A couple months ago I asked for opinions on a pistol field target legal PCP pistol. Many said the 1720T and that's what I decided to go with. The intent was pistol field target a couple times a year, but otherwise just a fun, low powered plinker for garage fun. I've so far really enjoyed it in that capacity.
First off though, it really needed a fancy stock from Steve Corcoran @ https://www.scstocksandgrips.com/
I requested a black and yellow lam as I've always liked that combo, and boy did he deliver!
SC was great to deal with, quick to respond to emails, kept me updated on progress, delivered in the original time frame that he quoted. I'd recommend him but that's not news to anybody who's been in the airgun game for very long.
His stock really made a kinda old-school, bare-bones simple PCP pistol into something special. Feels great in the hand, nice flat forearm for shooting off a knee. The one piece design totally changes the impression of the 1720, it just feels SOLID now. So far I like it. A lot.
Also had SC do some inletting for the Anschutz rail there in the "forearm." Which is the only kinda bummer about it, the groove is different dimensions than the Anschutz to picatinny adapter that I have, so can't get to a bipod that way. And it's also different dimensions than my MAC1 knee riser (not that those are legal for pistol FT anyway, just thought it'd be fun to shoot off a knee and bumbag, or from a bench/bipod for fun, shooting flys and general dinking around). I'm wondering if those cheap, heavy gauge-wire-for-legs bipods have the correct shaped male rail to mate up. Might be worth the $20 to see.
Oh, I'd considered buying one of the adapters that attaches to the back end of the tube and allows an AR type buttstock to be added. Won't work with this stock as the action nestles down into the inletting so much that the rear of the tube is not accessible. That's not too much of a heart breaker though, cuz the scope I went with wouldn't work with a stock anyway, and I'm not big on swapping scopes around. Usually I leave a scope on a gun for a long time.
That leads me into the scope. Topped it off with a MTC Viper Connect 3-12x32. Really a kinda odd scope as it has a super short eye relief, I mean hold your eye on the ocular, short eye relief. It even has a 5/8inch wide rubber ocular with coarse threading that is meant to bring it back into contact with the orbital bone, proximal to the bridge of ones nose. The manual says only for PCPs and rimfires with the ominous warning of "serious injury" if mounted on any recoiling gun. Makes me grimace to even think of the pain this little scope would mete out on my 30.06. OUCH! I understand it is legal to use the head/face as a contact point to help stabilize the gun for pistol FT, so it might be a fortuitously odd feature. Time will tell, as I still need to get a wheel on it and see if it's serviceable as a range-by-focus scope. Otherwise, compact little scope that just feels and looks correctly proportioned for a pistol, 30mm tube, 10 yard min focus, really wide field of view, glass-etched reticle-which isn't too bad of a design, MTC calls it the SCB but it's different in real life than the MTC literature.
Here (hard to get pics of this, so sorta grainy and dark but it's the nature of sticking a cell phone camera behind a scope, not the scope image itself)
As for the 1720T. What a cool little gun! I've not turned an adjustment screw on it yet, and not currently planning to. Great trigger, the one on this gun is breaking at 10ounces (5 shot average) and feels pretty good, seems a much better trigger than on a regular Crosman 2240 or 1377 or even Discovery. And it came tuned very efficiently too. A really good factory tune compared to some that I've seen.
Realistically, as long as 8.2fpe is enough for desired uses, 50 shots within 38fps, 40 shots within 27fps, or probably about 30 shots within 18 or 20fps if started at around 2600psi and refilled around 2000. For 10 or 12 yards in the garage, or even 30 yards out in the yard, 30fps spreads aren't going to matter much. I'm personally not a good enough shot with a pistol for the difference to show up between an ES of 30 or 10fps.
I've considered (and researched a bit) doing what most people do, and drilling out the transfer port and playing with hammer length and hammer spring tension to get it right under 12fpe. The general consensus (and realistic expectation) sans regulator, seems to be around 20 or 25 shots from this pistol, when bumped up to 12fpe. So, roughly cutting the shot count in half. I'm still trying to decide what to do there, but leaning towards leaving it at 8.2fpe, with the rationale being that 95% of my shooting of this gun will be just shooting for fun, where 11.5 fpe won't do anything for me that 8.2fpe does. In fact the higher fpe would be a detriment to the way this gun will mostly be used, as it'll be louder, and cut the shot count in half. As-is, it doesn't need a moderator and 40-50 shots is enough to shoot quite a bit between fills. So, for now, it'll stay as it was tuned by Crosman.
The jSB 8.44 seems to shoot really accurately, stacking them into the same hole regularly, at realistic distances. In fact, I temporarily put a 20x scope and the wobbly Crosman stock on it and was shooting at Azrover's biathlon-type target last month. 30 yards if I remember right. It's five or six kill zones starting at around 3/4inch and going down to either 3/8 or 1/4inch. A little flag pops up with a clean shot. Once I figured out dope, I went 3 for 3 on the smallest 3 kill zones. I was impressed. With that being said, I might see how it does with the JSB 7.87 or even the old boxed CPs, as I've got a decent supply of both right now. It didn't seem to do quite so well with H&N FTT 8.64grain.
I started this crazy airgun addiction with Crosmans, and it feels kinda like coming home to be excited for, and enjoying, a Crosman again.
(All the Crosman addicts know about the woes of the single tiny little screw in the bottom of the metal breech on the Disco/2240/1377/etc and it being the weak link. The 1720T breech, held to the tube with four bolts, is the design that all Crosmans should have been. Much more robust and better engineered here with the 1720T breech to tube fixing method. Oh, and the LW barrel is just the cherry on top, less of a I-got-a-golden-ticket experience and more of a the-danged-thing-just-shoots-like-it-should experience.)
