Crosman 1077 Air Rifle Test Review

HAM Test Rating	72%
Value For Money	Great starter gun for the whole family.
Best For	Backyard plinking.
Best Pellet Tested	H&N Baracuda Match
Street Price at Time of Test	$145 including scope.
Caliber Tested	.177
RateAGun Score	Easy to Shoot.

VALUE FOR MONEY

The Crosman 1077 air rifle has been in continuous production since 1994. That’s right, over 20 years. There have been relatively few changes in the design during that time, too. In itself, that’s an indication of the appeal of the 1077.

And recent years have seen the 1077 become more widely sold in big box sporting goods stores. It seems to be experiencing a renaissance in popularity. Furthermore, it regularly heads Pyramyd Air’s annual list of most popular airguns.

Part of the reason for this success is the unique nature of the product. There’s very few pellet-firing air rifles with a 12-shot repeating capability in the market – let alone at a price of $65.00 for the basic, synthetic stock model with no scope. And the 1077 is manufactured in Crosman’s corporate HQ at Bloomfield, NY, USA. It’s not an import!

Even in the deluxe wood stocked version with scope, tested here by HAM, the price is still under $145.00. That makes the 1077 a great value for money for the many airgunners who want a simple, light and easy-to-shoot rapid fire air rifle that can be used for plinking by all the family. (Note the 1077 Wood Ultimate Bundle offered by Pyramyd Air includes many other items, so we’ve given the price of gun and scope alone).

Below, essential supplies for the 1077. They’re included in the Pyramyd Air bundles.

Yes, you need to to buy 12 gram CO2 Powerlets, in addition to pellets. But they’re not a fortune and extra clips are incredibly cheap (you’re sure to want a few!).

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Crosman 1077 Wood Stock Repeater Rifle Bundle

SPEED AND ACCURACY

The highest muzzle velocity of the Crosman 1077 air rifle tested by HAM was 579 fps – and that with 7.0 grain RWS Hobby lead pellets. Very unusually, the standard HAM alloy test pellets shot slower than the Hobbys, despite being much lighter. The tested muzzle velocities were achieved at 65 degrees F and so will be higher in warmer weather, as described below.

Muzzled energy (knock down power) peaked at just 5.28 Ft/Lbs. That’s a very low figure so don’t try hunting anything with the Crosman 1077 air rifle folks! This is strictly plinking power.

It’s clear that the low muzzle velocities were due to the loss of gas at the breech every time the 1077 was fired. There’s no seal between the barrel and the clip – obviously to keep cost low – and CO2 blows from this area, wasting energy and thus lowering muzzle velocity. That’s a shame, but “it is what it is”.

Accuracy of the Crosman 1077 air rifle was good or better with 5 of the 7 standard HAM test pellets. Surprisingly, the gun tested by HAM definitely didn’t like JSB Exacts. Nor did it work well with H&N Field Target Trophy pellets, producing unusual horizontal stringing.

Best accuracy was achieved in HAM testing with the heavy H&N Baracuda match pellets.

As expected, accuracy with Crosman Premier Hollow Point pellets was good, which is a positive as this is undoubtedly a popular pellet to be used with the 1077.

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H&N Barracuda Match pellets, .177 caliber

TRIGGER AND COCKING EFFORT

The Crosman 1077 air rifle does not have a semi-automatic action, as it might appear at first sight. In reality it’s a double-action revolver. This means that pulling the trigger first rotates the magazine to bring the next pellet into place. Further pressure on the trigger actually fires the gun.

So there’s no separate cocking action, trigger pull and cocking effort are all felt through the trigger pull.

This is the reason for the very high trigger pull weight. The Crosman 1077 air rifle tested by HAM recorded an average trigger pull weight of 8 lbs 14 oz. Ouch!

In spite of this heavy pull weight, the trigger is quite predictable in use. The cocking effort feels like a first stage and there’s two clicks that can be heard pulling through. Then comes the “firing stage” – it’s fairly easy to identify.

