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dedpool · Veteran Member

My friend just gave me a crossman 66 powermaster. I'm shooting at a paper target about 10 yards away and all my shots are within an inch of the bullseye but I cant consistently get them inside the bullseye. Ive never really shot an airgun before so is this normal for airguns? or does the 66 powermaster suck? could it be damaged? do i need to learn to shoot better? I'm shooting BBs, not pellets. I pump the gun 10 times every time i shoot it. I rest the gun on a sandbag when shooting so its pretty steady. It wasnt windy outside so i doubt thats the problem. I thought about adjusting the scope but my shots dont seem consistent enough for that yet. Any hints or advice you guys could give me would be a great help. thanks

StevieLaner7777 · Moderator

HI Dedpool

Sorry! But I don't know too much about the Crosman PowerMaster 66 Air rifle, But here's what I think anyway:

This problem might be because the PowerMaster is only a smooth-bore so don't expect too much accuracy from it, But I would have thought it might have been a bit more accurate than that at ~10M! Especially at that velocity!! This might be another case of a bad crowning job from Crosman again, Have you tried using pellets in it instead???

Here's an image so people can see what rifle your talking about:

Power Source: pump
Caliber: .177 (4.55 mm)
Max Velocity: BB: up to 690 fps(210.3 m/s) Pellet: up to 645 fps(196.5 m/s)
Capacity: Reservoir: 200 BBs, Magazine: 18 BBs
Length: 38.5" (97.79 cm)
Weight: 2 lbs. 15 oz. (1.33 kg.)
Material: Stock and Forearm: Synthetic
Barrel: Steel

Best wait until a few more people respond to your post before you take action.

Stevie Thumb Up!

AirGunEric · Site Admin

As Stevie pointed out, "dual-use" guns- as in those that will shoot both pellets and BBs are generally less accurate that a "pellet-only" gun. The bores on them are generally smooth to accommodate BBs (rifling does very little for round balls)- and even the ones with shallow rifling, it tends to wear down when steel BBs are shot regularly- so pellet shooting is also less accurate.

What distance are you shooting from? And what is the target "group" size- i.e. from center of the furthest two shots in a 5-shot string (for example, 30ft distance and group size 1")? Knowing this maybe we can suggest if the gun is performing as might be expected or if it does appear to have a legitimate problem.

All that being said, the Crosman PowerMaster (Stevie posted the newest version of the gun, which is now labeled a "Powermaster 664SB"- but all versions of it are essentially the same mechanics) is not what could be termed much more than a "lower end" gun so it's accuracy from the factory is probably not the greatest in any event. Also, as Stevie mentioned, Crosman seems to have problems on many of their guns the last few years with quality control on the barrel crowns- which, if not done correctly, can lead to inaccurate shots generally- as well as alot of "strays" that don't stay anywhere near where the majority of shots land.

Measure your shooting distance and group size and let us know. Using the sandbag so the gun doesn't move around is a good idea to help eliminate the shooter from the experiment- but make sure you always place your shot with the sight in the exact same position (i.e. dead center on a scope or right above the front hole/plastic colored insert if using the guns sights)- sometimes people won't think about it and one shot will be targeted one way, the next slightly differently- sounds a bit silly I'm sure- but it does happen.

Let us know what happens...

23ib0d0n · Moderator

http://www.chiefaj.com/full_bb_story.htm

This is what you'll want to know about a bb's capacity for flying straight. Thumb Up!

AirGunEric · Site Admin

dedpool · Veteran Member

im getting a 3 inch grouping at a distance of 10 yards

thanks for the input so far guys

StevieLaner7777 · Moderator

Hi Dedpool

Like I said, Try putting some Pellets though it to determine whether its the round ammo or the Rifle.

Stevie Thumb Up!

AirGunEric · Site Admin

3" at 10 yards is definitely "wide" by pellet standards. Any wild "stray" shots you can't blame yourself for? However, on a lower-end gun shooting BBs it could be far worse.

And Stevie has a good plan- try some pellets and see what changes. This would eliminate the BBs themselves as the problem, or if it is indeed the gun.

dedpool · Veteran Member

holy crap guys! those pellets are awesome!! now im getting about at 2 inch grouping at 25 yards!!! (and thats without the sand bags) Thanks so much fellas

StevieLaner7777 · Moderator

Hi Dedpool

Glad to hear that this worked out for you in the end!
Now think of what the gun can do with a rifled barrel and pellets Vibrating Smiley

I think the initial problem might have been that either the BB's were physically imbalanced as 23ib0d0n mentioned in earlier on in the thread, Or the BB's were getting hung up on the barrels receiver crown just before entering the barrel it's self causing the BB the be disbalance evenly whilst traveling down the barrel towards the muzzle causing more resistance on one side of the bore or the other that would make the pellets start to back-spin within the smooth bore barrel causing a similar effect to "Hop-up systems" that are only found on Air-soft guns, But in this case an uncontrolled 'Hop-up' in either random direction causing the accuracy problems, IMO that is anyway.

I hope I haven't confused you too much! Fell free to ask any Q's!!

Stevie Thumb Up!

AirGunEric · Site Admin

I'm glad you got that sorted out.

And a good lesson for everyone- now we have further proof of why you can buy 5 times as many BBs as pellets for the same dollar, and why most airguns that shoot bbs have a huge reservoir to hold them- they aren't generally made for accuracy- just good fun plinking.

Just4Him · Member

You can also try pumping to not more than 8 times. You may find it to be a little more accurate that way. I also own a Powermaster 66 and using BB's for ammunition it seems to be a little more accurate only pumping 8 times though you don't have quite the velocity it seems to be more stable in flight.

I bought a set of speedloaders for the pellets and that works very good. I tried RWS pointed pellets which are ok but I seem to get a better and more accurate shot group using Crosman Wadcutters.

I bought some Daisy pellets to try them out also but so far I haven't had the time.

I just got a Powermaster 760 given to me which is basically the same as the 66 so I'm going to compare how they do using the same ammo.

Steve Smith

dedpool · Veteran Member

I'm using the Daisy Pellets right now, they work great. I havent tried the crosman wadcutters, let me know if they work better than the Daisy ones. Where did you buy the speedloaders?

Just4Him · Member

I got the Wadcutters from Wal-Mart in Missouri. However you can buy them online throught Crosman, Pyramid Air or any number of other retailers.

I bought the speedloaders from Crosman. I paid a lot more than they're worth to get them but my father has cancer and he was unable to use a rifle anymore since they put the Mediport in his shooting shoulder.

I gave him a Powermaster 66 with a scope and it was just to difficult to load pellets without the speedloaders. They work really good and it's much easier to use pellets that way.

You can also get them off Amazon.com but again you're going to pay.

It cost about $4.00 for the speedloaders and $5.00 to ship them. I didn't have to buy anything else or I could have combined purchases and saved on shipping.

Steve

AirGunEric · Site Admin

Dedpool has the earlier '66 (pre-2001) which apparently doesn't like the clips/autoloaders. Don't suppose you know of any that will work on the earlier version of this gun?