Latest Resealed Airguns

[paulleve]

I'm glad we now have a dedicated airgun form here on NES! Here are my two latest reseal projects, a 1978 Crosman 38T and a 1989 Crosman 357. Both have been holding air for going on two weeks, so the seal replacement was successful. The 38T is a nicer pistol, with mostly metal parts while the 357 has lots of plastic components. The 38T just needed a full seal kit, while the 357 needed seals, a rear sight and a repair to the latch mechanism. Those latches use a small rubber bumper to create tension that keeps the barrel locked in place. It's very common to find them on Ebay with barrels that don't stay locked up. The part is only $5 so it's well worth replacing even if the old one is still in one piece.



Internals are similar in concept. ( I always take pics when I open these things up. It's been helpful in determining where small things like detent balls should go!) When I first worked on the 38T last spring I thought I could get away with just replacing the face seal where the CO2 cart connects. It worked fine for one cartridge, then the old seals in the valve blew out! Lesson learned - replace them all at once, becuuse those 45 year old o-rings are just waiting to fail!

 

[paulleve]

This afternoon I completed a project I started back in July - the reseal of an early model Crosman MK II .22 CO2 pistol dating from around the late 60s.



I took this one apart back in July and sent out the exhaust valve to have its seal replaced. The USPS ended up shipping this thing all over the place, and it took almost a month to get it to the shop where I bought the rebuild kit! I knew the pistol would be apart for a while so I made sure I had a way to store all the parts in labeled sections of a parts organizer. This worked out really well, given the three months it's been since I disassembled it.



Aside from the grips, these pistols are entirely made out of metal. This one has the same heft and feel as my Ruger MK II target pistol, which it is designed to replicate. I ran a short string over the chrono and averaged 412 fps.

 

[mac1911]

I resurrected a good amount of older pellet guns, I prefer the crosman 140/1400 s fairly easy to rebuild and at the time parts where cheap.
I have drifted away from it and my own parts bin is dwindling fast.
I do not come across to many to resurrect these days.
One of my favorites,
1400 late 60s iirc , updated valve for a bit more mmphh. My garden pest control unit for a long time.
I sold off all my CO2 few years back , nothing of any real interest all pistols where of the all plastic gen.
Even sold my C02 air rilfes.
Pumps and one PCP.

 

[Guzzi]

I just got a Crossman 1400, but it is not holding pressure. Is the repair process difficult?

 

[mac1911]

I just got a Crossman 1400, but it is not holding pressure. Is the repair process difficult?

No the 1400s are strait forward. Sometimes the valve body can be a pain to un thread.
It really depends how much corrosion is inside.
Any pics.

I have not done much of any air gun work since pre covid. At least not ordering parts
Used to use Mac1 , baker and JG air guns for parts
I think the hardest part on the 1400 is the exhaust valve

 

[Guzzi]

Here's a couple pics of the 1400

 

[Boghog1]

wishing I hadn't trashed my original paint marker from the 80s

 

[mac1911]

Here's a couple pics of the 1400

“generally” if the exterior metal is in good shape the guts “should” be ok. There can be pitting in the tubes
That can make things a bugger.

 

[paulleve]

Here's a couple pics of the 1400

That's a nice looking rifle! I've so far been sticking mostly to Daisy, Crosman, and Smith & Wesson pistols from about 1970 to 1990. So far I have uilt up quite a collection of Smith & Wesson 78g and 79s, along with their Daisy equivalent, the Powerline 790. Most of these cost too much back when I was a kid, and no one was willing to buy C02 carts for me back in 1980!

 

[mac1911]

That's a nice looking rifle! I've so far been sticking mostly to Daisy, Crosman, and Smith & Wesson pistols from about 1970 to 1990. So far I have uilt up quite a collection of Smith & Wesson 78g and 79s, along with their Daisy equivalent, the Powerline 790. Most of these cost too much back when I was a kid, and no one was willing to buy C02 carts for me back in 1980!