Overall, it feels something like a very heavy two-stage trigger and grows acceptable with use. As HAM tester Paul Manktelow noted: “the trigger blade is very wide and this relieves much of the pressure on your trigger finger”.

There’s a positive,trigger block, manual safety located in the front of the trigger guard. Push right for safe, left to fire.

COMPARISON TO MAKERS CLAIMS

Crosman claims that the 1077 achieves up to 780 fps with alloy pellets and up to 625 fps with lead pellets.

Muzzle velocity with lead pellets was close to the claim. In the HAM test, we achieved a maximum of 579 fps with 7.0 grain RWS Hobby pellets. That’s 8% below the claim. But read on…

As always with CO2-powered airguns, it’s important to note that muzzle velocity increases with temperature. The HAM test range was fairly cool at 65 degrees F. From experience, HAM estimates that the Crosman 1077 air rifle would achieve about 620 fps at 85 degrees F, with RWS Hobby lead pellets, very close to the claimed maximum with lead pellets.

The 1077 air rifle tested by HAM was waaaaay below the claim alloy claim, with just 558 fps with Gamo Raptor Platinum alloy pellets. That’s slower than the fastest lead pellets!

Even allowing for the increase in muzzle velocity due to increased temperature, HAM still considers that the maximum muzzle velocity with alloy pellets of the Crosman 1077 air rifle tested would be in the 620 fps range. That’s about 20% below the manufacturer’s specs.

Below, the CO2 Powerlet is loaded into the end of the gas tube and the tube cap screwed into place before firing can commence.

CONSISTENCY

Trigger pull weight of the 1077 is pretty consistent – it’s always heavy! In fact it varied by only 12 ounces in the tests made by HAM, that’s quite good.

The 1077 also demonstrated fairly good consistency when it comes to accuracy. As you can see from the HAM test targets at the foot of this review, the Crosman 1077 air rifle only really disliked one type of pellets – the JSB Exacts – and, realistically, almost no shooter would choose these premium pellets for use in a 1077.

The point of impact on target was also very consistent. There was far less variation in this than is normally the case with (more powerful) air rifles tested by HAM.

Standard Deviation (the measure of shot-to-shot variability) was quite high, although consistently high.

As you’ll see from the Chrony printouts on the test targets, muzzle velocity dropped very significantly during every string of 10 shots fired in the HAM tests. This is an almost inevitable result of repetitive shooting of a CO2-powered airgun, particularly one with the small CO2 capacity provided by just one CO2 Powerlet.

Interestingly, the fall in muzzle velocity did not produce vertical stringing on the targets at 10 yards, although it would cause that effect at longer ranges.

Yes, it’s possible to reduce this change in muzzle velocity by waiting a long time – 60 seconds or more – between shots, but that’s not the point of the rapid-firing 1077. HAM tester Paul Manktelow fired the 1077 at a steady rate for each of the tests, not too fast, but not unreasonably slowly, with about 5 seconds between each shot.

NOISE LEVEL

The Crosman 1077 air rifle is not a powerful air rifle and so noise level is pretty low. There’s no silencer fitted, nor is there a need for one.

Noise level is definitely “backyard friendly” for most people.

SIGHTS AND SCOPE

The Crosman 1077 air rifle is fitted with somewhat primitive open sights. These comprise a notched rear sight that’s adjustable for elevation only, together with a fiber optic front sight. There’s limited windage adjustment capability by loosening the fixing screws and sliding the sight leaf across. But don’t consider this a precision method of windage adjustment!

These open sights may be OK for shooting soda cans, but a scope is required to achieve the accuracy potential of the 1077.

Fortunately the receiver is grooved to accept scope rings and the 1077 tested by HAM was supplied with a Center Point AR22 Series 4 x 32 scope as part of the “Ultimate Bundle” offered by Pyramyd Air.

Below. The bundled scope compliments the 1077 in size and weight. Note the holes in the top of the barrel shroud where we removed the rear sight.

This Center Point is a light weight – apparently plastic bodied – unit that matches the overall weight and size of the Crosman 1077 air rifle. It’s also supplied complete with some surprisingly good rings that clamp well onto the dovetail grooves.

