out deer hunting and I got back yesterday. The wind finally died down to 10 -15 MPH so Put the supplied 3x9 scope on it tightened everything up, took a look down the barrel to make sure it was clear and went out back. I set up a target at 10 yards to get it on paper using GAMO Tomahawk pellets. It was only a couple inches off being sighted in so I got it centered pretty quick and moved back to 20 yards with final sight in hitting 1/2 inch high at that distance. I had a few fliers at first and the point of impact climbed a bit in the first 50 pellets but now it seems to shoot really well. There was an old 55 gallon drum in the junk pile so I thought a pellet splash might look good on it but to my surprise the pellet penetrated the drum! 3 times in a row! I started shooting at a rivet that holds the handle on a galvanized steel trash can at a bit over 20 yards and hit it 2 out of three times. Seems to me a bit powerful to be shooting around the house unless you are extremely careful. First pest duties will be to reduce the mob of sparrows around the house and garage by half, tired of them eating the dog food and running the Bluebirds off then on to some ratting around the chicken coop. I am impressed with the power and already the accuracy after firing only 75 pellets. I have some Crosman Piranha pellets but they are hard to load and I feel the Tomahawk pellets will do well on Sparrows and rats. I have some air compressor oil and would like to know if I can use it instead of the Crosman oil? How long should I wait to oil it?

[Roadworthy]

Oil the pivot points on the cocking lever - nowhere else.  Grease or moly lube along the cocking slot is a good idea.  There isn't really a lot to do with a Nitro Piston powered gun.  You'll have to experiment to find the best pellet.  It varies a lot from gun to gun.

[rickt300]

It came with those points "greased" so I am good for a while. And I am going to fool with many different pellets, looking for some heavy domed pellets locally.

[Nate the airgunner]

IMO it’s worth it to order some heavier JSBs or Barracudas to try. Will prolly shoot fairly well and most of the time it’s hard to find “higher quality” pellets available local for most people. Luckily I have a place about 30 minutes from here that stocks all the H&N pellets.

[rickt300]

A bit more testing, a horde of grackles landed around the house and went to work on the dog food. I figured why not and slapped a Tomahawk pellet into the thickest part of the chest of a big one from 20 yards out. Down he went without a twitch. Outstanding. The rest, several thousand flew off. Oddly the pellet did not go through the bird but I can't complain and neither can he. I found a really old tin of Daisy wadcutter style flat nose lead pellets in the garage and decided to test them for accuracy, they shot a bit higher than the Gamo Tomahawks but were plenty accurate. We have allowed our resident sparrows to overpopulate and while I was checking to see how the Daisy pellets shot some of them landed in the tree behind the car port. Well I popped one and he dropped on top of the carport making it hard to retrieve him, something I will have to do tomorrow or the better half will be "mentioning" the odor. The very consistent accuracy of this pellet gun is nice for sure. I did lighten the trigger from the factory setting and have to say it is more than acceptable.

[Marc]

I seem to mostly read bad stories about Nitro Piston guns when it comes to accuracy - nice to see a good one!

[NautclRltr]

NP2 is a great tool! I have had one for 3+ years and have done all the mods. In the beginning, I had much more difficulty with accuracy out to 20 yards than you - but it was my lack of experience with springer/piston rifles. Enjoy!

[AirGunner]

I purchased the rifle over the holidays. Just could not resist the price. Still testing pellets but my biggest problem is the Crosman clean break trigger. The one in my gun is the worst trigger ever. Any suggestions??

[PEngineer]

The trigger can be improved by installation of a CBR trigger from CharlieDaTuna, NCT trigger from Airguns of Arizona, SLT trigger kit from eBay ...

[SteveP-52]

I seem to mostly read bad stories about Nitro Piston guns when it comes to accuracy - nice to see a good one!

I've never owned a Crosman/Benji nitro piston rifle, but had more than a few Hatsan Vortex gas rammed guns and no accuracy issues. Even converted one from spring to gas ram. It's still just as accurate as the 2 I left as springers (i have 3 of them because I like the rifles that much) and it's one of my go-to rifles for pesting. It's one of the Webley VMX .20's in my sig.

[A.K.A. Tommy Boy]

Hi Rick !

I have owned 3 Crosman/Benjmin gas ram ( Nitro Piston) rifles and they all would shoot at least a 1 inch group at 25 yards.

Below is a five shot, 25 yard shot group that was done with the only Crosman/Benjamin rifle that I still own.

This shot group was done with 22 cal. 14.3 gr. Crosman Piranha hunting pellets.

None of my rifles were what one could consider to be a target rifle and there are many higher quality rifles that are more accurate.

My rifles were used for hunting not target shooting and they were good enough for the type of hunting that I do.

As far as accuracy goes with these type of rifles, a lot depends on the hold & shooting ability of the individual.

Accuracy also varies with the type of pellet that one uses.

The biggest complaint against the Crosman/Benjamin rifles, is the trigger that they have in them.

The Clean Break trigger in the newer NP2 rifles is better that the older triggers in the older NP rifles ( B-19 series)

Any of the triggers in the Crosman/Benjamin rifles can be replaced & improved with after market triggers.


Best Wishes - Tom

[mac]

Nice shooting Rick and good to read that you’re getting along well with your new Benjamin. I have a Benjamin Steal Eagle np2 and and a Vantage np both in.177.
Like Tom said, I had to learn how each one wanted to be held and what pellets they liked but patience payed off and they are both pretty accurate. For what ever reason the both shoot the Winchester domed pellets the best.

[Wepster]

A bit more testing, a horde of grackles landed around the house and went to work on the dog food. I figured why not and slapped a Tomahawk pellet into the thickest part of the chest of a big one from 20 yards out. Down he went without a twitch. Outstanding. The rest, several thousand flew off. Oddly the pellet did not go through the bird but I can't complain and neither can he. I found a really old tin of Daisy wadcutter style flat nose lead pellets in the garage and decided to test them for accuracy, they shot a bit higher than the Gamo Tomahawks but were plenty accurate. We have allowed our resident sparrows to overpopulate and while I was checking to see how the Daisy pellets shot some of them landed in the tree behind the car port. Well I popped one and he dropped on top of the carport making it hard to retrieve him, something I will have to do tomorrow or the better half will be "mentioning" the odor. The very consistent accuracy of this pellet gun is nice for sure. I did lighten the trigger from the factory setting and have to say it is more than acceptable.

Probably not a good idea to post about grackles, see this post and there is reference to one within it.
https://www.gatewaytoairguns.org/GTA/index.php?topic=127157.0