Author Topic: Quest 1000 review  (Read 12621 times)

Offline vinceb

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Quest 1000 review
« on: September 14, 2006, 02:16:49 PM »
The Crosman Quest, as many people are aware, is a re-issue of the old Xisico (BAM) B19 break-barrel air rifle, which itself was a copy of the Gamo 220. So, the natural question comes up - is it as good as a Gamo?

The answer to that is both "yes" and "no". "Yes" in that it is quite capable of comparable performance, and "no" in that you are not quite so likely to get that performance right out of the box.

The first Quest I got turned out to be an older production model. It shot fairly hard (low 900's with Gamo Match) and was passably accurate, but had 2 major problems. First was an AWFUL cocking stroke - like ripping sheet metal with a crowbar. The second was a tiny bit of veritcal play in the breach lockup. I didn't mess with it - it went right into the box and back to Crosman.

The next one that came in had neither of these problems, but dieseled badly for the first several shots. After it finally settled down, it was slow - about 80 fps slower than the previous model. But the gun itself seemed OK, so I took to working on it.

It didn't take that much - I tried a couple of different things, but ended up just installing a new spring and seal from Crosman, and did the typical deburring and relubing. As I suspected the original spring had "crunched" from the dieseling, and was significantly shorter as a result. These steps immediately  brought the velocity up to the low 900's, and it's been slowly creeping up as the seal breaks in. At last check, it was touching 940 with CPL's - and that's only about 60fps slower than the hard-hitting Daisy Powerline. And in all honesty, that's a bit better than any stock "1000fps" Gamo that I've ever checked.

As for accuracy, the answer is, again, "yes and no". The open sights on the Quest are certainly inferior to those on the Gamo... although Gamo is, strangely enough, discontinuing open sights. They are less rugged and a little harder to use, and there was some side-to-side play in the example I had. The sideways play was fixed with a little shimming from some soda-can stock, and the ineffective fiber-optic inserts for the rear were easily replaced with some filaments from Tru-Glo. If I'm careful, I can shoot about as consistently with the open irons on this rifle as I can on my Shadow or my 440.

Scoping it is another matter. I only tried a scope on it once, and found that the shots tended to walk up and down in a fairly straight line. The Quest seems to suffer from a malady that my .22 B19 also suffers from, the relatively hard breach seal tends to keep the breach from locking up against its metal stop. As a result, the barrel lock-up can vary a tiny bit from shot to shot. Since I'm not a big scope fan and open-iron accuracy doesn't seem to suffer, this really isn't an issue for me. However - and again, just like my B19 - I found it necessary to deepen the stock cut-out for the front sight. On higher elevation settings, the sight would hit the stock when the gun was cocked, and that could knock the sight out of adjustment.

I never had much of a problem with Gamo triggers, but the virtually-identical mechanism on the Quest was somewhat less pleasant as the one on my Shadow. Predictably, a few thousand rounds smoothed it out rather nicely - it's no worse than any other Theoben-triggered gun I've got. What didn't smooth out was the firing cycle "TWANNNNGGGG" (again, very much like a Gamo) - it took a bit of guide work to get rid of that.

Overall, it has turned out as one of my favorite rifles. It inherits many of the good qualities of the Gamo design. It is light, it has easy and smooth cocking, and has a very manageable firing cycle for a gun of its power. However - and this must be said - when I shoot this and my Shadow back-to-back, there seems to be something lacking in the Quest. I'm not sure exactly what gives me this impression - but the Gamo just feels like a more carefully machined rifle, like the tolerances are a little tighter, it works a little smoother, and the parts mate a little better.

But in the final analysis, it really does work about as well once it's sorted out. Granted, this can take a bit more effort than is typical with a Gamo product - which raises the question: frequently found at $85 - is it worth saving the money over a $125 Walmart Shadow? Probably not - but again, the Shadow as we know it is an endangered species. And as the price differential grows between it and the 220 or 440, the Quest becomes more and more viable. I suspect that once all the old Gamo's are gone, and all the new models come with scopes and no sights, the price of the Gamo's will increase enough to make the Quest the better buy hands down.

