Have I made a terrible mistake with my very first purchase?

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hollywood16

hollywood16

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Oct 17, 2016
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Hello everyone, I'm brand new to the forums and air guns in general. I purchased my first air rifle yesterday. I was definitely impatient and just wanted a new toy in my hands to start shooting (read this as I didn't do any proper research). I'm afraid I've made a terrible mistake. The gun I purchased is a Benjamin Prowler .22 cal break barrel rifle from Wal-Mart. It's a "nitro piston" model and came with a "center-point"(branded) 4x32mm scope. I got the first one home to discover a busted scope upon opening the box, I'm assuming from shipping. I went back and exchanged the rifle without issue and came home with a unit that is fully intact. I put the scope on last night and took it out today to start shooting and to attempt to zero in the scope. My first group of 5 (3 very close together, 2 strays to the left of those 3 by about 1-2") landed about 4.5" to the right and about 4" above the target, I was shooting at 25 yards. I made my initial adjustment on the scope and ended up about 2" to the left of target and about 1" above. I repeated this process about 4-5 times and finally ended up being horizontally on target but still high. At that point I started thinking perhaps I just need to get the rifle "broke in" before really worrying about zeroing it 100%. I proceeded to shot around 50-60 shots before I put it up and called it a day. This thing is very difficult to cock (breaking the barrel) and I was absolutely done after the 50-60 shots. The owner's manual claims it will take roughly 250 shots to really break in properly, is that typical? I also discovered the scope was loose after these 50-60 shots.

So have I screwed up buying this rifle? I didn't spend too much (cost $98) thankfully so it's not the end of the world if so.

To recap after the first 50-60 shots I'm:
1. really not zeroed in, especially considering the entire scope has physically moved on the rails. 
2. wore out from cocking it.
3. not having fun yet. 

I know that I wanted a .22 for the chance to use it for hunting/pest control at some point. I know that I did not want a CO2 rifle as I don't like the idea of buying the little cartridges and the variation from ambient temps, etc. I know I probably should have bought a PCP but I wasn't really down with spending so much ($300+) without being 100% sure I even enjoyed the hobby. I also have no clue where I could even fill the scuba tanks that are used with PCP rifles here in rural TN (that's probably a whole different topic on its own). Anyways, I guess I'm just looking for some form of validation on this purchase. I'm not expecting a cheap Walmart special to be the best thing ever but I'm hoping I can at least make it serviceable. I've seen a few discussions saying that the scopes that ship with these budget rifles are garbage, if that is true what would be a decent option that won't end up costing me more than the entire rifle? After my 250 +/- shot break in period will it indeed become more accurate or easy to cock? Any and all tips/suggestions/recommendations are greatly appreciated. Thank you for reading this if you have made it this far. Have a great day! 

-hollywood
 
Hollywood, sorry about your purchase.It does take research and lots of q & a on the forums. I don't know what your budget is, but you will need to spend 350-700 bucks for a good shooting springer, one of my favorite is the beeman R9, it will last a life time. Once you see a good air rifle you can feel the difference when you hold it..Many choices out there, ask question here, a lot of knowledgeable people on this site and the yellow forum. Can you return it????? then you will have 98.00 bucks towards a really nice rifle. best of luck, you can PM (private message) me anytime. Tim
 
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@Hollywood16,
Since this is your first air rifle, you have a lot of learning ahead of you. But, don't be discouraged by that. There's more knowledge on this forum than you could possibly imagine and we're all here to help one another. My first was a Ruger Air Hawke Elite. I would not buy another one. But, I learned some very valuable lessons with it. Shooting a springer takes a certain type of finesse.
Personally, I'm not a springer shooter but I hope to get back into it soon. A few questions that came to my mind were...
How long has it been since you shot any air rifle, or is this the very first time? - Keep practicing and it will get better.
What pellets are you using? - Air rifles can be picky on what pellets they like. Also, don't be fooled into being something because it will go the fastest or it looks cool (Piranha's). There's some cheap plastic pellets that will scream out of your barrel but, that's about all they do. You mentioned Walmart, get yourself some Crosman Premier's. It's a good place to start. 
Did you clean the barrel? - Low end (no offense) rifles can have paint and other impurities left in the barrel from manufacturing. Clean it, and then clean it agin. Clean it until you can run a dry patch through it and it comes out clean. Air rifles are not firearms so, don't use firearm cleaning stuff. I'd use patches with WD-40 to start and then move on to dry patches. Get yourself some fishing line, put a kink in it, send it up the barrel, grab the patch and pull it through. That's a quick and easy cleaning kit, although tedious to use. 
I don't think you made a mistake necessarily. Your first air rifle should not be a top end, "nothing better than this" rifle. It should be something you can learn off of and help you prepare for your next rifle. Enjoy this time of learning your rifle. 
And, shoot me a + accuracy if I helped! LOL! :)
Tom
 
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@oldspook Thank you for the videos, I will definitely be diving much deeper into everything. 

