I just returned from the Crosman All American field target match. It’s an AAFTA Grand Prix in Rochester NY. While there, the Crosman corporation brings guns, pellets, scopes, crossbows, targets, and other air gun goodies to sell at approx. 47.5% off the retail!
I bought a Challenger last year and beefed it to 12 FPE. I then and made a field target stock for it. That gun is as accurate as my Steyr competition gun. In fact, I bought it to be a back up to the Steyr.
While there this year, my shooting partner and I spoke to Nick Hargather. He is the Manufacturing Application Engineer for Crosman…. He has designed a new barrel to replace the choked barrels on their higher end guns, like the Armada, Marauder, and even the Maximus. He is working on the .177 for the Maximus after he finishes the .25 barrel….Very approachable guy.
They only had one Armada there at the event and I decided the second day of the match to get it. I was curious about the barreling. Nick assured me it had the new barrel on it.
Now for my review so far…
This is going to be a ongoing review like my honest review of the Kral Breaker Silent on this forum. That one took wings and is still going.
Let me preface this post by saying I am going to give you the “GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY”… IF I find any. I am not making any recommendations, offering any advice, or telling any stories..!! I am just telling you what I find and what I do to make it better,,, FOR ME!
THE GOOD
First, I will tell you that I am not a big fan of the AR platform for an air rifle. Why? Don’t really know.
In powder burners, it is fine. Used one while in the Marines in the 70’s. I guess is seems to me like someone wanting to play Army with a look-alike pellet gun.…Am I crazy? Possibly… (But as Sheldon on Big Bang Theory says, my mother had me tested)!
Well this rifle has changed my attitude for sure.
The Armada, which I thought sported a plastic forearm, surprised me when it turned out to be Aluminum. There is some plastic on the lower end and stock but that is like the powder burners. In fact, it is advertised to have firearm Mil Spec compatibility. It has MAGPUL M-LOK slots and 15” of Picatinny rail space. The sides and additional accessory rails are plastic but with M-LOK mounts.
The front has a bipod mount for one’s designed to lock in like a Harris. Here is where the additional small accessary rail comes in. Mount it behind and you can put your Atlas bipod or clone on.
The trigger, Magazine, and bolt are right off the Benjamin Marauder. The gauge too. The butt stock is typical squeeze -to-adjust design found on most AR platform guns.
One thing I really like ,is the fact that on the side of the breech, it states a fill max of 3000 PSI..but also correctly states in parentheses, (207 BAR)
So that is the Gun description.
Now for the performance right out of the box before any modding, or as I like to coin, “Tinkering”
I also bought a Center Point 4-16x40 illuminated AO scope at the CAA. It was the largest they had. I don’t do AO scopes usually, but the price was so good from $119 retail, to $48 at the event for the competitors. I could not refuse.
I put the scope on the rail and leveled it. Then shot 2 pellets to see where it hit. The first was rightt and down. Using the, hold on target and dial to the pellet hole method, I fired another. Practically dead center at 20 yards!
OK then…It was time to check the power level. After firing it over the Pro Chrony, I found it a little low. It was at 27 FPE…. I removed the stock and adjusted the port screw all the way out and tightened the striker spring tension. Then it was then a little under 30 FPE. I found my FX 400 liked it at 32 FPE for best accuracy, so I put the Armada back together.
I shot at 30 yards, and the increase in power put the pellet right at the center of a ¾” dot!
The increase actually moved the zero to be perfect. Cool, saves pellets...LOL
I added 4 more for a 5 shot group that measured 3.9 mm CTC…. Not too bad. I will test later to 50, 75, and 100 yards when the wind is down on my range.
Off course I had to get into the rifle now and make some changes. I first removed the shroud to look at the barrel and found it looking like a Marauder. No surprises. Spring, baffles, nose piece, etc. Next, I removed the plastic side pcs as they looked cheap and felt that way. After that I moved the bottom plate back to just fit over the trigger guard. It made the plate look like it belonged there, molding itself to the guards shape. I did this so I could get the accessory rail as far back as possible from the front for an Atlas clone bipod. I may move it forward later after some fidgeting.
