Well every so often someone in the airgun community does something amazing and the following is just such a time. A couple weeks ago was my birthday, and having a birthday usually means new toys. Well this year I spent all of my birthday moneys doing this and doing that, but didn't get a new toy per se. So jokingly I posted about having a birthday and having "Airgun Fits".
http://www.gatewaytoairguns.com/airguns/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=6893&mid=49358#M49358People offered sympathy, offered condolences, and we all had a good joke together. Well somewhere in there "The Shop" co-moderator Paul a.k.a."Fix" says,"Happy birthday Dano, I have a present for ya!". That present was a NIB Crosman G1 Extreme. Many of you know that I can't shoot a springer to save myself, but airguns is airguns and it was my birthday. Airgun people I have discovered in the short few years since I got into this sport/hobby are a different breed of people. Some hunt, some shoot paper, some shoot pistols, some shoot rifles, and there's even a guy who makes an Airforce Talon that shoots arrows! I'm somewhere in between taking airguns apart and trading airguns....there's a few people like me too:) But we are somehow all tied together in a fellowship that I have discovered is filled to the top with some VERY good people. Paul is one of these people.
First off let me say that to get a new airgun for my birthday from someone I have never met in real life, or even chatted with on the phone really knocked me off my feet, but what happened next simply floored me. Paul is a machinist, I think he makes boat parts, or parts for the Space Shuttle, or cardboard boxes, I dunno what he makes exactly, but I am sure he is VERY good at whatever he makes. Paul mentioned to me that he wouldn't be able to ship the gun out till the following Monday because it was already too late in the day on Friday for UPS. Airguns is airguns, no complaints from me. Then Paul went on to explain since he had the gun over the weekend he would spin up a muzzle brake for it. By this time I am starting to think,"This guy is really going over the top!".....then I read the following
http://www.gatewaytoairguns.com/airguns/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=6926&mid=49662#M49662Paul went REALLY over the top with his custom tune!
I've now been waiting a few days and today the G1 arrived at my doorstep. Paul packaged in what I can only say compares with Fort Knox, it took me right up near a half hour to unpack the gun, and I'm not joking. What I finally pulled from the package looked like a pretty much stock Crosman G1 Extreme with a beautiful bronze muzzle brake. I sat here for awhile, looked at the gun a bit, then of course my wife had plans for me to go help with some yardwork...bummer! I snuck back in here a little while later, picked the gun up again, tried half cocking it so I could feel the cocking stroke. Smoooooth as glass! After checking it out I quickly grabbed my B26, robbed the Leaper 3x12x44AO scope off from it and mounted it up on the G1...just then my wife walked in and asked if I was coming back out,.....bummer #2! Then after a little more yardwork there was still some good light outside (Thanks Daylight Savings Time!). I grabbed the G1, grabbed a tin of Gamo Hunters, and headed out the door. Let me say again, the cocking cycle on this gun is smooooooth, and the firing cycle is probably the smoothest of any springer I have ever shot. Just a smooth thunk and the pellet hits its target. One other thing worth mentioning is that Paul also fitted this gun with one of Bob's GRT-III triggers. These triggers are worth their weight in gold, which is fitting because they are actually anododized gold. This is the second gun I've owned with one of Bob's fine triggers installed and it is a pleasure to pull.
So I know there are some people wondering,"Did Dano actually finally hit what he was aiming at?". Short answer,"No"....., but once I sighted the scope in I hit everything I was aiming for. This is a really accurate springer that even I can shoot well. The other question that might come up is "Dano hates SINthetic stocks, what's he gonna make for it?". Well another short answer, nothing,......, the synthetic stock on the G1 doesn't feel and sound like a hollow whiffle ball bat when you shoot it like some of the Gamos feel to me. This one will stay synthetic, it's a surprizingly comfortable ambi stock. The little "hump" on the forened that originally struck me as odd actually works out to give you a place to feel for a repetitive hold when shooting it....kudos to Crosman!
Again I'd like to thank Paul for not only giving me the best gift for my birthday, but also putting his time and energy into making it a great shooter. This one is a keeper!
