Canadian Airgun Forum

I've got a 2 month old Crosman F11, Nitro Piston, .22cal /5.5mm.
I shoot targets exclusively, no need or desire to hunt living things (tho I'm without judgement on those who do - it's just a preference.

I'm incrementally modding my airgun to improve velocity, I've just ordered my 3rd nitro-piston.

I'd like to know what scopes you all would suggest for a nitro-springer, and what a good one would cost. I know 'good' is subjective, but definitely < $200 CDN, I saw a few for $160 on Amazon, but nitro piston recoil is infamous in YouTube vids of people suggesting good scopes. The 'scope' (sorry) of my use would be mostly indoor plinking but some outdoor action. Plinking in the rain unlikely. Pellets will vary, from 9.7gr to 18gr or more, experimentally.
Not looking for something with Bluetooth or WiFi, I'm not interested in getting footage, just accuracy.

Thank you!

James

The least expensive springer rated are the Tasco air and the Mantis. A lot of the gun shops, I go into in Ontario have the Taco air. I have 2 Tasco Air and they came from fishing world in Hamilton. I no longer see the Mantis at CSS.

Robert

I would suggest Leapers/Discovery/Hawke scopes listed safe for "springers" in the $250.00 bracket and up would work.
The lower the power range, the likelihood of resisting recoil better than higher numbers. Thus, a would suggest a 3-9
2-7 or something like those, better than 6-24X. A straight 10 or 12X would be even better as long as it focused closely enough.

_________________
Best Wishes
Daryl

Robert, Daryl,

Thank you again, guys. Almost got a laser-enabled scope today & realized I'm not on "piston seal 6". Will see if my next gas ram puts my Crosman into "what I paid for" territory, then I'll start tarting it up a bit. Pistons have a weird kick - I notice it's not just straight back, it seems to pull back then slams ahead again. Very odd vibration. It does help when I hold the rifle tighter.

That is the double recoil of spring pistons. I have read that the second recoil occurs before the pellet is released from the barrel. I have tried to video this at 256 frame per second but got no good results. I only use my break barrels a few times a year so for my the Tasco Air are the best option as they are springer rated and around $100.

Thanks, guys, made note of the scopes. Once I get the FPS up to the advertised standard, I'm going to try to stick to a specific pellet type to max out consistency & accuracy.

I've been making so many changes with pistons & shims, that I think I might be causing some of the recoil unnecessarily. The shim now is 3 washers between the body of the ram & the anterior of the piston:

<- ( {X} [[[[[[[[[[--------- )

I used to cringe at the level of precision with shims on YouTube, when all you need is a couple of washers - but I'm hearing them in there, I'm sure of it. When the piston slams the intake port then back toward the rear compression cap, I wonder if my 3 washers have any opportunity to find 'wiggle room' as the piston resets. I think I'll buy a properly machined shim. Or I could get a stainless steel bolt ~3mm tall & somehow JBWeld it into place in the piston.

Also - the gas ram replacement is slightly different in the way it's flattened out on the tip of the ram. See the image attached, the lower one is the OEM BT5M22 piston, the top my new BT9M22 clone. The OEM spring is slightly conical, which fits 'better' inside the rear spring compression cap. The inside of the cap isn't molded perfectly to the OEM spring tip, but even the slightest misalignment could throw it off & damage pretty well everything, not to mention slow it down. No evidence of any misalignment, but it doesn't take much. I dont' have a pic of the inside of the cap yet, but it was slightly conical for sure.

It diesels sometimes for 10 shots or so - I don't think that's normal.
In my FPS struggles, structural stability kind of took a back seat. Once I've sourced the gas ram that will finally bring my F11 to its 495 FPS, I'll perhaps upgrade the piston & buy a better quality shim solution.

yes that's normal its because you have a bit of oil or grease in the piston
chamber/tube next time you have it apart a good cleaning of the tube will help

_________________
"A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle"

Just use a recoil free scope mount, you can get it from Aliexpress about $20-25 shipped to door.
Once got it, take it apart and use silicon grease on all parts lightly and put back together. Then you can use any scope on that.
I had 3 high-power springer/gas ram and working all fine so far even with cheap $20 scopes. Only suggestion is to re-lube it once or twice a year to make sure it working fine.

_________________
A Bunch of
495fps Springers/CO2/PCP
PAL Rated plinkers and target rifles
Finally get my PAL after 1 year waiting

And I do suggest all springers using it--as compare to a $20 mount your scope is much more expensive.

_________________
A Bunch of
495fps Springers/CO2/PCP
PAL Rated plinkers and target rifles
Finally get my PAL after 1 year waiting

Guys, thanks for the suggestions and the dieseling advice.
I initially followed a YouTube guy's instructions in that I'd make sure the gas ram is clean & dry, and that the washers I'm using are of good quality & don't bend (like a penny did in my old one). I was advised to 'slather' the piston with break-barrel oil - the advice though was to cover all the outer piston with it, but a thin film of it only.
Someone recommended or reported that they put WD40 in their barrel (while keeping it away from the plastic ring near the pellet chamber). I have WD40 'White Lithium' grease that I use for my electric scooter's suspension & wheel hubs. Different from WD40 for sure, but WD40 is just fish oil, it's not meant to stay, but rather just lubricate to free up a stuck item. Would white lithium be overkill? I have some electric hair clipper oil...I've just never thought of treating the barrel.

