Surprised by Benjamin Cayden

HI I have the Cayden and I have found that if you turn down the transfer port to about halfway those CPHP 14.3gr will group nicely. I shoot dime size groups @ 50 yards all day long. the rifle fills to 3000 psi but on a tight fill and no regulator, you will experience poi changes, If you fill it to 2800-2500 you will have better groups right off. I would also agree on cleaning the barrel, mine had a ton of preservative oil in the barrel, it took six patches to get clean. Check your scope mounts and make sure they are tight. I have a Donny fl sumo in 25cal so one size up from the rifle caliber, and I have had zero issues with performance or clipping. Make sure the moderator is snug to the barrel. If you can shoot it without the moderator and check the accuracy. The Cayden is accurate enough to warrant a decent scope, I have no experience with the scope you have, but most of the time scope/rifle combos aren't that good. Keep us posted on your results and what you have done to correct the problem.
 
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My Cayden is not pellet fussy at all, and I ran a DIY Moderator for awhile until I got a Huma on it and I now run a 0DB on it.
loves the Crossman 14.3 gr.

You have something going on... Scope...mounts...the Moderator.... once you eliminate that, maybe a bad barrel. Benjamin will take care of you.
I agree with you, something just doesn't seem right. I'll be addressing multiple possible issues this evening after work. I drilled the moderator out and will make sure it's threaded on all the way. My compressor, chronograph, and crown saver also arrived today so I'll give the barrel a good cleaning. I picked up some goo gone and 22 patches earlier in the week in preparation. My gut feeling is it's the moderator giving me the issues but we'll see. I'll try using the chrono this weekend to make sure the gun has consistent velocities. New scope won't be here until middle of next week.
 
Mod sounds likely for your case.? If needing to save some money (which I darn sure get personally) TKO 's are without issue and not too costly.
When searching for the magic pellet for any barrel many people test, clean and re-season the barrel then test again. Your barrel is Not a mirror finish and pellets are different hardness and size which may leave varying deposits so w/out cleaning between each you are not really testing your barrel as it is but rather with the reshaping deposits effecting whatever pellet you try next.
Keep us posted.

John
 
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The Craftsman series from Benjamin have notoriously had bad o-rings from the factory. You may have a bad o-ring on your power adjuster or one of your outer barrel o-rings may have been nicked upon installation. Either of these will cause erratic results in accuracy. If you don’t get better results after swapping scopes and a thorough cleaning then I would suggest returning your Cayden for another one.
Both my Cayden and Kratos had bad o-rings from the manufacturer...which I chose to fix myself. If you choose to do the work yourself you’ll need to buy several o-ring replacements for each one you’ll be replacing. (And use ample amounts of silicone grease lube.)
The tolerances are very tight in the Craftsamn series and the internal edges are sharp which means you’ll likely slice o-rings yourself trying to put it back together. I don’t recommend the casual pellet shooter try to repair it. Use the great warranty Benjamin gives on them.
 
UPDATE: Looks like the moderator was the issue. When I tried putting it back on after drilling it out some, I noticed it was sitting slightly crooked on the barrel. When I tried taking it back off, the threaded insert inside the suppressor broke free and was stuck on the barrel. After messing with it for awhile I ended up giving up. The plastic threads in the suppressor were jacked up. I also cleaned the barrel with the crown saver and patches with goo gone, boy it was FILTHY! Took about 25 patches in total to get it cleaned out.

I put the stock "flash hider" back on and cranked the power down to a notch above the lowest setting. That was as high as I could go without the gun being too loud. I proceeded to shoot less than half inch groups at 30yds with the Crossman Premier HP's at an average of 580fps. I also got my compressor and chronograph both up and running too. I ended up shooting about 100 rounds of the CHP's though multiple fills of the gun, all shot fantastic.

I didn't bother trying any other pellets, I will wait for my new moderator so I can crank the power back up. I ordered a DonnyFL Sumo tonight. I will update once the new moderator arrives and I crank the power back up. Thanks again for everyone's input.
 
Glad that things are coming together, too bad about the moderator, at least it wasn't the rifle itself. I'm not sure about goo gone as a cleaner, as I have never used it on an air gun. Ballistol is what I've used. Your groups should tighten up after the barrel leads up some from the cleaning. Keep in mind that less power from the transfer port, (about halfway) using the CPHP 14.3gr will give you tighter groups. I think you will be happy with the Sumo; it makes the rifle a little long, but sure keeps it quiet. Did you up size from .22 to .25 minimum? this was recommended by Donny FL. What compressor did you get? and what kind of shooting do you plan on doing? hunting, target shooting, HFT, please keep us posted on your results.
 
