Benjamin/Crosman NP2, your experience

[ER00z]

When the Benjamin Summit was released I ordered one from PA. Reading all the specs, figured it would be much better than my Crosman Nitro Venom Dusk (NVD). I was in fact more powerful, but not as accurate, as in you still had to do your part.
     Not wanting to change caliber, I stayed with .177. I figured the extra power would make up for the small caliber. I found out the hard way, .177 needs proper placement no matter the power produced. Luckily I learned quick.  Although the Crosman NVD got me hooked on airguns, this is the one that sent me down the rabbit hole. Although I had pumpers before, a Crosman 2200 and a Daisy 880, I was never really into air power. Then moving onto .22 caliber and buying NP guns of various power levels the Benjamin Summit was left behind.
     A few years ago I had the idea of chopping the barrel and adding a "pickle". I used it on a few more pesting expeditions after that and sadly it's been locked away since. Going through the gun cabinet today I figured to send a few rounds down range and over the chrony. Wow, only making 9-10.5 fpe!!! Pulled out the tape measure, actual barrel is only 8.75". It was cut short so it wouldn't be so long with the "pickle" but didn't realise I lost so much power. It was a handy rifle and very effective with proper placement, but went from an estimated 17-18 fpe to an actual 9-10.5 fpe was kind of surprising given the things this gun has done. I still have various NP/NP2 guns, some needing more work than others, but all have severed their purpose. Although I prefer a German brand now, I think the NP2 is a solid platform to start with, and much less troublesome than the NP1's. The NPXL series has been good to, but I have the Remington VTR 725 and not the XL Trail.

Here's my old pesting rig

[null]

I got a few NP2s... I prefer my Crosman Crusher NP2. None of them have ever given me issues. Maybe I got lucky.

[BigBird]

Cool thing about this platform is you can get parts.  You can make that short barreled .177 into a .22 or even .25 by buying the parts.  That enhances the experience of most of the run of the mill break barrels in my opinion.

[Tncsse]

I have the Benjamin Vaporizer NP2 in .22 cal. I guess you could say my 2nd airgun because have an old 760 many years ago. Anyway it got me hooked. Took me all summer to be able to hit anything. And then only quarter size groups at 30yds with certain pellets. I learned a lot on that gun and by lurking here on GTA and other forums. I don’t think I would’ve ever gotten to that point without the forums. Then of course I purchased a marauder and now in the pcp world. Hard to pickup the vaporizer. 
I did crony it this winter. It likes the JSB Express 14.3gr, Crosman HP 14.3 gr, and H&N FTT in 14.66gr in that order.  It chrony’d at 757 - 796 fps with those pellets. The fastest being the Crosmans.
Last summer I would leave it cocked and loaded out in pavilion so I could grab and shoot whenever I got the urge. Had a lot of fun.
Still, that marauder and AAS510 are soooo accurate.

[brewbear]

I just got my Benjamin Vaporizer NP2 yesterday. I like it but I think the trigger needs a bit of TLC, the only problem is I'm too new to the air gun arts and I have no idea of what I should do. I watched a bunch of videos on YT (for the Benjamin Prowler) but honestly, I take most of them with a grain of salt. I thought it better to ask those with the experience and here I am. I also have a Benjamin Prowler .22 cal (bought two weeks ago) and I bought the Traxxx ball bearings but frankly I'm rather reluctant to modify the trigger that much. I may just change the trigger adjust screw to a longer one and see how that goes. Any suggestions from you folks  are greatly appreciated.
Stay safe, stay healthy.
Cheers,
Ted

[Woody.22]

On eBay there is a kit called the slt trigger kit it works in np2 and np elite guns and brings the pull down to around 2 lbs. It really improved my .22 valiant's trigger.

[brewbear]

On eBay there is a kit called the slt trigger kit it works in np2 and np elite guns and brings the pull down to around 2 lbs. It really improved my .22 valiant's trigger.

Thank you, I found it, I bought it! Now the waiting begins.

[Woody.22]

Anytime, it is pretty easy to put in too.