@timbphoto I'm hoping this low end entry rifle will serve me until I'm sure I want to drop that kind of cash.

@Tominco Thanks for the information and encouragement. It's been about 17-18 years since I've shot any air rifle. My only experience before this was a cheap pump action BB gun that my dad gave me in middle school. (With that said I was an avid regular shooter from about 04'-12'. I was in the USMC for four years shooting the M16A2. I loved shooting shotguns for sport (primarily clays). I have also shot a slew of handguns over the years.) For pellets I've only shot the Crosman Premier Hollow Points 14.3 grain so far. I have a tin of Benjamin "Destroyer" 14.3 gr. as well but I've not opened them yet. I haven't cleaned the barrel at all yet...I reckon I should get on that. On visual inspection it appears good no visible dust/dirt/grime but I can easily clean it up. I look forward to being able to shoot this thing accurately at some point. 
 
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Look at your first AirGun like you first car . Probably wouldn't want it back , but Lotta good memories when you look back . Try not to get too hung up when you see the groups me and the other guys post ( little secret , I ONLY post the good ones ) .
Mine was a Benjamin Nitro Piston that drove my ass nuts !! But every once in a while it would shoot a good group .....And almost always it was when I wasn't over thinking it but just enjoying the time alone and the simple fun of a break barrel.
Give it a tin of pellets to break in and then see how you like it .
 
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My first airgun aside from a red ryder and a Crosman 760 was a springer. It was given to me as a gift. Though I still have that old BSA, I was very tempted many times to wrap it around a tree!! I was in my early 20's when I recieved that gun and was a rather accomplished shooter back then. That gun quickly humbled me.

I junked a number of nice rifle scopes until I finally purchased a good air rifle rated scope. I thought my problems were solved. WRONG!! Still could not get repeatable accuracy. So, I tried a whole bunch of different pellets, but still no real repeatable level of accuracy.

I had all but given up on that gun when I finally learned how it needed to be held to shoot accurately. Though I got really comfortable with that gun, it still took repeated practice to shoot it accurately. To this day, if I haven't shoot a springer for awhile, it takes me a number of pellets to get comfortable and be able to repeatedly shoot decent groups on paper.

Just my 2 cents, but I would just shoot it and learn. Try different pellets, try different holds, and even different ways of pulling the trigger. Regardless if I would have gotten a $50 springer or $1000 springer as my first gun, it probably wouldn't have made my first experiences any different.
 
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First of all Hollywood, we have all been there. Almost everyone starts with a Walmart/Big5/someothercompany basic break-barrel spring air. I have two which I shoot regularly. We spent time mastering the artillery hold, played with pellets which shot the best group, and such. With the right scope/pellet/hold most will actually shoot rather well. With a bad scope, you will end up chasing your groups around all day, as the reticle drifts about like a leaf on a pond. The wrong pellet won't group for beans. Unfortunately, what pellet your gun loves will vary (even with the same make and model of airgun owned by someone else). As others have said, Crosman, Gamo, Benjamin, etc often come with a seriously gunked up barrel. Cleaning them is the only fix. Mine took about a dozen patches ran through it with hopps number 9 on them. Some break barrels have a lot of barrel droop, which means shimming the scope is the only fix for it. I was fortunate on all of my break barrels, none had droop, but it isn't at all uncommon for break-barrels to have droop. If you don't want to throw a lot of money at a scope, inexpensive fixed magnification scopes hold up better than inexpensive adjustable magnification scopes. All of my springers (currently) have fixed 4X magnification scopes on them. But a more rugged scope which is designed for airguns will give you far more stable service. Buy a tube of blue Loctite. Use it on the stock screws and scope mounts; springers will loosen every screw on them in a limited number of shots; the accuracy drifts from this well-known problem. The general truism is: if you can shoot a springer well, you can shoot anything else even better. Best of luck with your pursuit, it can be fun, once you get past the frustration.
 