And I'll end by saying something about Crosman parts support. In a word, it is excellent (at least for this model) - and many Quest seals and springs are also finding their way into Gamo's of various sorts. All parts are available, they are reasonably cheap ($6 springs, $3 seals), and they ship fast. My only wish is that Gamo did the same.

Offline DAMAGE

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RE: Quest 1000 review
« Reply #1 on: August 26, 2007, 08:52:37 PM »
Well said M8 I really like my Quest 1000 and at a good price it makes a good hunting gun for me.
Sean
           M.C.A.S.A
Mid-Central Airgun Shooters Assn
 MCASA-Small Game Hunters Club
           Wanganui
          New Zealand

http://www.nzairgunners.com/nzairgunforum/index.php

Offline longislandhunter

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RE: Quest 1000 review
« Reply #2 on: August 27, 2007, 02:40:44 AM »
Enjoyed your review very much.  I've been thinking of picking up one of the Crosman  phantoms, just something about them that I like, so found your review very insightful.  Thanks.

Jeff
\"If it was easy it wouldn\'t be hunting, it would be shopping.\"

Offline Big_Bill

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RE: Quest 1000 review
« Reply #3 on: August 27, 2007, 05:38:34 AM »


Very Good review Vince,



After reading your reviews, I feel that I have an understanding of the rifle, both its good points and bad points !



Thanks for your including us in your examination of so many different air guns.

Life Member of The United States of America
Life Member of the National Rifle Association
Member Air Guns Addicted Anonymous
SHOOT SAFE ! - SHOOT WELL ! - SHOOT OFTEN !
Always Use A Spring Compressor ! and Buy the GREAT GRT-III & CBR Triggers, cause they are GRRRREAT !

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RE: Quest 1000 review
« Reply #4 on: August 30, 2007, 12:05:29 PM »
Thanks for the excellent review.

I bought a Quest 1000 recently and replaced the trigger with the GRT-111 and found that to be a big
improvement.  I've shot mine only about 100 times so far and it gets about 920 fps with 8 grain pellets
which I think is up there with most of the rifles in its class.  Mine came with a simple scope but I haven't
mounted any scope yet as I  like open sights and the Quest's are pretty good (though fragile).

The gun seemed very loud when I first got it but I think that was due to dieseling.  It's quieted down
some now.  For $100 (+ trigger) it seems like a lot of bang for the buck and that GRT-III really
improved accuracy.

BobD

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RE: Quest 1000 review
« Reply #5 on: December 08, 2007, 03:12:42 AM »
Thanks for a great reveiw Vince. Your reveiw, and a chance sighting of a 25% off sale in this mornings paper, convinced me to go buy 2 Quest 1000's. Thanks again.

Offline bbgunbob

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.20 cal Quest 1000X
« Reply #6 on: February 18, 2008, 12:27:17 AM »
I have a Quest that came in .177.I have switched the barrel to a Lother/Walther .20 caliber.I only did this after a power tune,lube tune and refined the stock trigger to pull at less than 2 lbs..I have also mounted a Leapers 3X9X40 mm full size AO scope with Red/Green Illuminated reticle.
This Crosman has proved its self as a real tack driver in .20 cal.and the more you shoot the better it gets.
The barrel is 14" with large LDC to help with cocking effort,no twang after applying Charlies magic tar to the main spring and I am sure his great moly lube has helped the trigger work considerably.I have put.060 double  bronze washers at both ends of the polished main spring again using Da-Tuna's lubes this seems to have removed all sideway torque.
In closing if you really love your Quest for what ever reason give it a little TLC and have the .20 caliber barrel installed by a professional air rifle tuner.
You will end up with a very powerful,and deadly accurate Crosman Quest.
I grab it before the RWS 48 in .22 cal (very accurate too!)which is another story,weight being the main reason.

Sincerly,,, and Shoot Safe!
Bob Schlund(AKA BBGun BOB)
SE MI.
Quest 1000X with L/W .20 Cal. barrel
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc179/reschlund/Quest20rtsidewflash.jpg
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc179/reschlund/Quest20callftwflash.jpg

Offline leftcoast1

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RE: .20 cal Quest 1000X
« Reply #7 on: February 18, 2008, 01:58:31 AM »
Nice looking rifle Bob! I.m thinking of doing that with my gamo viper.
Jason
A couple of Springers nothin to get excited about.