I’ve been going to a local range for several years where they shoot steel silhouette at 10 meters. I’ve owned a number of rifles I’ve used to participate, even owed an Air Force Edge I sold a couple of years back to a buddy so he could shoot with us.
I just didn’t like having to de-tune/re-tune, re-zero some of my other guns just to pull the trigger 40 times one night a week.
One of the guys at the range owned a Challenger and let me shoot it to see if I’d like it and I did. Everything about it but the finish. Bed liner.... seriously?
If anyone has ever looked at the Crosman Challenger up close has probably noticed it’s coated in what appears to be truck bed liner. So I set out to refinish the stock. Mind you, the last time I worked with wood was making a paper towel holder for my mom in eighth grade woodshop which I got a C+ because I didn’t cut myself.
I tried to use paint stripper but that did not even touch the stuff. I took to sanding it and in doing so, uncovered what I believe to be bore holes from insets. After filling those in, 2 coats of rattle can Rustoleum primer was applied and wet sanded.
I made the palm rest from a piece of stair railing making it adjustable by using machine screws and nylon spacers attaching it to stock.
the buttplate is smooth plastic and has a tendency to slide against my shoulder so I attached a piece of 1000 grit sand paper with contact cement trimming to fit. (Not Shown)
It is still work in progress as I will be “finish sanding” and applying a couple of coats of clear today to help protect the, “Can You See Me Now?” paint color.
it reminds me when Diana made bright colored stocks on the model 75's and other and seeing red is one of my favorite color I like
https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/yellow/how-rare-is-the-diana-75-in-black-t230541.html
I "kind of" like the Challenger and have posted about it several times in the past. Pretty much like everything but the ball-bearing bolt system....but that has been a problem over the years.
BUt it balances well (I like a little front heavy) and shoots very well....so even though the bolt system has ticked me off several times, it still gets used and enjoyed.
Is made of some kind of translucent looking plastic under it's bed-liner, so it's going to get painted one color or to not look "toyish".
YOu like red....Iv'e kept my issue paint job (And although ugly, it hasn't suffered much over the 8 years it's been in use), but when time does come for a color change, will go with "battleship gray" (or CSA gray if you prefer the name).
Why I kept the Challenger PCP....
1. It's NOT because it shot better than a couple of PCP's I already had.
2. It's not because it was trouble free.
It IS because it's been reliable (other than once every 2- 3 years of the bolt screwing up or needing a leaking/resealing something).
It's because it shoots well.,...tends to stay on target (POA/POI stay consistent). I put up with the bot-spastics (you can see the rubber band acting as a belt-and-suspenders" in case if screws up...again).
Tried it out today with a present from brother-in-law. He knows I like to shoot, but is unclear what I shoot the most often...so he got targets. From big old "Paul Bunion" police pistol qualifying targets to little "shoot-n-see" stickers.
(GOOD CHOICES Brother-in-law...from now on.. when you borrow a rifle, it WILL NOT be the crappiest rifle with the crappiest ammo....I owe you a good-one.)
One of the interesting (And I will order more) targets was a thick hard-card Prairie Dog target made to stick in the ground (has a sharp point "stake" in the bottom).
So I set out one at 20 yards (by steel tape), filled up the Challenger PCP, took off the match rear sight, and put on a really cheap 24X scope (like $40 cheap,,,new,,,Amazon). It did take me 17 shots to get the re-mounted scope to center....wasn't far off after remounting, but enough I had to fiddle with adjustments to get it "on".
So let's look at the progression at 20 yards: Would pull it out the dirt and measure it each 5 shots.
Un-shot target (which looks rather natural staked down in the weeds):
Taped a dime over the eye hole (where they hang in the sporting goods aisle)so you could judge the group size by comparison:
5 shots at 20 yards:
10 shots at 20 yards:
15 shots at 20 yards:
20 Shots at 20 yards:
Not sure how this rates...other than deadly on even the really tiny targets/critters (like grasshoppers in the garden,b stink bugs, and wasps stupid enough to pause at that range).
So the love-hate relationship between me and the Challenger PCP continues. Really hate some of the design features, really love the accuracy (once you get it straightened out).
I have one,got a great deal on a new one because the box had a Small dent in it,I like it a lot and because I shoot lefty I like the "pull out bolt",plus it is easy to hand pump and shoot and accurate and love those "peep sights"the finish never bothered me,butt now got me thinking candy apple green.ps I like it alot better than my Discovery.