Most important on any of my rifles is the trigger! I like my competition guns triggers at around 2.0 oz. The Steyr was lighter than that, but it was tricky. Now I don’t expect to shoot comps with this gun but I still like a light trigger. So, I removed the lawyer spring from the trigger group and put the cover back. I would polish the sear and mating parts for a smoother release, but for now I wanted to see how well it will adjust with just the spring out. It’s pretty good. There’s some creep on the first stage but a crisp break. Looks like I will need to polish the mating parts…
THE BAD
Actually, only one thing for now. When I went to adjust the stock, I noticed the locking nut on the adjuster was almost off. After trying to tighten the grub screw on the adjusting nut, I found it was stripped! On closer inspection, I found the threaded hole was out of round! More oblong than round. I will fix it but I thought I would point it out.
THE UGLY
Ok here I have a few words. The gun overall is good looking. A tad long if using a pop up blind to hunt.
The plastic side plates are not attractive and not necessary, since there is no heat build up being a pellet rifle. So, they had to go.
The one on the bottom serves a purpose for hand placement.
The 2 supplied accessory rails are made of plastic. I would prefer aluminum but I know they are more expensive and add cost.. They will function until overtightened or other damage.
That stupid looking cocking bolt cover! (Just my humble opinion)
I know it helps keep your finger joint from getting raw, but really? Retool the machine and make it a nice round or fat ergonomic handle please. It looks like you stuck the plastic protective cap off a metal rod end.
The shroud is a slight bit off to the side and was noted by another forum member in his post. It is just cosmetic and I did not notice it until ii found his post. Just sits off in the forearm frame. Does not touch or affect anything. No biggie.
Just slightly toward the right....
Well, That’s it for now…. I need to do a full chrony test More for my interest is the barrel’s performance after it “Seasons In”. If it is placing pellets like that at 30 yards, with less then 25 pellets through it… Will be interesting.
I will also try lubed and un-lubed pellets. My Steyr prefers lubed, but the Challenger, and 1720T pistol likes un-lubed. My HW97 likes dry pellets also.
I bought a Challenger last year and beefed it to 12 FPE. I then and made a field target stock for it. That gun is as accurate as my Steyr competition gun. In fact, I bought it to be a back up to the Steyr.
While there this year, my shooting partner and I spoke to Nick Hargather. He is the Manufacturing Application Engineer for Crosman…. He has designed a new barrel to replace the choked barrels on their higher end guns, like the Armada, Marauder, and even the Maximus. He is working on the .177 for the Maximus after he finishes the .25 barrel….Very approachable guy.
They only had one Armada there at the event and I decided the second day of the match to get it. I was curious about the barreling. Nick assured me it had the new barrel on it.
Now for my review so far…
This is going to be a ongoing review like my honest review of the Kral Breaker Silent on this forum. That one took wings and is still going.
Let me preface this post by saying I am going to give you the “GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY”… IF I find any. I am not making any recommendations, offering any advice, or telling any stories..!! I am just telling you what I find and what I do to make it better,,, FOR ME!
THE GOOD
First, I will tell you that I am not a big fan of the AR platform for an air rifle. Why? Don’t really know.
In powder burners, it is fine. Used one while in the Marines in the 70’s. I guess is seems to me like someone wanting to play Army with a look-alike pellet gun.…Am I crazy? Possibly… (But as Sheldon on Big Bang Theory says, my mother had me tested)!
Well this rifle has changed my attitude for sure.
The Armada, which I thought sported a plastic forearm, surprised me when it turned out to be Aluminum. There is some plastic on the lower end and stock but that is like the powder burners. In fact, it is advertised to have firearm Mil Spec compatibility. It has MAGPUL M-LOK slots and 15” of Picatinny rail space. The sides and additional accessory rails are plastic but with M-LOK mounts.
The front has a bipod mount for one’s designed to lock in like a Harris. Here is where the additional small accessary rail comes in. Mount it behind and you can put your Atlas bipod or clone on.
