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flightsimmer · Member

I did a search on the Benjamin 392/397 air rifles and came up with nothing. Maybe I don't know how to use the search feature correctly.

Anyway, quite some time back I was looking for a good quality air rifle at a price I was willing to pay. I finally settled on a Benjamin 397 from K-Mart, they didn't carry the 392.

It's been a good air rifle, I used to use one that a friend of mine had when I was a kid, a few decades back.

I modified the trigger some to my liking and it works just great. The only gripe that I have ever had is the lack of a good scope mount for it. The only ones that I have found for it clamp onto the brass barrel, not good in my opinion. It squeeses the brass barrel which can effect accuracy and it slides around if hit during use. I would prefer one mounted to the wood stock if nothing else, at least it seems it would be more secure.

Some of the benefits of the pump action are that your not dependent on an outside source of power (CO2) or tools (seperate hand pump or bottle) and you can, if needed, vary the power by the number of pumps up to 8. I Cronied 750 fps (avg.) out of my 397 with 8 pumps using 7.9 gn Copperhead wad cutters.
It's also a short compact size and lightweight at 5.5 lbs. It also does not have to be held any special way to be accurate, just point and shoot. No recoil.

I have looked and looked for quite some time since and have found nothing that looks better for my needs. It's an old design (60+ years) that needs no improvement other than the scope mount in my opinion.

How do you like or dislike yours?

radar · Silver Status Member

I had the Sheridan Blue Streak .20 (5mm) caliber growing up, and I miss it. They are great rifles, and can be boosted in power to tremendous levels with proper modifications. At some point, I would like to have another.

-Rob

AirGunEric · Site Admin

To use the search feature you need to be precise, i.e. type in "Benjamin 392" OR "Benjamin 397" and then click the "search for all items". If you type something like "Benjamin 392/397" you have created a search that will only look for "392/397" as if it were its own word- and thus limited the potential posts to be found quite a bit.

SMP · Silver Status Member

As Radar said as well they are also known as "Streaks" by geezers such as myself.
Blue Streak\
Silver Streak

This is a possibility. Its breach mounted and you could easily have a gunsmith add securing screws ...or do it yourself