Hello again from AirGunWeb.com!

Well we are in a holding pattern waiting for some new products to come in.  In the mean time I wanted to update you all.  A while back I mentioned that up to this point we had been purchasing our own products for review.  After receiving some encouragement to contact vendors and manufactures as well as some direct help from others in the industry, we have signed up 2 major dealers and 1 manufacturer.  We will be receiving our first shipment of products THIS WEEK!  The good news is that we will have plenty of products to review for the foreseeable future.  I want to assure all our readers that we will continue to write honest and thorough reviews.

While we are waiting for our first shipment, I wanted to pass along a revew sent in by Jerry L, one of our active readers.  It just so happens that he has the same scope as I do, the Leapers Model # LESCP394 AOMDLTS.

********** Leapers Review from JerryL **********

The scope I bought was a Leapers Mod # LESCP394 AOMDLTS 5th Generation 3 – 9 X 40  Mil Dot AO Lighted Reticule Red  & Green and Range Finder. I bought the Scope from Pyramyd Air , Since They are in Ohio and so Tax had to be paid.  With Tax and Shipping the scope was $ 75.00. It was delivered in great shape and packed very well.

I first set the scope up on the QB 79 ( CO2 ) I had at that time. I only fired it indoors and at 32 feet. It was quick to sight in and worked very well. The optics are Very clear and bright and sharp as are the cross hairs.  The Red / Green reticule worked very well and the intensity could be adjusted over a dim to bright range.  The AO worked from about 22 feet out to the 32 ft I was shooting at. The 3 – 9 power also was very nice.

I sold the QB 79 and once the weather warmed up in April I mounted the scope on my RWS 34 Springer in .22. As before the scope sighted in quite easy and everything worked well . I now am shooting anywhere from 45 ft out to about 80 ft.  The AO and power setting works great . I don’t use the colored reticule or the range finding Mil Dot. After about 250 – 400 shots through the RWS 34 using the RWS 1 piece adjustable mount I see no problems so far with the scope.  This Model Springer can be a bit hard on scopes.

The only thing I do not like is that to adjust the rings you have to use a allen key wrench to lock them and unlock them. This is not a hard feature just something I am not used to versus a twist click or a blade notch type. They do have a re ”O” feature that once you are at point of aim and or target you can “O” Zero the ring setting.

If I buy another scope I think I will stay with the Leapers.

Take Care Have Fun Shoot Safe …… JerryL

Well, I have to tell you all about a real surprise. Hopefully you’ve read the posts on the Crosman 1077. We ran into some issues with it not firing consistently and have sent it off to get checked out. Anyway, I found out something interesting while testing the 1077. I took another look at the Crosman 66 Powermaster that we used in the article “Accuracy means different things to different people!” I wanted to test how close it came to the stated FPS and compare the differences to the 1077. This is what I found.

From our first test, I’ve replaced the included scope with a Daisy 3x9x32 air rifle scope. Now this scope does not have an adjustable objective, so the highest magnification I could use at 10 yards and still have a clear picture was 4x to 4.5x. On paper this is not any better than the included scope, other than the fact that this new scope is just better, has a 32mm objective, and was only a $29 upgrade.

This rifle was fairly inexpensive and came as a kit from Wal-Mart for only $70, but you can also get the Crosman 66 Powermaster from other vendors like www.Compasseco.com. The rifle is a multi-pump pheunmatic with a maximum pellet velocity of 645 FPS. It also shoots BBs but I’m not sure why you would want to because: one, you will wear out the rifling in the barrel, and two, BBs are very inaccurate to begin with. I ran several pellets through this rifle at varying pumps. I shot many pellets and I won’t bore you with all the details, but here are the findings for the most accurate that I tested.

1. Gamo Pro Magnums, 7.9gn
5 pumps: High 483, Low 475, Average 479, Difference 8
10 pumps: High 613, Low 586, Average 698, Difference 27

2. Crosman Wad-Cutters, 7.9gn
5 pumps: High 475, Low 465, Average 471, Difference 10
10 pumps: High 601, Low 591, Average 596, Difference 10

As you can see, at 5 pumps you get some very consistent FPS. The Crosman Wadcutters were consistent at both 5 pumps and 10 pumps. Most of my shooting was done with 5 pumps because I was shooting from 10 meters and did not feel that the slight increase in FPS was worth all the extra pumping.

