bodgerben
15-01-2007, 08:09 PM
I've not used an air gun for over 20 years, when as a nipper I used (which seemed like nearly every day) a BSA (mine) and Weihrauch (my brothers) both springers – I’ve long since forgotten what models they were. So, with my lack of experience, this, rambling and unscientific, review by me is probably worthless to the majority of the bbs members, but as I’ve been reading the bbs for a while, it’s about time for me to do my first post…
UK Specification Crooked Barn Crosman CO2 powered pistols and rifles. The CB2240 Pistol, CB2250 and CB2260 Rifles.
Like all good reviews, let’s set the scene...
I bought the CB2240 and CB2250 to do a specific job of pest control, rats and tree rats, and the CB2260 was purchased as a Christmas present for my dad to keep the population of rabbits down.
I have a small garden which has a large number of bird feeders which has attracted, not only the odd bird, but the odd rat as well, last year I bought a Webley Hurricane pistol to keep the rats at bay (the neighbours got the pest control man in - I got a Webley).
That was a bit daft, as one – Like I say above, I've not used an air weapon for well over 20 years, and two – the missus(who’s job it was to bump the little fella’s off) found it difficult to cock the pistol after an opp. As it was her job, whilst recovering, to keep the little critters at bay, I would have to cock the pistol, go to work and she'd have a pop if she saw a varmint. She got a few rats and bruised a number of tree rats (what are those buggers made of?). I got none. She's a much better shot than me!
The Webley was fun, I lent it to my old man who said - "the pellets bounce off tree rats" - "don’t know, I never hit one" says I - so the missus and my old man go into a huddle and say - nice target pistol, but get something that :
A) is light (for the missus)
B) is more powerful (fires pellets that don’t bounce off tree rats)
C) Takes next to no effort to cock (the missus does not want to have a hernia trying to cock or pump up the gun)
D) Costs peanuts (I’m a stingy git)
I looked at the web site where I bought the Webley, and did some browsing (yeah yeah I didn't know about this place then...) and I saw the Crosman guns - hmmmm – I did a bit more browsing and found the Crooked Barn site - they might work.
I ordered a CB2250 with oiled Walnut stock and forearm, ultimate breech and bolt and CB trigger job (whatever that means).
Whilst sitting back and awaiting for Jim at Crooked Barn to make the gun the missus was knocking more rats off with the Webley- OK, if she can use the Webley that well, I'll get one of those CO2 pistols whilst I'm at it - so a CB2240 with blood wood grips, ultimate...you get it..was ordered as well.
A couple of Bushnell scopes were purchased - a red dot trophy for the pistol and a 1.75-5 x 32 Trophy for the little rifle (it's a small rifle and a small garden!) and two silencers.
After having the CB2240 and 50 for a few months, and my dad trying both I ordered a CB2260 for his Christmas present - he was going to re-use his own scope, but I ordered a cheap Tasco from the bay for the price of a take away, a cheap one at that.
Jim kept me informed on the build, which took about 6 weeks from order to delivery, and upon unpacking the guns (which were extremely well packed) I only had to screw the stock onto the rifle.
Now to the actual guns…
Build quality.
Wood work. The blood grips on the pistol look like they are made with layers of different colour wood - a nice ply wood - the grips fit the hand well and have a nice flat on the bottom to steady the pistol with two hands.
The oiled stock and forearm of the 2250 are great, a nice grain and, as I'll probably be knocking this gun around, the oiled finish should not mark (no lacquer to chip).
As it was a present, the 2260 was ordered with a claro walnut stock and forearm in a lacquered finish - this has a lovely grain, once the scope was set up, and the rifle was put in its case, I occasionally had to take the gun out just to have a look at that fantastic stock.
Trigger and guard, I'm not sure if the actual trigger is a CB or Crosman item, it has a bit of side to side play, but that does not seem to affect the pull. The original safety is just above the trigger, which slides side to side to lock the pistol. I've not needed to adjust the trigger, which has a nice pull and are very light.
