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JMortensen · New Member

I have a squirrel/chipmunk problem and so I decided to get a pellet gun, since they're generally pretty unafraid of humans and I can probably take shots from 20 feet away. I didn't want to spend a lot so I went down to the local pawn shop and took a look. They had several rifles, the best looking was a Daisy 500 Winchester rifle which had a nice walnut stock, etc, but next to it was a Crosman 3100. I wrote down the model numbers and went home and found that there were a lot of people saying good things about the Crosman on the internet, and the Daisy people didn't seem to be so hot on, so I went back the next day and paid $39 for the Crosman.

I got some Crosman wadcutter pellets and set up a target at approximately 10 yards, and the best group I could get out of it was about 1.5". At this point I noticed that it had a 3/8" weaver rail on it, so I took an old .22 scope and put on it and tried again. Still getting the same size groups. So I tried cleaning it. I don't have any .177 brushes, but I used some Hoppes #9 and rolled up .22 patches and pushed them through the bore. It looked a lot better, but I'm finding the gun still shoots pretty poorly. Today I bought some pointed tip pellets, and I'm getting the same results. It's only 2 different types of ammo, but they both shoot consistently bad. The hits are all over, left and right, and high and low, they're not strung out in a line side to side or up and down.

I really don't want to spend a lot on this, and if I would be better off getting a different rifle I will, but I was hoping there might be something else that I should look at before I give up and buy something else. I've glass bedded several centerfire rifles and finished a semi-finished stock, so I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty.

Anyone have any words of wisdom for me? Should I look at the muzzle crown and possibly try to improve that? I was thinking I could do something like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OorpZlG28fI Any other ideas?

AirGunEric · Site Admin

What is a Crosman 3100?

Can I assume you mean the 2100?

Just for the sake of mentioning it- the 2100 is a bb and pellet shooter- which means it is not exactly the most precise air rifle when shooting pellets. It does have a rifled barrel, but if mainly steel BBs were shot through it before you got it, the rifling is likely worn.

It is a pumper, so I don't think anyone could blame your "hold" for the issue. Try re-crowning the barrel and be sure the sights are lined up correctly afterwards. If things don't improve, no point in spending any more money on it- it's not a terribly expensive rifle even when new (i.e. about $70 in the US).

sniper · Silver Status Member

no, there is a 3100... i think.... springer???

i had one when i was a kid. (if that's the one)

can you post a pic j?

i remember it being a spanish made springer by crosman..??

JMortensen · New Member

Yes, it's the Spanish springer model (the one in the pics is apparently German, mine is Spanish).

Here is a page with a bunch of pictures:
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.177air.com/Crosman.3100.Diana.45.177.air.rifle/IMG_5536.JPG&imgrefurl=http://www.177air.com/Crosman.3100.Diana.45.177.air.rifle/&h=768&w=1024&sz=318&tbnid=Zq4IELjtIWT2NM:&tbnh=113&tbnw=150&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcrosman%2B3100%2Bpictures&hl=en&usg=__lh1NIFyndf0KE6K-pDtrT7ITFqs=&ei=afgNS9DDCoqMswPAlOzdDA&sa=X&oi=image_result&resnum=2&ct=image&ved=0CAwQ9QEwAQ

Here are some reviews:
http://www.airgunsmith.com/cgi-bin/airgun_review/reviews.pl?review=1126a

sniper · Silver Status Member

i thought so. i've had 19 million airguns thoughout life and that one was one of my favorites!

around 600 fps 7.9. killed many cans. Mr. Green

beyond that i can't help you. Rolling Eyes

kanyon · Silver Status Member

If its not accurate.....The old story...PELLETS
Change yer pellets....a good dome pellet...

Any air gun won't shoot any pellet...

Peter

Amigo · Veteran Member

JMortensen:

It looks like you are a new member, so I'd like to welcome you to AirGunHome, a nice place to be!

I agree with Pete, most airguns are finicky about the pellet the individual airgun "likes" the best, and I also tend to prefer trying domed pellets first.

First a note of caution about scopes. A non-airgun rated scope will not usually last long on a spring powered airgun because they are designed for recoil in one direction only. Spring powered airguns have recoil in two directions, and is one of the reasons they are generally "hold" sensitive.

However, no pellet can be accurate (consistant point of impact) if there are other mechanical problems like slop/looseness in the action to stock mounting and at the breech mounting, and don't forget snug sight screws.
Make sure all the stock to action screws are snug. Make sure the barrel breech pivot screw is snug/tight enough that there is no lateral movement of the breech in the forks, before or after lock-up. The lock-up mechanism must be free of all trace of dirt or crud of any kind, except for a film of clean oil, to eliminate variation in verticle lock-up position.

Now we get to the video link. On an older airgun of unknown history, a muzzle polish is a good idea especially if q-tip fibers will catch any burrs at the rifling, then it is a must do.
One thing not shown or mentioned in the video is the need to push a small tight patch(s) into the bore from the muzzle a short way to block polishing debris from getting into the barrel. When all polishing is complete, push the patches out from the breech end so that the patches come out the muzzle and push any polishing debris out ahead of them.

Now, provided there are not any other obvious problems, you are ready to try both yourself and various pellets for optimum accuracy. (Remember the earlier comment about "hold"?)

Have fun and good luck!

Amigo

JMortensen · New Member

On the subject of the barrel being loose, I figured that wouldn't really matter with the open sights because they're mounted directly to the barrel. I could definitely see this being a problem if the rear sight were mounted to the receiver and the front were on the barrel. I will go through and tighten up all the screws.

The rear sight is on a spring, so you can use the click adjustments on the elevation very easily. After it is adjusted though, you can push the sight up and down on the spring, the spring presumably returns the sight to the back of the screw which I think is supposed to hold it in the same position from shot to shot. It seems a little hokey to do it that way, but again, the reviews don't seem to call it a problem.

Good to know about the scope. I was aware that there were airgun scopes and rifle scopes, but not really sure what the difference was.

I tried the Q tip test, and it came out clean. The crown doesn't look bad at all. The lands and grooves look sharp. I just don't get why it won't shoot straight. They had the Gamo round nose pellets at Big 5. Maybe I'll give those a shot. If that doesn't work and tightening the screws doesn't work, it sounds like I need to buy a new gun.

broommaster2000 · Moderator

Hmmm, maybe maybe we can recommend some pellets. Not sure what's available at your place though... Gamo doesn't exactly produce the best pellets on the market...

JMortensen · New Member

I can mail order pellets. What would be good to try?