Trouble with 3622 and 362 LE accuracy

[Gibsonvair]

My groups on both my 3622 and 362 are around 2-1/2" at 25 yards. I have taken Fox squirrels via head shots with both rifles but limit my distance to about 15 yards or so. I was able to take rabbit head shots at 45 and 55yards with the 362 at ten pumps using RWS Superdomes. (not sure how I got that done) I have tried Crosman 14.3 domed and hollow point, H&N 14.66 5.53, 5.45 and 5.55. Also JSB 14.35. Should I keep trying different pellets or tunes? I am a little frustrated. Thinking about trying the old 24" barrel from Crosman. On the positive side, the JSB 14.35's made my 12 ft/lb 2289 a usable 1/2" group rifle at 25 yards. I would love to make the 362 and the 3622 as accurate. That 1/2" grouping at 25 yards is kinda my standard for hunting small game.

[Nukall856]

Gibson air,
 If the light RSD 14.5, CPUM 14.3, array of FTTs and JSBs are not working, try heavy pellets. If you can try 15.4gr + all the way to 21gr if you can. My two C362s will not group light pellets at all, but alot of the heavy pellets do very good. Gamo Master Country 15.4gr, Apolo Arrow 16gr, HNTerminator 16.3gr, Apolo Domed Heavy 18gr, HNB 18.1gr, HNB Hunter 18.2gr, HNB 21.1gr, are what I have found flies good in my barrels. C2023 does very good w JSB RS 13.4gr and HN FTT 5.53 14.7gr Soo far . C3622 has done good with CPirhanas 14.3gr and AA 16.gr, APT 18gr so far.
 All barrels are different and will like different pellets. My barrels that don't do good with light pellets work excellent with heavy pellets.
 Have you tightened All of your stock screws, breech screws, barrel band grub screw? Have you looked at the crown on either of your Cros mans? A rough or crooked crown may be throwing your shots off., I have had to recrown and felt polish a few of my Cros man barrels after which grouping becomes a lot better.

NVak

[Rick67]

Try to recrown it using the brass screw. I had a LW 17xx barrel that had an ever so slight burr that messed up my shots, but I was so happy when it started to behave just like a LW should after the treatment 👍

I also hone the barrel leade, that part before the transfer port, and the transfer port hole as well just before where the rifling starts.

Crosman barrels, even their Lothar ones, are rough in that section.

Frankly, I now just use Crosman LW barrels.

[Gibsonvair]

Thank you for the replies!

[desertplinker]

For the 3622 I second the heavy pellets. I also installed a 2240 hammer spring and a slightly restricted transfer port from Hill airgun stuff. I'm shooting the heavy pellets at about 545 fps with a very flat shot string starting with a 1500 psi fill pressure. Like was mentioned check the barrel. clean well and shoot lots of pellets to break the barrel in.

[Gibsonvair]

Frankly, I now just use Crosman LW barrels.

                I have two airguns with Lothar Walther barrels and both shoot Crosman Premeir domed pellets very well. Is there a way to get the barrels anymore?
 
Rifles with LW barrels

[Gibsonvair]

Other than looking, is a Q-tip a good way to check for burs? I am about to tear my guns down and push pellets through them to feel the tightness as the pellet is pushed through. My Lothar Walther barrels have a noticeable choke and show a slight velocity decrease over a non-choked barrel. All my standard Crosman barrels also feel looser than the LW's and have no choke. Of course I haven't tested my new 362 or 3622 barrels yet. Except for a hammer spring and spring guide in the 362 and homemade fiber-optic front sight on the 3622, the guns are un-modded.

3622 front sight mod:

[JKM6442]

Try to recrown it using the brass screw. I had a LW 17xx barrel that had an ever so slight burr that messed up my shots, but I was so happy when it started to behave just like a LW should after the treatment 👍

I also hone the barrel leade, that part before the transfer port, and the transfer port hole as well just before where the rifling starts.

Crosman barrels, even their Lothar ones, are rough in that section.

Frankly, I now just use Crosman LW barrels.

Does the 362 Anniversary come with a LW barrel ?

[Gibsonvair]

I sure don't think the Anniversary 362 has a Lothar Walther barrel, they don't advertise it that way. I can check, but the LW's have more lands and the lands seem narrower than the standard Crosman barrels. Having said that, the 362 and the 3622 have a much nicer barrel outer finish than, say the 1322 or 2289 barrels or even my Crosman LW barrel. Hopefully I can report back soon.

[Rick67]

Try to recrown it using the brass screw. I had a LW 17xx barrel that had an ever so slight burr that messed up my shots, but I was so happy when it started to behave just like a LW should after the treatment 👍

I also hone the barrel leade, that part before the transfer port, and the transfer port hole as well just before where the rifling starts.

Crosman barrels, even their Lothar ones, are rough in that section.

Frankly, I now just use Crosman LW barrels.

Does the 362 Anniversary come with a LW barrel ?

No, they don’t.

[Rick67]

Frankly, I now just use Crosman LW barrels.

                I have two airguns with Lothar Walther barrels and both shoot Crosman Premeir domed pellets very well. Is there a way to get the barrels anymore?
 
Rifles with LW barrels

I called Crosman a week or so ago to inquire about the availability of their 14.6” LW CCS barrel in either .177 or .22, and the lady who answered the phone told they were no more. This was almost right after the CCS closed. I was surprised ‘cuz they were still available when ordered with a CCS gun, so I think it has something to do with Daisy being the mother ship now. I did not probe deeper though.

