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scfalconry · New Member

I'm Marty in S.Carolina (USA) and haven't shot airguns much for the past 20 years. I recently bought a Crosman G1 Extreme break barrel single shot pellet rifle in .177 So far I'm not real impressed and was wondering if anyone else in the forum had one and what they thought of theirs.

I've shot several pigeons with mine at less than 100ft. I could hear the pellet impact and see the feather explosion but the birds were capable of fleeing. After this happening several times I've not used the rifle for pigeons again. I'm after a clean kill... not just wounding. Several of the succesfull shots were head shots... and a few semi-succesful shots were placed on the shoulder.... which resulted in a a broken wing and manual dispatch. <arrrgh>

The Crosman packaging states "UP TO 100FPS" After some research online I've found that the actual FPS is more likely 850FPS. Is that enough to hunt pigeons size birds? BTW... pigeons are a non-idegenous pest species in USA and further more my redtail hawk and my kestrel love to eat pigeon! So It's legal for me to shoot them... and I'm not just doing it for fun! I also like to take starling and Euro-house sparrows.

When I was a teen I had a break barrel .177 air rifle... K-Mart or Wal Mart special. Don't remember what brand or model.... but the report from it had a CrAcK! (Exceeding the sound barrier) My current Crosman G1 Extreme doesn't seem to give the CRACK that I so fondly remember from 20yrs ago. Has their been some legislation change in the past 20 years that has reduced the power of air rifles in the USA? Or is my memory hastily remembering the good ole days and only the shots from that ole rifle where the squirrels fell over on the spot with one shot.

Also to add injury to insult.... the 40mm 3-9x tactical style recticle scope that came with the G1 was broken .... within my first few shots I noticed the recticle canting right and left after every shot. I removed it and installed a Bushnell 3-9 50mm that was on a 22 hornet that had been collecting dust in the gun rack. I've had the G1 for 2 weeks and been to busy to take the scope back to Walmart for replacement. Of course I haven't been to busy to put 3 boxes of of .177 crosman wad cutters through the rifle.... (total of 1500 shots!) so shame on me for not taking the scope back.

Speaking of the wad cutters... I bough some of the pointed "Daisey .177 Precision Max Pellets" Thinking they will give better penetration. Every shot is several is about 6 inches to the left of where the wad cutters find their mark. This is at 30 paces (about 80 feet) I familiar with different brands of ammo placing differently on paper vertically... but what is up with the horizontal difference thing. I bought the poited daisey pellets this afternoon and ran out of shooting light within 30 minutes... so will try it more tomorrow. But I swear the pointed ammo was grouping 6 inches left of the wad cutter group at a 80ft away target.

It might not be a pigeon gun... but it does fair on paper plates at 30 paces.
I have another target out at 80 paces (an empty blue bird box made of plywood) and have to aim 1&1/2 foot over nest box but have been really impressed with the group at that distance. From a bench rest (ok... the hand rail of my porch) Using the 9X setting on the scope...I got a 4 shot group in 6" circle at 80 paces. (About 200ft) Penetration into the nest box plywood at 200ft was just enough to capture the pellet and keep it from from bouncing off. BTW no I'm not shooting blue birds... We had several active nest boxes this year ... on of the produced two clutches! the nest boxes are empty. <grin> and .. made a convienient target.

So finally... does this G1 Extreme sound like it has the power it is supposed too? Or did i just get a bad rifle... with matching crappy/broken scope... or am I expecting too much for $130 USD?

Thanks,
Marty in S.C.

23ib0d0n · Moderator

I'm in SC also, about 30 miles north of Columbia and have been goofing with these silly bbguns for about 25 years now. The crosman springers are chinese made from the information I've gathered and it is a 'hit or miss' kinda thing. A couple of friends have bought excellent ones and others have had your experiance with them.
I like some of the crosman stuff but seems to me like most spring guns do much better after a tune. {not just the chinese springers either}
The size of the birds may also have something to do with how effective .177 is as well as which specific pellets {with lower or higher ballistic coefficients} especially at longer {airgun} distances.
Body shots usually do better with the bit higher energy .22 springers though .177 is notorious for flatter trajectories with surgical {headshot} accuracy. A tune and possibly the crown of the barrel could help the gun shoot the way you'd like. Alot of good info here and here to look over.
A little work on the crosman may turn it into a real shooter. Good luck with it . . .

AirGunEric · Site Admin

The G1 Extreme is using the B1x platform (IB brand airguns- made in China). Crosman bought the rights to it a few years ago and makes Quests, Phantoms and the G1's of it. What you have is basically a Phantom 1000 with that 3-9x32 scope and a muzzle break on it. As I recall is also comes as a "kit" so you get some other stuff in the box with it (targets and such).

