The QB88 Magnum, also called the Tech Force Chinese made spring poston sidelever of .177 and .22 caliber. Both use the same power plant. I know this because my .22 is labled .177 on the spring housing. The lever is on the right and kept secure by a gravity catch/safety. The lever pulls back to about 90 degrees and is fairly easy to cock. Once the lever is retracted, the pellet is loaded into the barrel end directly. The piston is held safely in place by two catches which are released by a button below the stock. This was kind of a mystery to me at first since the manuel is a poor traslation from the chinese and basically useless.
The barrel is heavy and strong with a 12 right twist, and topped by a very nice hooded front sight. The rear sight is adjustable for windage and elevation. The receiver is groved for a telescopic sight. Weight is 7.26 pounds.
The trigger is a good but strange affair. The safety is forward of the trigger. That's not so strange, but what is, is the travel of the trigger and the angle upon release. By the time the sear is tripped the trigger blade is angled so far back you are almost pulling it upward. This is an exaggeration, but you get the point. This is probably due to the long travel. Regardless, the pull weight is about five pounds, and smooth along the way. The pull weight is adjustable, but again no help from the manuel. As I have stressed before the oh-so imprortant triggger is a complement to this gun.
The stock is some kind of hard wood with a dark stain and heavy varnish. It is solid and generous. A rubber but plate and plastic spacer is included. Very solid. As for price I think the QB88 was named becuase it is Quite a Bargain for about $88, and the best part of the gun.
Now for the testing. Groups are under an inch at 25 yards, by they could be better except for frequent flyers. This leads me to believe the spring piston powerplant lacks a certain consistancy (or it's my hold on the bench). It's hard to say. The vibation is acceptable. I tried a variety of .22 pellets with no real change in group size. I think it has more accuracy potential though with proper spring-piston lubrication. It seems to be a popular gun. The supplier said he sold out quickly and I had to wait for his next shipment. The advertisement claims ~900 fps. I have not tested this. In total I am happy with this gun and suprised at the quality for the money. If anyone has great success with tuning, let me know. I have already seen one version in a homemade field target stock.
I just got this gun awhile ago and it is a great value. Crosman is really putting out quality merchandise. OK, the stats first. It is a CO2 rifle using 12 grm powerlets giving about 35 shots. It has a rifled steel barrel and is .177 caliber and has a barrel sleeve, which adds nicely to the heft and profile. It comes with iron sites and has standard dovetails. It is advertised to shoot 645 fps with 7.9 gr pellets. It is 4 lbs,14 oz and 38 1/8" long. It has a two stage trigger and safety. The stock is walnut and it has a nice butt plate with a white spacer. The plate is hard plastic so it is not much of a comfort cushion.
That pretty much sums up the facts. I put a 4x sportview rifle scope by Bushnell on the gun and used it for plinking at about 66 feet. It was very accurate. From a free stance, I would say the groups are ctc within an 1/2-3/4 inch. My friend Jorge can knock down soda cans at 40 yards! Off the bench, I am sure it is better. Even a primative scope really makes this rifle great, for the sites are the standard Crosman and crude to adjust for elevation. (A little plastic piece with steps on it.) Thank the maker for the dovetails. I have put an inexpensive 4x scope, but I plan to upgrade to make this gun even more surprising. The walnut stock is beautiful and the main feature that sets this gun apart from the rest of the Crosman line.The stock widens in the front area for a nice resting area for you supporting hand. The mechanicals I am sure are identical to the many other Crosmans that are produced in varying configurations. I like the pellet loading and how the receiver swings to the side.
The trigger is a light and works well here. Trigger weight is 2 pounds! Excellent. I think this is why my friends big Jorge and Javier like to borrow this gun so much. (This is often where a well made barrel and powerplant get ruined. See the model E below) The gun is metal and wood except for the plastic trigger/guard and the loading breach. Price is under $150.
The negatives are few. The CO2 loading is kind of a pain, for you really have to crank down on the port cover to puncture the cylinder. You can also expect 15% greater velocity intially with a new cylinder. I usually dry fire the first shot of the day with all CO2 guns if the cylinder has been in overnight.
This gun is special because it was the first airgun I ever owned. I don't use it anymore mostly because of it's size, but I consider it one of the great classics, as are most of the airguns I review. This really is for beginners, and I am reviewing it here only because I am moving and I ran into in it during packing. The 760 by Crosman is 35 inches long and about 2-3 pounds, thus is is for the small of frame, i.e. kids. It is a smooth bore of .177 caliber and is designed for BBs but can shoot pellets. It has a resevoir that holds about 75 BBs which loads a magazine of 15 BB just by tilting the gun. Now that's convient. The single shot gun loads the BB into the breach with a simple bolt mechanism aided by a magnet so the BB won't slip out. Brilliant and simple.
It is a pneumatic that is pumped by a lever below the barrel (which is bare--no barrel cover). The barrel is topped by a very simple set of iron sites adjustable to elevation only...clearly a drawback. The most amazing feature is the trigger.
I have emphasized this important aspect before and it is a true engineering triumph that so light a trigger can be found on so inexpensive a gun. Even at 10 pumps, the reccomended maximum, it is still easier than the silver streak! (reviewed below). With practice off a rest I could hit soda cans at 30 meters with BBs. The price? I am not sure now, but iitis surely under $40 if it is still available. A beginner classic if ever there was one.
Let me just say I am very dissapointed with this gun. I first read a glowing review of the 1077w in the Airgun Letter. It reported how much fun people had with it at a recent show. This was probably due to the fact that it was available and many shots could be pumped out of it due to it's semi-auto nature.
The first thing I noticed when I opened the box was the front barrel site was not even close to center and the rear iron site was way off the the side to compensate. The factory obviously knew the site was grossly off but just moved the back site to compensate. A bad move by Crosman. I would have returned the gun if I wasn't so lazy. As it is, I am sure it will sit and gather dust.
The other negative is what I have often said separates the bb guns from the pellet guns: the trigger! This gun is semi automatic and has a 12 shot rotary magazine.
To advance to the next pellet requires alot of pull and this makes the trigger much too hard for reasonable accuracy. Yeah you can hit a can at 10 meters, but you can do that with a rock. The pellet advance come first (a lot of pull) and then the release (not so predictable). Do this ten times and your finger hurts. I have read this gets easier with time. Let's hope so. Trigger weight is off the scale.
On a more positive note the walnut stock is very nice. Also, the pellets load into a rotary magazine which inserts into a loading block that snaps very nicely into the bottom of the rifle. Needless to say I put a 4x scope on the gun and I have found the accuracy to be acceptable assuming you can hold the gun steady through the trigger pull.
I guess you have to figure for the money (under $100) it's not bad for a gun that shoots out the pellets as fast as you can pull the crummy tirgger.
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