Crosman Challenger shoots a pattern not a group? Is it me?

[qball]

What would be a good place to purchase a Hawke Vantage?

before you run out and buy anything try to put it in a vise or something to hold it so it won’t move. A while back I use to get similar results and it’s was because of the cheek weld and cheap scope’s parallax error. Having it in a vise would at least help you see the real problem and eliminate the gun being the issue. Once I realized how accurate the gun is I then spent the time to work on my fundamentals and my accuracy has greatly improved. Hawk vantage is a better scope but honest it’s not better by a huge amount, learn to setup/use your scope correctly and having correct cheek weld will translate to greater accuracy to every single gun even with cheap scopes. 


edit: even with the best scopes if not setup correctly you will still have parallax errors and have the same “group”.

 

[Vetmx]

Parallax issues with pistol scopes is an absolute accuracy killer at close distances. A bum scope on a rifle won’t be quite as bad if you have a consistent weld but it sure isn’t helping you tighten things up that last quarter inch.

 

[Odoyle]

Its likely not the scope and probably the breech seal or loose barrel or loose front muzzle weight. Nothing major. I have 3 of these.

 

[scallen2112]

What would be a good place to purchase a Hawke Vantage?

Amazon $99-$109 for the variants of that scope. $109 for the adjustable objective version with mil dot reticle at Midway USA and ships free. Possibly the best scope for around $100 out there. If fixed power is OK, then the 4x32 is just $80.

Before you buy a new scope, do you have a sled or vice or some other way to clamp your rifle down? If so, do that and shoot a few rounds through it. Don't worry about aiming, as long as it hits the target somewhere, just don't let the gun move at all. IOf you get a tight group, then chances are it's your scope shifting POA from shot to shot (which a Center Point will). If it's still spread out, then it's your gun.

 

[Peep]

Got the gun back from the store, the scope was the problem. Now the gun stacks pellets with ease. Thanks for all the replies.

 

[scallen2112]

Got the gun back from the store, the scope was the problem. Now the gun stacks pellets with ease. Thanks for all the replies.

Yep. Any time someone says the words "Center Point", you have likely found your culprit.

 

[bandg]

Got the gun back from the store, the scope was the problem. Now the gun stacks pellets with ease. Thanks for all the replies.

Glad you got it fixed. And this thread is a good learning experience, noting how many said it probably wasn't the scope. Lots of opinions boiled down can be useful, any single opinion is just exactly that (a single opinion).

 

[airsplat]

Its not hard to make them great 25 meter guns. Stock they produce between 5 and 5.5 ft/lbs (540 with 8 gn). Good for 10m but under powered for 25 meters.

But open the TP up to 0.68 and the gun wakes up. It now shoots JSB Experss at 664 fps average for 60 shots with just a 16 fps spread.

It will shoot .3 inch groups at 30 yards all day long.

Sighting the scope in it did seem to struggle with barrel droop or maybe just low power but I put a UTG dropper mount under the Bushy Legend 5-15x 40 to keep the poi near optical center.