Glad that things are coming together, too bad about the moderator, at least it wasn't the rifle itself. I'm not sure about goo gone as a cleaner, as I have never used it on an air gun. Ballistol is what I've used. Your groups should tighten up after the barrel leads up some from the cleaning. Keep in mind that less power from the transfer port, (about halfway) using the CPHP 14.3gr will give you tighter groups. I think you will be happy with the Sumo; it makes the rifle a little long, but sure keeps it quiet. Did you up size from .22 to .25 minimum? this was recommended by Donny FL. What compressor did you get? and what kind of shooting do you plan on doing? hunting, target shooting, HFT, please keep us posted on your results.
I got the Sumo in 22/25cal size. Compressor is a cheap GX CS2 from Amazon that I bought the 4yr extended warranty coverage on. Definite bummer about the buck rail suppressor, it did work really well quieting it down. Honestly I bought it just to hold me over until I could get a higher quality one, I was just forced into upgrading sooner than planned.

If the gun stays shooting well once I can crank the power back up with the donnyfl, I'll probably return the scope I ordered for it.

I'll be doing mostly paper punching shooting groups around 30yds. Max range at my house is only 40yds. Might do some pesting with it as well, currently using my 25 caliber Origin for that, and it's been working REALLY well :)
 
I got the Sumo in 22/25cal size. Compressor is a cheap GX CS2 from Amazon that I bought the 4yr extended warranty coverage on. Definite bummer about the buck rail suppressor, it did work really well quieting it down. Honestly I bought it just to hold me over until I could get a higher quality one, I was just forced into upgrading sooner than planned.

If the gun stays shooting well once I can crank the power back up with the donnyfl, I'll probably return the scope I ordered for it.

I'll be doing mostly paper punching shooting groups around 30yds. Max range at my house is only 40yds. Might do some pesting with it as well, currently using my 25 caliber Origin for that, and it's been working REALLY well :)
The compressor and the extended warranty should work out. The Cayden should work for the type of shooting you are doing, and then some. When you get it sighted in and decide on pellets please post a update on your experience.
 
I thought I would post a shot string @50 yards and a picture of my Cayden

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You, sir, just learned your first lesson in package deal guns that come with a scope. The “free”(nothing is free, really. It’s paid for in some manner by the buyer)scope the manufacturer uses to help sell product is at the very low end. Even if your groups were somewhat decent, I bet they’d be better with a quality optic.

When I say quality I am not suggesting a $500 scope, or even a $400 scope. There are many good budget friendly scopes out there like the UTG bug buster that’ll do well on any pcp.

Let’s discuss the mounts. Probably as equally if not more important than the scope(more so important when it comes to springers). The mounts that come with these free scopes are garbage, too. Look also to some UTG mounts as a good, budget friendly replacement. Just make sure they are tall enough to clear your magazine.

Good luck!
 
A foot difference at 30 yds is excessive, minewill shoot most pellets in a good group no matter the brand jsb exact jumbo monster 25.39 gr shoots great same with their 18 grain, I only get a 3 inch difference point of impact switching between them I use a donny fl and tko moderators swap between several guns neither will change Poi more than an inch or so, I’ve had mine 3 yrs and still performs flawlessly, I’ve taken my utg off put on a Hawke then took the Hawke off put the utg back on and it was still on target.
 
A foot difference at 30 yds is excessive, minewill shoot most pellets in a good group no matter the brand jsb exact jumbo monster 25.39 gr shoots great same with their 18 grain, I only get a 3 inch difference point of impact switching between them I use a donny fl and tko moderators swap between several guns neither will change Poi more than an inch or so, I’ve had mine 3 yrs and still performs flawlessly, I’ve taken my utg off put on a Hawke then took the Hawke off put the utg back on and it was still on target.

That difference in POI was alarming, glad someone confirmed that for me. The new moderator is being delivered today so I'll have the final answer after work this evening. I'll be able to crank the power back up and test. Honestly I'm expecting it to shoot great, I'm 95% sure the moderator was the problem. Only reason I'm not 100% sure is because I've only been able to test the gun on low power without a moderator.

I will update later tonight.