I picked up a Crosman Raven the other day for my wife who's recently taken an interest in shooting rats in the back yard. At just under 60 bucks (right now at PA) it costed less than 70 to have it shipped here. The wife was pretty thrilled when she saw it and shouldered it. It's super light, shoulders well for a youth sized gun and looks cool. I told her it would be a few days before she could shoot it since I'll be tuning it and she asked if I could paint the stock digital pink camo. :oh:

I cleaned the barrel and shot a few test rounds. The sights are nice and clear, but the adjustability of the rear site just pretty useless. It's very wobbly and very loose. If I wasn't going to scope it I'd pull the rear sight assembly apart and tweak it a little. The barrel lockup seems pretty good - I had to give the barrel a good slap to unlock it. With a little debur and lube tune, it should be easier for the wife.

As far as the action goes, it's what you would expect from an out of box Crosman springer. Although it's a mid powered gun, the action is still pretty twangy and loud. The single stage trigger pull isn't bad (much better than a Gamo). I'll be posting updates as I progress with the tune...

Update: This rifle is UNSAFE! Not only do the plastic parts put you at risk, but the safety doesn't work. It engages fine, but because the lever it slides under is a flimsy plastic a little extra force on the trigger results in the lever bending and the safety being useless. Put a little extra money toward a Gamo Recon if you want a decent mid-powred youth rifle. At least the Recon utilizes metal where it really matters and the safety works well. The Raven just has too much that can go very wrong...

paint it pink..."if mama aint happy...aint nobody happy".:)

that's a good lookin rig you got there, i bought my daughter a Gamo Recon.
i bet she would like it painted pink.

The more and more I look at this Raven with the parts all over my table, I'm wishing I had went with the Recon instead. I could live with most of the plastic parts, but the one thing that irks me the most is the plastic trigger housing which is what's keeping the compression assembly inside. I'm gonna suck it up though, give her a tune and see how she does from there. I just can't see it lasting too long with that plastic housing holding everything inside...

I finally put her back together last night after adding buttons, doing a lube tune and adding a thrust washer in front of the spring. She shoots much better now; all twang is gone but I still have a major problem I know was going to haunt me.

Take a look at the trigger housing:

http://www.airgunone.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=6&pictureid=35

I already mentioned the entire thing was plastic. Well, that became a huge problem when I was tightening the rear stock screw. Since it secures into the trigger guard (in that nut in the rear), I couldn't get it even snug. I fired a few shots and the trigger was feeling really whacked. So I pulled it all apart again and found out that the rear screw pulled that nut almost half-way through the housing and warped it good, causing the trigger to bind.

I did straighten things up but the fact the rear can't be secured well is making me seriously considering returning this gun. The plastic housing is one thing, but using a little nut like that? Now that's nuts...

Jon my gamo recon has a regular metal trigger, you could even put a GRT III in there if you like.
cost is around 89 bucks.

Yeah the recon came to mind. I've shot that one in the past and it's a good gun for the price. I was just curious about this particular model since it was new. If I recall correctly, the recon's action and everything is pretty much the same as most of the other gamos right?

the recon is well built, it has a plastic spring guide and no tophat, the only other gamo i ever owned was a shadow 1000 and the recon is a little different.
you can put a used or set G1 spring and tophat in there and you'll be lookin good.

I agree with Craig on that one. I'd take it back and let Crosman deal with their crappy design. There's no reason to make something so crucial to the safety of an airgun out of plastic. I don't know what you paid for it, but I've even seen G1's going for $85, and they've got a good design and will take the GRTIII.

this should be mark as a good reason not to buy this gun.

I totally agree - this looks as though it's been built as a disposable gun. I'm in the process of sighting her in and surprisingly it's accurate enough for my wife to have a little fun with it...for now. I'll post some results soon...

tell the wife to keep that sucker pointed down range.