GTA
Airguns by Make and Model => Vintage Air Gun Gate => Topic started by: Tom @ Buzzard Bluff on December 07, 2011, 02:55:17 PM
-
I initially went into the computer disaster zone that I---tongue in cheek---call my files to look for something I know I've already written on reviving aging CO2 seals for Lizzie in view of the nice 700 she recently saved. No luck in that respect Lizzie but I'll stumble on it one of these days.
But I DID find a LOT of my scribbling about our old 'pumpers' that some might find useful. Just bear in mind that it may seem a bit disjointed---because it was extracted from longer treatises but if you'll suffer thru it there's a chance you might find something of value or use. Tom
**********************************************************************
For those of you looking for a wood and steel, high quality domestic multi-pump pneumatic don't ignore the Crosman 140/1400 series. The 1400, which was simply a development of the earlier 140, was the LAST of the all steel and wood Crosmans. They are readily available for $100 or less in good condition. They are NOT good subjects for the modding craze because of the blow-off valving system, but they respond very well indeed to simple blueprinting. 'Blueprinting' is the preferred course to extract the full potential of the 140/1400 series. Basically it just means eliminating losses between pump cup and pellet skirt. Do that and almost all of them ---if not simply worn out---will edge into the 700 FPS range on 10 pumps with 14.3 Premiers. Every one I've ever blueprinted gave over 700 fps on 10 pumps. Throughout the production life of the 140/1400 series Crosman recommended an upper limit of from 6 to 10 pumps in various years. Since the innards were a constant I've always used 10 pumps for hunting without ever damaging anything by overcharging.
The valving system was originally designed to eliminate Crosman's most common service problem----valve lock-up caused by over pumping the 100 series guns. Customers simply pumped them up so much that the hammer weight and spring were unable to knock the exhaust valve off of the seat. So they were sent to Crosman with a complaint even though it was entirely the fault of the customer for ignoring the instruction manual recommendations. So Rudy Merz (or someone in engineering) designed a new valving system that eliminated the hammer operated valve completely. Instead it used a system where the pressure was retained by a 'cap' that was blocked by the sear. Once the sear was released every bit of retained pressure was released instantly! No more lock-up! Returns plunged! The system was retained even into the pot metal and plastic age throughout the 1st couple of model 760s & 13xx before it was determined that a return to the more easily maintained hammer operated valve was warranted by lower costs since the wimpy charging system was incapable of overcharging the gun.
FWIW the same thing applies to the old Sheridans as well---eliminate the losses and allow the basic engineering to function as designed and you'll find yourself wondering why we ever bought the springer 'snake oil' spiel from Robert Law and Robert Beeman. They both built businesses amounting to minor empires on the self-serving BS that our familiar domestic multi-pumpers were a POS. Nothing could have been further from the truth! It wasn't until the advent of the R-1 that the imports could challenge the domestic product in raw power---at the expense of pellet pickiness and hold sensitivity that many could never master---at 3-4 times the cost.
Just for the He!!uvit treat yourself to a good mid-late '60s rocker-safety Sheridan. Expect to pay @ $150---give or take depending on condition. Costs the same as a Benji to rebuild but well done they approach---or even exceed----700 fps with a 14.3 Premier (15.5 FPE). Put the # 64 (IIRC) Williams peepsight made for it on the rear and get yourself ready to fall in love all over again. The '60s rifles were spookily accurate as were all the early Model Cs from 1949 up----and they're pretty close to eternal in airgun terms. I have one of the first of the Silver Streak Cs ('49-early '50s) given to me by a cousin after he 'wore it out'. I had it rebuilt by G. O. Deicher in W. Dallas in the early/mid '60s and it hasn't missed a beat since. The triggers never even heard of a lawyer and works accordingly and---unless mistreated--- the bronze barrels just seem to improve with age along with the trigger. They virtually define 'shooter-friendly' and will make you wonder why in blue blazes you're sweating blood by trying to wring accuracy out of a springer when your C model yields it so eagerly. A good C will make you love pumping!
That series of Sheridans is what earned them the sobriquet of "The Cadillac of American Airguns', and not their much more expensive predecessors the models A & B.
There's just something 'right' about an old domestic pumper that makes it belong in every outdoorsman's home or shop. Perfect medicine for defending Martin houses, bird feeders and property from usurpers wearing fur or feathers. Good snake medicine in a boat and an endless source of amusement in camp. Not much beats sitting in a shaded lawnchair with a barley soda near to hand and lazily putting in 3-4 pumps and picking dragonflies off of the catttails on a lazy Summer day. Even the pumping becomes almost hypnotic at times like that and cares fall away like the leaves of Autumn. Think of them as medicine and balm for the soul in such idyllic circumstances.
-
Thanks Tom- very nice! :)
-
Tom
Your making me all "Weepy" writting about these old guns. I need a 101 to go with my 100 and you just made the prices go up again.
Bob (Another Old Geezer)
-
You are a talented writer, sir. It's a bit easier to put out good writing when you are passionate about the subject matter, which in this case is perfectly obvious. I grew up with 397 and it was a lazer beam out to 35 yards. I think you may have solved for me the question of what will be my next airgun.
Thanks,
Scotty