Air Gun Home :: View topic - Searching for a quiet .22 pest control rifle

leadman · Veteran Member

i take it you havnt looked into multi pump pneumatics? the crosman 2289 is a good gun for the money is quite quiet if you throw on the 24 inch barrel, and can easily get shots into the 700 fps range with some simple mods. downfall is it takes around 30 pumps per shot but if you dont mind only doing that for hunting 5 or 6 is usually plenty for plinking

GnuDonkey · New Member

Thanks for all the tips. I decided to go with the 850. Glenn at Umarex USA shipped a discounted unit to me (and did so quickly). Haven't had a chance to shoot it, but I like the feel, fit and finish so far. Nice gun.

AirGunEric · Site Admin

Let us know what you think of it once you've tried it for awhile. So far, I've heard very few complaints about it and have been thinking of getting one myself (like I need another airgun...).

leadman · Veteran Member

you ALWAYS need another one

GnuDonkey · New Member

So far, great power and accuracy (1/4" groups, CTC, at 10 yards).

Question: I had problems zeroing in the 850. At 10 feet the first shots went 2" above my aimpoint. I couldn't click my scope that far, so I removed it and went to the sights. Still, same problem: about 2" too high. By this point, I'd shattered the curtain rod in my Crosman trap, causing all the pellets to smack(!) the metal back plate. Too loud. So I packed it away for a week.

After repairing my pellet trap yesterday I went out a second time. This time I decided, on a whim, to remove the compensator. Shooting from the sights at 10 feet, the shots went 3/4" below my aimpoint, right where you'd expect them to go. After minor corrections at 10 yards, I attached the scope, moved the target back to 10 feet and my pellets landed about 1" or 1.5" below my aimpoint, right where you'd expect them. After 15 minutes of minor adjustments I was pretty much placing pellets right on top of one another at 10 yards.

So now I'm looking at my compensator (no longer on the rifle) and it looks a tiny bit crooked. If I place it on the barrel and slowly rotate it, it seems to point up at the position I'd installed it, and after rotating it another 180 degrees, it seems to point down.

So, my questions: Could the compensator really affect the trajectory that much over just 10' (if at all)? If so, should I return the compensator, or just try to bend or shim it?

AirGunEric · Site Admin

Could the compensator... - I think you've answered it all on your own! Very Happy

The pellet is not supposed to contact a brake or compensator on most guns- but if one is bent enough- I guess a pellet could make contact- maybe more than once- totally throwing it off course. As an example- if you have a .22- the compensator should have an inner diameter of approximately 6.5-7.5mm (5.5 mm is the diameter of a .22 pellet- so there's not too much space for the pellet to travel within it- any bend or warp could be a problem.

Should you try to shim or bend it? I personally would just send it back to Glenn at Umarex (the compensator, not the whole gun) and ask that they send you a proper one. Perhaps this was why this gun was returned to them the first time around, they couldn't find anything mechanically wrong with it and assumed that was the end of it- then sold it as a refurb product. ("Refurbished" is a dubious term anyways- you never know what a specific vendor means by "refurbished" if they don't specify. One man's "refurb" is another man's "test" and another man's "repair"- this used to be quite common in the IT world- a "refurbished computer" could mean a machine where someone powered it up- if it looked good, they would blow out the dust and label it a "refurb", to other people "refurbished meant a complete disassembly and cleaning job- testing each part individually for quality and then reassembly and final testing).

GnuDonkey · New Member

Thanks. OK, I see ... I measured the muzzle opening of the compensator and it's 6mm. I have the .22 850, so 0.5mm of error over the length of a bent compensator doesn't seem all that far-fetched. Not at all, actually.

Returning it tomorrow.

FYI, I bought the compensator separately from Pyramyd. Glenn at Umarex described my 850 as a "demo," not a refurbished gun. Still $156 shipped.

It's a very nice gun, by the way. I put a Leapers 3-9x32 AO MilDot scope on it, attached with an Accushot one-piece high scope mount. Nice package.

AirGunEric · Site Admin

Ah- OK. If you got the compensator new from Pyramid- for sure return it. Maybe 50 other people have/will as well and the manufacturer has some problems that Pyramid should be made aware of- but if everyone fixes it on their own...