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leadman · Veteran Member

Appearance 10
Ergonomics 9
trigger 7
accuracy 7

out of the box the phantom 500 is yet again another crosman diamond in the rough special but at 98.97 at wal mart i say buy one you really have nothing to loose.

the first few shots i used to sight it in dieseled pretty bad so that may have had an effect on accuracy. With open sights i was getting about 1.25 inch groups at 20-25 yards. This is partially my fault as i don't practice as much as i should with opens. With a scope however the grouping opened up to a 3.5 inch group likely due to the plastic/nylon bushings.

This phantom seems like it could benefit from three accuracy improving mods: Trigger polish and lube tune, metal bushings and a re-crown.

When compared to a couple airguns which have been chronied this gun shoots an honest 500 fps but it is in .22 so it hits hard with authority.

the only thing i dont like about the overall feel of this gun is the stock seems a little long, particularly in the area behind the trigger. this maybe i have been shooting 22xx's and qb78's all year with minimal springer time. i will preform a couple tunes to it and report back any improvements.

Eric

calvin0 · New Member

I am having the same accuracy problem... sometimes it will go as far off as 1 inch at 10m..(random direction) I am using the tasco 3-9x 40mm scope.. I am wondering maybe the recoil of my phantom is so strong that it shifted the glass inside my scope each shot... (my phantom is *cough* modded, but no washer added). Cause each time when I cock the barrel back into position i hear some glass clicking sound inside the scope...

and yeah i did add metal washer to the barrel hinge thingy too.. i belive its 61-2591-4 in Cantire... but i didn't measure the thickness of the washer using a caliper.. so i don't know if its a good fit or not.. i don't know if the accuracy thing is by me or the gun.. anyone got some shooting tips for springer rifle? Wink

Cal.

dedpool · Veteran Member

thats a little dissapointing

AirGunEric · Site Admin

Metal barrel bushings would likely help correct any windage shift- but not likely affect elevation issues if in fact the bushing are the problem.

The dieseling is the lube the Chinese manufacturer used- trying "shoot it off" will take 3-400 shots based on Rene and my findings. If you plan on inspecting the internals- probably just as easy to clean out the Chinese lube and do it properly.

Don't know if the barrel crowns are generally bad on these guns- it's almost guaranteed on a Crosman Co² gun to need work- not sure about the consistency on the springer's crowns.

Calvin: If you have glass clinking around in your scope- something's not right!

Look in the Documents and Links forum for a "Shooting Guide" topic- it is set-up for springer training and has some good tips on shooting.

The outdoorsman · Veteran Member

calvin0 · New Member

Would the barrel be more stable if I tighten the barrel hinge screw? cause its pretty loose right now.. when I am cocking the gun the screw moves with it as well.. Crying or Very sad

AirGunEric · Site Admin

Definitely tighten the hinge screw. Wobble or play there will allow barrel shift and affect accuracy. It should have had "blue" (medium strength) Loc-tite threadlocker on its threads- but the Chinese don't seem to use very much so perhaps it has loosened causing what you describe.

calvin0 · New Member

I am starting to think that maybe the plastic defult barrel hinge washer would do better then a metel washer.. because the plastic could compress making a better fit, also the plastic washer is a little bit thicker then the metal one...

Cal.

AirGunEric · Site Admin

Some people have apparently used a very thing metal washer and placed it over top of the plastic washer! I'm not sure how hard it is to move the barrel afterwards or what that does to the plastic bushing- but it's got to be pretty tight!

Kevin26 · New Member

Is it possible to order something on-line from a walmart here in Canada? Please reply, but in the meantime i'll go investigate this Smile

AirGunEric · Site Admin

I don't think Wal-Mart in Canada has anything for sale online- at least they did not a few months ago. I would think, however, that even if they have started, airguns might not be something they would offer online due to age restrictions.

I don't know where you are exactly- but are there no Wal-Marts near you that carry airguns?

calvin0 · New Member

so AirGunEric... is your phantom shooting ok? or do you have the same problem like us? Crying or Very sad

do you use steel or plastic hinge washers?

AirGunEric · Site Admin

That's a very good question- but one I can't answer very definitively. I haven't had alot of time to do much of anything airgun-related for the last couple of weeks. My Phantom absolutely has accuracy problems- but so far I've been blaming that on the crap Crosman 4x15 scope I had laying around. I still have the stock plastic washers/bushings in it- but will get to changing those out soon I hope to see what happens.

I will end up putting a better scope on it, mounting it on a bi-pod and having a little 'shoot-out' to test its accuracy. Hopefully I can get to it this week. But first I need to mount a light above my outdoor target stand- in another month of so, it will be dark by the evening and I may not be able to shoot without a light- so better get that done first, trying to mount the light in the dark later might be a bit problematic! Unfortunately I have too many odd jobs- last week I was helping a buddy construct a bed/shelving unit that is heavier and stronger than the walls of the room it will sit in, this week I need to get some automotive bits&pieces out of the way, and there's probably about 20 more things I'm forgetting...

calvin0 · New Member

AirGunEric.. remember, airguns first! everything else is not as important! Laughing

Ok, I took some time today to change my metal washer brought from cantire back to the origanal plastic washer... result? now I can shoot dime sized group at 10m freehand... vs shooting 1" group resting on a bench before on metal washer...

So i conclude that it must be the metal washer that's affecting my accuracy.... for you guys thats having problem with accuracy.. try removing that metal washer and report here! Wink

Cal.

AirGunEric · Site Admin

Har har- that was a wonderful upgrade then, huh? Maybe the people I saw talking about using both the plastic and an add-in metal washer on a Quest awhile back weren't so far off!

This might also explain why the couple places that did (do?) make replacement washers used brass- which is softer than steel and may wear more readily into the right shape to allow the barrel to move properly, but tighter.

I wonder why at least a couple of people have reported that using the steel was a 'guaranteed' improvement? Either their guns were totally wrong out of the box, or maybe they didn't thoroughly compare the before vs. the after on this change?