Paper punching

Did some paper punching today so I thought I would post some results. First up shot kneeling at the bench distance 27' using RWS hobby pellets.


Next up shot sitting at the bench same distance 27'. Started using the RWS Hobby pellets then switched over to Benjamin Discovery Hollowpoints for the last eight.

The Benjamin Discovery pellets had a few fliers, check out shots 17, 18,19. Also noticed from the holes that it looks like it's not hitting the paper as cleanly as the hobby pellets. I will try another set strictly using the Benjamin pellets to see more results.

Benjamin "tuned"

Well I went ahead and tuned the Benji before the Easter weekend. This rifle and the Phantom 500 use the same piston. I ordered the Phantom 1000 piston and like I did with the Phantom 500 , swapped out the piston and did a quick tune up on the rifle. I had problems not being able to separate the barrel from the receiver forks. So I had to do the tune with barrel attached, which required me to be a bit more careful so as not to damage the gun. This also meant I was not going to use a spring compressor. Removing the spring and piston was not that difficult without the compressor, however putting it back together required some effort. If I had the assistance of another pair of hands it would have been a breeze to keep pressure on the receiver while I lined up and pushed back the retaining pin. Ah well I got it done. I have to say that this gun unlike the Phantom was absolutely soaking in lube when I opened her up. It was dripping!

Anyway on Easter weekend I went up north and did some target shooting and chronied her up .

Here are the post tune readings.

Benjamin Hollow points 14.3 g

675.3
687.7
681.9
671
676.1
678.4 avg fps

RWS Hobby 11.9 g
735.6
736.4
734
735.4
738.5
735.98 avg fps

Crosman pointed 14.3 g
678.1
671.1
672.6
674
672.9
673.74 avg fps

So as you can see I got pretty much the same results as I did when I did the Phantom 500 tune. Im contemplating adding a few washers to squeeze out a litle more power but I find myself with little time to take it apart again at this point. Instead what time I do have I like to shoot this rifle. Even though the powerplants are the same as the Phantom 500 I can honestly say that this gun is a much nicer gun to shoot. I find it to be very accurate as well. At this time Ive only punched paper targets and soup cans.

First Shooting Impressions

First off I'd like to say that I am very impressed with the quality of the wood details and the stock itself. I can't believe the difference the thumbhole stock makes when shouldering the rifle. You really feel like you have complete control of it. The included Center Point 3-9x40 AOE scope is quite nice and makes target aquisition a breeze. I found the optics to be very clear and the red/green illumination is also a nice feature.

The box states that it has the easiest cocking force in its class, well I have to say it is very easy to cock the rifle. At first I seemed to be having irregular readings when I did my velocity tests. Turns out the breech seal was not seated evenly. Firing the rifle was a little bit of a surprise as it is very quiet. There is no twang at all and the gun shoots very smoothly. I haven't done a lot of shooting this winter but I could hardly wait to try out this new gun of mine. Once I got the scope sighted in I was getting quarter size groupings offhand at 27 feet using RWS hobby pellets. Shooting from a bench at the same distance with the rifle on a bag I was getting nickel sized groupings with the same ammo. I have to say that shooting this gun is very nice. Considering that it has the same powerplant as the Crosman Phantom 500 the difference is like night and day. Out of the box my Phantom was fairly loud, and very twangy. I will be tuning this gun to higher velocity specs but believe it or not I actually consider not touching it as she is shooting so smoothly. I haven't adjusted the trigger mainly because I'm happy with it the way it is. Again squeezing the trigger resulted in a very smooth, gritless pull. I can see how this could become my favorite air rifle. If I wasn't so power hungry I would keep her stock. But power hungry or not this rifle is similar to what my stock Phantom was out of the box, weak. Below are the chrony results using my usual fair of pellets.

Crosman Hollow Points

419

432

425

431.5

431

410

Avg fps. 424.75

Crosman Pointed
428

431

430

430.6

432

428
Avg fps. 429.93

Beeman Laser

490

483.5

480.8

Avg fps. 484.76

RWS Hobby
455

481

469

465.3

472

471
Avg fps. 468.88

As you can see the results look similar to those I took of my stock Phantom. Adequate for paper punching but not much more. Not even close to the 495 fps. even with lighter pellets. The Phantom/Quest 1000 piston will fit this rifle so this is an option I'm probably going to go with like I did with the Phantom 500. However I have heard rumours that the company will be issuing Benjamin replacement parts etc that may actually bring this gun close to Benjamin superstreak levels. Now that would be exciting.

All in all I am happy with this rifle. For myself anyway it is a definite step up from any break barrel springers I have used in the past. Granted it's still a chinese made gun, it's a not as rough around the edges. This one has a bit more finesse and finish. The design is nice and the ergonomics is definitely there. It looks very close to it's big brother the superstreak, less 4 inches or so. With the quality scope included this gun is a welcome addition to your airgun collection.

This is the Benjamin Classic .22 air rifle rated at up to 495 fps. It boasts some fine details including a very handsomely finished wood stock with ambediextrous thumbhole. Nickel-plated furniture with black muzzlebrake . Shouldering this rifle is a real treat and the thumbhole grip gives you a good solid hold of the gun. Click the pictures to enlarge
The wood stock is well done with some nice checkering as you can see.

The woodgrain simply looks beautiful.

Vented rubber recoil pad.

The scope features
3-9x magnification
40mm objective lens (adjustable)
Mil-dot reticle (red/green illuminated)
Target turrets
Windage & elevation adjustments
Includes 1-pc mount / with scope stop

A real nice looking package in my opinion. I will post shooting reports of the gun out of the box in the near future. Apparently the gun is very similar to the Crosman Phantom and can use the same 1000 spring and piston set making this gun easily upgradeable to those specs. That said rumour also has it that you can bump it up even higher to the Benjamin super streak specs when the company releases those upgrade parts. Something I would not mind doing.