GTA
All Springer/NP/PCP Air Gun Discussion General => Vintage Air Gun Gate => Topic started by: AirJunkie62 on March 28, 2021, 10:03:08 PM
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So I recently picked up this Crosman 147 1st Variant .177 cal rifle. Prior to purchase I was trying to find information on it and came up thin, really very thin. I know the 1st variant was made 1955-56 and from what I found was made in much smaller numbers than the .22 cal 140 model. Information I ran across suggested a "1" model 147 to "20ish" model 140 ratio, but I have no verification from a legitimate source for that production disparity. I know that the .177 caliber was not as popular back in the 1950's.
Thanks for any info.
Steve
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Crosman kept no records on production so all you have is speculation from what you see over the years. All during the early period of Crosman .177 was the exception as 22 was the norm. Your numbers are probably as good as any? Cool find.
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That's the first 1st variation 147 I've seen. Congrats on a super find ! ! !
In Dean Fletcher's book on the Crosman model 160, page 52, the 1956 sales by product are quoted. For the 140 product there were 22,738 units sold, for the 147 it was 2,925. The combined total for both would be 25,663 units with the 147 being 11.4% of the total. Dean also quotes the sales figure for the 140K model as being 3,535 units but doesn't define what the 140K is, but my guess would be guns branded for and sold by Sears or Montgomery-Ward, or perhaps guns made or sold in Canada and/or, Mexico, or perhaps, exported to Europe or South America.
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Steve that's a nice looking piece of kit. Where'd you find it?
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.177 generally make up approximately 10% of production of those rifle series that carried both caliber during the 1946 to 1956 period.
140K is the 140 shooting kit. Due to the approximate ten to one ratio, it is significantly harder to find the .177 version of any Crosman rifle in any series.
Add in rarer variants and the .177 version of the variant is therefore even harder to find. Consequently Models 100, 104, 107, 109, 147 bring a premium.
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Thank you for the reply's, truly appreciated. As to where I picked it up, it was off eBay. The seller listed it with a starting price around $85 and a Buy it Now price of $140. Appeared to be a very nice rifle in very nice condition (and it is) and was also listed as working with a Chrony pic. If you were to look up sold listings using "Crosman 147" in the search bar on the eBay site you should find the original listing.
When I saw the auction, the rifle intrigued me so I started looking for information on the model on the internet and like I mentioned didn't find much. Knowing the .177 cal wasn't as popular and the 1 - 2 years of production for the 1st variant, I just paid the buy-it-now price. Glad I did.
:D
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Thats a nice looking CR147 for a fair price, I bought one that needs resealing for $120 plus shipping off Craigslist a few years ago, [turns out it was a CR147BP model instead], so a first variant in working condition at that price is a good deal IMO.
Check the breech cover plug, should have a three digit number that will tell you the manufacturing date?, not sure if your first variant with Aluminum breech also had the date stamp on it.
Yes, info on the Vintage CR147 or the CR147BP lines are hard to get, not many posting around here on them. Here is thread from a few months back when I discovered I had the CR147BP instead of the early CR147 variant.
https://www.gatewaytoairguns.org/GTA/index.php?topic=177712.msg156020271#msg156020271 (https://www.gatewaytoairguns.org/GTA/index.php?topic=177712.msg156020271#msg156020271)
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As nice an example as I have seen in .177 or .22. Great price for that kind of quality condition.
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Yes
You won't see them very often, gotta strike when they show up.
I actually really like my 140's and looked for a 147 to complement it.
So I know from experience that they are not easy to find.
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Yes
You won't see them very often, gotta strike when they show up.
I actually really like my 140's and looked for a 147 to complement it.
So I know from experience that they are not easy to find.
DW.... Yours appears to be manual cocking vs. my self cocking. I don't recall Crosman listing a 147 non auto cocking 1st variant in their manufacturing dates. Do you have a story on that one?
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Interesting, I have one of these coming I won on an auction, spoon cocker, but I cant see if it is a 177 or 22. I will definitely let you all know via this thread when it arrives!
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Interesting, I have one of these coming I won on an auction, spoon cocker, but I cant see if it is a 177 or 22. I will definitely let you all know via this thread when it arrives!
Interested to know .177 or .22 :D
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AirJunkie62
Crosman's manufacturing dates posted on the internet is riddled with errors.
The manual cockers are generally thought of as 1954 only.
So its length of manufacture is about a year or so, give or take a few months.
Crosman price list from Feb 1st 1954 show only the 140. Crosman was switching to steel barrels at that time after moving to Fairport.
All Crosmans .177 had been using bronze barrels at this time, thus delaying the introduction of the steel barreled .177 model 147.
Once at Fairport, all bronze barrels were being discontinued. The steel barreled .177 model 147 was listed in the July 1st 1954 price list which was a 5 months delay, so the late introduction of the .177 version limited manual cocker .177 production to about six months before the self cockers were introduced in 1955. As a general rule, .177 versions make up 10% of production during a full year. Since the manual Cocker .177 was produced for 6 months or less, it was probably 4-5% of production. In other words this version is very rare.
Another thing to look for: the earliest 1954's had a steel thumbscrew stock attachment. Sometime later in 1954 they switched to an aluminum thumbscrew. I have 4 manual cockers, two with steel, and two with aluminum thumbscrews. Also the 1954-55 140 series used the 2 piece welded trigger guard shared with the bulkfill Rifles. The Bulkfills were discontinued soon after the intro of the 160 in 1955 and the trigger guard on the 140 is switched to the one piece designed used on the 160 sometime in late 1955. By 1956 all 140 series used the one piece trigger guard
A Mid year 1954 flyer lists both 140 and 147
The 1955 flyer lists the new self cocking feature on the 140series
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I think that is a very nice rifle at a VERY good price. Congratulations !
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AirJunkie62
Crosman's manufacturing dates posted on the internet is riddled with errors.
The manual cockers are generally thought of as 1954 only.
So its length of manufacture is about a year or so, give or take a few months.
Crosman price list from Feb 1st 1954 show only the 140. Crosman was switching to steel barrels at that time after moving to Fairport.
All Crosmans .177 had been using bronze barrels at this time, thus delaying the introduction of the steel barreled .177 model 147.
Once at Fairport, all bronze barrels were being discontinued. The steel barreled .177 model 147 was listed in the July 1st 1954 price list which was a 5 months delay, so the late introduction of the .177 version limited manual cocker .177 production to about six months before the self cockers were introduced in 1955. As a general rule, .177 versions make up 10% of production during a full year. Since the manual Cocker .177 was produced for 6 months or less, it was probably 4-5% of production. In other words this version is very rare.
Another thing to look for: the earliest 1954's had a steel thumbscrew stock attachment. Sometime later in 1954 they switched to an aluminum thumbscrew. I have 4 manual cockers, two with steel, and two with aluminum thumbscrews. Also the 1954-55 140 series used the 2 piece welded trigger guard shared with the bulkfill Rifles. The Bulkfills were discontinued soon after the intro of the 160 in 1955 and the trigger guard on the 140 is switched to the one piece designed used on the 160 sometime in late 1955. By 1956 all 140 series used the one piece trigger guard
A Mid year 1954 flyer lists both 140 and 147
The 1955 flyer lists the new self cocking feature on the 140series
Thanks for all the information. Very much appreciated!
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I think that is a very nice rifle at a VERY good price. Congratulations !
Thanks... Very happy with it 4 sure. :-)