NP2 much improved but not for me

[huklbery]

Received the NP2 .22 with wood stock thursday.  Ran fifty or so pellets through it and mounted a hawke scope with the provided mount.  Ran 300+ pellets through it this morning, now I have a good idea of what have here.

The Good

The pistol grip is at much better angle and I had no problem getting my finger pad with my small hands on the trigger.

The trigger is a huge improvement and possibly with some spring tension reduction could become very good.

Fit and finish of the chinese parts is the best I have ever seen.  The receiver block for instance has very gentle and even deburred edges. 

Seems strong though I didn't bother to chrony it, the folks reporting 18ftlbs wouldn't surprise me.

The Not so Good

The supplied scope without AO is just good enough so you can "shoot" out of the box.  By the marketing on the box thats the intended market segment.   Since its not something I would ever leave on its no advantage in value.

The cushion behind the piston seal did not do much to reduce the severe jolt of a gas spring guns shot cycle.

The shrouded barrel makes it difficult to inspect for pellet clipping our crown issues.  I'm not intending to shoot supersonic ammo so its of no use to me.

I used 5 shot groups of several domed  pellets and got the best results with RWS domes.  Bit bummed as the cheaper Webley and Crosman domes didn't settle down and had wild fly'ers.

Bottom line, I'll be sending it back as if this has a Diana 34 next to it on the rack I will pick that up every time.  The Diana handles better, has a great trigger and while not at the same power level it just does not fight you to get a group.  This price point is a problem, and the extra power of the gas spring isn't near as important to me as the shooting experience and results. 

This rifle is better in almost every way than the original trail, its just not for me.

[Roadworthy]

Thanks for taking the time to write it up, Mark.  I wasn't looking to buy.  It's just good info for me.

[Laz]

Thanks for the review! So the NP2 comes with a non AO Hawke scope  What, is the parallax set at 50 yards or something? That's odd for them to do that for a springer?

An included Hawke AO would definitely be a fine 'selling point' for this rifle I would think.

[huklbery]

Thanks for the review! So the NP2 comes with a non AO Hawke scope  What, is the parallax set at 50 yards or something? That's odd for them to do that for a springer?

An included Hawke AO would definitely be a fine 'selling point' for this rifle I would think.

No sorry I wasn't clear for testing I didn't use the supplied scope but a Hawke I had.  The scope that comes with it is a 3-9x32 Centerpoint. 

[cryptoad]

Thank you for taking to the time to write your experience with the new NPII.  It looks like you were very fair.

[Laz]

Thanks for the review! So the NP2 comes with a non AO Hawke scope  What, is the parallax set at 50 yards or something? That's odd for them to do that for a springer?

An included Hawke AO would definitely be a fine 'selling point' for this rifle I would think.

No sorry I wasn't clear for testing I didn't use the supplied scope but a Hawke I had.  The scope that comes with it is a 3-9x32 Centerpoint.

Oh okay thanks for clearing that up. So maybe your CP would be better for it as it is probably AO until at least 10 yards or so. That Hawk scope would be great for pcp or pb at long range sniping 

[oi_cajun]

Thanks for the review. I'd still be interested to hear a few more reviews about groups or lack thereof (group size, pellet, distance).

[Laz]

Thanks for the review. I'd still be interested to hear a few more reviews about groups or lack thereof (group size, pellet, distance).

I've got faith it can be a great 20 yarder! Well My Trail NP1 put 5 under a dime at 20 yards before it failed! Never got to test it at 50 yards though 

[huklbery]

Thanks for the review. I'd still be interested to hear a few more reviews about groups or lack thereof (group size, pellet, distance).

Exactly, I didn't go into to much detail for that reason.  My "evaluation" was at best superficial, a few hundred pellets at ten yards. 

That said I found out the platform went in the wrong direction for the light simple gun I like to shoot.  I will be interested in it if they make a Titan style budget version.  I had a low velocity Titan with gold trigger, bushings and I reworked the stock to match my hand.  It wasn't a target accurate gun but it could stay on a rabbit head to 30 yards.  It shot 14.3g at 650fps and was a dream to cock, shoot and carry.  Sadly some local jerk did a smash and grab and it probably is under some kids bed now.   

[Stickstoff]

Gotta say, I'm kind of surprised with all the issues that seem to be popping up with the early guns. Not that there won't be bugs to be worked out in early production of anything more complex than a toothpick but I would have thought Crosman would have QA'd the pudding out of the first 1000 units or so to ship.

Early glowing reviews would probably have them neck deep in orders by now. I know a lot of people want this to be everything the marketing department wants it to be... and I know Crosman will make good on these early defects but it's a shame these issues weren't caught before the guns shipped.

The one thing I've seen most commonly mentioned is cracking (of what sounds like) the breech end shroud cap. With the cracks being so common it must be either material choice or assembly. If the NP2 shroud goes on like the NP/NPXL shround maybe they need to get the boys on the line a torque limited driver for assembling the shroud...

I know the breech end piece on the other NP guns is fairly stout metal but if they went thinner or plastic I could see it being stressed by too much torque on the threaded cap.

