Crosman 392 PA advice

[Arkansas Man]

Hello guys, i  am inneed of a bit of informative advice concerning Crosman and Benjamin Sheridan pump up rifles.  I was in a local pawn store today and found a 392 PA, and it says crosman on the receiver.  I really haven't researched to much about these guns but this one was as new at a fairly decent price.  So what is the difference in a Crosman 392 PA and a Benjamin Sheridan 392.  Is it that the blue and the silver streak are 20 cal.?  Help on this would be appriciated.   thanks    fb

[Arkansas Man]

Also, if any of you guys have the crosman 392 PA, is it a decent gun?  What pellet does this pump up gun usually shoot well?   fb

[airgunandy]

With the current Crosman-made products, the .22 392PA and the .177 397PA are traditionally called Benjamins while the same gun in .20 is a Sheridan, even if Crosman won't print those names on the guns!
Sheridans come in two flavors, plain and shiney. The Blue Streak is the black one, I guess because it looks like a traditional blued steel rifle, and the nickle-plated version is the Silver Streak.

I have a 392PA (I just call it a 392) and really like it. I mounted a pistol scope on mine, scout rifle style ahead of the rear sight. I think the guns are too hard to load and pump with a conventional rifle scope though. Most folks just use the open sights or install a Williams peep sight (sold by Crosman).
My rifle loves RWS Superdome pellets. Crosman hollow points are OK, but other Crosman pellets don't work too well in my gun. Geez, cheap Daisy wadcutters shoot better than the crosman pellets in my 392. Weird, huh?
A metal and wood rifle that's easy to shoot, no recoil or hold sensitivities to deal with, and if you like to work on your own guns you can with just simple hand tools. There are modification that can be done to increase power and/or reduce the pump effort. Mac1is famous for their "steroid" mod they do on these guns. The guns are simple enough that a lot of people (myseld included) do their own work on them.  On 8 pumps mine runs about 680. I usually use 4 pumps (520fps) plinking and paper punching at 10 to 20 yards in the backyard.
I also have a 1965 model Sheridan Blue Streak. Now there is a really sweeeet rifle!
You can see my rifles in my avatar.
I think the Benjamin and Sheridan rifles are just great. Try it, you'll like it!

[geewhiz380]

the blue streak .20 cals r awsome and accurate loud but a great rifle the last forever i had a 1971 that was a favorite and the ben franklins 1969 i recovered early last week in .22 small framed rifle but extremely accurate and i use iron sights .i dont know about the new ones but the older ones r tanks i use rws domed or super h point which r excellent in my usage .....jorge

[cole5169]

Hi, Arkansas Man,

Understandable confusion.  Crosman now owns the Benjamin-Sheridan brand(s), so you'll see manufacturer (Crosman) stamps on a lot of branded (Benjamin or Sheridan) guns.  Same basic products, though.

392's (whoever labelled them) are great pumpers.  They're .22 calibre, pretty darn accurate, and easy to take care of.  The 392/397's would have been 'Benjamin' products a few years ago.

The Blue and Silver Streak were 'Sheridans' -- but made by Crosman now -- and are pretty much the same as the rebranded 392/397's except for being exclusively in .20 calibre.  Great little rifles.
The debate over which calibre is better is best left to your own personal experience and needs

If you can get that 392 for, say, $90 or less, I'd say definitely jump on it (if it looks like it's in decent shape, of course).

-Joel

[Arkansas Man]

Thanks to all of you for your extremely useful info.  I think i remember readiong that the PA stands for pump assist, is that correct?   I will update later today.  thanks  again.   fb

[Bill inTX]

I thought "PA" stood for "Pneumatic Airgun".

I have a 392LE (Limited Edition, with a checkered stock and scope grooves) and a Blue Streak. The 392 shoots the RWS Superdomes the best. I keep the Blue Streak set up for open sight shooting with the peep sight that's made for these guns. Get you one. Now.

[airgunandy]

If you ask me, I say PA stands for "Pretty Awesome!"

