Author Topic: Benji Super Streak,..1st impressions  (Read 2176 times)

Offline tjk

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Benji Super Streak,..1st impressions
« on: January 15, 2009, 10:46:46 AM »
Here's the deal, I have a friend of mine who got one for Christmas this year and asked meto sight it in for him. The first thing I asked him was, "is it loud"???? Yes he replied,..."like a .22"!! Next question I asked, have you dry-fired it? "yes" was the answer I got,....."about three times, and it scared the neighbors cat into the next county". I shook my head and told him he would ruin it that way. So I pick it up today and run a few super-domes through it to get afeel of the rifle,.....not bad I thought to myself, I like the thumb-hole stock. Let's get her home and take a look. I know there're some fans of this rifle, but to be honest, I'm glad I didn't spend $300 on this model. About all I can see is it is a hopped up quest variant. It's got power, but speed isn't everything!!!! Let's start from the front and work our way back. The MB is abig gaudy looking globe style MB, with a paint job that doesn't match the gun very well. It also extends past the crown a good bit and running a line through it with a patch is a royal pain!!! I'dchop the MB in half, dress it up and it wouldstill serve a handle purpose. Working down to the breech block, it isn't muchmore than an elongated quest block. The breech seal does have a healthy protrusion from the barrel, and itappears to have been shimmed. The rest of the actions exterior does have a solid utilitarian look to it. As for the stock, while it's flashy,withslightly bettercheckering than my Sierra-Pro, the over-all finish is sloppy and just doesn't look good. A 0000 steel wool pad would do it wonders!!! After removing the stock,the action had the typical "chinese cheap oils" all over it. The first thing I noticed was that the roller bearing on the linkage had a scuff mark where it has rubbed the stock groove instead of rolling through the groove. The roller appears to be stamped on so removing it to lube it was out of the question,....it ain't my gun, and I wasn't about to fool too much with it at this time. I did get it to turn though, and think maybe I'll take the cordless drill to it tomorrow and see if I can loosen the roller a bit (put it in the chuck and spin it to see if that will free it up some). I inspected the spring, and sure enough it was canted as I thought it would be,....from being dry-fired I would assume. Upon inspecting the spring guide, itlooks like a roughly turned piece ofsteel with visible scratchmarks from the spring after being fired.The linkage appears to have a plastic look and feel to it (perhap anodized aluminum), but I didn't want to take myknife and scratch it to see. Another thing I didn't really care for was the plastic trigger guard?!?!?! For $300 I would hope for something a bit more Heavy-Duty. Same looking type of Gamo/Theobin trigger, so I would asume the GRT-III trigger will work in it.Now there's a bright spot!!!!!After Iwiped off the excess oils and crud, I replaced the stock and proceeded to run a few patches down the barrel to clear out any residual oils in it,...and again,that was a pain. Before I took it to the trap, I checked how the action (linkage) worked through the stock slot and noticed that it rubbed the inside of the slot. I flipped it on the gun rest and tried to even it out some loosenning one side and tightenning the other,....but to no availe. Again sloppy work by the manufacturer. I even triple checked the whole thing to make sure the action was properly seated in the stock, and sure enough, everything fell in place as it had come from the factory,...still the linkage rubbed the inside. This was another major disappointment. So I grab a tin of 7.9 CPHP's to run a few and check how the rear sight "Sighted",.....I did remove the sight and again cleanned the fac oils out of it, but still, more PLASTIC.For the cost of the rifle you'd think that Crosman could"up-grade" the rear sight to all metal!!!It has the typical "sand paper, scrunchy, stock feel to it when cocking,....as most "American Made Chinese Imports"do. The trigger release was also typical of a fresh stock gun,...but to my surprise, the recoil wasn't as harsh as I thought it would be. Still a rough un-tuned firing cycle compounded with the stock trigger, but not too bad. I ran about 10 pellets through it and it dieseled as I expected,....every time, but definatelly super-sonic velocity. It has a crack when firing, and the dieselled mix of factory oils were prevelant in the barrel,but the barrel didn't have the smoke associated with "detonation"..Hmmm I thought to myself. If you're going to shoot this rifle, you'd better use a heavier pellet,...Cro-mags at least!!! I'll hold on to this weapon for the weekend and run a tin through it and see it things improve some. I've even thought about putting a little bit of Di-electric grease on the spring and spring guide to see if that will smooth it out. It is a longer than normal rifle (decent balance when shouldering), but I didn't think it wasmuch heavier than my Diana 34, and the cocking force wasn't as hard as I thought it would be either. The SS has a lot of potential with the usual up-grades (the gold trig, a tune if anyone is tuning them yet, etc.), but factory stock,...it's not much better than a $100Quest variant. My apologies to the SS fans out therebut these are only my first impressions of the rifle, and I'll have all weekend to put it through its paces!!!!! I'll post more on this rifle later, tjk
397 Benji-98\' model    
Marksman  0035, My Fav!,CDT T\'d
Crosman Sierra-Pro,.177
Benji 392 08\'
CDT TT\'d RWS 34 .22,CP 4-16X40 AO
MM T\'d Marksman 0035
Crosman G1 Extreme
Daisy PowerLine 1000
TF-97 .22
B-28A MM T\'d
B-28 OEM Tuned by me
Beeman .22 RX-2 w/Theoben GR
Beeman .177 R1 Santa Rosa

Offline tjk

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Re: Benji Super Streak,..1st impressions
« Reply #1 on: January 15, 2009, 11:51:55 AM »
Oh I totally agree! It' is a performer,.....at least in the velocity aspect. And with some TLC, I believe it can be a great shooter,. Just wish the factory QCs were more in line for it's class, and cost. The internals are basically the same  with the Gamo/Crosman mechanics, and the entire action is about the same just BIGGER. I didn't "tear' it down past the stock,...no compressor on hand at the moment, but potentially, this rifle has alot. Typical cheap corporate cost cutting measures really took there toll on this model. I really like the thumb-hole configuration of the stock,...but being a 'south-paw' shooter,...I wasn't overly impressed with the ambi stock. I reckon I've gotten used to shooting righty's and have taught myself how to compensate for this. LOL's!!! I can't wait to put this horse of a weapon though a thorough work out this weekend!!!  tjk
397 Benji-98\' model    
Marksman  0035, My Fav!,CDT T\'d
Crosman Sierra-Pro,.177
Benji 392 08\'
CDT TT\'d RWS 34 .22,CP 4-16X40 AO
MM T\'d Marksman 0035
Crosman G1 Extreme
Daisy PowerLine 1000
TF-97 .22
B-28A MM T\'d
B-28 OEM Tuned by me
Beeman .22 RX-2 w/Theoben GR
Beeman .177 R1 Santa Rosa