Here's hoping everything gets worked out soon and the gun turns out to be 85% or more of what's promised!

[huklbery]

The breech end of the shroud is plastic and shiny and a fairly severe angle.  If they did use the wrong material and its prone to cracking they had best fire up a run of Alum replacements and get them to the anodizer pronto.  The fact they brought assembly to NY should make it fair easy to change out in process.   

[Stickstoff]

I've got an NP shroud tube right here but not my calipers. Close enough measurements are 7/8" OD and 3/4" ID. The breech end caps for the NP and NP XL are different because the XL has a thicker barrel but maybe they could swap in one of those parts. Now that I think of it though I'm pretty sure the new shroud is fatter so that probably wouldn't work.

Ah well. If I stay true to form I'll be picking up a refurb so I don't feel bad taking it apart right away.

But yeah... if that's a plastic part I see a retooling in the near future.... Assembly torque could still be the main factor though.


Dear Crosman Corp,

You're welcome to hire me and send me off across the NE doing scheduled shroud update days. It'll sure save you a lot on shipping all those guns back and forth!

You'd be making another NY job too! I'm a right turn out your driveway and about 115mi down the road.

[huklbery]

I've got an NP shroud tube right here but not my calipers. Close enough measurements are 7/8" OD and 3/4" ID. The breech end caps for the NP and NP XL are different because the XL has a thicker barrel but maybe they could swap in one of those parts. Now that I think of it though I'm pretty sure the new shroud is fatter so that probably wouldn't work.

Ah well. If I stay true to form I'll be picking up a refurb so I don't feel bad taking it apart right away.

But yeah... if that's a plastic part I see a retooling in the near future.... Assembly torque could still be the main factor though.

1" OD, the plastic end cap gives no indication if it unscrews, pressed or glued. Its 1" OD, .200 long with a .325 opening.  I had white glue like remnants at the breech end that shook off on the first few firings. 
 

[Stickstoff]

1" OD, the plastic end cap gives no indication if it unscrews, pressed or glued. Its 1" OD, .200 long with a .325 opening.  I had white glue like remnants at the breech end that shook off on the first few firings. 
 

I can't find the image now that shows a cutaway drawing of the shroud but looking at the business end (baffles) on the Crosman site it does look like it doesn't thread on the same way.

Well, I guess we'll see what the fix is sooner or later.

[huklbery]

1" OD, the plastic end cap gives no indication if it unscrews, pressed or glued. Its 1" OD, .200 long with a .325 opening.  I had white glue like remnants at the breech end that shook off on the first few firings. 
 

I can't find the image now that shows a cutaway drawing of the shroud but looking at the business end (baffles) on the Crosman site it does look like it doesn't thread on the same way.

Well, I guess we'll see what the fix is sooner or later.

The camera over emphasises the colour difference between the plastic and Alum tube

[Charles Outdoors]

Those pictures make that look awful. Never even really noticed much about that piece on my Trail, but it is the same design. Just glad it's not the breech block where the barrel goes in cracking like I though. I feel better now.

[grand-galop]

  Does anyone wonder what are chrony numbers with the 14.3 chp? I think that the little defects is not so much a draw back if crosman respect their warranty.. What is intriguing me is, the velocity they announced at the shot show was their marketing candy to push their sales..
But no one is showing chrony numbers and that's what stop me from ordering one for the DECEPTION FACTOR... The piston being the same as the old Trail np is another issue that was not mention anywhere.. My Trail NP has shot around 3000 pellets trough it but has change the piston 3 time in the process.. Don't want to steer the pot, just want to others opinion...

[Perry01]

Someone on the yellow did a nice review including chrony numbers. He got an average of 762 fps using 14.3 gr pellets which is 18.5 FPE. It seems like a nice rifle but I wish Crosman advertised it as a 20 FPE airgun instead of 26 FPE.  My NPSS has more than 18.5 FPE.

[Charles Outdoors]

The piston being the same as the old Trail np is another issue that was not mention anywhere..

The nitro piston and actual piston are not the same as what's in the Trail NP.  The piston has a guide at the front and buttoned in the rear like a factory tune job. The Nitro piston is a new supposedly higher quality design.
 
 I enjoy shooting my Trail NP AW. It seem to fit me perfect when I shoulder it. It's 4 years old and the only change I made was the GTR trigger upgrade. I'm hoping this feels more like the Remington NPSS that was on my wish list.

[Perry01]

Another new feature of the NP2 is the Recoil Arrest Feature which is basically a urethane cushion at the end of the gas ram which supposedly eliminates secondary recoil.

I was looking at the parts diagram for the NPSS on Crosman's website because I needed the part number for a new gas ram and I see that they now have a part called "gas spring cushion" for the NPSS. I ordered one as well as a piston seal and gas ram.

I installed all three parts today and noticed that there is less secondary recoil than before. I suppose the Recoil Arrest feature isn't exactly new after all.

Oh, and the new gas ram has the NPSS shooting 14.3 gr CPHP pellets at 800 fps!