In April of 2022, due to continued high ammo prices, I decided to try out the Crosman P1377 Air Pistol as a training tool. It has a manufacturer-suggested retail price of $72.30. The one I purchased online cost just $49.99, with free shipping.
Pleasant Memories
I have fond memories of the Crosman 760 air rifle that introduced me to shooting. I shot more BBs and pellets through that rifle than I can count. I enjoyed target shooting in the basement of my parent’s home with just two pumps, or hunting birds, squirrels, and even possum in the woods and fields — with 10 pumps.
The Crosman 760 taught me a lot about shot placement. For example, shooting a possum in the body with a BB gun only irritated it. It usually didn’t even break the skin. But a hit in the eye socket would penetrate the brain and kill the possum. This is important to remember if you ever find yourself with a BB gun pointed at your face.
A Not So Pleasant Memory
Time moves along. I grew up, and headed off to college. The course of my studies eventually brought me to Chicago as a student at Moody Bible Institute. When I arrived in the big city, I was as green as the grass and twice as naive. This was back when Jane Byrne was Mayor of Chicago, and the Cabrini-Green housing project still stood. I was amazed by how many cars I heard “backfiring” in the area. I wondered why so many vehicles were so poorly tuned. Eventually, I realized that the noises I heard were not cars backfiring at all, but gang shootings.
One night I returned to Moody from my Practical Christian Service assignment. I was serving as an AWANA leader at a church in a near suburb.
As I walked across the student parking lot, a man walked by the gate and said something to me. I said, “Excuse me?”
The man pointed a handgun at me and said, “Hold it right there!” I held it right there.
The man said, “Give me all your money.” A look at the muzzle of the handgun revealed that the bore was quite small in caliber. I suspected that it might be a BB pistol, but it could have been a .22LR or .25ACP. It was hard to tell in the dim light.
I did not want to be shot in the face at short range with a .22. I did not even want to be shot in the face at short range with a BB pistol. After all, it could shoot my eye out. I remembered the convulsions of a possum as a BB entered its brain. I decided to comply.
I had my Bible and some books in my hands. I juggled them from hand to hand as I tried to figure out how to get my wallet out without dropping them.
The mugger said, “Put the books on the ground!” I put the books on the ground.
Half of me was scared. The other half was thinking, “If he doesn’t kill me, this will be a great story to tell the guys when I get back to the dorm.”
The mugger said, “Give me all of your money.” I took out my wallet, took out all of the money, and gave it to the mugger. He said, “Is that all you have?”
I was mortally insulted. I had $15 on me. That was the most money I had carried at one time all semester long. I replied, “Yes, that’s all I have” and showed him my empty wallet.
The mugger said, “Do you have a watch?” I took off my watch and handed it to the mugger.
The mugger said, “Lay down on the ground.” I went down on my belly and looked up at the mugger.
The mugger said, “Close your eyes, put your face toward the ground, and count to 100.”
That was when I really got scared. As long as I was looking him in the eye, I sensed that the mugger was not ready to shoot me yet. I wondered if he would shoot me in the back of the head when I put my face to the ground.
I put my face to the ground and started to count, “One, two, three, four, five . . .”
The mugger said, “Count louder!”
I shouted, “ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR, FIVE . . .”
Up to about 25 or so, I counted at a normal pace. Then I started to think about how embarrassed I would be if one of my buddies walked by and said, “Why are you laying on the ground counting?”
I started to count faster and faster. I thought about stopping early and getting up. But I had visions of the mugger standing there and saying, “You only counted to 99″ and then shooting me.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, I got to 100, stood up, grabbed my books, and hurried to the campus security office.
I still don’t know if the mugger’s handgun was a BB pistol or something more powerful. Either way, I have decided that I prefer not be on the wrong side of the muzzle of any gun, even a BB gun.
Procuring a Test Unit
Based on my pleasant memories of the old 760, I contacted Crosman when I decided to try an air pistol as a training aid. I requested a P1377 for testing and evaluation. Crosman was slow to respond, so I finally decided to just buy one. I found a good deal online, and two days later the air pistol was delivered.
First Impressions
When I opened the shipping box, I found the P1377 contained in a plastic clamshell package. I liked the packaging. It protected the item and clearly displayed it without being excessively ornate and expensive. The information printed on the packaging was also quite enlightening. It proclaimed that the P1377 is made in the USA with some globally sourced components, that Crosman has been in business since 1923, and that the pistol weighs two pounds. It also informed me that two pumps fire a pellet up to 375 FPS, six pumps up to 600 FPS, and ten pumps up to 695 FPS. It noted that the pistol has an adjustable rear sight, a crossbolt safety at the rear of the trigger guard, and is 13.6 inches in length.
I was surprised to read that the pistol, “May be dangerous up to 500 yards.” I would not have expected a spent pellet to carry that far, even under optimum conditions. There was also a warning against brandishing the airgun in public.
In my initial handling of the airgun, I found the black front sight difficult to acquire. I began to consider the possibility of painting it a brighter color.
The trigger seemed a little heavy, but broke smoothly.
I did not have a case large enough for a handgun 13.6 inches long. I ultimately put it in a black nylon drawstring bag that I received with a pair of dress shoes that I purchased many years ago.
I dug out a couple of containers of 50-year-old Crosman pellets left over from my old 760. I found them in the bottom of my Dad’s gun cabinet when I cleaned it out after his passing. There appeared to be some oxidation on the outside of the pellets. Later on, I purchased a package of new pellets, as well.
I went outside on the porch, and tried a couple of shots without loading a pellet. I found the pistol to be louder than I remembered the old 760 being. At first I thought that this was due to the pistol barrel being shorter than the rifle barrel. Later experience proved that this impression was primarily due to the roof of the porch reflecting the sound back to my ears.
Reading the Manual
The entire manual was printed on one side of an 11″x17″ sheet of paper. The other side of the piece of paper contained the manual in Spanish.
I read the entire manual sheet. It emphasized that the airgun is not a toy, that it should only be used under adult supervision, and that it should always be treated as a loaded firearm.
There were a number of suggestions regarding organizations that could provide firearms and shooting training. They also shared good basic safety instructions regarding firearms use.
The manual suggested using a minimum of three pumps to prevent a pellet from being lodged in the barrel. This conflicted with the information on the packaging, which indicated a minimum of two pumps.
The Range Session
I took the pistol out to the range behind my barn. I set up a table 15 yards from the target, and placed a pistol rest on the table.
For my first shot, I tried out one of the old, oxidized pellets. With ten pumps, it hit about 2.5 inches high and 2 inches to the left of my point of aim. My second and third shots grouped fairly tightly near the first.
I switched to the new pellets. I also put on a bug jacket, because the mosquitoes were quite thick. I wanted to concentrate on testing the airgun rather than swatting myself to death.
The new pellets grouped quite near the old pellets. I adjusted the sights right and down. I was able to get the shots near the center from left to right, but was still shooting about 1.75 inches too high.
The sights were already adjusted all the way down, so I reduced the number of pumps from 10 to 5. This gave me pretty good groups near the center of the target.
I tried a couple of groups offhand, and achieved satisfactory results.
Conclusions
My groups using the pellet gun from 15 yards were similar to those I would achieve using my Rock Island Armory MAPP FS 9mm handgun. At a cost of about a penny apiece, the pellets for the Crossman P1377 are much cheaper than the ammo for my MAPP. The Crossman is much quieter, and is much less likely to cause damage or injury if an accidental discharge should take place. All in all, I am glad to have the Crossman P1377 as a marksmanship training aid.
Disclaimer
I did not receive any financial or other inducements to mention any vendor, product, or service in this article.