I also wonder if I should just order a better quality piston, what with all these gas rams I've been testing. It seems healthy but it's under a lot more force than it's intended to handle (at least for the CDN version). Anyone upgrade their piston before? The gas ram I ordered is a replacement for the Crosman Benjamin NP2 (70kg) - it's slightly shorter - but I want to be sure a shim is all I need, and just enough shimming to compensate the length. The ram might also have a different optimal compression range so I might have to shim it at both ends. If I should get a different piston as well, now's the time. I'm just loving that I can shop around for a piston like this, makes me want to buy up a bunch of them.

I like the idea of a recoil-resistant scope mount. I could even just remount the one that came with my rifle. I saw some that are mounted higher, some off to the side too. That's on my short list as well.

Guys, I've said it before but I really do appreciate your advice. My quest for 495 fps using 14.3 gr Crosman pellets is still priority, but modding has been really fun. Getting expensive but still, really fun. When my PAL course & test finally happen, I'll try to keep air guns on my priority list. I like stuff I can shoot in my parents' basement.
I found out that airguns aren't allowed to be modified for silencing. That's baffling to me (muffler joke?) but I'll follow the rules here. I'll take my curiosity about homemade "quieteners" underground (YouTube). I think lawmakers liken "respect for your neighbors" with "Jason Bourne on the run", but the law is the law.

DO NOT use WD40 as they have too much water and can rust your rifle. Use good gun oil--air rifle is not much different other than firearm except the power plant-for all parts except power plant. Use silicon based grease for all power plant parts.

For higher scope mount, you can simply raise the shoulder welding(you have 2-3 inches to raise the shoulder placement) and then cheek placement if needed--I am fine with all 3 rifles with the higher mount. Or if you really want, there are many cheek riser also available on Aliexpress from $10-40

NO muffler is allowed in Canada, if you get caught it will be jail. DO NOT get yourself into trouble, its just not worth it. You also need to check if your municipal allow shooting in house--mostly not if you are not at remote or sub-urb area. What you can do is find a close by crown land allow shooting--mostly not but Beverly Swamp in Hamilton allowing recreational shooting for many years, or find/make a friend owns a farm that you can do whatever you want in the territory. And the best ting is, your rifle is not as loud as you thought while in open area or forest. I was very surprised with the noise of a supersonic round 22lr while I brought for hunting last weekend in the woods (before I only take subsonic rounds until I saw small bear foot prints)--I belive you cannot hear it if few hundred yards away. And when bring air rifles to the same place before (except my FX impact) they are almost all feeling NO NOISE.

However, if you do want do some testing, 495fps even a higher-power is not that laud as you thought, even in-door. The pellet hitting targe mostly are louder than your rifles, so you rather need a quite pellet trap.

_________________
A Bunch of
495fps Springers/CO2/PCP
PAL Rated plinkers and target rifles
Finally get my PAL after 1 year waiting

DW40 does not have water in it. It also no longer has ANY fish oil in it (if it ever did IDK). It is a water displacing lubricant, although it is a better water displacement fluid than it is a lubricant, as the solvents 'gas-off' quite quickly.
I've been using WD40 as the final 'lube' in my muzzleloading rifles since 1972 and although the formula is slightly different today than then, is still works. NON of my ML's have rusted.
The oldest one I still have, was purchased in 1973.
If it a good lube for springers - no bloody way.
High Moly content grease ONLY for springers.

Sub sonic air rifles make little "carrying" noise, aside from the more powerful PCP rifles. They are louder, but compared to anything super sonic, they are quite quiet, given a short distance
like several hundred yards - unheard.

_________________
Best Wishes
Daryl

Good to know for the water part. I do use tiny molly for springers but silicon grease working just fine as well.

Also if you are in the woods, lot of things like trees leaves, etc. ,as well as the terrain itself will absorb sound waves so even with 22LR you cannot hear it usually from few hundreds of yards.
I'd read a guy in the U.S. did test with a 303 rifle in the deep woods in summer, and he state his wife cannot hear the rifle firing start from 350 yards away!

_________________
A Bunch of
495fps Springers/CO2/PCP
PAL Rated plinkers and target rifles
Finally get my PAL after 1 year waiting

Now, if you live in a humid part of the country, you will need something better than WD40 as a rust preventative. It works up here
because the relative humidity is about 50% on average. If it's raining, it's about 85%.
I wold suggest that down closer to the coast, or Ontario, something a LOT better than WD40 is needed. Hoppe's #9 Powder Solvent is even better as a rust
preventative, than Hoppe's Gun Oil. It's also better than Browning Gun Oil, or Outers Gun oil for that matter.
Ezzox is one of the very best, but hard to find.

_________________
Best Wishes
Daryl

Ballistol for the win for external protection but not for greasing the internals. Once I discovered it and how well it works, most of the rest of the cans of lubes, oils, etc have been sitting on the shelf collecting dust.

Of course this doesn't have squat to do with the OP original question about scopes, but the whole thread went off track pretty much right away. You might want to get something springer rated. Not for the nitro-piston which works more like a fixed volume PCP, and should be mechanically gentle on other than the charging stroke, but because one can move it to a different airgun at some future point.