Here is where things got interesting. This is the group that we shot back on the first article:

Crosman Premier Hollow Points from 10 yards

Now take a look at how this changed when we found the right pellet and swapped out the included scope with the new Daisy scope:

Crosman Wadcutters at 10 yards

Crosman Wadcutters at 10 yards, 10 pumps, notice how they are just a little higher than the 5 pump groups, but still very tight.

Our best group came from the Gamo Pro Magnums

It was pretty amazing to be shooting one pellet that could not hit the mark and switch to another one that seemed to effortlessly hit the bullseye every time. As you can see, both the Crosman Wadcutters and the Gamo Pro Magnums did very well with this rifle.

Final thoughts: Although this is an inexpensive plastic air gun, it shoots very well when matched with a reasonable scope and the right pellets. The open sights are not my favorite but work once sighted in. With 1o pumps and light pellets it comes very close to its stated 645 FPS, but it also gets good velocity and consistency with only 5 pumps. Of all the features, I like the 5 shot “clip” that helps with the followup shots. If you’ve got a young shooter or just want another rifle to plink with, take a look at the Crosman 66 Powermaster.

Written By,
Rick Eutsler AKA: AirHead
Editor / Owner www.AirGunWeb.com
editor@airgunweb.com
Copyright 2007, Dog River Design, LLC – All Rights Reserved.

This should be the final review on the Mendoza RM200. I have to say that for a $90 rifle, I’m very impressed. On paper this rifle produces 600 FPS. With our new chronograph we were able to confirm an average velocity of 540 FPS using RWS Superdome Pellets.

RWS Superdome 14.5 gr velocity was as follows:
(At the muzzle) High: 561, Low: 529, Average: 540, Difference: 32
With a rifle rated for 600 FPS, to get a 540 average is pretty good in my book,.

At first I was sold on the Logun Penetrators, but when I went to purchase more from Pyramid they were all out. So I started going through all the .22 pellets I could get my hands on to see what else might work. I found the RWS Superdomes to be a perfect choice producing 1/2 or better groups at 20 yards. I found as I backed up beyond 20 yards that the groups really opened up so I would set the useful range at 20 yards.

These groups were shot from 20 yards using a 3x9x40 ao scope and the Dragon Claw Bi-Pod using RWS Superdome Pellets.

For these last groups I made some modifications to my Mendoza RM200 rifle. First off, and this may be just an issue with me and my eyesight, I have a real hard time seeing the target well at 20 yards with only a 4 power scope. I need more magnification, so I installed a 3x9x40 AO scope from Crosman. The croshairs are not as fine as I’d like them, but it is very clear and the AO works well at all distances so I’m happy with it. Next I installed a Dragon Claw Bi-Pod from Pyramidair.com. At only $18 it is a real nice addition to this rifle. Now I’ve heard that using a bi-pod will just ruin any accuracy in a springer, but in my tests I did not find this to be the case with this rifle. In fact I was able to get the same groups at twenty yards that I was getting at 10 yards, as you can see above.

Mensdoza RM200 with Dragon Claw Bi-pod. Notice how you can still cock this rifle with the legs extended.

So hear are my final thoughts on the Mendoza RM200 rifle. For a gun under $90 bucks, you just can’t go wrong. If you are willing to add a decent scope and the bi-pod, you can have a real nail driver at 20 yards.

The pro’s are: light weight, easy cocking, wonderful trigger system, very easy to shoot for the beginner.

On the con side of the scale: the barrel is slightly over-sized so not all pellets will perform well, the low power limits its effective range to 20 yards. I would not consider this rifle for hunting.

More about hunting with the Mendoza RM200. You want to put your pray down with one shot and you want to limit suffering. I don’t think it has the power for hunting beyond 20 yards unless you can guarantee a head shot EVERY time. I’m a decent shot, but a squirrel’s head is pretty small when you’re shooting from the shoulder. But, if you want to plink in the back yard or shoot at paper targets, I can’t see passing this one up.

Written By,
Rick Eutsler AKA: AirHead
Editor / Owner www.AirGunWeb.com
editor@airgunweb.com
Copyright 2007, Dog River Design, LLC – All Rights Reserved.

