benji 392 steroid upgrade???

[Joshua A.]

I was recently looking into purchasing the benji 392, it just seems like it is a really popular gun and a lot of people seem to love it. I also came across the mac1 site and read about their steroid modifications, but there was no data showing what kinds of gains you get as far as power and accuracy goes. does anyone know anything about these modifications that they offer, or any other places or people that offer modifications for the 392? also does anyone have any data or before and after opinions/data  concerning modified benji 392's? and one last thing, i also saw some pictures of this guys 392 that had a beautiful shiny polished brass barrel, would that have just been a polishing job?,  or would one have to purchase an aftermarket brass barrel for it. any opinions about 392's or data about the kind of power it really has would be most appreciated. THANK YOU        Josh A

[Perry]

I had Tim at Mac1 do a steroid tune on my 392 and the gun went from a 15 FPE gun to shooting 28.4 grain Eun Jin pellets 652 PFS. Thats almost 27 FPE!

I don't shoot it very often because I live in a suburban area and it's rather loud. And 14 pumps for max power is a *(&^ of a work out.

[airgunandy]

The Mac-1 Steroid tune offers a lot more power than a stock gun, but only because he makes it stong enough to allow you to pump it up to 14 times, as opposed to 8 from the factory. I'm a big time pumper fan, but man oh man I can't see pumping a gun 14 times more than once or twice just to see how it works. Most of the time 4 to 6 pumps is all you need for paper or plinking and the Steroid tune doesn't help a whole lot with that low of a power level. People been taking small game for decades with stock pumpers before the Steroid tune or magnum springers became available. You can do a few simple valve mods that can increase the power a bit while reducing pump effort a lot. My 392 puts out 16fpe on 8 pumps, and at 4 to 6 pumps it's still not too loud for the backyard.
One thing that makes a Steroid tune stand out is the fact that Mr. MacMurray will stand behind his product and repair it no matter what, unless you run over it with the car or something like that!

As for brass barrels on a Benji, they come stock from the factory that way. The barrel, receiver and pump tube are all brass and soldered together and then painted. Any Benji can be shiney brass with some work! 

[Joshua A.]

so even the brand new ones come from the factory in brass? the user that i was talking (rocker1) about that had the brass one that i saw pictures of, said that his was 25 years old and that i cam from the factory in brass but it was painted, and he had to sand the paint off and polish it. he said that he wasnt sure if the new ones were brass or not though. thank you for your input guys! i will definatly with out a doubt buy one very soon. im kinda torn between getting a benjamin super streak, or a tech force 89 contender. but the 392 is a must. i dont know if im going to get the 392 first, or either the ss/tf89.