The trigger, Magazine, and bolt are right off the Benjamin Marauder. The gauge too. The butt stock is typical squeeze -to-adjust design found on most AR platform guns.
One thing I really like ,is the fact that on the side of the breech, it states a fill max of 3000 PSI..but also correctly states in parentheses, (207 BAR)
So that is the Gun description.
Now for the performance right out of the box before any modding, or as I like to coin, “Tinkering”
I also bought a Center Point 4-16x40 illuminated AO scope at the CAA. It was the largest they had. I don’t do AO scopes usually, but the price was so good from $119 retail, to $48 at the event for the competitors. I could not refuse.
I put the scope on the rail and leveled it. Then shot 2 pellets to see where it hit. The first was rightt and down. Using the, hold on target and dial to the pellet hole method, I fired another. Practically dead center at 20 yards!
OK then…It was time to check the power level. After firing it over the Pro Chrony, I found it a little low. It was at 27 FPE…. I removed the stock and adjusted the port screw all the way out and tightened the striker spring tension. Then it was then a little under 30 FPE. I found my FX 400 liked it at 32 FPE for best accuracy, so I put the Armada back together.
I shot at 30 yards, and the increase in power put the pellet right at the center of a ¾” dot!
The increase actually moved the zero to be perfect. Cool, saves pellets...LOL
I added 4 more for a 5 shot group that measured 3.9 mm CTC…. Not too bad. I will test later to 50, 75, and 100 yards when the wind is down on my range.
Off course I had to get into the rifle now and make some changes. I first removed the shroud to look at the barrel and found it looking like a Marauder. No surprises. Spring, baffles, nose piece, etc. Next, I removed the plastic side pcs as they looked cheap and felt that way. After that I moved the bottom plate back to just fit over the trigger guard. It made the plate look like it belonged there, molding itself to the guards shape. I did this so I could get the accessory rail as far back as possible from the front for an Atlas clone bipod. I may move it forward later after some fidgeting.
Most important on any of my rifles is the trigger! I like my competition guns triggers at around 2.0 oz. The Steyr was lighter than that, but it was tricky. Now I don’t expect to shoot comps with this gun but I still like a light trigger. So, I removed the lawyer spring from the trigger group and put the cover back. I would polish the sear and mating parts for a smoother release, but for now I wanted to see how well it will adjust with just the spring out. It’s pretty good. There’s some creep on the first stage but a crisp break. Looks like I will need to polish the mating parts…
THE BAD
Actually, only one thing for now. When I went to adjust the stock, I noticed the locking nut on the adjuster was almost off. After trying to tighten the grub screw on the adjusting nut, I found it was stripped! On closer inspection, I found the threaded hole was out of round! More oblong than round. I will fix it but I thought I would point it out.
THE UGLY
Ok here I have a few words. The gun overall is good looking. A tad long if using a pop up blind to hunt.
The plastic side plates are not attractive and not necessary, since there is no heat build up being a pellet rifle. So, they had to go.
The one on the bottom serves a purpose for hand placement.
The 2 supplied accessory rails are made of plastic. I would prefer aluminum but I know they are more expensive and add cost.. They will function until overtightened or other damage.
That stupid looking cocking bolt cover! (Just my humble opinion)
I know it helps keep your finger joint from getting raw, but really? Retool the machine and make it a nice round or fat ergonomic handle please. It looks like you stuck the plastic protective cap off a metal rod end.
The shroud is a slight bit off to the side and was noted by another forum member in his post. It is just cosmetic and I did not notice it until ii found his post. Just sits off in the forearm frame. Does not touch or affect anything. No biggie.
Well, That’s it for now…. I need to do a full chrony test More for my interest is the barrel’s performance after it “Seasons In”. If it is placing pellets like that at 30 yards, with less then 25 pellets through it… Will be interesting.
I will also try lubed and un-lubed pellets. My Steyr prefers lubed, but the Challenger, and 1720T pistol likes un-lubed. My HW97 likes dry pellets also.