Obviously this is a low cost scope but it’s superior to using the open sights with the 1077. However optical quality in the sample tested by HAM is pretty poor in an absolute sense. There’s no AO (Adjustable Objective) focusing and the parallax setting for the scope is 30 yards – about the extreme range for the Crosman 1077 air rifle.

Taken together with the lack of mil dots on the reticle and it’s clear that this is not a scope for the enthusiast. However, it will probably be fine for the majority of “non expert” shooters who buy this gun and – as mentioned earlier, it gives much better accuracy than using the open sights.

Note that we found it necessary to remove the rear sight in order to allow the scope to be positioned correctly for our eye relief. This may not apply to all shooters as it’s a function of individual eyesight and physique. Removing the rear sight is simply a matter of undoing two screws, the rear leaf and elevator parts. And then not loosing them. Oops!

SHOOTABILITY

Despite the heavy trigger pull, shooting the Crosman 1077 air rifle was fun for the testers, and probably would be for the gun’s target market.

Loading pellets into the 12-shot clip is easy, then the clip is inserted into the fake box magazine, the locking catch engaged and the magazine and pushed up into the gun. No jams or mis-feeds were experienced during HAM testing of the 1077.

The light weight – only 4 lbs 8 oz with wood stock and scope, Powerlet and pellets – makes this an ideal choice for the young shooter, yet it’s just the right size to be usable by the whole family. Also, there’s no hard break barrel cocking, nor special hold required for this CO2-powerd air rifle. It’s easy to shoot well, as is indicated by it’s very low 3.3 – that’s very good! – RateAGun score.

The 1077 balances well for shooting and HAM testers found that the low comb stock gives a decent cheek weld when using the scope.

Loading CO2 is also straightforward. The Crosman 1077 air rifle tested by HAM accepts one 12 gram CO2 Powerlet at a time, giving enough gas for about 30 shots.

Below, the barrel latches are to help with clearing a jam. No jams were experienced in HAM testing.

APPEARANCE AND FINISH

The 1077 looks very much like a Ruger 10/22 firearm. And it’s none the worse for that. The Crosman 1077 air rifle is a traditional, sporter design that has a distinctive look compared to the numerous, tactical “black rifles” that are so common nowadays.

In the HAM team’s opinion, the wood stock looks much better than the black synthetic version. The stock is very plain, but it’s well finished with good fit to the action and is comfortable to hold.

The breech, magazine and trigger assembly are obviously plastic but the finish is certainly OK for the price, with crisp, clear molding.

Bluing on the barrel – actually the barrel shroud – is uniformly executed and matches the plastic parts well.

BUYING AND OWNING

The Crosman 1077 air rifle is available almost everywhere that airguns are sold – at least it is with the regular black synthetic stock.

The 1077 tested by HAM is sold as an exclusive by PyramydAir only. But given Pyramyd’s huge online presence, that’s not much of a disadvantage.

Boxes of 12 gram CO2 Powerlets are available at every Walmart, as are Crosman Premier Hollow Point pellets that work well with the 1077 tested by HAM. The 12-shot clips are cheap to buy and readily available, too.

As with all CO2 airguns, HAM recommends using a drop of Crosman Pellgun Oil on the flat end of the Powerlet about every 500 shots. More is not better! The Pellgun Oil spreads through the action as the 1077 is fired, due to the pressure of the CO2, and is absorbed by the O rings and seals in the gun. This is the best insurance to keep your CO2-powered airgun – like the 1077 – leak free over an extended period.

The Crosman 1077 air rifle carries a standard 12-month warranty from the manufacturer. Spare parts are also readily available from Crosman – a policy much to be applauded. But, be aware that the 1077 is quite comples internally and HAM certainly does NOT advise DIY repairs on this gun without much prior knowledge.

The owner’s manual is of the regular Crosman “broadsheet style”. Multiple languages are covered, including English, Spanish and French. Instructions are simple, but adequate and well illustrated.

TEST TARGETS

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Crosman 1077 Wood Stock Repeater Rifle Bundle

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