Crosman 1400 question; "smooth-bore"?

[HPP-Mechanic]

I have a couple older Crosman pumpers. The older one is a 1965 model 140 w/sliding breech cover. It shoots good, but the barrel/ air tube end cap that works like a barrel band was loose and letting the barrel wiggle back & forth. I J. B. welded a bit on the crimp for now, until I can find a replacement end cap.
The other pumper is a 1971 model 1400. This one is also in great condition & should be shooting this afternoon when the missing sliding breech cover & screw get delivered. I put a lighter trigger spring in, and the trigger went down from 5lbs to 1lb (not pumped up).  I cleaned the barrel last night, and it was one of the dirtiest Ive seen. This 1400 appears to be a Smooth-Bore.  This seems odd that the 140, which is the older gun, is rifled... While the older, first variant(June 1971) with the sliding breech cover has a smooth-bore... Or did this rifle leave the factory with an un-finished barrel???
I had a Crosman 760 "tootsie-roll" with a smooth-bore barrel, and it was not an accurate shooter at all. Im hoping 
 the 1400 groups better.

[Mzq284]

Frank,
I don't know what to say about your barrel.  I bought a 147 at the Kalamazoo airgun show,  the barrel was filthy and looked smooth inside. I heated up the breech and popped it off, cut a 362 barrel to match the original shape, and used a 1400 bolt to get it going. That was my fix.
As far as the barrel band,  I  bought one from JG Airguns when I rebuilt my grandpa's early 140,  it's tight as a drum. I let my brother borrow it for a while, for old times sake,  don't think I'll be getting it back. That's OK, I have 2 more!

[Blowpipe Sam]

Is the bore dark?  Clean it again!  The rifling in the 1400 isn't real prominent.  I've never heard of a smoothbore 1400 but it's not impossible.  Could be a factory mistake.  If your gun is a stock 1971 model 1400 it will have a one piece rifled barrel.  If its two pieces, breech and barrel, it's a 140.  The 140 barrel can be changed.  You're stuck with the 1400 barrel although it is possible to build a Bitsa with parts from both models. 

[HPP-Mechanic]

Parts never showed up today-hopefully tomorrow the 1400 will be fully functional. The barrel was so dirty, like black ink. I got it pretty clean and if it has any rifling, its so faint that i cant see it. Im going to run a nylon brush w/ Kroil to see if it brings out any rifling.  The 1400 is in such great shape that I would hate to swap a different barrel; that is, unless it shoots like &^^&.

J.G. and Ebay didnt turn up a barrel band for the 140, but Im going to keep checking. These early Crosmans were very nicely built airguns and still look beautiful decades later.

[HPP-Mechanic]

Is the bore dark?  Clean it again!  The rifling in the 1400 isn't real prominent.  I've never heard of a smoothbore 1400 but it's not impossible.  Could be a factory mistake.  If your gun is a stock 1971 model 1400 it will have a one piece rifled barrel.  If its two pieces, breech and barrel, it's a 140.  The 140 barrel can be changed.  You're stuck with the 1400 barrel although it is possible to build a Bitsa with parts from both models.

Its a one-pc. barrel/breech. Stamped 1400. I pulled a nylon brush, soaked w/ too much oil thru it 4-5 times. I still cant see any positive rifling. And now oil got into the valve & it wont pump up... So next, it will get a complete re-seal when the parts arrive. Also, the breech cover I received was too big- this first-gen. 1400 has a smaller diameter breech, same size as my 140. So I still need to find the correct breech cover. I have not found a parts diagram for the earlier 1400's to i.d. the correct breech cover. At this point, I might as well replace the barrel/breech assy. to have a rifled barrel!

[CraigH]

The rifling is not ver prominent - push a pellet through for confirmation.

When I did so on a suspect rifle, there was rifling on the pellet.

[HPP-Mechanic]

I took the 1400 apart last night & re-sealed it w/kit from Henry Ford. It shoots again! O-rings & pump cup were rock-hard originals. Quad seal had turned into a rock-typical. Only shot a few times in the house into a board, so no idea on accuracy yet. Still need the correct bolt cover, but I can get it to work for now. I still cant detect any rifling and think its a factory-freak or mistake. Beautiful rifle in great overall condition and seems as powerful as the 140.