15 replies to this topic

[Hotchkiss]

Since the Quail season is over until Oct. Can't hold the itch to shoot somthing. Finally decide to get my first air rifle. After reading many posts and don't have bunch of extra $$$ to spend. Fall to the sale deal on big 5 and Amazon. Went to Big 5 today to picked up Benjamin Regal NP .177 today and ordered the Benjamin Trail NP XL 1100 .22 . Hope I made the right choice tp start with.Now the first step has done and time to learn which pellet if best for both of my rifle. I have read the break in take at least 100 shots for Nitro Piston air gun. I am planning to using Crosman Premier hollow point to sign in my scope and break in the NP. not sure now many gr since it didn't show on the package. I think it is 7.9 gr. Should I use a bit heavier pellet?Can't wait to break in the rifle and go out hunting rabbits and ground squirrels.Ken

[ShooterJohn]

Just stick with a domed pellet. The other varieties just aren't as accurate especially for hunting of any sort.

[Bennie]

One of my friends has a Benjamin Trail. It is a good shooting air rifle for the money so far. He has had it for about a year. Shoots hard and I have seen him make some 50 yard shots with it consistently. I have also seen him make some farther shots. So far I think it is a good rifle. Another friend just bought one after shooting his.

[Air Rifle Hunter]

Hotchkiss,ShooterJohn is spot on with the "Domed" pellets being the most accurate. Any pellet that has a point or hollow point will not be as accurate. Hollow Points (the CPHP's) are not too bad, but the pointed pellets are especially inaccurate in most air rifles.Figure on the break in period for the Nitro-Piston rifles being at least 500 shots (a full tin of pellets). If you want better accuracy right away, clean the barrel with cleaning patches and get the factory gunk and oils out of the barrel. That will help allow the pellets to "lead" the barrel more quickly and you'll notice a remarkable improvement right away.I'm not familiar with the Benjamin Regal NP, but I owned a Benji Trail NPXL1100. I can tell you that they shoot fast for a break-barrel air rifle because of the NP power plant inside. The factory trigger is horrible though. You'll see what I mean. It is extremely "Glitchy" and hard to tell exactly when you are initiating the second stage. Sometimes I would feel like it was going to fire about 6 to 8 times before it actually did because of all of the glitches in the trigger. If you aren't concerned about the warranty (which is 1 year and if you modify the gun it voids the warranty), you can immediately order a GRT-III replacement trigger from Charlie Da Tuna's website. I put one of those in mine before I ended up trading it for a Benjamin Discovery .22, and I can tell you that once I put that trigger in and modified the Bear Trap Lever just a bit to allow the safety to still work properly, it was a dream to shoot. My groups went from 1 1/2" at 20 yards to .625" or less at 20 yards, because I could tell when it was ready to fire. The new owner said that he is able to get 1" groups with it at 60 to 70 yards easily with it and gets velocities between 890 and 900 FPS with the CPHP's. I personally head shot ground squirrels with it at 45 and 55 yards easily. With a good trigger it can be a great air rifle.If you have any questions about the NPXL1100, feel free to post it and I'll answer honestly what I can. Have fun!

[Hotchkiss]

Thanks for advice John. I have read some of your previous posts by using domed pellets that shoots more accurate than pointed. I will use the domed pellets for target practic and shooting cans. How about if I want to hunt for rabbits and squirrels? Should I use hollow point or something like Gamo red fire pointed ( with a little pointed on the center of pellet). I have read some discussion that hollow point pellet should used on more powerful air rifle or it won't give you the advantage of this type of pellet. This is my first time getting into Air rifle so there are still many questions in my head trying to learn and discover. Can't wait to my first shot this afternoon when I gets home. Just mounted and adjust the scoop last night and put a thin layer of gun oil to clear her already. lol..Ken

[ShooterJohn]

Honestly Ken anything but the domed pellets just won't give you the accuracy you need to hunt. Like others on here I've tried every type and shape of pellet and the domed are far superior in performance and accuracy. Like Air Rifle Hunter state above. But give some a try and do your own testing and you will be a believer. You may want to make one of the silent pellet traps mentioned at the top of the forum. I've put thousands and thousands of pellets into the ones I've made and they will improve your accuracy and comfort with your airguns. It is one of my favorite pastimes during the winter to shoot 50 or so pellets a night offhand to help keep in practice.

[Hotchkiss]

Thanks for the great information Air Rifle Hunter ^^. I will play around for a couple days and will take your suggestion to replace the trigger to see the difference. Thanks so much.!! Sure I will take your offer if I have question regarding NPXL1100 after I receive it.Thanks in advance!! I will play with Regal NP I got from Big 5 for this weekend and see how I feel.Ken

[Hotchkiss]

This is the result after sign in my Regal NP .177. at 30 feet distance. 3 shots got 2 and half bullseye. I am happy now and can't wait to take it out for hunt. Ken

[ratassassin]

Good going. I agree with the others that domed pellets are the way to go. Go to Pyramydair.com and order some JSB Exacts or Beeman Field Target Specials for your .177. They've always worked well in my rifles (R7, R9, ProSport and RWS 34 Panther Pro Compact). Domed pellets retain more energy and accuracy at farther distances because they have less drag than a wadcutter or hollow point. That said, if you need cheap, readily available pellets from Walmart, go with the Crosman Premier Hollow Point 7.9 grain. Surprisingly, they shoot almost as accurately as the JSB's in my rifles. And they seem to be made of a harder metal alloy than the JSB lead pellets.