I think the 2300s 10” LW barrel is still readily available, I bought another one last year, but they just can’t compete with the 14.6” one at 25 yards. They cost about $60 + shipping.

Another option is to get a 21” LW MROD barrel, I have 2 in .22, but they’re more expensive at about $106 + shipping—- bought my 2nd one last year… You would also need to have the port area redone to fit the 22xx/13xx format. They’re a drop-in for the PROD though.

Yes, these LW Crosman barrels have a very tight chokes.

[Rick67]

I keep my receipts 👍

[Spooner]

When the original 362 came out, I asked who the barrel was made by to a Crosman engineer. He told me that they are Crosman barrels but made in house. I doubt seriously they changed to a LW for the anniversary edition, considering they save money by using what is already made.

You can Check with Alliance Hobby. He says he has been out since Covid started but can order them from LW directly and machine them to fit the Crosman breaches but the "cost is prohibited". You would need to email him and ask what he means by that.
https://alliancehobby.com/lw.htm

[Rick67]

Frankly, I now just use Crosman LW barrels.

                I have two airguns with Lothar Walther barrels and both shoot Crosman Premeir domed pellets very well. Is there a way to get the barrels anymore?
 
Rifles with LW barrels

I called Crosman a week or so ago to inquire about the availability of their 14.6” LW CCS barrel in either .177 or .22, and the lady who answered the phone told they were no more. This was almost right after the CCS closed. I was surprised ‘cuz they were still available when ordered with a CCS gun, so I think it has something to do with Daisy being the mother ship now. I did not probe deeper though.

I think the 2300s 10” LW barrel is still readily available, I bought another one last year, but they just can’t compete with the 14.6” one at 25 yards. They cost about $60 + shipping.

Another option is to get a 21” LW MROD barrel, I have 2 in .22, but they’re more expensive at about $106 + shipping—- bought my 2nd one last year… You would also need to have the port area redone to fit the 22xx/13xx format. They’re a drop-in for the PROD though.

Yes, these LW Crosman barrels have a very tight chokes.

Another source (expensive) is Roy of Mountain Air Custom Airguns, but I think everyone already knows him, lol!

[mike_in_ct]

Preliminary accuracy testing (stock irons, marginal light, improvised rest) of my 362 AE (# in the 1600s) has indicated that it likes:

• Daisy Premier HPs (the Made-in-Spain ones, they're lead and about 15 grains if memory serves)
• RWS Hobby wadcutters (11.9 grain lead)
• RWS Hypermax pointed (9.9 grain tin)

It is OK but not in love with

• Predator GTO domes (11.75 grain tin)


It seems to dislike

• H&N Field Target Trophy Green domes (9.6 grain tin)
• Daisy Premier Spikes (lead, ~15 grains I think)


It ABSOLUTELY HATES Benjamin SingleDie domes (lead, 14.3 grain).  My offhand groups with other pellets were better than the groups with these that I shot from a rest.  I'm pretty bummed about this and hope my Diana Chaser likes them better.  Nb. they feed easier than anything else in the 362, I feel zero resistance to the bolt closing, they just group like a shotgun.



I haven't yet really tried a bunch of other .22 pellets I have on hand (eg. lead SuperPoints, Excite WCs, Excite Spikes, Excite Hammers, CPHPs,etc.), and I mean to do my next round of testing in a really well controlled manner and put some numbers on this.  Nb. my informal testing was mostly done at 4 pumps although I shot groups at several velos up to 8 pumps with the Benjamins in a failed attempt to make them behave - if I have time I'll do it parametrically and hopefully suss out what the common thread is as to what shoots well.

Ideally I'd be able to find a tight-grouping cheap lead pellet for targets mounted to the rubber mulch trap and a tight-grouping alloy pellet for shooting at steel targets and game.

[NorCal David]

Gibson air,
 .... try heavy pellets....
 All barrels are different and will like different pellets. My barrels that don't do good with light pellets work excellent with heavy pellets.

Glad your AG likes heavier pellets. My stock 3622 with OEM peep does not 18 gr and above. Three different Norma pellets surprised me so I went out and shot two of them for the third time today. This time I sat at a table to get better accuracy than the usual offhand I shoot and got similar results. Other brands have been disappointing with heavier pellets too. Light 5 mph winds at 20 yards. I shot 6 pellet groups because I usually screw up on one shot, LOL. Excuse the “down home” quality of the photos, but I hope they illustrate the principle. The bottom two pics are the same target, but one shows the best 5 shots.

[NorCal David]

.

[NorCal David]

Sorry, I can only post one photo at a time.

[Nukall856]

Gibson air,
 I visually inspect the crown with a flashlight looking for uneven unlevel cut, defined rifling one side other undefined rifling, usually I can just recrown using a Dremel with a stone cone bit followed by a felt tip. If the crown is abit crooked the recrown usually fixes it, if it's bad I would recut then recrown.
 I haven't tried the brass screw and compound way of recrowning. .

NorCal David,
 Looks good at 20 with the SPS 14.5gr. these are lighter fit pellets and good usually in tighter barrels. You Might have a barrel that likes the lighter fit based on the 2 groups you posted.  I have wanted to add a 3rd C362 to see if I can get one that likes the lighter pellets. But,, at a later time...

Pic shows one of the Stone Cone bits I use and the felt tip polishing bits. These are for a Dremel 3000.

NVak

[avator]

I use those same stones.
The .22 stock barrels on the pair of 362 guns i bought seemed to also have sketchy accuracy. But they weren't on thee guns very long because I converted both to .177. I have since used them on other builds and they seem to do ok. I may have cut and recrowned one of them.. can't remember.