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"hollywood16"Hello everyone, I'm brand new to the forums and air guns in general. I purchased my first air rifle yesterday. I was definitely impatient and just wanted a new toy in my hands to start shooting (read this as I didn't do any proper research). I'm afraid I've made a terrible mistake. The gun I purchased is a Benjamin Prowler .22 cal break barrel rifle from Wal-Mart. It's a "nitro piston" model and came with a "center-point"(branded) 4x32mm scope. I got the first one home to discover a busted scope upon opening the box, I'm assuming from shipping. I went back and exchanged the rifle without issue and came home with a unit that is fully intact. I put the scope on last night and took it out today to start shooting and to attempt to zero in the scope. My first group of 5 (3 very close together, 2 strays to the left of those 3 by about 1-2") landed about 4.5" to the right and about 4" above the target, I was shooting at 25 yards. I made my initial adjustment on the scope and ended up about 2" to the left of target and about 1" above. I repeated this process about 4-5 times and finally ended up being horizontally on target but still high. At that point I started thinking perhaps I just need to get the rifle "broke in" before really worrying about zeroing it 100%. I proceeded to shot around 50-60 shots before I put it up and called it a day. This thing is very difficult to cock (breaking the barrel) and I was absolutely done after the 50-60 shots. The owner's manual claims it will take roughly 250 shots to really break in properly, is that typical? I also discovered the scope was loose after these 50-60 shots.

So have I screwed up buying this rifle? I didn't spend too much (cost $98) thankfully so it's not the end of the world if so.

To recap after the first 50-60 shots I'm:
1. really not zeroed in, especially considering the entire scope has physically moved on the rails. 
2. wore out from cocking it.
3. not having fun yet. 

I know that I wanted a .22 for the chance to use it for hunting/pest control at some point. I know that I did not want a CO2 rifle as I don't like the idea of buying the little cartridges and the variation from ambient temps, etc. I know I probably should have bought a PCP but I wasn't really down with spending so much ($300+) without being 100% sure I even enjoyed the hobby. I also have no clue where I could even fill the scuba tanks that are used with PCP rifles here in rural TN (that's probably a whole different topic on its own). Anyways, I guess I'm just looking for some form of validation on this purchase. I'm not expecting a cheap Walmart special to be the best thing ever but I'm hoping I can at least make it serviceable. I've seen a few discussions saying that the scopes that ship with these budget rifles are garbage, if that is true what would be a decent option that won't end up costing me more than the entire rifle? After my 250 +/- shot break in period will it indeed become more accurate or easy to cock? Any and all tips/suggestions/recommendations are greatly appreciated. Thank you for reading this if you have made it this far. Have a great day! 

-hollywood
Click to expand...
Yep, 250 shots is typical. Yes, the stock scope can really be junky.

As for being worn out from cocking it, it happens. You'll get those muscles developed. Nothing else we do in real life really works those muscles so hard.

In my opinion, yes, you have screwed up by buying it. It's OK though! You've made the right move by signing on here. We'll help you through this difficult time.

Return it while you can, get your money back, and put it toward something worth taking home. In time, it would become more accurate, but the scope will break, you'll spend another $110 to get a decent one. Then, you'll realize that with a bit more money you could have bought something that had been produced with some care.

How much can you really afford to spend, if you stretch it? Because it REALLY is best to spend more now. Wait until you recover, if you need to, to buy a quality scope and rings. Just buy a quality rifle and a variety pack of quality pellets.

A PCP air rifle is really as good as you think it would be. For newbies, I recommend a Marauder and pump, or if you can't afford it, a Discovery kit. (though the Discovery will be much louder and will need more frequent pumping.) The only problem if you start with a PCP air rifle is that you won't ever be able to shoot a springer well, if you start there. The only problem with them is that you need a pump or tank to go along with them, whereas springers are self-sufficient. Springers generally shoot well out to 40 or 50 yards. PCPs, out to 100+ yards. (for .22 caliber and above. .177 is still only good out to maybe 60 yards)
 