[Hotchkiss]

Had to return the Regal NP .177 to the store. I shot one tin of Crosman Premier ultra Magnum 10.5 gr pellets and every 2 or 3 shots I got a flyer. I checked and heard something was inside wabbling and not sure what it was. took it back to the store and they don't have new one to exchange.Received my Benjamin Trail NP XL .22 yesterday. It was huge and lot heavier than .177 , I mounted the scope and fire around 10 shots before gets dark. What a different than .177. It was a bid louder but I guess it is still not break in yet. But at 50 feet before sight in. I got the group like 2 inches.This afternoon after about 50 shots. I tried sight in the scope and I was happy with the result. 50 feet with 5 shots all in the center.Can't wait to take it out tomorrow.By the way. I have found that Amazon has Benjamin Trail NP all weather .177 was on sale for $175.82 . It come with the same scope as NP XL ( 3-9X40mm AO). Is this a good .177 rifle? Should I get this instead of Regal NP? Any suggestion please help.Ken

[Air Rifle Hunter]

Ken,The Nitro-Piston rifles will provided a smoother firing cycle and typically give you more power than a spring piston air gun. Also, you don't run the risk of compressing the spring if left cocked too long when you are using a Nitro-Piston because there isn't a spring to compress (I know the Regal is a Nitro-Piston, I just thought I would mention that in case you weren't aware of it). As far as whether the All-Weather NP is better than the Regal NP... I don't know. The All-Weather stock will most likely be more scratch and weather resistant than the wood stock. I would read reviews on some of the websites that specifically sell air guns and nothing but air guns.Concerning your groups with the Trail NPXL 1100, that second target does look much better. It definitely takes time to get the hold down for that rifle and figure out the trigger too. Eventually (especially if you repace the factory trigger with the GRT-II trigger) you will get those groups to be 1/2" to 1" at 20 to 30 yards and better once you've got the rifle figured out. The NPXL1100 is a heavy gun. Most of that weight is in the action of the gun (compression chamber is really heavy). It is a real fun air rifle though and you will undoubtedly get quite a few critter with it.One thing to mention... I know in the manuals is says to oil the parts in the compression chamber, but don't ever do it! You'll end up blowing your seals and have to have it repaired. The seals and rings in most modern air guns are self-lubricating. You can grease the pivot joint where the barrel breaks, but that is about all I would do. Maybe in 2 or 3 years you can put a drop in the chamber (a very, very small drop since it doesn't take much) but even then, if the gun is shooting good, don't mess with it. .Let us know what you decide to get instead of the Regal NP.

[Hotchkiss]

Thanks for all the great information Air Rifle Hunter. I have went through lots of reviews on Benjamin trail NP all weather. Other than couple review complain about accuracy and mostly on the trigger. I have sent my order to Amazon and give this trail NP a try. By looking at picture and spec. The barrel looks just like the Regal with same 1200 fps, But the scope and mount will be lot better than the Regal and it comes with a sling. I will give it a try and reply with update/ As for the oil to lubricate the chamber with RMCoil. I was going to order one as recomment to use every couple hundred shoots, I think I will take your advice and save me 6.99 for it. Also do I need to clean the barrel as often as my regular rifle ? I heard from a friend that he never clean the barrel on his air rifle. Is this true?Ken

[crazyhorse]

Good rule of 'thumb' re cleaning airgun barrels is to clean only if your accuracy falls off...I have several PCP's, pumpers and one R9 .20 cal springer...none of which I clean the barrel unless I notice accuracy issues...

[Air Rifle Hunter]

Exactly what Crazyhorse said.However, I recommend when you first get the rifle to run a few dry patches down the barrel until they come out clean. This will get most of the factory "gunk" out and help get you shooting more accurately faster. After that, I don't touch the barrels until they start to have accuracy problems with pellets I know are accurate in the rifle. Then I'll run a patch with a few drops of Hoppes #9 down the barrel and then follow that with clean, dry patches until they come out fairly clean.If you follow that method and like Crazyhorse mentioned, you'll do just fine.

[Hotchkiss]

Thanks Crazyhorse and Air rifle hunter's info. I do learn a lot form you guys, Really appreciated.I couldn't go out today due to the mom duty. Instead I have tried sight in my .22 at back yard and loving this XL 1100. I tried 75' sight in and was having accueacy issue early but I managed it and got it done. The trigger does have long pull and I need to get used to it and feel it how far back until it is firing. Not consistant and also felt that if I take extra breath to stopped and pull the trigger again, It will stay where I stop and quicker firing after. I guess I will wait for couple of months before change to the better trigger due to the warranty.This is the result and I am ready for take her out for hunt.Center are head shots and body shots on the right. still missed some but I should be able to get 7 or 8 out of 10 shots. I am ready. ^^Ken

[Air Rifle Hunter]

Those shots look pretty good.As a suggestion, if those shots are at 75ft, I wouldn't try to shoot any live targets that are any further away than that distance for the time being until you can easily keep all shots (or at least 90% or better) at any distance within a 1" or less grouping. From the look of the shots on the target I would say from outside to outside of all of those shots your group would be around 1" or less at 75ft (25 yards). So just as a suggestion, if you want your shot to be an humane and instant (or as instant as possible) kill shot, stick to around 30 yards or less. The reason I mention this is that ground squirrels (and other squirrels for that matter) have small heads with an extremely small kill zone. The kill zone on a squirrel is about 1/2" to 1" max (I'd say it is actually closer to 1/2" to 5/8"). The kill zone on a rabbit is about the same even though the head of a rabbit is larger, the kill zone spot is not really that much bigger. With the FPS that an air rifle shoots at with the chosen pellet, you want it to deliver that "kill shot" everytime. I've made a few judgement errors since taking up air gunning and I'm just trying to pass along some advice, that's all. Once you get the GRT-III replacement trigger, your grouping size will decrease and your shots will be more accurate.