ALL DRESSED UP AND NOWHERE TO GO!

[uncle paulie]

I grew up with a Benji Blue Streak permanently attached to my trigger finger. My youth was predominantly passed trekking through the woods with my Blue Streak fitted with a Weaver 4X...... I WAS THE KING OF THE FOREST!   Now, at 61 years young, and with a growing critter problem on my property, I find myself yearning to revisit the joys of my youth. Wife, college, work, kids, baseball,soccer,dance classes, more college(didn't realize I would be paying for it again when I went the first time- maybe I should have skipped the kids) all has done a pretty good job of keeping me away from some of the truly most enjoyable times of my life.

SOOOOO.... with the aforementioned critter problem looming, off I went to the internet to see what the current genre of air power has to offer. Much to my surprise and delight I find that my faithful sidekick it still alive, and well and AVAILABLE!!!!!!!!!! OH MY GOSH!!!!!

But Wait......I discover that my old buddy Benjamin has come out a brand new whizz-banger to tantalize my senses! It is beautiful....It is heavy in the hand.....It is POWERFUL.... And it WILL shoot the hair off a nats ass!!!!!!!!!!! GEEPERS, I could almost *_*_*_*_*_* in my pants! (That happens sometimes at my age.)

Who could ask for more; Not only do I find this soon to be iconic doomsday machine for critters everywhere, but I find a great bunch of souls who are almost too willing to coach me in any way necessary to insure that The King of The Forest shall reign supreme once more!

More research and I find a dealer who is selling the Trail NPXL 1100(in NJ none the less) for $239.00 or 10 fox pelts(just kidding), but alas, he's out of stock. I put my dibbs in for one from the next shipment, order a GRTIII from Charlie, and wait.....ANXIOUSLY....three days later a small and nondescriptpackage arrives at my doorstep in a plain brown wrapper. Inside a delightful looking bit of bling-bling. It is solid, it is smooth, it is golden and it feels sooooo good! The note inside says "Please find enclosed your replacement part" "Thank you" ....Yea, so OK, CDT isn't selling packaging, but I would have at least expected a small drum roll in as much as this is THE thing that is going to transport me to the ultimate Nirvana!!!

And still I wait, waiting for the object of my affection to arrive. For GOD'S SAKE... you would think I'm 12 years old.

And still I wait.....ALL DRESSED UP AND NOWHERE TO GO!

Happy to have found you all, and glad to be a part. I'll keep you posted during the break-in, I'm sure I will likely be in need of some individual attention!

pv

 

[Dave1899]

Welcome to the forum uncle paulie. I'm sure you'll have a great time here. Hope to see some pics of your new shooter when you get it. By the way, go ahead and shoot it a few times before you put in CDT's trigger...Then you'll see why everyone loves it! Be careful the first time you reach for the trigger 'cause it may surprise you...LOL

[wahoowad]

I hope your gun is PERFECT! If not, or even if it is and you just start obsessing over stuff, we're here for you!

[ezman604]

Hey Paul, glad you found us and joined this band of airgun addicts!!!! Make yourself at home.

And glad you rediscovered an old friend in Benjamin. Be sure to post often and post pictures of your AG adventures.

Happy Shooting!!!!

Dave

[Big_Bill]

Welcome to the GTA Forums Paulie !!!

Like you, I have spent many of my developing years with a Pump air rifle under my arm, only mine was the Sheridan Blue Streak. And I still have a Model CB in my collection today, just for the memories !

Now that your back to air guns, a few of those years will roll away, and you'll find floods of fond memories floating back through your mind

I know that you will be more than satisfied with the GRT-III, there GREAT !!!!! Just remember that you will have a big difference in the pull of the GRT-III, and be sure to have your air rifle pointed at the target before touching it ! It will be much sweeter that that factory rock that comes in your Trail NPXL 1100 .

Now that your a member of our air gun family here, I hope to see you often !

Bill

[uncle paulie]

Thinking back, mine was the Sheridan also, I can remember when Sheridan was picked up by Benjamin, and now Cossman. As they say, a rose by any other name would smell as sweet! Lets hope the NPXL enjoys the same notoriety as its predecessors! The one thing that I find puzzling is that there seems to be an inordinate amount of bad seals coming out of the factories with the NP guns- regardless of where they are made. Even though the fix is relatively easy to accomplish as per the time and expertise so many of you have put into the sport; the question remains as to why the situation has not been addressed by Crossman. One would think they would catch on to the problem after so many of them are afflicted with the same problem. They must be getting tired of the repairs and replacements. I'm hoping all this is not just a numbers game on Crossmans part.  I'm sure that for every one that has been sent back, there is a hundred or more sold to folks who have no idea just how accurate AR's can be.

   

[airiscool]

Welcome uncle paulie.

uncle paulie - 5/12/2010  7:08 AM

..........The one thing that I find puzzling is that there seems to be an inordinate amount of bad seals coming out of the factories with the NP guns- regardless of where they are made. Even though the fix is relatively easy to accomplish as per the time and expertise so many of you have put into the sport; the question remains as to why the situation has not been addressed by Crossman. One would think they would catch on to the problem after so many of them are afflicted with the same problem. They must be getting tired of the repairs and replacements. I'm hoping all this is not just a numbers game on Crossmans part.  I'm sure that for every one that has been sent back, there is a hundred or more sold to folks who have no idea just how accurate AR's can be.

Maybe not.

From what the experienced tuners say, factory damaged seals are very common with the less expensive Air guns. I think most owners just don't know what to expect. In the case of the XL's, a bad seal is more apparent because of the power level of this gun combined with the excessive amount of light oil in them. My Gamo's seal was bad from day-one, but not as easy to notice because it's half the power and didn't have alot of oil in it.

When stamped metal parts are not de-burred as part of the original production, and then compression seals are shoved past some of those burred edges, it doesn't surprise me to hear how many have damaged seals. The good news is that Crosman has very good service, and for those who like to tinker, the XL is easy to work on. Unlike most Springers, it doesn't need a spring/ram compresser to get it opened up. Replacement seals and better lubes are not expensive, and de-burring a gun  is low-tech - anyone who has the time can learn to do it.

Hopefully, your XL won't need repair, but, needing repair or not, it's still a great gun for hunting when it's set right.

Paul.

[TennTux]

Congrats, Uncle Paulie.  I have a similar critter problem and decided to go with the NP XL 1100 as the solution.  I was tempted to use my '42 Mosin 91/30 for varmint control but, no matter how much fun it would be for me, I didn't think my suburban neighbors would much care for it.  

I broke mine in using the factory trigger and then installed the GRT III...new trigger makes a WORLD of difference.  Enjoy your new rifle (whenever it arrives)!