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Mentolio · Veteran Member

I received an email from Airgun Depot today, saying I ordered a Benjamin Discovery in .22. What a nice surprise, can't wait to get my hands on it! Too bad squirrel season ends for me in a couple weeks:(

Mike Lanum · Banned

You will like the disco for squirrels and pretty much everything else. Mine is very accurate with the crosman premiers.

Mentolio · Veteran Member

I hope so. I really like my Marauder, but my ridiculous state has made it illegal for me to hunt with (classified as a "silenced firearm"). I ran it without the baffles last year, but had some problems doing so. Decided this year it's just not worth the risk of taking it out, even without baffles, so on to the Disco. One thing I am looking forward to is the 2000 psi fill pressure. My 3000 psi scuba tank really only fills the Marauder to its max 3000 psi so many times. I expect the 2000 psi fill press to allow a significant increase in the number of fills.

Mike Lanum · Banned

The discovery does have a little bit of a bark, but I got one of those TKO muzzle breaks and now can shoot it in my back yard with no problems. I also ordered an extra barrel band to help stiffen up the barrel and improve accuracy. I use a Benjamin pump to fill my rifle, but I imagine you should get quite a few fills with your tank. I've got a marauder on the way and will still have to use the hand pump, but I'm ok with that for now. I do animal control work occasionally and these PCP air rifles make for a very nice addition to my arsenal of tools.

Mentolio · Veteran Member

I disassembled the breech, bolt, barrel, and hammer assembly as soon as I took it out of the box (after a few brief moments of admiration and new gun smell). I lubed the hammer and bolt with light oil, and cleaned the breech and barrel. I "discovered" a couple flaws in the barrel, however. There was a bit of a "lip" of metal surrounding the port, probably pushed up when the port was machined. This lip was definitely going to damage any pellets pushed past it, if they would push past it at all. A quick go with my Dremel, and the chamber was smooth. Secondly, the crown was pretty crappy. Valve lapping compound and a brass screw in my drill, with a few minutes of careful effort (as learned on this site!), and the crown was fixed. Reassembly was a bit of a chore (getting the correct barrel alignment was a little tough), but once done...YOWZA!
Yeah, a bit loud, but after about 100 shots it started to settle in. It started out as a bit of an air hog, and I was having MRod flashbacks. Then, it just seemed to mellow out. I took it out to the woods, and found that my POA/POI was significantly THE SAME from 10 yards all the way out to 45 yards when shot from a rested position...whaaat?!?
I mounted the scope as low to the barrel as I could, and between that and the power this thing makes, I didn't need to compensate with holdover/under until I reached out to almost 50 yards. I was shooting JSB Domed 15.89gr pellets at an average of 812 fps...like magic!
I ordered the TKO "muzzle break" to allow for neighbor friendly shooting, and will remove it when i go hunting. So sad that squirrel season is over TODAY. I was looking forward to upping my game with this gun!

lampy · Veteran Member

Mentolio · Veteran Member

Huh, funny...I've read examples where two (or even more) barrel bands, no barrel bands, and removing the stock weight improves accuracy. My gun was very accurate (I re crowned the barrel before I ever shot it) in stock form, just too loud to shoot in my backyard. I ordered the TKO Muzzlebreak, and installed it...and wow is it quiet! However, my accuracy seems to be suffering a bit. I did switch scopes (I needed the full size UTG for a springer, so the compact UTG is on it now), so it does need a bit of tweaking in the zero department. Zero not withstanding, my groups have loosened up significantly. The pellets are not hitting the break, the gun just shoots a bit looser. Anyone else have similar experience? My next step is to remove the TKO and go back to the stock weight, and see if things tighten up, I guess.

Edit: almost forgot to ask, does anyone have any experience with how much your POA/POI changes between the TKO and stock weight? I can only use the TKO for backyard target practice. I have to go back to the weight when I hunt.

Mike Lanum · Banned

I shot my disco one time with the open sights when I first got it. Hit a 3" orange target with it off hand at 20 yards, but it was so loud I didn't shoot it again until after I installed the TKO. I put a scope on it and zeroed it and it's been a great little shooter ever since. I did finally install the front sight on the TKO and sighted it in then put the scope back on it and re-zeroed it. Like having back up sights in case the scope gets knocked around. I have the double barrel band and although I haven't done any testing to see if its helped or not I do like the idea of locking the barrel down with both bands.

Mentolio · Veteran Member

Re-zeroed the scope on Sunday, using JSB Exact Domes in 15.89gr, which was the favorite pellet of my Disco (they were out of stock for awhile, but now I have four tins!). Still is, it would seem. Groups very well with the JSBs (though still a little "looser" than it did before the TKO). Funny, the gun just didn't seem so "pellet picky" before the TKO. I've really gotta take it to the range and put the stock weight back on it, then try some of the other pellets it used to like.
I really like the idea of a second barrel band near the muzzle, as I'm always afraid I'm going to bash the muzzle into something and bend the barrel. Hey Mike Lanum, when you get some time let me know if the double band affected accuracy either way.