Crosman 38 T revolver

[Multigunner]

Just picked up a .177 caliber version of the .38 T in more or less relic condition. I hope to rebuild it using parts from an old .22 38 C I'd pretty much given up on.

The hammer spur and rear sight leaf are broken off but otherwise the gun is complete and has nice looking grip panels.
I can switch out hammer and rear sight from the 38 C temporarily. Later on I'd like to rebuild both guns.

Does anyone here have one of these or one of the related models?
If so can anyone point me to a place where I might find replacement parts if needed?

The 177 38T apparently uses a die cast valve body. My much older 38 C has a machined brass valve body.

[Multigunner]

PS
Took the 177 38T apart and found that neither the hammer nor the rear sight interchange with the older model.

Good news is the exhaust valve and valve body seals seem okay. The seal at the CO2 canister neck held for a short time, long enough to confirm the exhaust valve and body was okay but then it failed. I've replaced the rubber in these before so no problem there.

all the internals are there in good condition.

This later model has a transfer bar safety, and the hammer nose is shorter than that of the older models.
The rear sight is plastic rather than the much nicer cast brass of the older model.

Since only the plastic blade is broken I can make a replacement blade, I'll use aluminum instead of plastic.

Once I repair the cylinder seal I can use it double action or ease back the hammer enough to thumb cock it.

Should turn out okay with luck, knock on wood.

[BPJONES]

Hopefully you get it shooting well. I have a few vintage Crosman revolvers/pistols that I need to get rebuild kits for.

[Multigunner]

I found and ordered the complete seal rebuild kit which comes with a new piercing pin.
I also found another site that has quite a few 38C and 38T replacement parts.

The seal kit should be here by the end of the week.

I also ordered from a different site a complete seal kit and new exhaust valve for my S&W 78g .22 single shot. Its a much better gun for my purposes than the 38T so I'll be doing that rebuild first.

Should have both up and running by middle of next week.

The New exhaust valve is one designed by a gentleman who builds top level target airguns . the valve is of his own design and made of space age materials. Reviews on guns rebuilt using his valve show a notable increase in velocity and great durability. Hopefully this pistol will now work fine for as long as I'll be around to use it.

One airgun repair shop lists several non working but complete 38T and 38C revolvers for sale. I may order one or more of those if this rebuild works out okay.

There are some very nice CO2 revolvers out there today, but the most affordable are largely or mostly plastic. The all metal CO2 revolvers are often very pricey with Umarex's full metal revolvers, similar in design to the Crosman 38T going as high as $300.

I'll PM the links to the sites where you can find the parts you need if the pistols you have are the older 38T or 38C.

If not let me know what model pistols you have and I'll help you look for the parts if I can.
more recent Crosman revolvers may have parts still available from Crosman itself.

[BPJONES]

Thanks. Problem is I am in Canada which creates a bit of a problem although airgun parts should not be a problem. My older Crosmans are a model 38C, 357 4", 357 8", 357 shooters kit, Shiloh, Hahn 45, Peacemaker, V300, Mkl and MKll. I have found a distributor for Crosman in Canada that lists reseal kits for all the models. I don't know about any other parts though if any should be needed. I may be contacting you in the future.

[Multigunner]

I've noticed there seem to be far more of the older model Crosman and Daisy CO2 pistols available to UK air gunners than one would expect, there are a number of UK based sources for air gun replacement parts that carry parts for these older guns.

Canadian owners may have an even easier time finding parts because so many US based companies had manufacturing facilities in Canada.
A lot of younger American shooters graduated to firearms before ever getting into air guns at all, some never saw the point to using CO2 guns back in the days when .22 RF ammo was still dirt cheap and plentiful. Also the throwaway society of the USA in recent decades meant fewer chose to attempt to repair the older guns if they suffered even minor damage or leaks.
We can still find some nice older guns that are either still operable or only require re sealing, but it doesn't seem to be quite so easy here as you'd expect.

The die cast frames of the older guns seemed cheap at the time, but now days with most guns almost all plastic the feel and heft of an old style full metal air pistol is a lot more attractive.