Pretty much the same, after pissing through several dozen co2 carts in a few weekends one summer , my dad took them away and came back with a pair of 1322 and 2200
A sleeve of pellets and in one swoop banned CO2 and BB’s

 

[paulleve]

Pretty much the same, after pissing through several dozen co2 carts in a few weekends one summer , my dad took them away and came back with a pair of 1322 and 2200
A sleeve of pellets and in one swoop banned CO2 and BB’s

Ha! I had, and still have, a Crosman 1377 and 766 from the good old days. The 766 was the best Christmas gift from 1981 and saw a lot of use over the years. It stopped working about 30 years ago, and was one of the first pellet guns I resealed. I bought the 1377 for myself a few years later, and it's still working fine on it's original 40 year-old seals!

 

[mac1911]

Ha! I had, and still have, a Crosman 1377 and 766 from the good old days. The 766 was the best Christmas gift from 1981 and saw a lot of use over the years. It stopped working about 30 years ago, and was one of the first pellet guns I resealed. I bought the 1377 for myself a few years later, and it's still working fine on it's original 40 year-old seals!

View attachment 806219

Mine got shot to shit, my dad met a guy hunting that was tied into crosman and we got a case of pellets for xmass that Christmas and I got another for my birthday the following year.
IIRC it was 25k pellets 40 of the bulk cardboard boxes. After that my dad would bring home 5-10 boxes after hunting rach year for a few more years. I later found out this “guy” was part of the pellet machine maintenance crew.

I only have 2 pellet guns from my early youth Red Ryder and a 880
Both are well worn but still function.

 

[BigAce74]

Glad I stumbled on this one. I also have a Crosman 357 with a bad latch and seal leaking air. Going to check those sites mentioned and see if I can fix it up.

 

[BigAce74]

Used to use Mac1 , baker and JG air guns for parts

Thanks for this info. Just found what I needed for the Crosman 357 on JG. Ordered and looking forward to fixing her up.

 

[paulleve]

Thanks for this info. Just found what I needed for the Crosman 357 on JG. Ordered and looking forward to fixing her up.

JG is where I get a lot of my parts and seals. There's also a guy on Ebay that sells "Henry Ford" seal kits that come with small bottles of oil. I like his kits.

A special tool is required to disassemble the valve on the 357. I made mine with an L-bracket and a Dremel and it works fine, although I may make something more permanent if I plan to work on more 357s, 38Ts and 38Cs.


Here's a great video to get you through the 357 build.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsoWtGS3KD4

 

[BigAce74]

JG is where I get a lot of my parts and seals. There's also a guy on Ebay that sells "Henry Ford" seal kits that come with small bottles of oil. I like his kits.

A special tool is required to disassemble the valve on the 357. I made mine with an L-bracket and a Dremel and it works fine, although I may make something more permanent if I plan to work on more 357s, 38Ts and 38Cs.
View attachment 806430

Here's a great video to get you through the 357 build.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsoWtGS3KD4

Nice...thanks for all that

 

[mac1911]

You can often spend much more time making tools to fix these things than it takes to actually fix them years ago. It felt like every springer I touched. I needed to make a custom spring compressor. I have no idea where all those jigs went. I stopped working on spring his early 90s.
90% of all the hair gun work I’ve done over the years has been for myself finding them in the trash at yard sales or someone just giving them away and just fixing them and getting them working. I would generally shoot them for a little while and then sell them it’s pretty good spending money but not exactly making a living money
I slowly started fixing the air guns for people after I bought my house. The big problem was the cost to fix them was a little outside the reality of what they were worth if it wasn’t somewhat collectible, or the person didn’t have a deep connection to the air gun most people Bocht at the 30 to 50 bucks it could cost to fix a a air gun. Now depending on the air gun, I’d be lucky to find just the parts for 30 to 50 bucks.

 

[BigAce74]

Thanks for all the information including the video. New valve assembly and latch boot came in from JG. Installed and tested...no leaks now. Functions like new.

 

[paulleve]

Thanks for all the information including the video. New valve assembly and latch boot came in from JG. Installed and tested...no leaks now. Functions like new.

Congrats! There is such an awesome feeling when you pierce that CO2 cartridge for the first time after a reseal and don't hear a mass of hissing noises!