The B1x/Quest/Phantom guns are actually very very good for the price (a Phantom 1000 retails for about $89.95)- but I cannot speak for the scope attached to it. By getting the G1 Extreme for $130- you are basically getting a super cheap 3-9x32 scope, muzzle brake and targets. Take away the $90 for the gun and the rest cost you $40. Muzzle breaks typically cost $10-15, add in a couple bucks for the targets and such- and that scope is basically a $25 item- how good do you think it's going to be (actually- you already found out- Mr. Green

).

All that being said, the gun will typically, using 7.9gr pellets, push about 800-850fps- that "up to 1000fps" has never been proven by anyone but was undoubtedly accomplished in a nice clean lab somewhere using 5.5gr pellets- which are pretty much useless in any situation.

At even 800fps, using .177 lighter-weight pellets- your shots may actually be going right through your targets- allowing them to fly or crawl off to bleed to death. Perhaps try a heavier hollow-point pellet (Crosman Premier Hollow Points are still around 7.9gr- so perhaps a Beeman Kodiak or such would be a better option). You can see pellet specs here: http://www.airgunhome.com/pages/pelletspecs.html Using a heavier pellet will slow it down and a hollow point will tend to expand more on hitting the target- helping to avoid it going all the way through.

Many people have tried using .177 lighter-weight pellets on birds- but at higher velocities they tend to go through- lower powered guns can actually do a better job of bringing down a target- but the range is not as great. Stevie here has brought down a few rats using a Crosman 1077 (.177, 7.9gr pellets) at 100feet- but the gun only achieves about 600fps with those pellets.

My suggestion is to try the different pellets and return that scope- maybe you'll get lucky and end up with one that had a bit better Quality Control monitoring at the factory. If you have a Co² gun- use the replacement on it- there is virtually no recoil on them, whereas a mid-range Magnum springer like the G1 has dual recoil- forward and reverse- due to spring mechanics, which can eat cheap scopes very quickly.

Your other questions/comments- the "crack" you got on guns from 20-30 years ago may have been sonic, but probably not from a K-Mart gun- almost no guns in that time period were equipped to break the sound barrier- especially not lower-end stuff. Some guns were just terribly noisy mechanically, some just dieseled (burning lube in the barrel)- some modern airguns do the same as well. In any event- no new laws have been created in the US since then regarding power output limits and such.

Ah, here's what I forgot: Pellets work differently in every gun. You might find one pellet that works great in your rifle, but works very poorly in someone else's gun (even the same manufacturer and model of rifle!)- machining tolerances in barrels (and in some pellets) vary. Go to the pellet page I listed above- and notice the head diameter differences even among pellets of the same caliber! The only way to get one that works the best in a specific gun is trial-and-error. I have found on the B1x platform guns like the G1 that tight-fitting pellets work best. Not so tight you have to really ram it in the barrel- but a snug fit, not one where you insert the pellet and it drops 1/4" down the barrel!

scfalconry · New Member

23ib0d0n and AirgunEric,

Thank you both for your comments.... I'm feeling a bit better about the G1. Maybe the shots are going straight thru. I'm going to get several different styles, weights and brands of pellets... and find out what will turn this G1 into a tack driver and ensure a clean kill.

After all the not so great things I had to say about it... in my earlier post... I guess I should admit... I do like the fact that I could adjust the trigger pull with a screw driver without even having to open the reciever.

We (my 8yr old son and I) have a a 760 pump master bb/pellet rifle (maybe 550FPS).... and the G1 Extreme definately out performs the pumpmaster. While target shooting the past two weeks it has shown much more penetration into the plastic 50 gallon drum we hang the targets on.

Thanks again... and I guess I'm off to check out those links both of you gave... to learn more about the G1 Extreme. I kinda feel like if I'm not carefull... There will be a much much more expensive airgun around before Christmas. <big> This is very addictive! I've like my rimfires and centerfires... but the pellet rifle is providing me and my son ALOT of entertainment for much less and we don't have to drive to a rifle range.

Marty in S.C.

scfalconry · New Member

Just went out in the yard and did a better comparison of the Daisey Precision Max pointed pellet and the Crosman Competition Wad Cutters.

My G1 Extreme definately doesn't like the Daisey pellets. At 30 yards and aiming at a 1/4" bulleyes eye with gun losely held and steadied on banister rail of my porch......
Daisey group was over 7" and mostly left and down.
Scope was sighted in using the Crosman wadcutters...
Crosman wadcutters grouped 3/4".

I should have brought my calipers home from work.. but the daisey ammo's skirt barely fits into my gun at all. However the head of the pellet seems sloppy/loose in the barrel. The Crosman wadcutters seem very uniformand snug at head and skirt contact.

Guess I now have rulled out one brand/type of pellet.... on to the next.

Marty

AirGunEric · Site Admin

"Airguns" and "addictive" are two words that often get put together!

I think I may make my new motto "Airguns: cheaper, quieter, just better." Very Happy