[BPJONES]

I agree, the older airguns that people thought as cheaply made, compared to "real" firearms, now seem like quite decent quality compared to the plastic construction of many models today. Here in Canada, one can find older airguns in quite decent condition. Many will require resealing from years of sitting with CO2 cylinders in them, but resealing is almost to be expected when buying these vintage guns. I find them to be a "blast from the past", no pun intended.

[Hardcast416taylor]

I have a 38T loaded and with a co2 cartridge unpierced in it just waiting for stray cats or raccoons to come around either yowling at the moon or getting into the bird feeder. I used to use a .22 LR on them, but them had to get rid of the carcasses.Robert

[Multigunner]

Had good news and bad news then good news again.

First off the 78g reseal kit and new design exhaust valve got here and I installed it with no real problems. The new type valve is of a hard material and to obtain a proper seal you have to heat the gun up to soften the urethane seals slightly before charging it with CO2. I had already read the directions on the Mac 1 site so I knew how to do it right. The gun shoots great. Velocity is fairly high even on the lowest mainspring pressure setting. No sign of leaks.

Now the bad news, when I checked my credit card balance there was no record of my purchase of the 38T reseal kit. I had not been able to access my Email till I used another browser and found a message saying the kits were no longer available.
So aside from the delay no harm done.

Next good news was I found another seller with the same kits and free shipping. Price will work out the same.
This seller does repairs and refurbs for Crosman so he had access to all the necessary parts.
Parts should be here in six days or so.

I'll be busy getting reacquainted with the S&W 78g so I won't be bored.

[Multigunner]

Well I got the 38 T reseal kit and sat up all night putting every thing back together and adjusting the copper (brass?) transfer tube to prevent it rubbing against the hammer, which is not as easy as it sounds.
Fired a few shots outside just to see if it works, then waited till sun up and set up a very small can with a white square on the label about 20 feet away and left fly. The first pellet hit exactly where the sight was held, a good start, then the next three simply widened the hole a bit. The last two I won't count because by that time I was getting a bit shaky, due to having fought off a virus night before last and all day yesterday. Still a bit weak but I may have the bug licked. The last two pellets stayed in the white square one high in line the other a tad low and to the left. I knew they weren't going to stay in the group moment I squeezed the trigger.

The action is smooth, velocity good though nothing to brag about. Accuracy if the first four shots are anything to go by is much better than I'd expected.
A chrono test of a similar resealed .177 38 T indicates that 360-370 FPS with standard pellets is about as good as it will get. Good enough for target shooting.

I did recut and polish the forcing cone and squared up the breech which was badly dented up due to a previous owner of the .177 I got it from making a ham handed effort of resealing it long ago.
I found the flexible front bushing at the end of the valve tube was missing altogether, luckily the damaged brass valve body still had one in excellent condition, that part does not come with the reseal kit.

No sign of seepage.

[BPJONES]

Glad to hear it's performing again.

[Multigunner]

Performing even better now, partly due to the new valve seals getting broken in, but mainly because I bent the mainspring a tad to increase tension on the hammer and increased the strength of the hammer strike.

originally these guns had a sliding part on the spring to increase tension, but neither of the parts guns had this. The trajectory is now much flattened and striking power greatly increased. I figure its doing better than 400 FPS now.
When I strip it down to put on a couple of layers of baked on outdoor paint I'll polish up the contact points on the moving parts, this should slick up the trigger pull and speed up the hammer fall a bit more.

Since I still have the .22 cylinder from the 38C I obtained a length of Crossman 2260 barrel which I'll use to make 6" and 4" .22 barrel liners.
The barrel liners of these guns are fairly simple. No threading necessary and no transfer port , just a step at the muzzle and groove at the rear and a simple forcing cone.
I can turn the barrel liner to the correct diameters using my drill press.

These were never high velocity pellet guns, but I should be able to get mid 300's FPS in .22, which is enough for 10-15 yard target shooting.

The 2260 barrel has deeper rifling which should improve accuracy.