what mods do the shooters do to the Crosman Challenger rifle to make it better?

[whitefox545]

Hi All, I'm still shooting with my old FWB 300s and have no good reason to change but I am getting a Challenger from a friend for such a good price that I can't pass it up. I have been thinking about a PCP rifle for my ten meter practice in the basement and winter time Wed. A.M. club shooting at my local gun club but I just can't justify the price of a good precision rifle as I am to old to ever be proficient with it but I do enjoy doing it! I am mainly a Field Target shooter and have WAY to much tied up in that equipment already. That being said I do like to play around and better my equipment and I'm thinking about a regulator and I know I will be doing a trigger job to it as I am so used to the triggers on my FWB 300s and my Daystate Red Wolf's that I use for Field Target.
I didn't know were to post this as I know the Challenger is used a lot by the Jr. shooters but I thought I would try here first. Didn't know if the Jr.s were aloud to do anything to their guns or if they had to be bone stock? Any good pointers you guys have to better this rifle will be great to know.
Thank's in advance!! J.L.

[rualert]

Whitefox, I realize this is a bit old, but as for your question regarding the junior shooters, they must stay bone stock. That said, I have played around with too many air rifles and pistols to count and the Crosman's sometimes benefit from either a custom barrel band that has clamping screws both top and bottom from the sides of the band. Generally you may need to move it along the barrel to find the sweet spot for the harmonics. The other trick is to add another band, they are inexpensive and can be ordered direct form Crosman. I put their latest sights on mine, which appear to be an improvement over the original Daisy sights on the first gen, and the first few years of the current model. Other than that, find the pellet it likes and I also agree with you regarding the addition of a regulator. Get the Huma, use different fills to find a good set point to start with since the draining of the cylinder to reset the reg, then refiling again can be a pain. I have also used an inline regulator to find the right set point when I had access to one. (the type that you place between the fill bottle and the gun, then set to the desired pressure, and adjust until you find the best grouping with it's favorite pellet). I have had great results using JSB, H&N, and RWS pellets in my rifle, and a 4-H teams guns. The majority of them are not real pellet picky, so you may very well find two or even three that all shoot within a few mm of each other, also try both, or multiple weights in those pellets. I have nt really had ot go to the full match grade boxed pellets for Sporter class like I shoot in my FWB 800X, so that saves a good bit of coin too.

Casey

[whitefox545]

Rualert, Thanks for the post!! I thought maybe I was the only person that ever messed with this rifle!! I got this rifle right when the Covid stuff started and have sense done a few of the things you have mentioned plus I worked the trigger over and have it breaking cleanly well under a pound safely I might add!! I plan to add a regulator some time before the winter as that is when I shoot 10 meter mostly but I am totally pleased with this rifle so far and can shoot it a good bit better than my FWB300s because of the lighter weight, It doesn't fatigue me near as bad for 60 shots!!
I shoot Field Target when the weather permits but I have really taken a liking to this stuff in the off season!! I would SURE like to pick up a rifle like your FWB 800 in the future but don't know when that will be as Field Target keeps me in the poor house most of the time!! I have two Daystate Red Wolf's and a R.A.W. Tm1000 at the present time and really don't need three high end F/T guns.
I look at The FWB's and Walthers a lot but would really like to go somewhere that I could actually at least shoulder a few of them before I decide which one I would want to purchase, I know It's pretty late in life to be buying a rifle for ten meter at 66 years old as I only compete at a club level at this game against a bunch of other old guy's but I always dive head first into what ever I do, always been that way?? Don't really know why?? That being said what made you choose the FWB 800 over the other top rifles? Again Thank's for the reply!! J.L. McMurray Pa.

[pcw]

Hey Whitefox,

I use a Challenger in my basement to practice for biathlon. I have heavily modified the rifle. I started by replacing the cheekpiece, then I worked on the trigger a couple of different ways. I replaced the buttplate with an Anschutz carrier and a biathlon buttplate. I built out the grip with putty to match my Anschutz. I reduced to width of the forestock to match the Annie and made a palm shelf like the one on the Annie. The last mod I made was to drill out the stock and fill it with lead weights to get it closer to the Annie. In some ways it might have been easier to just get a used precision rifle, but each one of the changes helped me understand more about my position. I like that the initial outlay was small and that gave me confidence to make the changes I wanted.

Cheers, PCW

[whitefox545]

PCW, Thank's for the reply, I have also done a trigger job on mine and it is VERY good now, probably in the range of 6 oz.with no miss fire problems. I like your Idea of adding some weight to the rifle, Did you add it to the butt stock area or the front of the stock? I also made a hamster for the bottom of the stock which helped a lot for comfort shooting in the standing position. I just have it taped in place but plan to attach it to the rail very soon. Do you have any pictures of you set up? Also what butt plate did you install on it? Thank's in advance J.L.

[rualert]

Whitefox, my decision to get the FWB fell to a very good deal I got here on the board from a shooters father. The shooter was going to college and was not continuing to compete at the time so I was able to purchase the 800X for my daughter who was shooting 4-H and moving into precision. They also provided quite a few extras for a decent overall price. I did have to get her a left handed grip and switch the sights and loading arm for her, but those were simple chores.
As for the Challenger, we have I'm pretty sure half a dozen for the 4-H club I coached for. I have essentially one myself also that was built form parts. Many of the Crosman air gun enthusiast love them as we rfer to them as lego guns. you can build anything you want starting with an action, then adding and modifying what you want like PCW did with his Challenger, basically turning it into a Biathlon rifle. I have one that I custom machined a new valve front, ported the daylights out of the valve, changed the poppet to the M-Rod version, and added the Challenger trigger, before dropping it into a Boyds stock. It was also switched up to 25 cal, and it's an air hog hammer. get 4-5 shots from the tube, so I may bottle kit it later. I realize the majority of what we chat here about are Precision and Sporter class shooting, which I also participate in both pistol and rifle. However I truly got the bug after shooting in IPSC for several years, then moved to a new state and city where finding a decent place to practice was tough. Air guns filled the void, then my daughter wanted to get into the sport, so I became a 4-H coach, and national trainer. Don't be apologetic about jumping in head first and going all in, if we don't give it our all, we won't succeed. Same as when I shot in IPSC, I trained with Master class shooters because if I didn't have a goal to reach for, how would I get better.
Good luck with your rifle, and enjoy it. If you really want a precision rifle, just keep an eye on the classifieds here and good deals pop up frequently.

Casey

[whitefox545]

Thank's for the reply Casey!! Good Info, So are you saying that the "Boyds" Discovery stock will fit this rifle with some minor modifications?? is this is basically the same as a discovery? I have built several muzzle loaders in my time and if it needed minor alterations I could do it with no problem. Again thanks for responding to my questions J.L.

[rualert]

Yes sir, the only "major" mod would be for the gauge as it's on the side rather than the bottom. Heck call and ask them, they may have one just for them now. I actually used the Discovery air tube so my gauge is on the bottom, but even the factory stock on that one is pretty decent. I was able to adjust the ones we had for the competitive shooters and had them numbered so they would know which one was fitted for them. They generally only needed to re-adjust the sights if another member had been shooting the same rifle. I only had one T200, and one shooter's family bought him a T200. He shot exceptionally well with the Challenger, but did improve with the T200. I'm guessing it was just a little bit lighter, and he was able to practice with it daily as opposed to only at the 4-H practices. He went on to earn a partial scholarship with one of the military colleges along with a place on their team.

Casey

[whitefox545]

Will do!! Thanks!! J.L.