Shooting a Ghost from Christmas Past

paulleve

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Yesterday I shot the Crosman 766 my dad gave me for Christmnas in 1980 - for the first time in over 30 years! It was my "big present" that year, and although I wasn't quite as obsessed as Ralphie Parker, I knew this was the exact rifle I wanted. I wish I knew how many thousands of BBs and pellets I put through this thing before moving on to a Marlin 60. Even after I got the .22, I still shot the 766 occasionally in the back yard, but eventually the seals gave out and it wouldn't hold any pressure.

The old Crosman stuck with me for all the years since it stopped working, occupying a place on my "I'll get around to fixing it someday, maybe" list. Well, this month I finally set aside some time to thoroughly clean the rifle, reseal it, and replace some broken and missing parts. (More detailed description of the process below.) Sure I could have bought a new one for the money I have into it, but this is the one I carried for countless hours as I walked through the woods and along the railroad tracks with my dad. And shooting it again on Christmas 42 years after receiving it for Christmas was a true gift!

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And now for the technical part of the post:

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Seal kits are available for most common bb/pellet guns from this time period, and thanks to Youtube there are video tutorials for many of them. Reseal kits can cost between about $10-$40, depending on the parts included and the material the seals are made of. A set of just plain rubber seals is at the low end, and a set of urethane seals and new valve parts at the upper.

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This valve body is the heart of the Crosman multiple pump design. From left to right are the valve body, exhaust valve, spring, check valve, and air inlet. (All parts except for the brass valve body were new in the kit I picked up.) Pressurized air enters the inlet when the rifle is pumped up. This passes the check valve which then closes to retain the pressure. When the trigger is pressed, a metal hammer hits the stem on the exhaust valve, pushing it into the valve body and releasing air into the rifle's chamber. After replacing these parts an reassembling the rifle, I pumped it up 5x and let it sit over night. There was a very satisfying sound of released air when I pulled the trigger the next morning!
 
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Great post, my father bought me a Daisy and the Crossman 766 for himself, it was 1980 as well when I turned 10, there are still BB's stuck in the back of the barn after all these years from setting up cans and shooting them.
 
nice! i have a nearly 65 year old crossman .22 air pistol someone gave me. i sent it back to crossman and they went through it, replaced the seals and the air nipple thing. i've spent many hours shooting it. much fun.
 
I believe I had that same one, with a scope, back in the day. Lots of fun! Mine was late 80s -early 90s vintage. Somewhere in a landfill now 🙁
 
Can't stop visualizing Jacob Marley after reading this thread title...

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Even with bad seals, for a 42 year old air rifle that, presumably, you got as a kid that is in terrific shape.
 
Even with bad seals, for a 42 year old air rifle that, presumably, you got as a kid that is in terrific shape.

I was just shy of 12 years old when I got it! Up close it shows wear from use, but for the most part the barrel is still blued and the receiver has it's original paint, minus the spots where it wore a Tasco 4x15 for a few years. On Christmas day the old buddy I shot it with said, "In all the years I've known you, you've never handed me a gun that wasn't wearing a healthy coat of oil!" :)

Today I took it on the hike my father and I made almost every Saturday when I was a kid. I ended up shooting it around 100x, and was reminded how much of a workout you could get pumping it up like crazy for an hour!

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After getting the rifle up and running I broke out my old 1377 American Classic, figuring I'd reseal that one too. Turns out it still works fine and looks pretty much new! I got this one in '83, and used it mostly in the yard. It definitely wasn't carried as much as the 766, and it certainly wasn't shot as much!

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I got a Crosman multi pump as a teenager right around 2000. Plastic furniture, piece of junk, but i still have it. Posts like this make me jealous of you guys who were kids when things were still built with quality.
 
I was just shy of 12 years old when I got it! . . . . I ended up shooting it around 100x, and was reminded how much of a workout you could get pumping it up like crazy for an hour!
i am in my late 60s and still suffer occasional twinges of tennis elbow from pumping one of those things when I was about 12.
 
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