[SteveP-52]

When the Benjamin Summit was released I ordered one from PA. Reading all the specs, figured it would be much better than my Crosman Nitro Venom Dusk (NVD). I was in fact more powerful, but not as accurate, as in you still had to do your part.
     Not wanting to change caliber, I stayed with .177. I figured the extra power would make up for the small caliber. I found out the hard way, .177 needs proper placement no matter the power produced. Luckily I learned quick.  Although the Crosman NVD got me hooked on airguns, this is the one that sent me down the rabbit hole. Although I had pumpers before, a Crosman 2200 and a Daisy 880, I was never really into air power. Then moving onto .22 caliber and buying NP guns of various power levels the Benjamin Summit was left behind.
     A few years ago I had the idea of chopping the barrel and adding a "pickle". I used it on a few more pesting expeditions after that and sadly it's been locked away since. Going through the gun cabinet today I figured to send a few rounds down range and over the chrony. Wow, only making 9-10.5 fpe!!! Pulled out the tape measure, actual barrel is only 8.75". It was cut short so it wouldn't be so long with the "pickle" but didn't realise I lost so much power. It was a handy rifle and very effective with proper placement, but went from an estimated 17-18 fpe to an actual 9-10.5 fpe was kind of surprising given the things this gun has done. I still have various NP/NP2 guns, some needing more work than others, but all have severed their purpose. Although I prefer a German brand now, I think the NP2 is a solid platform to start with, and much less troublesome than the NP1's. The NPXL series has been good to, but I have the Remington VTR 725 and not the XL Trail.

Here's my old pesting rig

The Summit likely just needs a new gas ram if you ever want to fix it. I think they're all of about $10-$12 from Crosman.

[brewbear]

Anytime, it is pretty easy to put in too.

While I am waiting for my kit to fix the Benji Vaporizer trigger I decided to install the small bearing in the Prowler trigger....WHAT A DIFFERENCE! Thank you all for the help.

[ER00z]

I've always shot with stock triggers which was ok until I tried guns with lighter triggers. I brought out my Valiant .22 after shooting a gun equipped with a T06 trigger, there's a huge difference. I never liked light triggers before, but have come to appreciate them. I honestly thought the Valiant had a broken trigger on the first shot, as I have only been shooting other guns with much lighter pull weights.

Anyone improve group size with better triggers? I have been spoiled by Pcp's and my Diana 54, when shooting my NP/NP2  guns I struggle with consistency.
     

[Woody.22]

I was able to shrink my groups by quite a bit once I lightened my valiant's trigger.

[Tncsse]

Zack, I struggled with accuracy on my np2 vaporizer for most of the summer last year. I ended up removing trigger parts and polished em, changed the spring to a lighter one and also changed the nylon washers to brass in the barrel pivot point. Then iit was stripping and it wouldn’t latch up consistently after cocking. Too tight. Took me awhile but i corrected that. And, of course hold is important.  Oh yeah, and cleaned the barrel and went through lots of pellets.
I cannot tell you what exactly made the difference but finally it is a reasonable shooter out to about 40yds. It a .22 and seems to prefer the JSB 18.13 gr jumbo heavies. Sighted at 36 yds. I use the standard Crosman 14gr pellets for plinking and it does pretty well.
At 36 yds with jsb’s and a rest (heavy for old man!) i can hit a qtr almost every single time.  Heheh, real scientific eh.

[ER00z]

Thank for the replies.

Over the years I've come to appreciate the NP/NP2/NP Elite line for what they are. Sometimes I forget they aren't target guns and get frustrated when they don't shoot as such. Some have the ability to get very good accuracy, but in my hands these guns are good plinkers and pesting guns. As long as I'm not shooting paper I'm satisfied, they hit eveything I aim at to 40 yards and when in my grove 50 yard tins and rimfire targets. I guess I have to step back and remind my self of realistic expectations on occasion.

[Woody.22]

My .22 valiant is my go to hunting airgun also my largest. Putting out around 24fpe and getting good groups out to 60 yards, it's perfect for what I need.

[ER00z]

The Valiant stocks are very nice. I bought mine for $115 after thanksgiving one year. I didn't need it, but for the price I figured why not. It got a gouge in the stock from shipping, wasn't thrilled but since it wasn't full price I kept it. And for my intended use, a few cosmetic imperfections don't matter. These guns are a hammer on smaller pests, in .22. Would be neat if they built a .25 NP2 and kept shorter than the XL's.

[ER00z]

Has anyone actually done a .25 cal conversion of an NP2?

I'm waiting on trigger springs, going to lighten the trigger pull of a few of my NP2's. Got thinking of a .25 conversion. I have two Remington VTR 725 .25's(Trail XL 725, synthetic stock), one rarely gets used, could I take the .25 barrel off and switch with NP2 .22? Basically making a Remington VTR 1100 and a .25 NP2?

I read Crosman changed the barrel on the XL series, don't know the year or even when my Remington's were made.

[Woody.22]

I haven't heard of anyone doing it but it sounds quite interesting.