Canadian Airgun Forum

Forum member Ricksplace forced me to borrow his old model Crosman 2100 to take for a test drive. Rick had done some tinkering on this rifle and dropped it of at my place because he knows I like to try anything airgun. This particular 2100 was a detuned model with a pot metal receiver and shiny Crosman-Toronto sticker on the side. Rick plugged the burp valve so it's now a full power example. I think he did some trigger work too because it's not bad at all.

For velocity testing I used some 7.4gr Crosman points that I wanted to get rid of. Numbers as follows.

Velocity Numbers
4 pumps - 511, 511, 513 fps
6 pumps - 585, 589, 589 fps
8 pumps - 640, 644, 646 fps
10 pumps - 676, 676, 675 fps

Rick mentioned that 4 pumps gave close to 500fps with 7.9gr and delivered nice accuracy. I'm not fond of pumping so 4 strokes was where I stayed for accuracy testing. I tested H&N Field Target Trophy, H&N Finale Match and Daisy Flat-Nosed (Spain). The FTT seemed to be the preferred pellet so I repeated the test with this pellet. Both tests resulted in under 1/4" averages at 10m so the FTT should group under half inch at 20 yards. Results below.

5-shot groups at 10 metres
Test #1 - H&N FTT - .17, .26, .19, .27 - Ave = .22" ctc
Test #2 - H&N FTT - .28, .16, .31, .15 - Ave = .23" ctc

The FTT gave some nice results in the low priced Crosman pumper. The Finale Match shot well but I had one group with a mild flyer resulting in diagonal elongation. The flyer may have been my fault. The Daisy pellets were a tighter fit than the others but the tight fit was not always consistent. The first three Daisy groups each had a mild flyer. Sorting pellets might get rid of these flyers. Even with the annoying flyers the 4 groups gave 17 good shots. The Daisy pellets would be fine for pop cans at 20-30 yards.

Yup, hard hitters......I had a 2275 a few years back, should of held on to that one......

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Jonathan

Moderator

When I acquired this 2100 Classic, it had the barrel installed backwards. The transfer port was up by the muzzle. No wonder the bolt wouldn't close. The barrel muzzle was chewed up from trying to jam the magnet on the probe into the muzzle...
Todd consistently shoots my guns better than I do. If I want to know just how accurate a gun is, I give it to Todd to shoot.
Here is what I did to the gun:
Valve: Plugged the bleeder port. Replaced all internal parts and seals.
Barrel: New lathe-cut crown, de-burred chamber, tape stablization. I also shortened the screws that hold the sights since they sometimes press on the barrel and screw up accuracy.
New pump cup with a card spacer underneath.
Removed the BB feeding mechanism. I assembled the gun once with the BB feeding installed. I won't be doing that again. Three hands with six fingers each are required.
Trigger: I reduced sear engagement and removed the interlock so the striker can be de-cocked. The trigger turned out nicely shootable, so I didn't do anything more to it.
Bolt: made and installed an extended brass bolt probe. Shrink-wrapped the bolt to reduce blow-back.
Stock: Every 2100/2200 I own had wobbly stocks. My 2200 chromie's stock was so badly broken it was unfixable, so I installed a 2100 stock on it. I used the metal tape modification outlined in many posts online. It works. I pump the gun holding it by the receiver with my hand over the scope. If you pump a 2100 or 2200 while holding the stock by the wrist, you will eventually break it (the stock, not your wrist). The stocks on my three 2100/2200s are all tight with the metal tape mod.
I have to say, I didn't expect the gun to be a tack driver. It seems to be a little more accurate than my Daisy 880 and has a much better trigger. The metal receiver gives the 2100 a more solid feel than the 880*. Would I sell my 880? Never. Both pumpers are accurate plinkers. Empty shotgun shells at 20 meters don't stand a chance.
*My 880 has over 12,000 BBs through it (courtesy of my neighbour's grandson) plus countless pellets. It still feels like it did when new. Nothing is wobbly and all seals are original. Accuracy with pellets remains unchanged.

Many thanks to Todd for the accuracy testing and the excellent write-up.

edit: The Canadian valve has larger inside volume than a full-power 2100/2200 valve (due to the pressure bleed-off assembly). The shorter OEM full power valve will produce slightly higher velocity with the same number of pumps compared to the larger Canadian valve. If you enjoy pumping (although I can't imagine why) you will enjoy the Canadian larger valve. I have pumped it up to 15 pumps with constant improvement with each pump and no valve lock. I imagine you could take it up to 20 pumps for close to 800fps with added stress on the gun, obviously. As Todd mentioned, I don't like pumping either. I shoot it at 4 pumps. I imagine the smaller valve might generate 550fps with 4 pumps. Not really a noticeable difference.

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13 springers and a few pumpers and pistols.
2 lathes and lots of scrap metal.

Too soon old too late smart.

It's those groups with the Daisy pellets that really please me.
I usually shoot my pumpers offhand at targets of opportunity, mostly under 20 meters (bits of wood by the chopping block, leaves, empty shotgun shells, pill bottles, etc). Pieces of charcoal from the wood stove shatter nice when hit. (best to take them out of the stove first...)
There won't be any noticeable difference in my (wobbly) offhand groups compared to match grade pellets. I stocked up on them ($5.99/500) from the local Tool Town. Hooray for cheap trigger time!

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13 springers and a few pumpers and pistols.
2 lathes and lots of scrap metal.

Too soon old too late smart.