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To back up Smaug, you can make use of the AGNATION coupon advertised in the banner at the top of this page; it is good for 25% off. If you purchase it (online) on a Friday, you also get free shipping from Crossman. If you get the Combo from Crossman, you can get a Maximus, Pump, Swing Target, Goggles and Pellets for a total of $262 out the door (with 25% off and free shipping). It comes with sights. If you wish, you can add a Scope and Mounts when your budget permits. Because the Maximus is a Pre-Charged Pneumatic (PCP), the recoil is less likely to damage a scope, so a cheaper scope is less likely to fail due to shock. (Although I would normally recommend a good quality scope). Just a warning, this offer is the first rung of the hooked on PCP ladder. Once you start climbing that ladder, along comes scuba tanks, expensive compressors, more expensive guns, and an endless parade of modifications. It is quite possible you may be one of those rare people who will simply purchase an entry level PCP with a hand pump and stop there, but odds are not in your favor. Best of luck.
 
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Call Roz at the GOB club ( posted info on your introduction post) GO to a match. Ask nicely if anyone might have X airgun, someone WILL, test it out, so fun saves so much money and you get to meet folks.

RWS34 would be the lowest cost springer you'll really enjoy. You may (?) have noticed huge price swings during sales on some airguns, thew RWS34 can be found for well under $300.00 and you could certainly get an even better price face to face somewhere in TN on a used tuned proven good to go for yeaqrs airgun.

With your back ground DO test fire a TX200 , a true standard in target shooting and will take rabbit/squirrel at 50 yards in .177. Match trigger ( RWS34 is a good trigger in the T-06 model).

If your near Nashville, Smithville or Pulaski or Minor hill I may know some folks who would let you try there rigs.


Get to a match!


John
 
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You have a hundred bucks in it. It is best to use it to learn all you can about spring guns before you upgrade. You never know, you may find out you have a good shooter. I've owned a number of ~$100 spring guns. All of them shot well enough to hunt pests under 30 or 35 yards. Your most likely will as well. You should also check out the "paint roller rest". I don't have a link but someone will.

 
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Thank you all for the input. I've spent some time today with the rifle and I'm already making progress in regards to accuracy. I really need to get myself some kind of table and chair to work with while trying to zero in the scope. I ended up sitting in the bed of my truck and using the side of the bed as a ledge to prop my arm on with the rifle resting on the top of my hand. I bought a simple steel spinner target at Walmart the same day I got the rifle, it has 5 circles (about 1.5/2" in diameter) that spin on the frame. I'm able to reliably hit these so that's a start. I'm not going to return the rifle as some have suggested. It seems to be decent enough shot and I'm hoping if I can get proficient shooting this thing the next one I purchase should be really amazing. I am getting a little better at cocking it so I'm not sure if it's getting easier or if my muscles are already starting to get on board with the motion. I'm almost halfway through this 500 count tin of crosman premier hp's and I definitely need to check into getting some different pellets to try out. I figure once I finish off this tin I'll look into getting some more different brands. I also cleaned the barrel out good as was suggested above. It took 4 patches to get it cleaned up #5 came out spotless. Here are a few pictures of the setup if anyone cares. 
 
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"oldspook"You have a hundred bucks in it. It is best to use it to learn all you can about spring guns before you upgrade. You never know, you may find out you have a good shooter. I've owned a number of ~$100 spring guns. All of them shot well enough to hunt pests under 30 or 35 yards. Your most likely will as well. You should also check out the "paint roller rest". I don't have a link but someone will.


This $79 dollar 22 cal Crosman gas ram is in my truck... shoots about 630+ fps using JSB 16 gr pellets.... accurate as heck, and has enough poop for starlings .... you gun has much more velocity than this gun !

wll2506







Click to expand...
 
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Nice! So, it wasn't a TERRIBLE mistake you made; just a minor one. 

Cleaning the factory junk out of the bore is the first step. 

Removing, cleaning, loc-titing, and reinstalling the stock and trigger guard screws is the second step. Then, be a good boy and wait until the next day, when the Loctite has cured to shoot it more. 

Third step is the artillery hold, and it seems you're getting that down too. 

Cheap rifles can do good work, with a little bit of knowledge and a lot of practics. My Stoeger X20 will shoot 3/8" groups at 30 yards. Which means no pest animal is safe in my yard. (if only it weren't kind of loud) Yours seems to have a shroud, which should make it a bit quieter.

You've got the scope mounted far enough back to get a full sight picture, so you're no idiot.

One thing you can do to stabilize the rifle without hauling a table & chair out is to try prone or field target position shooting. Those are both pretty stable and will let you rest the rifle properly. 
 
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