[Arkansas Man]

Helllo to you Bill, i called Crosman and the man tells me PA stands for Pump Action.  I was hopeing it was pump assist as i read some reviews last night and it was mentioned.  I went ahead and bought the rifle, total $86.00 and some change after tax.  the gun looks new to me, who ever had the gun before me must have only put a handful of pellets through it.  Now for the chrony to see if the insides are ok.  It is supposed to do close to 685 so we will see.  I have two days to try the gun out and still return it.  thanks     fb

[Arkansas Man]

Well here is my local pawn store find.  Actually i have never found and purchased anything from a pawn store before.  I looked it over and i can't even find one scratch anywhere, and it looked as new to me, even though there was no box or paper work with the gun.  As luck would have it the man behind the counter had a supply of 22 cal. pellets.  

Here are the averages.   RWS Superdomes, 10 shot average is...576 fps.
                                         RWS Hollow Point   3 shot average is...581 fps
                                         Crosman copperhead pointed, 3 shot average is...575 fps.
I think the altitude may have a bit of an affect on the fps, as all the the websites say 685 fps, maybe someone that has one of these pumpers and lives highup will be able to let me know about that.

As you noticed the last two were three shot averages as i was already pumped up due to the prior 80 pumps with the superdomes.  
No weight lifting tonight for me, i am already pumped up. hehehe

Just kidding there guys the gun is not that bad and man it is powerful.  I woud say it's only slightly louder than my springers, but not by much, its a keeper.  For $86.00 and some change i think i did ok.  I tried to include a photo or two.  The gun has nice grain and is not scuffed anywhere, and i got it from a pawn store, wow, my lucky day.  thanks    fb

[RedFeather]

For that price you did GREAT!  Was waiting for your picture. The 392 has come in three guises.  The first was when Sheridan was bought out by Crosman and they sort of morphed the old Blue Streak with the Benjamin pumpers.  A bad idea but it was the era of the cost cutters.  These look like yours but have the old stamped steel trigger guard and a tab safety on the tang behind the bolt.  And plain stocks with bare butts.  Good guns but you cant do much with the triggers.  Also know as "transitional models".  The next step was changing the trigger group to a unitized casting with a cross-bolt safety.  Not really a great improvement but the trigger can be tweaked.  These had bare butts, too.  Yours is the latest flavor.  Google on "super sear"  or ask on the Yellow for Big Ed's contact info.  You can get a nice, drop in sear for about $30 that will do wonders for the trigger.  Add a Williams receiver sight for about $30 more and you're set.  Or simply enjoy it, as is.  May not have the magnum fps statistics but it will hit like the flat of an axe.  Just don't tell the game you are hunting and they will never know the difference.  I'll be looking for one of those, myself, to replace my transition 392.

[Arkansas Man]

Hello and thank you for the kind words Redfeather.  I was kinda concerned the gun being a pawn store rifle but i think it will be ok.  I think i will look into the supersear, and the peepsight.  I was kinda hopeing someone who lived at higher elevation would give me some chrony numbers so i could compare them with mine to see if the gun is doing pretty close to where it should.   And by the way, i used some pelgun oil on my little 1377 and it worked out great, i don't know if you remember a post a while back when i was looking for an answer to why my little pistol had gotten hard to pump.  now just add a drop to the pump every 200 shots or so and it is easy as when new.  

This is the first 22 cal. rifle i have ever purchased and i think i am gonna buy another, a break barrel.     thanks    fb

[airgunandy]

Sweet! Yours has some real nice grain on the stock.
If you haven't you might ought to oil it a bit with Pellgun oil or 30wt non-detergent motor oil. A little on the pivots and a drop or two on the piston. Might help on the velocity.

Looks like a keeper!

[Arkansas Man]

Helllo airgunandy, i am glad you mentioned a bit of oil on the piston.  Now i did find out that after a couple hundred shots or so my 1377 needs one drop of pelgun oil on the pump,  but are you telling me the 392 is oiled the same way.  Will this rifle become hard to pump after a couple hundred shot or so like the 1377 pistol did?  I would really like you to get back to me on this matter.  Also, let me in on how you go about cleaning the barrel.  I use the googone and line to clean all my break barrel, will that work for the 392?  And i read that one should always put one pump into the gun for storage wheither it's stored over night or for a year.  thanks   fb

[cole5169]

Wow, great looking wood!  And your velocities are about right; sounds like you're coming out right around 10 ft-lbs.

I think you got a fair price, too.  I don't think you'll be disappointed, these things are real workhorses