Well it has taken a little longer than I wanted to complete the last part of this review. My expectations for this rifle were high and my hope was that it would be a decent rifle for back yard plinking and some light pest control. After the last few days, I’ve had to reduce those expectations to only plinking and that at only 10 yards.

I managed some decent groups at 10 yards, most keeping in the 1/2 inch range, but as we moved back those groups really opened up. Also, I ran into several problems with the extended testing of this rifle. The first was trying to mount a scope. We tried about 4 different combinations before we found one that would work. Most would not adjust high enough. If you plan to mount your favorite scope on this rifle, you should probably invest in some adjustable rings. I managed to get my BSA 4×32 scope with BSA medium mounts working for our shooting tests today.

Before I started I decided to run some pellets through our new chronograph. Perhaps my biggest disappointment was here. I was only able to get 320 to 400 fps from this rifle, regardless of pellet type and weight. In fact the lightest pellet, Daisy Precision Field Point a 6.8 -> 7.0 gn, barely got over 200 FPS. The Crosman wadcutters, 7.5 gn, seemed to produce the most consistent shot pattern and averaged 330ish FPS. Now this rifle states that its maximum FPS is 625. I was expecting 500ish FPS, but to only get in the low 300′s was a real disappointment, reducing the usefulness to paper targets at 10 yards. What was more confusing was the fact that every once in a while the FPS would jump for a couple of shots and then go back to “normal.” I’ve spoken to one repair person who has stated that this is NOT normal, so I’m considering sending the rifle off to be looked at.

To summarize, the Crosman 1077 is a neat little rifle and great for younger shooters because it is light and quiet. The price is right for just about anyone, and if you want to setup a 10 meter range in your basement, you can shoot better than 1/2 groups all day long. It never jammed or misfired, but it also did not achieve anywhere near its 625 FPS potential. The trigger is a little rough because it manipulates the rotating “clip” to advance the next pellet, but it is predictable so it is easy to get used to. The accuracy is there, if you can get reliable, stable, pressure. I really have to assume that the rifle that I received has a problem. So I’m going to reserve my FINAL opinion until I get it back from being repaired.

Written By,
Rick Eutsler AKA: AirHead
Editor / Owner www.AirGunWeb.com
editor@airgunweb.com
Copyright 2007, Dog River Design, LLC – All Rights Reserved.

Today was a great day here at Airgunweb.com.  We had another air gun come in for review that I’m very excited to talk about.  We also received a new lightweight bi-pod, some specialty pellets from Gamo, Beeman indoor/outdoor pellet trap and some Gamo Targets.  We’ll get to each of these ask we have time.

The air rifle we received was the Crosman 1077 CO2 12 shot repeater with walnut stock. The barrel is rifled steel with the rest of the gun  mostly fairly sturdy plastic.  The 12 shot clip is a real neat feature that makes loading and firing VERY fun and easy.  The air gun ships with a fiber optic front sight and adjustable rear sight. The paperwork claims a maximum velocity of 625 fps but we’ll talk about that another day.  The rear sight is adjusted by sliding a ramp to move the point of impact up and down.  There are two screws that you loosen to adjust the POI left to right.

Now normally when I see these types of sights I just give up and install a scope, but today I figured I give the rifle a try with the open sights.  Out of the box at 10 meters it shot low and left about 1/2  inch from the bull’s-eye.  When I loosened up the screws to adjust left to right I found something very interesting.  The sight actually clicked when I moved it.  I’m not sure if it was just sticking or if it this feature was built into the sight.  I’ll take it apart later and let you know what I find.  In any case it made adjusting the rifle very easy and very fast.

After we were sighted in, we were able to shoot, from a standing position, quarter size groups at 10 meters.  From a sitting position and a rest, those groups shrank down to dime size.  Now I also want to add that my eyesight is not very good so open sights are just not my best friend, but I was pretty happy with this so far.  I’ll be putting a scope on it for the next report.  We got all this from a $99 dollar, multi-shot, CO2 repeater.  If you wanted to save a few bucks, you could get the same accuracy from the synthetic stock model at only $68 from Compasseco. 

If low noise target practice is your bag, you should really take a look at this air rifle.  I could not imagine using this for anything other than paper targets, so don’t get one to clear out pests.  We’ll have more info for you once we can take it on the range and see how accurate we’ll be at 20 meters and use our new chronograph to measure real FPS.

Airhead