Comparison of Crosman craftsman series and Kral

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pnwairgunner

pnwairgunner

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Aug 15, 2019
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Wa, United States
I have never owned any of the Kral airguns before Crosman brought the Kratos to the market. I do remember reading reviews when I first started seeing Kral being advertised and folks were having issues with valves and valve stems and I’m not sure what else. THammer became the Kral doctor and was staying busy as such. That’s all I knew about Kral. 
Fast forward to now, and I am curious what the Kral quality is currently. I am pretty happy with the build quality on my Kratos, and I wonder if that is the normal level of quality that a person gets currently from Kral’s other offerings with their own name on it? Or are the Crosman collaboration actually guns built to higher standards? 
I’m asking because I had been checking out the Kral Superduty and wondered what their current quality situation is. I know the factory warranty is better from Crosman, but I very often void the warranty of all my stuff pretty quickly. Hahaha 
Anyone have a RECENT Kral offering AND a Kratos or such that can tell me how much of a difference in build quality there is now?


 
Kral is into generation 4 or 5, depending on how you count. I have the Kral Nemesis (gen 3, by my count) and my buddy has the Kratos gen 5. The gen 5 (like the Kratos and Kral Empire bull pups) do not have power adjuster knob.

From what I have seen, the gen 3 and newer are comparable in most ways. I like to looks of the Dazzle myself and the big bore Big Horn guns.
 
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I talked to an airgun gunsmith who shall not be named at the release (a month in) of the Craftsman series. They told me several of the issues he had with Kral, that he had still liked their unregulated platforms even with those issues, and that Crosman had largely dealt entirely with addressing those short fallings. He basically sold me on a Cayden even though I wasn't interested at the time. Fast forward and I heard the same thing repeated by Tyler Patner of Pyramidair the next month on the Airgun Podcast. I've had a few Kral buddies notice those changes too. When I ask for specifics however it is hard for anyone to give concrete examples. So far the gun is reliable/dependable and shoots extremely accurate, and that makes me a happy camper. Quail season is done but Dad and son shooting time is all year long, and I get to be the cool son :)




 
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Kral is into generation 4 or 5, depending on how you count. I have the Kral Nemesis (gen 3, by my count) and my buddy has the Kratos gen 5. The gen 5 (like the Kratos and Kral Empire bull pups) do not have power adjuster knob.

From what I have seen, the gen 3 and newer are comparable in most ways. I like to looks of the Dazzle myself and the big bore Big Horn guns.
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The Dazzle is cool. Crosman Gunner coming soon
 
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The dazzle IS cool, and it’s unregulated which is a plus as far as I’m concerned after seeing how well my unregulated Kratos performs.
I’m planning to buy the Gunnar myself, wish they’d done it in a .30 but as it is, it might be a great starting point for a double bottle .30 build. That’s what lead me to notice the Kral Superduty with three bottles. 
 
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I haven't repaired a broken Kral gun valve stem or cocking lever in years now other than a first year gun or two. All I do now is upgrade the valve design internally, porting and hammer spring set up along with adjusting hammer weight by caliber. This gives better shotcount and more or less power based on desired use. Both Kral and Benjamin share the same trigger, barrel and airtube. Slight difference in the valve, hammer and spring set up. Total difference in the breech but the same concept. Kral is a little easier to disassemble as you have to completely break down the breech just to remove the hammer on the Benjamin guns but they all out perform their price point. 
 
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I haven't repaired a broken Kral gun valve stem or cocking lever in years now other than a first year gun or two. All I do now is upgrade the valve design internally, porting and hammer spring set up along with adjusting hammer weight by caliber . Both Kral and Benjamin share the same trigger, barrel and airtube. Slight difference in the valve, hammer and spring set up. Total difference in the breech but the same concept. Kral is a little easier to disassemble as you have to completely break down the breech just to remove the hammer on the Benjamin guns but they all out perform their price point.
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Nice. Thanks for the info
 
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My opinion of this, both companies benefited from this merger of sorts. They both got better...

The warranty Crosmans have to stand up to, necessitate very good QC and a well engineered piece that operates reliably with durability. Crosman's new emphasis on Kral's QC and a quality operational durable piece, well its rubbed off on Kral with Crosman over looking all aspects of its Craftsman line. Not that Kral was lacking in this department, they just got better and their sales hit the roof with the Craftsman line...

jmo
 
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