The Ultimate breech and bolt - the breech is alloy and has built in rail for a scope to mount upon. The bolt is brass and a steel bolt handle that can be put on either side – I had one minor problem with the pistol - the bolt handle did not screw nicely into the bolt – it wobbled in an arc as the bolt was screwed in - and this made locking the bolt down a bit of a fiddle (which was only evident when I moved the handle from left to right). Jim at CB sent a replacement as soon as I let him know. The new bolt turned up in a couple of days from the states and this is now fine. The bolt has a bit of play when it’s pulled back to cock the gun, which I'm taking as how it’s supposed to be. Inserting a pellet is a bit fiddly for those with fat fingers – my dad needs to use high mounts to give enough room under the scope. My office walla hands find the medium mounts fine. Once loaded and the bolt pushed down it locks into place firmly. I was not sure about having an alloy breech, but after using these guns for a few months (6 in the 2240 and 2250’s case) I’ve had no problem with them – but it still does not quite feel right – if you know what I mean. I’m sure a steel breech would feel better, but that would be heavier and may need maintenance – the alloy breech is light and zero maintenance.
Power, my rear garden range is 8 yards which is great for the pistols (metal traps with large back stops behind the traps – just in case…)
The CB2240 is advertised as 5.8ft lb – not having a crono I don’t know if that is right, all I can say is that it feels 3 or 4 times more powerful than the Webley, completely squashing the pellets into my metal trap target.
The CB2250 is rated at under 12ft lb – and at 8 yards destroys any pellet and dents my metal traps – it’s more than up to the job of taking out small varmints. This is a great fun rifle, at this range with the low mag scope you can place pellet on pellet just taking the bull out of the target (I say “you”, meaning the missus can – even at this range I’m not that good – but I feel good when I can get a 1” ragged group, which is me not the gun).
The CB2260 is also under 12ft lb – after the missus zeroed the scope at 8 yards (my back garden) she checked the aim out at 30 yards, free standing she kept 1½” groups. The scope needed no adjustment from 8 – 30 yards. The gun fires a flat path, and enough power to flatten the pellets at 30 yards, the old man has since moved the target right out to 60 yards where he needs to aim 2 dots high on the scope. This probably makes the effective hunting range up to 40 yards, which is unfortunate as the rabbits are now staying 50 yards out…
Noise – when we first got the 2240 and 2250 I was amazed at the noise – which is much too noisy for back yard plinking (in my back yard in any case) with cheap and cheerful silencers which are the same on all guns – strangely the 2260 is now the quietest, with barely a puff as the pellet exits the barrel, the 2250 is very quiet, and the 2240 is quiet.
Economy – in summer we are getting 35+ shots per 12g CO2 canister. In the winter this has dropped to 25+ - power does not seem to be affected, but we’ve not let the guns get really cold (and we’ve not had any really cold weather yet, the lowest being around 6 deg C).
Weight – all these guns are very light, this was a major plus for me, but does mean they feel dainty, and I can understand some people who say they find it difficult holding such a light gun on target. The missus has no such problem (yeah they are difficult to hold on target – that why she always out shoots me – that’s my excuse anyway).
Some of the good points of these guns are :
Price, purchase cost and cheap CO2 canisters.
Very easy to cock.
They are very light.
And some of the not so good points are :
Their light weight makes them feel dainty.
You always need a supply of CO2 canisters.
As a CO2 weapon they are not considered a serious air gun.
I’m not convinced on the alloy breech and brass bolt, but that’s just a gut feeling.
Overall – These are cheap guns that have proved to be effective pest control weapons, and more importantly introduced my missus to the fun of airgunning. We now have another hobby to enjoy (roll on the summer nights in the back garden plinking) and she’s got the hunting bug with my old man. I would not hesitate to recommend any of these if you are looking for a cheap fun gun. We use the CB2240 as a target only fun gun, the CB2250 is great at rat/tree rat vermin control and the CB2260 is good enough for limited hunting (although with the claro walnut stock I would hate it to get knocked!)
