Crosman R39 Review

Crosman Stinger R39

  This was my first airsoft rifle I ever bought.  Was it worth it?  Read more to find out.





     The Crosman Stinger R39 may seem like an ideal beginners springer rifle.  It isn't that expensive, is decent looking, and if you bought the Defender kit, it comes with a lot of accessories.  However, the R39 itself just isn't that great.

     The kit comes with the R39, a cheap spring pistol, a bottle of 500 BBs, and a holster for the pistol.  To put it plainly, the R39 wasn't as good as I had hoped.  The claimed power was 325 fps, but seems more like 250.  It doesn't even come close to shooting through one side of a can.

     It is a bit uncomfortable to prime it with the tab just above the stock, which must be done before every shot.  The max RoF I could manage was about 1 shot per second, without much accuracy.

     The folding stock is a nice idea and locks well, but isn't as large as I find comfortable.  With it folded, it is difficult to hold due to the stock's position.  The stock also blocks the mag release.

     The accuracy definitely isn't the best.  I'm not sure why, but the hop up is horrid.  Even when I adjusted it from max to least, there was no difference in the BB's trajectory.  This is a problem as it means the sights are off.  In the pictures you can see I put on an M4 carry handle instead of the included rear sight.  There is nothing wrong with the included sight, which is actually rather nice, but I like the looks of the M4 sight better.  However, with either sight the hop was so high that it shot a fair deal above what I aimed at.

     The rails on the front are nice and are one of my favorite parts of the R39.  I like to have a flashlight on the side and a foregrip on the front; I find this blaster to be rather uncomfortable without a foregrip.

     Now on to the other components of the package.  The pistol isn't very good and its hop up is just as bad as the rifle's.  It is even weaker than the rifle.  Unless you have no other sidearm, don't use it.

     The BBs are of average quality and are good enough for any  <$40 spring rifle or pistol.  500 BBs will last you long enough in springers, and is enough to last you a little while.

     The holster is nice because it can take any airsoft pistol and is decent quality.  The pistol is pretty bad, the rifle is okay but not great, and the BBs will run out, but the holster is pretty good.



The Bottom Line

Pros:

     Accessories
     Folding stock
     Rails
     Okay build

Cons:

     Low power
     Pistol isn't good
     Bad hop up

Summary:  Overall, it isn't that good and I really can't recommend buying it unless you love the design.  There are better spring rifles out there for cheaper or you could get an LPEG, which are much more fun than single shot springers.

Overall Score:  ***

AR&M Performance/Value Score:

0.787