108. Several conclusions can be made from that chart. First, and certainly very important, is the fact that the rifl e was amazingly accurate at 50 yards. Second was the fact that the muzzle velocity did not drop off as the pressure in the rifl e began to diminish. And third, only after the pressure had dropped below 2,000 psi did I observe any notable reduction in its accuracy. That would equate to essentially no loss in performance until about 30 pellets had been sent down its barrel. And even then, the accuracy of the following dozen shots wasn’t all that bad. But while the factory recommends that for the best results you should maintain the operating pressure of the Benjamin at 1,000 to 2,900 psi, I would recommend keeping it to 2,000 psi and above. I believe doing so will assure you of the highest possible level of accuracy and performance. And, as a side benefi t, it takes a lot less energy to pump up the rifl e back to the optimum level of 2,900 psi when starting at 2,000 rather than from a lower pressure level. TO THE FIELD
The real test for a gun intended
for hunting is to expose it to actual fi eld conditions. I had hoped to try out the Crosman Benjamin on ground squir- rels. I thought the rifl e would perform superbly for that purpose as long as I didn’t exceed my self-established limits of 50 yards and 2,000 psi. However, by the time I received the rifl e and complet- ed my primary work with it, the squir- rels had retreated below ground for the season. As an alternative, and a pretty good one at that, I turned the Crosman .25 toward cottontail rabbit shooting. Cottontails frequently can be a bit stubborn to kill because of their larger size and natural hyper tendencies. So, I thought this would be the perfect substi- tute for judging the rifl e’s effectiveness and knockdown potential. Once again, I was very pleasantly surprised by the Crosman’s performance. The 28-grain pellet impacted tremendously hard, producing a surprisingly high degree of tissue damage and very quick and humane kills. With a hit in the front shoulders, the pellet was responsible for nearly complete organ devastation. In virtually all cases the pellets penetrated completely, exiting out the other side of the rabbits. But aside from its accuracy and knockdown performance, I found the quietness of the report much to
When sighted-in at 50 yards to shoot 3/4-inch high (top left target), this essentially produces a dead-on point of impact at the close range of 25 feet (bottom left target).
my liking. I could leave my earplugs at home and the rabbits seemed to pay little or no attention to its fi ring. And, shooting off-hand, the ability to have a quick follow-up shot certainly came in handy on occasion. There was no lack of abilities on the part of the rifl e that resulted in a need for a quick follow- up shot. I have only myself to blame for those misses, but I choose to remain mute on that point. A LAST WORD
Even though at the onset I ques-
tioned the ability of the Crosman .25 caliber to produce an acceptable trajec- tory, velocity, and energy for hunting purposes, I quickly put those concerns aside. As long as a shooter understands the obvious range limitations, which I have demonstrated here, I believe
this rifl e could be a great asset to many varmint-shooting applications. Out to 50 yards, the accuracy was on par with many rimfi re rifl es and in some cases even better than some of my centerfi res. In addition, the energy and penetration on game was extremely impressive. While the quietness of its operation is a big advantage in any type of hunting application, this characteristic could be especially benefi cial when shooting in more congested areas where the local residents may not take kindly to the normal report of a rifl e. While it will be necessary for you to purchase pellets to shoot, pumped air is still free – at least until government bureaucrats fi gure out a way to tax it.
www.varminthunter.org Page 111
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