Crosman Vigilante 357 Co2 Air Pistol Kit with Holster and 3-Pack of Magazines

Accurate, and packs a punch. Great for admonishing pesty squirrels who like to chow down at the bird feeder.

I checked numerous reviews before deciding on this purchase. First the shipping was quick and the item was well packaged. After unpacking, it was noted that the description and photos of the pistol are very accurate. It has a good weight to it and also easy to handle and hold. I have fairly large hands and a small person or youth with small hands may fine it a littler harder to hold. The existing physical description is very accurate and doesn't need repeating here. A quick review of the instruction pamphlet and I proceeded to remove the plastic grips to install a co2 cartridge (purchased elsewhere since the pistol doesn't come with one). Please remember to put the safety on by pushing the safety from the left to right position (as you face the back of the hammer) which also covers the red dot on the back of the left of the safety. The instructions indicate to remove the left grip by pulling up on the butt of the grip but I found that did not work well and finally got the grip to release by lightly pulling up with slight rocking motion on the upper half of the grip. The lower grip then simply pushes away with a finger. Do be careful because the grips lock/snap together with 2 narrow protrusions each of plastic on the inside of each grip. I used a partial drop of Pellgun oil on each when put back together and that helped considerably on the next removal times. You will need the oil for lubrication for the top of each co2 cartridge which helps maintain the seal in the pistol so you need to order that at the same time as well. Several reviews have indicated initial problems with installation of the co2 cartridge and I also had some difficulty. The first cartridge did not have an obvious air escape during the installation process and the tightening of the the thumb screw was difficult though the entire seating process which made it difficult to determine the pressure difference when actually seated to the proper depth. I chose not to force it and re-installed the grips. I then proceeded to open the barrel for installation of a magazine. Other reviewers experienced similar results - it is very hard to push down on the top release! In fact I had to use both hands and both thumbs on each other the first time I opened it. I immediately added a drop of oil to the latch area and opened and shut it several times before going on with the next step. Even then it was very difficult but did get better after a few tries. I loaded a magazine with pellets which takes a little bit of time (remember I have large hands). After loading the first one, I then loaded others with a Crosman pellet loader which is much easier, faster and cleaner. After installing the loaded magazine I went to an outside safety area that I have set up for sighting and target practice for my wife and I for various pistols, revolvers and others that we own.Crosman did an excellent job of putting adjustable rear sights on this pistol and are needed if you want accurate results. In our situation we had to move the windage adjustment almost 3/32" to the right and raise the elevation adjustment about 1/8". Please be sure you loosen the left sight side screw before adjustments and tighten lightly after adjustments. The good news here is that the accuracy is amazing - we had several groupings (3 shots each) that were 1" or less at 35'. That is remarkable for the price range of this pistol and overall design. We were using .177 Crosman Supermatch Copperhear Pellets for overall performance, consistency and they are generally cleaner from lead flakes. Keep in mind this is not a powerful pistol - 435FPS, but it is still a dangerous weapon. It is very useful for training and practice purposes and overall enjoyable. While others have indicated they get from 70 to 100 shots per co2 cartridge, I have found that for overall performance and accuracy 50 to 60 is about tops. Again the pistol may take some adjustments, has an excellent design for shooting 10 pellets in sequence, and very usable but overall is a very good buy in the price range.

I'm not going to repeat what everyone else mostly said in their 3-5 star reviews other than what I was looking for was a repeater handgun that had a rifled bore, had a higher capacity, and shot pellets vs BBs for accuracy. A gun that met these needs was a little more difficult to pin down than one might think given that most of the semi-auto clones out there have that "blow-back" function that, while I understand the want for that particular feature, for myself, is totally unnecessary and a waste of Co2. So I landed on the Crosman Vigilante "kit". Like others stated the pistol itself is like 90% plastic, but it has a back adjustable sight and I had it dialed in within twenty shots. With the four ten-pellet rotary magazines you get you can basically shoot the total twice before you have to reload another Co2, which is really nice (considering you only have to reload the lot once during this process). I'd discard the bb mag myself but that's up to you.This isn't a hundred dollar Black River revolver clone, but with that said it's also not an overpriced "musket" either (I was getting pretty tired of watching BBs veer nine inches off in any given direction).Lastly the packaging is minimal (which I'm all for because I HATE that blister plastic crap), but I agree with another reviewer that I get the impression these were open-box returns; either my pistol was scratched during transit (everything was in a box together and there was no plastic or bubble wrap around the gun itself) or it had been scratched by a previous owner (if there was indeed another owner). I think the company selling this should at least pop the pistol into a bubble bag and then toss it into the box, but meh, I'm not even going to complain. I bought this to be a workhorse and not a safe queen so it's kinda whatever for me.In short, this is like a limp penis, you can't beat it.

This looks like a real handgun and its powerful enough to be dangerous. Not a kids toy without supervision. For those who have had co2 leak problems, try reading the instructions. You need to put some pellgun oil on tip of each co2 canister before piercing, that lubes gun and creates a better seal. This is a great pellet handgun for $50, yeah it does have some plastic, but not in the important areas. If your looking for accuracy then don't shoot bb's, they destroy the barrels rifling. This handgun is not designed for long range shooting, 10-50feet its very accurate. I seen numerous reviews talking about it not being accurate "Wrong" Airguns are very picky about which pellet they like and each gun even the same exact gun can like a different pellet. .177 pellets come in different sizes and weights IE: standard is 4.5mm I found my gun liked the 4.51 mm H&N 8.64 gr and it did not like the Crossman pellets at all. Mine was chronographed (speed tested) at 461 FPS that was the average of 4 full clips being shot. Thats a higher FPS than advertised and thats because I found the right pellet. This is a single action (best accuracy) or double action revolver, its not semi-automatic as I seen mentioned nor does it have blowback. Sights are good, but add a long eye relief pistol scope or red dot and you will be impressed. I have been testing to see how long I could leave a full co2 cartridge in before it all leaked out (don't advise this, just a test) I am on day 4 without any leakage. When you load your c02 cartridges make sure to line them up square and don't force them. The holster is awesome, I am surprised how nice this whole package is for the price. Well done Amazon and Crossman. Hope y'all enjoy yours.