Meet the Crosman 1740 "Raven"

This is the pistol I have been waiting to build for a long time now. Last week the final parts I needed to complete the project arrived and I was on my way. Here is what I can tell you so far.

My initial impressions of the gun were that it was very well balanced for a pistol of its size. I was afraid it would be a bit too heavy with the long steel breech and 10" barrel, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that it felt quite nice in my hand. Not too heavy or off balanced towards the front or rear at all. It actually balances quite well considering. Keep in mind that the shroud is just aluminum tube that is basically empty for the last 5" so it doesn't weigh very much on the front end. I loaded up a CO2 powerlet, fired a piercing shot and then loaded a .177cal RWS Basic wadcutter pellet into the chamber. This breech, bolt and barrel combo feeds pellets better than any gun I own. It is super smooth with no pellet hang up, which the Crosman 22XX and 13XX are notorious for. I took aim at my target and pulled the trigger slowly but deliberately and all I heard was the hammer hitting the valve stem, then the pellet hitting the target. Man, this thing is quiet! It’s perfect for my backyard shooting needs. I could shoot this thing in my bedroom and no one else in the house would hear it, it's that quiet. The trigger pull was very smooth with a crisp release at ~2lbs. I took a couple more shots at the target to get the red dot sighted in and then I shot a couple of groups. One was a 10 shot off hand group at 12 meters that I could cover with a dime. The other was a 5 shot group at 12 meters, with the gun loosely rested on a soft and somewhat shaky rest and it was no more than 1/4" ctc. There are 2 photos of the groups I shot at the end of this post. Needless to say, I was very content with the accuracy of this pistol, especially considering I was shooting my favorite cheapo wadcutter pellet. I have literally thousands of those RWS Basics on hand and all of my .177cal guns love them. They work perfect for punching paper, plinking at cans and whacking the occasional small pest if needed. I consider myself very lucky to own yet another .177cal that shoots cheap pellets, accurately.

I don't have any chrony numbers yet, but I will get around to testing all that out later. My best guess is, on low power with the hdd, I am pushing those 7.0gr pellets in the mid 500-600fps range. That is more than enough power to punch through paper and plink all day long at my 15 meter max distance backyard range. I can increase the preload on the hammer spring with the power adjuster and get more power, but at the cost of fewer shots per CO2 powerlet. I don't have a shot count per cartridge yet either, as I am still on the first one after 40+ shots. It looks like I will be getting quite a few shots per powerlet with this setup, which is what I was aiming for with the hdd, stock valve and power adjuster set on low.

I will get you guys some numbers on the fps and shot count here shortly to confirm what this setup is putting out. I can tell you that I am very happy with the results though. What matters most to me, is that it puts the pellets where I aim at the distance I shoot at. Everything else is
gravy.

I have many people to thank for helping me with this project. I couldn't have done it without you guys! I would like to thank Grant Stace the Kiwi for his incredible breech (good ol' #59) and integrated barrel band with polished stainless steel extended bolt and handle, blued steel power adjuster with his aftermarket hammer spring and delrin guide and last but not least a winged CO2 cap from him as well. All top shelf parts in form, looks and function. Grant’s parts make any gun better and that’s a fact. I would also like to thank Mike Tiehen at TKO Airguns for his 9" Stage V barrel shroud, black anodized target trigger, complete trigger kit with hardened sear and trigger pins, lightened trigger spring and delrin spring guide and the 10" .177cal Crosman barrel on which he custom crowned and polished the lead in for me. Your stuff is terrific Mike! I love the trigger and the trigger kit and it makes a huge difference in performance over the stock configuration. The shroud looks great and performs fantastic. Thanks for all the goodies that you sent me gratis! I owe you big time. I want to thank BigEd aka Ed Stack for making me a custom left handed RJ HDD for my build. He didn't have any of these made and went out of his way to custom machine me a left hander for an RJ breech. I needed the RJ breech type since Grant bores his bolt chamber to the same dimensions as the RJ Machine breeches. It works great Ed, fits like a glove. Thanks go out to Michael Chavka for the beautiful and highly functional black tactical target style grips that he custom made for me. They are coated with truck bed liner for that nice black look and superb durability that I wanted. They are extremely comfortable to shoot with and they look terrific. Lastly, I would like to thank my son Scott for buying me the Walther Top Point II 4 MOA red dot sight that is sitting on top of the gun. Great Father's day gift Scott, it works perfect.

1740 "Raven" Specs:

Crosman "2240" stock airgun purchased on the Yellow Forum Classifieds
8 1/2" long steel breech with integrated wide barrel band by Grant Stace
Polished stainless steel bolt with extended probe and bolt handle by Grant Stace
Steel power adjuster with custom hammer spring and delrin guide by Grant Stace
Winged steel CO2 cap by Grant Stace
10" Crosman .177cal barrel, both crowned and with lead in polished by Mike at TKO Airguns
9" Stage V barrel shroud with carbon fiber covering by Mike at TKO Airguns
Black anodized aluminum target trigger by Mike at TKO Airguns
Complete trigger kit including hardened steel sear and trigger pins, lightened trigger spring with delrin guide by Mike at TKO Airguns
Tactical/Target grips coated in truck bed liner by Michael Chavka
Left hand RJ HDD (hammer debounce device) by BigEd aka Ed Stack
Walther Top Point II 4MOA red dot sight
B-Square 1" medium profile rings for 3/8" or 11mm dovetail
Black allen head screw upgrade kit from Joe McAllister at MuzzleMack
Stainless steel flat head front breech screw from Jeff Schock
90 durometer urethane bolt probe o-ring from Tim McMurray at Mac1 Airguns
Stock 2240 valve and transfer port

Hope you like it, I know I sure do. Happy shooting!