- Apr 25, 2021
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Hello everyone,
Review of the Crosman Challenger 2021 .177cal 10-Meter Competition Rifle
First of March I purchased a new Crosman Challenger to shoot Wadcutter pellets at 10-Meters and have now shot over 1,000 rounds of various Wadcutter and Domed pellets with it.
I will start by saying that I would buy another Challenger without any hesitation for shooting 10-Meter targets and using domed pellets it is extremely accurate at 25-yards. It is an excellent choice for shooting 10-Meter competition. I will also state that I like everything about the rifle except the Safety mounted in front of the Trigger. I prefer a larger easy accessible side mounted Safety.
I took the rifle out of the factory shipping box, read the owner’s manual and gave it a complete review of the rifle itself. Then I cleaned it throughly and oiled all of the required areas and filled the air cylinder. Here is where the real pleasure began for me, this was the ONLY new PCP air gun that I have ever purchased that performed perfectly “right out of the box”. I haven’t even adjusted the factory setting on the two-stage match grade Trigger! I was able to shoot one hole, five shots at paper targets from the get-go. Needless to say that the Lothar Walther barrel is extremely accurate.
Over all looks and esthetics: I give it a 10-score. I like the clean simple design, the Gray and Black color scheme of the Stock material and the contrast to the metal parts.
Over all construction and fit and finish: I give it a 9-score. All machining of the metal parts I found to be very well done and a functional design. Sidelever cocking is very smooth and easy to use. The synthetic stock is very ridged and keeps the overall weight down making it very easy to handle. Cheek Riser and Butt Plate are really easy to adjust and very comfortable ( Butt Plate comes with two different length extensions ). An adjustable Shoe is also standard equipment with a long rail on the bottom of the fore arm of the stock.
The rifle comes from the factory with Crosman Diopter Sight System and uses a Dovetail rail for mounting, but I opted to install a Vector Optics scope. I will shoot it 100% of the time from a bench so a scope is more suitable for me. A big feature for me is the rifle has a Foster fitting to fill the 144cc air cylinder. Crosman states that you can get over 200 shots on a 206 bar / 3000psi fill.
The rifle is not real picky about the pellet choice ( either Wadcutter or Domed ) at 10-Meters, but it excels with the following:
Wadcutter: H&N Finale Match Heavy 8.18gr, H&N Sport 8.18gr, QSY Sports Diabolo 8.18gr and several more, go to Post #34 on this link to see all the Wadcutters that I tested:
www.airgunnation.com
Domed: Air Arms Falcon, 4.52mm 7.33gr, Crosman Hunting Pointed 7.4gr and others, go to Post #1 on this link to see all the Domed that I tested:
www.airgunnation.com
I only have one Con on this rifle and that is, I wish it had a magazine system or at least a Single Pellet Loader. When you add a scope it restricts the access to load a Pellet straight down into the breach area. Loading a small .177 pellet from the side, under a scope and between the rings becomes challenging, especially for an old fart with big fat shaky fingers.
Bottom line, I love this rifle, it is extremely accurate, very easy to handle, easy to fill the cylinder and a complete enjoyment to shoot.
@Struckat and @igolfat8 let me know if you have any questions.
ThomasT
Review of the Crosman Challenger 2021 .177cal 10-Meter Competition Rifle
First of March I purchased a new Crosman Challenger to shoot Wadcutter pellets at 10-Meters and have now shot over 1,000 rounds of various Wadcutter and Domed pellets with it.
I will start by saying that I would buy another Challenger without any hesitation for shooting 10-Meter targets and using domed pellets it is extremely accurate at 25-yards. It is an excellent choice for shooting 10-Meter competition. I will also state that I like everything about the rifle except the Safety mounted in front of the Trigger. I prefer a larger easy accessible side mounted Safety.
I took the rifle out of the factory shipping box, read the owner’s manual and gave it a complete review of the rifle itself. Then I cleaned it throughly and oiled all of the required areas and filled the air cylinder. Here is where the real pleasure began for me, this was the ONLY new PCP air gun that I have ever purchased that performed perfectly “right out of the box”. I haven’t even adjusted the factory setting on the two-stage match grade Trigger! I was able to shoot one hole, five shots at paper targets from the get-go. Needless to say that the Lothar Walther barrel is extremely accurate.
Over all looks and esthetics: I give it a 10-score. I like the clean simple design, the Gray and Black color scheme of the Stock material and the contrast to the metal parts.
Over all construction and fit and finish: I give it a 9-score. All machining of the metal parts I found to be very well done and a functional design. Sidelever cocking is very smooth and easy to use. The synthetic stock is very ridged and keeps the overall weight down making it very easy to handle. Cheek Riser and Butt Plate are really easy to adjust and very comfortable ( Butt Plate comes with two different length extensions ). An adjustable Shoe is also standard equipment with a long rail on the bottom of the fore arm of the stock.
The rifle comes from the factory with Crosman Diopter Sight System and uses a Dovetail rail for mounting, but I opted to install a Vector Optics scope. I will shoot it 100% of the time from a bench so a scope is more suitable for me. A big feature for me is the rifle has a Foster fitting to fill the 144cc air cylinder. Crosman states that you can get over 200 shots on a 206 bar / 3000psi fill.
The rifle is not real picky about the pellet choice ( either Wadcutter or Domed ) at 10-Meters, but it excels with the following:
Wadcutter: H&N Finale Match Heavy 8.18gr, H&N Sport 8.18gr, QSY Sports Diabolo 8.18gr and several more, go to Post #34 on this link to see all the Wadcutters that I tested:
Shooting Wadcutters at 10-Meters Only what rifle
would you consider a FWB 600 , 601 ,603 SSP i have a FWB600 SSP wonderful shooter designed for 10 meter . YES i only shoot wad cutters
www.airgunnation.com Domed: Air Arms Falcon, 4.52mm 7.33gr, Crosman Hunting Pointed 7.4gr and others, go to Post #1 on this link to see all the Domed that I tested:
Crosman Challenger shooting Domed Pellets at 10-Meters
Hello everyone, I had ordered 8 new different .177 cal Domed pellets under 8gr weight to shoot in my Crosman Challenger and Daisy Model 599 at both 10-meters and 25-yards. Received them in yesterday afternoon and numbered all of the Tins and added them to my pellet list. This morning I got all...
www.airgunnation.com I only have one Con on this rifle and that is, I wish it had a magazine system or at least a Single Pellet Loader. When you add a scope it restricts the access to load a Pellet straight down into the breach area. Loading a small .177 pellet from the side, under a scope and between the rings becomes challenging, especially for an old fart with big fat shaky fingers.
Bottom line, I love this rifle, it is extremely accurate, very easy to handle, easy to fill the cylinder and a complete enjoyment to shoot.
@Struckat and @igolfat8 let me know if you have any questions.
ThomasT
