Benjamin trail NP

[sharpshooter94]

Anyone use the new benjamin trail np? Its a nitro piston system pushing a pba .22 cal pellet around "950 fps." Are these rifles worth the money? Accuracy? Stopping power?(not for anything larger than a crow) Thanks

[Twanger]

That's honkin' for a 22-cal slug.
I don't own that gun, but have a BSA SuperSport that throws a superdome hunting pellet about 650fps and it will kill a rabbit without trouble.
It will also down a ground-hog but I might have to hit him more than once.
Sounds like the gun you're looking at would really put a hurtin' on a ground-hog. Probably a 1-shot kill.

[sharpshooter94]

twanger,
they do the velocity tests with a special high velocity pellet called PBA(performance ballistic alloy). Then they take that number and round it up a couple times. its probably closer to 700-750 fps. but you're right that that would put a ground hog down quickly. I'm leaning more toward a .177 caliber rifle because I already have pellets. Either the Gamo CFX or the Hammerli storm are looking good right now. I have a Chinese off-brand rifle at the present. It works alright but I'm looking to get something a little more accurate. With some pellets I get 1 inch groups a 16 feet. The penetration also is not very good. It won't do anything but dent 1/4 inch ply at 40 feet. Anyone use the other guns mentioned above? (CFX and hammerli storm) Ideas for a new gun? I'm looking to keep it under $200. Thanks.

[Twanger]

My number of 650fps is through my chrony with a hunting pellet, so it's not one of these trumped up numbers.
I don't know what you could get a BSA SuperSport for, but I paid about $150 maybe 10 or more years ago.
They do (did?) make a fairly powerful .177 SuperSport.
You're right, the accuracy you're getting is not all that good.
When I'm holding right, I can get a 5-shot one-hole ragged groups at 17 yards in the basement.
Break-barrel guns are iffly if you've got a scope on them because you're moving that barrel every time you cock it.
An under-lever design is more accurate, and more expensive of course.
That said, I'm pretty happy with the accuracy of the SuperSport, even though it's a break-barrel.
Another consideration for you is a Benjamin Sheridan 177, 20, or 22-cal. These are all around $200 (some a little over) and are fixed-barrel multi-pump guns with a decent reputation for accuracy.

See: http://www.airgunwarehouseinc.com/benjamin-sheridan-pellet-guns.html

[GF.]

.20 cal is a great compromise in a lot of ways, but personal experience with a well-worn Sheridan Blue Streak is that the standard Sheridan conical pellets (which are all that was generally available 25-30 years ago) are not at all sure killers on big Fox squirrels. Even pigeon-sized birds routinely flew off after being hit solidly. And that's based on a sample size well into the hundreds... :embarassed:

Maybe it was the pellet design, though - that sucker would blow through 3/4' ply at close range, IIRC - 1/2" for sure - so it's not as if these were love pats we were puttin' on 'em.

I'd ignore the PBA ballistics, though, and look at a reasonably heavy hunting pellet. 650 fps is on par with a .22 short HP, isn't it? Those little suckers are distinctly effective on ground squirrels.

[ncboman]

I dug my R9 out this weekend and had some fun with the homesteading starlings around here.

It's in 20cal and sure smacks em with a wallop, much moreso than my RWS in .177cal. I don't even shoot the RWS anymore, even though it's a good bit faster and shoots a variety of pellets well.

Being the only .20cal I've ever owned, I don't know about all, but my R9 is VERY picky about what pellet it likes for precision accuracy. It's quite deadly with Benjamin domed pellets and when I found this out I stocked up from ebay. :cool1:

I think a .22cal would be cool with even more wallop. I like the wallop.

fwiw, I'm satisfied the guns we address will kill deer at close range, not that I intend to prove it, but they do have plenty power for cat size critters. :biggrin:

[sharpshooter94]

my 22cB shorts say 750fps but that is probably a little exaggerated. I don't know what's up with the gun I have now. I got it out for a while, put thread tape on the scope mount screws and its shooting 1 inch at 20 yards. I did switch to the crosman destroyers though. Kind of an odd design for a pellet. I keep going back and forth about what I should do. I have a Mosin nagant 91/30 I would like to scope. But between parts and gunsmithing it will cost around $300. Any half decent air rifle will cost at least $200 without a scope, so.........

[ncboman]

apples and oranges comparing the Mosin to a pellet rifle.

I haven't tried those pellets but I know of no pellet rifle that shoots all varieties of pellets well. Once you find what the gun likes, stick with it. To me, accuracy is more important than design.

If you had what you want in both guns, I bet you'll shoot the pellet gun more often if you can shoot around the yard ... but a tuned up Mosin Nagant is fun too. :cool1:

[Bayrat]

Maybe, maybe not, getting that kind of speed from a BenjiaminTrail NP ... even with the PBA pellets.

I have the more powerful Benji Trail NPXL1100, the magnum version of the Trail NP. Crosman says the XL will do 1100fps with PBA's but when I chrony'ed it, the PBA's only did 1071fps. With the same pellets, the NP does well over 100 fps slower than the XL.


However,both models of the Trail will easily take game bigger than a Crow. Here's just a sampling of what they can do.

A Trail NP gets a Raccon,
http://www.gatewaytoairguns.com/airguns/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=27497&mid=216489#M216489

A Trail Xl gets a Woodchuck,
http://www.gatewaytoairguns.com/airguns/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=27072&mid=213417#M213417

And if you want to learn more about the Crosman/Benjanin Trail series,
go here,
http://www.gatewaytoairguns.com/airguns/search/query.asp?collapsethreads=1

... and type in the keyword "Trail".

Enjoy,


Bayrat.