If you have difficulty cocking a springer, which both my missus and old man do (he’s getting on a bit) they are really excellent, their light weight would also make them ideal for a nipper to learn shooting.
if you're interested a pic of the guns is here : http://www.bodgerben.com/images/guns.jpg
UK Specification Crooked Barn Crosman CO2 powered pistols and rifles. The CB2240 Pistol, CB2250 and CB2260 Rifles.
Like all good reviews, let’s set the scene...
I bought the CB2240 and CB2250 to do a specific job of pest control, rats and tree rats, and the CB2260 was purchased as a Christmas present for my dad to keep the population of rabbits down.
I have a small garden which has a large number of bird feeders which has attracted, not only the odd bird, but the odd rat as well, last year I bought a Webley Hurricane pistol to keep the rats at bay (the neighbours got the pest control man in - I got a Webley).
That was a bit daft, as one – Like I say above, I've not used an air weapon for well over 20 years, and two – the missus(who’s job it was to bump the little fella’s off) found it difficult to cock the pistol after an opp. As it was her job, whilst recovering, to keep the little critters at bay, I would have to cock the pistol, go to work and she'd have a pop if she saw a varmint. She got a few rats and bruised a number of tree rats (what are those buggers made of?). I got none. She's a much better shot than me!
The Webley was fun, I lent it to my old man who said - "the pellets bounce off tree rats" - "don’t know, I never hit one" says I - so the missus and my old man go into a huddle and say - nice target pistol, but get something that :
A) is light (for the missus)
B) is more powerful (fires pellets that don’t bounce off tree rats)
C) Takes next to no effort to cock (the missus does not want to have a hernia trying to cock or pump up the gun)
D) Costs peanuts (I’m a stingy git)
I looked at the web site where I bought the Webley, and did some browsing (yeah yeah I didn't know about this place then...) and I saw the Crosman guns - hmmmm – I did a bit more browsing and found the Crooked Barn site - they might work.
I ordered a CB2250 with oiled Walnut stock and forearm, ultimate breech and bolt and CB trigger job (whatever that means).
Whilst sitting back and awaiting for Jim at Crooked Barn to make the gun the missus was knocking more rats off with the Webley- OK, if she can use the Webley that well, I'll get one of those CO2 pistols whilst I'm at it - so a CB2240 with blood wood grips, ultimate...you get it..was ordered as well.
A couple of Bushnell scopes were purchased - a red dot trophy for the pistol and a 1.75-5 x 32 Trophy for the little rifle (it's a small rifle and a small garden!) and two silencers.
After having the CB2240 and 50 for a few months, and my dad trying both I ordered a CB2260 for his Christmas present - he was going to re-use his own scope, but I ordered a cheap Tasco from the bay for the price of a take away, a cheap one at that.
Jim kept me informed on the build, which took about 6 weeks from order to delivery, and upon unpacking the guns (which were extremely well packed) I only had to screw the stock onto the rifle.
Now to the actual guns…
Build quality.
Wood work. The blood grips on the pistol look like they are made with layers of different colour wood - a nice ply wood - the grips fit the hand well and have a nice flat on the bottom to steady the pistol with two hands.
The oiled stock and forearm of the 2250 are great, a nice grain and, as I'll probably be knocking this gun around, the oiled finish should not mark (no lacquer to chip).
As it was a present, the 2260 was ordered with a claro walnut stock and forearm in a lacquered finish - this has a lovely grain, once the scope was set up, and the rifle was put in its case, I occasionally had to take the gun out just to have a look at that fantastic stock.
Trigger and guard, I'm not sure if the actual trigger is a CB or Crosman item, it has a bit of side to side play, but that does not seem to affect the pull. The original safety is just above the trigger, which slides side to side to lock the pistol. I've not needed to adjust the trigger, which has a nice pull and are very light.