First off though, it really needed a fancy stock from Steve Corcoran @ https://www.scstocksandgrips.com/
I requested a black and yellow lam as I've always liked that combo, and boy did he deliver!
SC was great to deal with, quick to respond to emails, kept me updated on progress, delivered in the original time frame that he quoted. I'd recommend him but that's not news to anybody who's been in the airgun game for very long.
His stock really made a kinda old-school, bare-bones simple PCP pistol into something special. Feels great in the hand, nice flat forearm for shooting off a knee. The one piece design totally changes the impression of the 1720, it just feels SOLID now. So far I like it. A lot.
Also had SC do some inletting for the Anschutz rail there in the "forearm." Which is the only kinda bummer about it, the groove is different dimensions than the Anschutz to picatinny adapter that I have, so can't get to a bipod that way. And it's also different dimensions than my MAC1 knee riser (not that those are legal for pistol FT anyway, just thought it'd be fun to shoot off a knee and bumbag, or from a bench/bipod for fun, shooting flys and general dinking around). I'm wondering if those cheap, heavy gauge-wire-for-legs bipods have the correct shaped male rail to mate up. Might be worth the $20 to see.
Oh, I'd considered buying one of the adapters that attaches to the back end of the tube and allows an AR type buttstock to be added. Won't work with this stock as the action nestles down into the inletting so much that the rear of the tube is not accessible. That's not too much of a heart breaker though, cuz the scope I went with wouldn't work with a stock anyway, and I'm not big on swapping scopes around. Usually I leave a scope on a gun for a long time.
That leads me into the scope. Topped it off with a MTC Viper Connect 3-12x32. Really a kinda odd scope as it has a super short eye relief, I mean hold your eye on the ocular, short eye relief. It even has a 5/8inch wide rubber ocular with coarse threading that is meant to bring it back into contact with the orbital bone, proximal to the bridge of ones nose. The manual says only for PCPs and rimfires with the ominous warning of "serious injury" if mounted on any recoiling gun. Makes me grimace to even think of the pain this little scope would mete out on my 30.06. OUCH! I understand it is legal to use the head/face as a contact point to help stabilize the gun for pistol FT, so it might be a fortuitously odd feature. Time will tell, as I still need to get a wheel on it and see if it's serviceable as a range-by-focus scope. Otherwise, compact little scope that just feels and looks correctly proportioned for a pistol, 30mm tube, 10 yard min focus, really wide field of view, glass-etched reticle-which isn't too bad of a design, MTC calls it the SCB but it's different in real life than the MTC literature.
Here (hard to get pics of this, so sorta grainy and dark but it's the nature of sticking a cell phone camera behind a scope, not the scope image itself)
As for the 1720T. What a cool little gun! I've not turned an adjustment screw on it yet, and not currently planning to. Great trigger, the one on this gun is breaking at 10ounces (5 shot average) and feels pretty good, seems a much better trigger than on a regular Crosman 2240 or 1377 or even Discovery. And it came tuned very efficiently too. A really good factory tune compared to some that I've seen.
Realistically, as long as 8.2fpe is enough for desired uses, 50 shots within 38fps, 40 shots within 27fps, or probably about 30 shots within 18 or 20fps if started at around 2600psi and refilled around 2000. For 10 or 12 yards in the garage, or even 30 yards out in the yard, 30fps spreads aren't going to matter much. I'm personally not a good enough shot with a pistol for the difference to show up between an ES of 30 or 10fps.
I've considered (and researched a bit) doing what most people do, and drilling out the transfer port and playing with hammer length and hammer spring tension to get it right under 12fpe. The general consensus (and realistic expectation) sans regulator, seems to be around 20 or 25 shots from this pistol, when bumped up to 12fpe. So, roughly cutting the shot count in half. I'm still trying to decide what to do there, but leaning towards leaving it at 8.2fpe, with the rationale being that 95% of my shooting of this gun will be just shooting for fun, where 11.5 fpe won't do anything for me that 8.2fpe does. In fact the higher fpe would be a detriment to the way this gun will mostly be used, as it'll be louder, and cut the shot count in half. As-is, it doesn't need a moderator and 40-50 shots is enough to shoot quite a bit between fills. So, for now, it'll stay as it was tuned by Crosman.
The jSB 8.44 seems to shoot really accurately, stacking them into the same hole regularly, at realistic distances. In fact, I temporarily put a 20x scope and the wobbly Crosman stock on it and was shooting at Azrover's biathlon-type target last month. 30 yards if I remember right. It's five or six kill zones starting at around 3/4inch and going down to either 3/8 or 1/4inch. A little flag pops up with a clean shot. Once I figured out dope, I went 3 for 3 on the smallest 3 kill zones. I was impressed. With that being said, I might see how it does with the JSB 7.87 or even the old boxed CPs, as I've got a decent supply of both right now. It didn't seem to do quite so well with H&N FTT 8.64grain.
I started this crazy airgun addiction with Crosmans, and it feels kinda like coming home to be excited for, and enjoying, a Crosman again.
(All the Crosman addicts know about the woes of the single tiny little screw in the bottom of the metal breech on the Disco/2240/1377/etc and it being the weak link. The 1720T breech, held to the tube with four bolts, is the design that all Crosmans should have been. Much more robust and better engineered here with the 1720T breech to tube fixing method. Oh, and the LW barrel is just the cherry on top, less of a I-got-a-golden-ticket experience and more of a the-danged-thing-just-shoots-like-it-should experience.)
