Crosman 392 vs Nitro Piston

[Silvercreek Farmer]

I'm looking for a .22 air rifle to go with my 1322. I've narrowed it down to a 392 or one of the assorted Crosman Nitro Piston rifles in the same price range. Either rifle will be outfitted with peep sights for offhand practice. The 392 has a pretty assured fit Williams model. A Nitro Piston would get a Williams WGRS-54 (unless someone has a better idea) which might take a little more work to fit properly. Both will likely need a bit of trigger work. Reviews on both models indicate there are a few that come of the line with serious QC problems so I'll just have to roll the dice and rely on return policies and the Crosman warranty in that department if need be.

My hesitancy with the Nitro Piston is based on the Gamo Shadow 1000 I have. I realize the Gamo is not a high end rifle, but the twangy, buzzy, vibration is not conducive to accurate offhand shooting (I am getting better though!) not to mention the crazy long (but remarkably light) trigger. The Nitro Piston is supposed to resolve much of the vibration issues (I have a hard time calling it recoil) but I do not want to get sucked into a bunch of marketing hype just to end up back where I am.

I prefer a .22 for no other reason than I like the wack the .22s put on steel targets and Crosman Premiers will be the primary feed for either rifle.

I don't think I am interested in a PCP at the moment and the next step up in the single cock department is a RWS Diana 34 which gets good reviews but would be quite a bit more money.

[cbashooter]

The current 392s have rather big bores.not many pellets shoot well in them.I had two and neither shot the premiers well at all.only the expensive large head h&n and never as well as the 397.I liked the gun but getting near inch at 25 yards was a chore with the "good" pellets.
The Ruger Yukon 22 at Walmart ($139)a buddy just bought was pretty accurate. More so once I cleaned up and lubed the inside.the rws 34 in .22 is hard to beat.that's the gun the ruger is roughly based on but like you said $100 or so more.

The Ruger is extremely simple to work on and take a part you don't need a spring compressor or anything fancy. I'm probably going to buy one next month. My buddies did three quarters of an inch at 25 yards right off the bat

[Silvercreek Farmer]

Thanks CBA! We all know what oversize bores mean from our boolit shooting! Do you mean the Ruger Air Hawk? The Yukon appears to be closer to $200.

[Silvercreek Farmer]

Ended up going with a Crosman Shockwave .22. I liked the wood stock option on the Vantage, but the Shockwave include a cheap little scope I can throw on an old 760 I have and has $10 rebate offer so it won out. I'll be sure to report back after I get it broken in.

[Silvercreek Farmer]

Well, the Shockwave is a no-go. The comb is too high for the open sights. The stock was clearly designed for a scope. I'm probably going to send it back. It does hit hard though! The comb on the Vantage appear lower in the pictures. Not sure if I am going to try it or not.

[Ithaca Gunner]

Save yourself time, money and frustration, get the RWS 34 right off the bat.

[MT Chambers]

Ithaca nailed it, save a bit more and at the very least spring for the RWS 34, most of the others mentioned are Chinese plasticky ****, that have triggers that never end and won't group, vibrate like a paint mixer, etc.

[Silvercreek Farmer]

Thought I might get charged a 20% restocking fee on the Shockwave, so I worked out a deal with my boss to buy from me for a little less than I had in it. Found a local retailer that carried 392s and had a good return policy so I picked one up. I like the way it shoots much better. The trigger is not target grade but is acceptable. The weren't joking about the difficulty of pumps 6,7, and 8 though! Only problem I have is that I had to drift the rear sight way left, even farther than the adjustment screws allow, to get it to shoot straight. But once adjusted, it seems to have adequate accuracy for our little backyard range with targets out to 40-50 yards or so. Not sure if the Williams Peep will be able to fix the windage problem or not. There is also paint present in the muzzle, perhaps cleaning it out will affect windage? I tried some of my wife's acetone based nail polish remover but it didn't seem to have an effect. Also noticed the wood stock is pretty soft, and had to remove my wedding ring to keep from marring it.

[Kernbigo]

Buy the ruger air hawk, i love mine, on a good day at 10 yrds bench shooting i can get any where's from a one hole 3 shot group out to .250 . I also reworked the trigger no first stage, less than a# pull. The only thing you have to make sure the front 2 stock bolt are tight. Mine will out shoot my buddy's diana 34 , he did it on his own. I let him shoot it and his groups were far better than his 34

[gpidaho]

Check out local Pawn shops, I found an as new RWS 34 made in 1998 for $100. Love the rifle. Gp

[mac1911]

Thought I might get charged a 20% restocking fee on the Shockwave, so I worked out a deal with my boss to buy from me for a little less than I had in it. Found a local retailer that carried 392s and had a good return policy so I picked one up. I like the way it shoots much better. The trigger is not target grade but is acceptable. The weren't joking about the difficulty of pumps 6,7, and 8 though! Only problem I have is that I had to drift the rear sight way left, even farther than the adjustment screws allow, to get it to shoot straight. But once adjusted, it seems to have adequate accuracy for our little backyard range with targets out to 40-50 yards or so. Not sure if the Williams Peep will be able to fix the windage problem or not. There is also paint present in the muzzle, perhaps cleaning it out will affect windage? I tried some of my wife's acetone based nail polish remover but it didn't seem to have an effect. Also noticed the wood stock is pretty soft, and had to remove my wedding ring to keep from marring it.

I used carb cleaner sprayed on Q tips. It took a little work. I stuffed a 22 cal cleaning patch down past the paint to catch and junk. I also found the crown was a bit rough on the last one I did.

Mac-1 air guns does great things with these rifles. Triggers can be worked out to run very smooth.
http://www.airgunsmith.com/392/triggertune.htm

[Forrest r]

Another vote for a rws 34. There's allot of rifle there for the $$$. I use a rws 45 (deluxe stocked 34) for offhand practice. Cave man simple, break bbl and artillery hold. The 34's have adjustable triggers and inner changeable front sight inserts.

The rws's hold their value for a reason.

[jmorris]

I still have my first "rifle" a 342, that I rebuilt awhile back and it is a good shooter. I use it more than my 34 at reasonable ranges because it is less hold sensitive than the springer but not as powerful. I also have a discovery (.22) and a .25 marauder that have mostly put the 34 in the business of collecting dust.

[Black Beard]

You will probably find that a well fitting spring guide made of delrin/acetal will cure a lot of the vibration.

First thing to do is to try heavier pellets as it might be the piston crashing in to the front of the cylinder (long term cure for this is to cut the spring down/reduce preload). Too powerful a spring or too light a pellet and the piston will crash.

[Black Beard]

The current 392s have rather big bores.not many pellets shoot well in them.I had two and neither shot the premiers well at all.only the expensive large head h&n and never as well as the 397.I liked the gun but getting near inch at 25 yards was a chore with the "good" pellets.
The Ruger Yukon 22 at Walmart ($139)a buddy just bought was pretty accurate. More so once I cleaned up and lubed the inside.the rws 34 in .22 is hard to beat.that's the gun the ruger is roughly based on but like you said $100 or so more.

The Ruger is extremely simple to work on and take a part you don't need a spring compressor or anything fancy. I'm probably going to buy one next month. My buddies did three quarters of an inch at 25 yards right off the bat

Try RWS superdome. They work well in old British air rifles with slightly larger bores.

[jh45gun]

Nitro Venom is a nice rifle. However no open sights on it if that is your bag and you should replace the scope that comes with it.

[jh45gun]

The nitro piston rifles are easier to shoot than spring rifles no spring vibration.