Benjamin 397P Date?

[Yng@hrt]

I picked up a Benji 397P yesterday with a serial #V110637. Not sure if the info in this link is correct but mine is very similar w/V & 6 digit #. I'm pretty sure the wood is American Walnut. These guys think it's a mid 80's. Any help would be appreciated.

http://classic.gunauction.com/search/displayitem.cfm?itemnum=7814249

Thanks

[Habanero69er]

1983?

http://www.crosman.com/discover/crosman/benjamin-product-dates

[Flint]

Wait, what?  did you not like my answer to this same question in your previous thread ?

Its most likely 1993. 

The 397P (along with 392P, C9, etc, etc) was introduced in 1991.  They were made in racine from feb. 1991 until november 1993, at which point all of the manufacturing equipment was moved to new york where manufacturing resumed January 1994.  Any gun that is a 397P with a Racine stamp has to have been made between 1991 and 1993.  Based on your serial number and the Benjamin Sheridan Corp stamp, I believe that it was made in early 1993.  (I could go into more detail if you still don't believe me, but I'll stop here for now). 

It can't have been made in the 1980s.  The Benjamin 342/347 was made up through 1990, after which they were replaced with the 397/392.  I have a 342 made in 1990, a 392 made in 1991, a 392 made in 1992, a 397 made in 1992, and a C9 made in 1993. 

you can't put ANY faith whatsoever in any information that comes from the seller in a gun auction.  They are often pawn shop or gun shop owners who just get these guns in they don't know any more about them than any other random person usually. 

[Yng@hrt]

Billy, your answer was fine but since I'm new at this I am trying to get as much information as I can to better understand the history of these guns. Your answer above is exactly what I was hoping for. You not only mentioned the date but you backed it up with facts. I am also still trying to navigate this site trying to figure out who's an authority & who isn't & your answer above pretty much irons that one out. I appreciate your help. 

[TerryM]

  My 397P serial# 394401291 is Bloomfield, NY, soldered valve.

[Yng@hrt]

1983?

http://www.crosman.com/discover/crosman/benjamin-product-dates

I did run across that link early in my search & I was thinking the same except the letter "V" was missing in that serial #. I think Billy's explanation pretty much nails it down to an early '93.

Thanks for the help Dave. 

[Yng@hrt]

  My 397P serial# 394401291 is Bloomfield, NY, soldered valve.

Terry, does this mean mine does not have a soldered valve?

[TerryM]

  My 397P serial# 394401291 is Bloomfield, NY, soldered valve.

Terry, does this mean mine does not have a soldered valve?

I would expect that yours does. Mine is a later gun.

[Yng@hrt]

Guys, if you look close at the last two pix the finish (blued) looks rough. Is this the way they came from the factory or is this a repaint?

[Flint]

all benjamin and sheridan guns from 1991 until mid 1995 had the soldered valve.  This 'pretty much' kind of coincides with the P / PA designation.  So almost all "P"s will have the soldered valve.  The transition from P to PA happened in 1994-1995, so some early PAs could have the soldered valve. 

as far as the V prefix.   

Benjamin guns traditionally had a letter prefix.  That is until 1982 when they restarted their serial numbers and without a letter prefix.  This went through the end of the 342/247 production in 1990.  When production started back up in 1991, the revived the letter prefix for the benjamin line.  The 39X guns initially got either an N or an I prefix interchangeably ( I haven't yet been able to figure out why they would alternate between the two).  Then around serial number 50,000, they switched to the V which they kept  until the end of production at the end of 1993.

When production resumed in NY in january 1994, all guns now received the crosman 9 digit serial number.  for those guns, the first three digits is a date code.  So Terry's gun was made in March 1994 at the NY facility.

and yes, I've been researching the benjamin/sheridan guns for the last two years pretty thoroughly.  Specifically the period for which there is no recorded information about serial number dates which is the 1986 - 1993 period which coincides with the period from which they built their new facility in racine until the time that production was moved to NY.  I have accumulated about 180 serial numbers from the 1991-1993 period along with other information about those guns.  I'm hoping to publish/share this all in one way or another sometime soon.  There is still something strange with the first year production sheridan serial numbers I'm trying to work out, but am making progress slowly all the time. 

[TerryM]

  Thanks for that Billy.

[Yng@hrt]

Guys, if you look close at the last two pix the finish (blued) looks rough. Is this the way they came from the factory or is this a repaint?

Looked at others on Gun Broker & they have the same type finish...whew. I think they call it matt finish...kinda a looks like a rough orange peel.

[WECSOG]

Billy, your answer was fine but since I'm new at this I am trying to get as much information as I can to better understand the history of these guns. Your answer above is exactly what I was hoping for. You not only mentioned the date but you backed it up with facts. I am also still trying to navigate this site trying to figure out who's an authority & who isn't & your answer above pretty much irons that one out. I appreciate your help. 

Billy is an authority on these. He's my go-to guy on this stuff.
Also, he is spot-on about sellers on auction sites. A large percentage of them are not only clueless about what they are selling; they are also first-class jerks who will lie and cheat by default even when it would be better for their own bottom line to be honest. You know what they say about used car salesmen?  Well, the typical used car salesman is a saint compared to the typical pawn shop owner.

[TerryM]

  These guns could have been made so beautifully with a little shaping of the forearm.  I don't get why they left that big plank of a pump handle on there, looks real awful, IMO.  Nice wood, no design.

[Yng@hrt]

  These guns could have been made so beautifully with a little shaping of the forearm.  I don't get why they left that big plank of a pump handle on there, looks real awful, IMO.  Nice wood, no design.

I would have to agree Terry although I think this design gives the model its own unique style. I'm getting to where I like it. Kind of a beefy manly feeling to the touch as opposed to the Sheridan, sleek & dainty.

[Hoosier Daddy]

As you figured out Marty, the Benjamins were a rough texture browned treatment, similar to being parkerized. Not painted smooth or Blued steel.

  These guns could have been made so beautifully with a little shaping of the forearm.  I don't get why they left that big plank of a pump handle on there, looks real awful, IMO.  Nice wood, no design.

You Hush.... I, for one, like it. 
Solid and functional. Feels good in my hand anyway. To each his own I guess.
While my C9's shape looks funky, but I see why, hard to pinch your fingers with that "Bulbous" rear section.
Now the later 342? That was a wood block with a groove and two holes...

[WECSOG]

I like the looks of the pump handle. Gives it a distinctive look.

[Yng@hrt]

The Benji was dumping air & sometimes not holding air at all. Flushed it out with alcohol. Man what a mess. No doubt he's holding air now. Looking forward to trying him out.

[Hoosier Daddy]

I am trying to figure out what the picture is.
Is it where you fired the gun onto a white surface and that is the pattern it left?
Looks like an Air-gunners Rorschach test.

[Yng@hrt]

Scott, all rows are in sequence beginning from left to right to show the progression of the flush/cleaning. Each mark is the gun fired with 8 pumps on a concrete floor. The first 4 rows represent the alcohol flush. The last row (far right) is the final flush with oil.