The Ultimate breech and bolt - the breech is alloy and has built in rail for a scope to mount upon. The bolt is brass and a steel bolt handle that can be put on either side – I had one minor problem with the pistol - the bolt handle did not screw nicely into the bolt – it wobbled in an arc as the bolt was screwed in - and this made locking the bolt down a bit of a fiddle (which was only evident when I moved the handle from left to right). Jim at CB sent a replacement as soon as I let him know. The new bolt turned up in a couple of days from the states and this is now fine. The bolt has a bit of play when it’s pulled back to cock the gun, which I'm taking as how it’s supposed to be. Inserting a pellet is a bit fiddly for those with fat fingers – my dad needs to use high mounts to give enough room under the scope. My office walla hands find the medium mounts fine. Once loaded and the bolt pushed down it locks into place firmly. I was not sure about having an alloy breech, but after using these guns for a few months (6 in the 2240 and 2250’s case) I’ve had no problem with them – but it still does not quite feel right – if you know what I mean. I’m sure a steel breech would feel better, but that would be heavier and may need maintenance – the alloy breech is light and zero maintenance.
Power, my rear garden range is 8 yards which is great for the pistols (metal traps with large back stops behind the traps – just in case…)
The CB2240 is advertised as 5.8ft lb – not having a crono I don’t know if that is right, all I can say is that it feels 3 or 4 times more powerful than the Webley, completely squashing the pellets into my metal trap target.
The CB2250 is rated at under 12ft lb – and at 8 yards destroys any pellet and dents my metal traps – it’s more than up to the job of taking out small varmints. This is a great fun rifle, at this range with the low mag scope you can place pellet on pellet just taking the bull out of the target (I say “you”, meaning the missus can – even at this range I’m not that good – but I feel good when I can get a 1” ragged group, which is me not the gun).
The CB2260 is also under 12ft lb – after the missus zeroed the scope at 8 yards (my back garden) she checked the aim out at 30 yards, free standing she kept 1½” groups. The scope needed no adjustment from 8 – 30 yards. The gun fires a flat path, and enough power to flatten the pellets at 30 yards, the old man has since moved the target right out to 60 yards where he needs to aim 2 dots high on the scope. This probably makes the effective hunting range up to 40 yards, which is unfortunate as the rabbits are now staying 50 yards out…
Noise – when we first got the 2240 and 2250 I was amazed at the noise – which is much too noisy for back yard plinking (in my back yard in any case) with cheap and cheerful silencers which are the same on all guns – strangely the 2260 is now the quietest, with barely a puff as the pellet exits the barrel, the 2250 is very quiet, and the 2240 is quiet.
Economy – in summer we are getting 35+ shots per 12g CO2 canister. In the winter this has dropped to 25+ - power does not seem to be affected, but we’ve not let the guns get really cold (and we’ve not had any really cold weather yet, the lowest being around 6 deg C).
Weight – all these guns are very light, this was a major plus for me, but does mean they feel dainty, and I can understand some people who say they find it difficult holding such a light gun on target. The missus has no such problem (yeah they are difficult to hold on target – that why she always out shoots me – that’s my excuse anyway).
Some of the good points of these guns are :
Price, purchase cost and cheap CO2 canisters.
Very easy to cock.
They are very light.
And some of the not so good points are :
Their light weight makes them feel dainty.
You always need a supply of CO2 canisters.
As a CO2 weapon they are not considered a serious air gun.
I’m not convinced on the alloy breech and brass bolt, but that’s just a gut feeling.
Overall – These are cheap guns that have proved to be effective pest control weapons, and more importantly introduced my missus to the fun of airgunning. We now have another hobby to enjoy (roll on the summer nights in the back garden plinking) and she’s got the hunting bug with my old man. I would not hesitate to recommend any of these if you are looking for a cheap fun gun. We use the CB2240 as a target only fun gun, the CB2250 is great at rat/tree rat vermin control and the CB2260 is good enough for limited hunting (although with the claro walnut stock I would hate it to get knocked!)
If you have difficulty cocking a springer, which both my missus and old man do (he’s getting on a bit) they are really excellent, their light weight would also make them ideal for a nipper to learn shooting.
if you're interested a pic of the guns is here : http://www.bodgerben.com/images/guns.jpg