Today, at 41 yrs old, i find myself coming right back to the Crosman/Benjamin family (Crosman owns Benjamin now). Recently, I bought a Benjamin Disco .22 and it's the second Crosman/Benjamin that i own. I also have the well built 2240 pistol that is highly modified and a tack driver so i expect nothing less from the Discovery. The Discovery is the first "Duel Fuel" air rifle on the market. Duel fuel means that it works off of 2 air sources. HPA or CO2. One of the attractions to this rifle for me is the fact that the rifle is a lower fill pressure than normal and is rated for 2000 psi fills with about 25-30 shots per fill.
Enter CROSMODS. These guys make custom accessories for a variety of Crosman/Benjamin airguns. You can check out their website at http://www.crosmods.com/index.html.
Since i did not have time nor did i plan on testing this gun in its stock form, i will start the story of the project. Here are a few pics of the new Disco .22:
After unboxing the gun, i was very happy to see such nice quality in an American product. The stock had very nice grain and i was surprised at how thin and light it was. The barrel and air tube bluing was deep and very well applied. I also liked the fiber optic sights on the gun. It's a nice addition and i even had time to take about 25 shots in my garage range using the open sights. Of course at only 13 yards though, the sights were dead on. The only real disappointment in the entire gun was the plastic trigger. Even though plastic, i can't form a honest "performance" opinion about it as i did not thoroughly test the gun in stock form but, the thought of anything plastic on a airgun is a turn off. So now, after doing a little shooting at paper in my garage, the next step was to refill the gun back up to 2000 psi and do a shot string. The only pellets i had on hand were the JSB 14.3 grain Express pellets. Even though i plan on tuning the gun for 18.1 gr JSB Exact Jumbos, the Express would do. All i needed was a shot string.
The numbers were as follows using 14.3 gr JSB Express pellets:
25 Shot string:
1 - 801.6 fps 6 - 812.5 11 - 840.5 16 - 848.1 21 - 848.6
2 - 798.1 7 - 824.7 12 - 843.0 17 - 849.4 22 - 842.0
3 - 801.0 8 - 831.5 13 - 842.4 18 - 859.2 23 - 840.3
4 - 811.8 9 - 824.6 14 - 844.4 19 - 845.4 24 - 842.3
5 - 812.0 10 - 830.7 15 - 849.7 20 - 847.3 25 - 840.6
This is an average of 833 fps and 22 Foot Pounds of Energy.
Now, lets also look at some other numbers from the stock Disco .22:
Weight (postal scale): 5 lbs, 0.7 ounces (empty tank), 5 lbs, 1.4 ounces (2000 psi fill)
Overall length: 39 1/2"
Trigger pull: 3 lbs, 8 ounces average
.22 caliber/24" rifled steel barrel
Now that i had all the info i wanted from the stock Disco, it was time to start the modification process. Let take a look at all the CROSMODS parts i purchased for the installation:
*NOTE: CROSMODS can anodize all or any of the parts in basic colors as well as CUSTOM colors.
Once assembled, and man was it fun putting this gun together, i could only sit there and smile. The gun came out looking exactly the way i wanted it too. Albeit different from the traditional wood and steel look, it was exactly what i wanted. The feel of the gun was also everything i could have hoped for. The modded gun only gained 2 lbs 7 ounces including the scope over the stock Disco. I should have weighed the CROSMODS Disco without the scope but, i can do that later. I also could have weighed the stock Disco with the same scope but, honestly, i forgot that also....lol. So the gun actually probably only gained a tad over a pound total, stock vs. modded. Lets take a look at some numbers from the CROSMODS Disco .22:
Weight: 7 lbs, 8 oz with TOTAL/a gain of over 1 pound
Overall length: 40.0" (gun has adjustable butt stock)/ a gain of 1"
Trigger pull: 2 lbs, 5 oz (has adjustable trigger)/decrease of 1lb, 3 oz
Replaced mainspring with stiffer one for more power
All o-rings in the entire gun were replaced with VITON o-rings for a better seal life span.
As I've yet to sight this gun in and run her through her paces, the power is set at 31 fpe using the 18.1 gr JSB Exact Jumbos. As I've mentioned above, these are the pellets of choice (which can change at any time) and i really wanted to focus even more on the speed of the projectile which i sought after 880 fps. This gun is also mainly for hunting and this is the beginning test phase of the rifle. Lets look at the numbers that i have so far with the 18.1 gr JSB Jumbos (880 fps target velocity):
1 - 874.6 6 - 889.4
2 - 879.1 7 - 887.6
3 - 880.1 8 - 880.6
4 - 882.6 9 - 879.1
5 - 880.2 10 - 870.7 with 1400 psi left
Again, this is all initial testing after the assembly and more field testing is required to get the gun dialed in. There are more options or ways that i could go with this gun. 1 is, the barrel (24") comes to the end of the shroud therefor the shroud is just for looks for now. I could shorten the barrel by 4" and install a baffle system into the shroud but, i would loose roughly 60 FPS. I could switch to a lighter pellet than the 18 gr JSB's like the 14.3 grain Croman Premiers to gain the speed back but, as i've said, i've got a ton of testing to do yet to this gun so, time will tell. In saying that, my end results with this rifle just could be to cut the barrel down, then install baffles, then switch to a lighter pellet at the same set velocity of 880 fps but adding a few more shot. The future will tell.
*NOTE: 880 fps is for testing/theory purposes. I will not get into that speed designation # at this time.
Here's a video of me putting the gun together. ENJOY!!:
STAY TUNED!!
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