Crosman 761 XL

[TonyL]

Yeah,
I seem to remember seeing something about that.
Was it, in fact, Rod Linton?

Shame that as, as an impressionable teenager, he was my "airgunning hero" in my early days!!

[Hsing-ee]

Didn't one of the airgun writers of the time recently admit to having to shoot pellets through a target almost at the muzzle in order to get a "decent group" to photograph for his article using one of these rifles?

This has indeed been discussed before... post No. 10
baz actually had a play with a few of them and knew the guy that made them.

http://www.airgunbbs.com/showthread....Whaley+Crosman

[Gamocfx]

Stop it....stop it! You are killing an early teenage dream here...look if it shoots at around 10 foot pounds and can hit an orange at 25 metres its still better than the Turkish/Spanish/Chinese crap we/I am buying today....?

Only kidding gents, they cannot have been that bad though...it was the air gunning Pamela Anderson of its day, can we agree on that at least? Or can you name a better looking air rifle? (Excluding any model of Jackal).

[Hsing-ee]

Stop it....stop it! You are killing an early teenage dream here...look if it shoots at around 10 foot pounds and can hit an orange at 25 metres its still better than the Turkish/Spanish/Chinese crap we/I am buying today....?

Only kidding gents, they cannot have been that bad though...it was the air gunning Pamela Anderson of its day, can we agree on that at least? Or can you name a better looking air rifle? (Excluding any model of Jackal).

It looked beautiful in the pictures but when I met it I really thought WHAT THE HELL IS THIS? The one I saw at Bisley had engraving on the receiver, and given it is made of some kind of zinc pot-metal it just looked awful. The great attraction for me, as a 14 year old, was that it had a bolt, like a 'real' gun.

The triggers are creepy and it just isn't a nicely made rifle. If the owner used it as a (ha ha!) 'air-shotgun' with steel BBs then the rifling will be knackered as well. The Crosman 760, 761XL, 766 and 2200 are all cheap rifles (they were much more expensive here, but in the US they are pocket-money guns) with short lifespans and are best avoided. The Sharp Victory and Sharp Ace, the Crosman 140, the older Sheridan Blue Streak and the rare Daystate Sportsman pump-up are all solid steel (brass in the case of the Sheridan) and solid wood rifles and worthy of your nostalgic dollars/pounds. The Benjamin was another ugly converted pump gun but I won't recommend that because of its sheer hideousness. In the end the Sharp Innova rather than the Whaley which wiped out all the other pump-ups of the time with its winning combination of lightness, power, accuracy, good price and clean design.

Anyway, most of the Whaley and Marshal Crosmans are IN THE BIN WHERE THEY BELONG because they were cheap and flimsy, so your quest is going to be a long and painful one, and it will be a pot of fools' gold at the end of it. Don't waste your time! Frame the AGW pics of the Whaley Crosman, stick it on the workshop wall with the rest of the 'pretty lady pics' and look for a Daystate Sportsman if you want a 'Unicorn' type pump-up, far better to lust and pursue one of those ... hand made and will last a lifetime.

Check out this Mk 1 Daystate Sportsman, shes a beauty!

http://media.liveauctiongroup.net/i/...CF5EFBD7C25A10

Now THAT is a pump-up you can be proud to own. It can shoot right through the receiver of a Whaley Crosman!

If you want a new Crosman, like this update on the 766 called the 2100B, remember they cost $60 in the USA - that is £37!!!

http://www.pyramydair.com/s/m/Crosma..._Air_Rifle/226

They are cheap and cheerful and thats it. But perhaps you can fit a Crosman 760 with the barrel and pump-tube from a 2100 and make a sort of Whaley Crosman yourself with some beech from an old school desk ..... just dont pay too much for her.

[TonyL]

Stop it....stop it! Or can you name a better looking air rifle? (Excluding any model of Jackal).

Feinwerkbau Sport, Feinwerkbau 300S, Webley Tracker, Weihrauch HW anything, Anschutz 335, Blue Streak, Airsporter, Mercury and, er, just about anything else, to be fair, matey, SORRY!!

[Hsing-ee]

Feinwerkbau Sport, Feinwerkbau 300S, Webley Tracker, Weihrauch HW anything, Anschutz 335, Blue Streak, Airsporter, Mercury and, er, just about anything else, to be fair, matey, SORRY!!

The Anschutz 335 with the sloping fore-end is very attractive and has superb open sights.

[Gamocfx]

Hsing-ee....
ouch! Have you ever considered a position in the diplomatic corps??? Actually I cannot argue against what you have written... Maybe its best not to pursue this rifle..it seems such a shame that a better quality version was never on offer. I still rate it as a looker though.

[fat man]

The Anschutz 335 with the sloping fore-end is very attractive and has superb open sights.

agree, 335 is a great gun but I still like my Marshall/Crossman and mine works fine when used in moderation.

[flatrajectory]

Hsing-ee....
ouch! Have you ever considered a position in the diplomatic corps??? Actually I cannot argue against what you have written... Maybe its best not to pursue this rifle..it seems such a shame that a better quality version was never on offer. I still rate it as a looker though.

Gamocfx,
Don`t be put off by the detractors on here ( most are biggoted... like me ! ). If we all liked the same thing it would be a boring old world.
If you admire the look of the 761 xl then for God`s sake get one. You obviously know that they are cheap and cheerful and low powered but then so are `Gat` pistols and the like, but there are plenty of collectors of those too.

Go for it.!!

Pete.

[TonyL]

Yep,

Nicely put, Pete.

If it puts a smile on your face, great!

[Gamocfx]

Never even heard of a daystate Sportsman...going to google that right now!

[fat man]

At the end of the day if You think its the gun for you, then get one. If we all liked the same things it would be a very drab/boring world. I love my FWB Sport 127, but still think that the Anschutz 335 is a better built product and yes I own and use both.

[mikewareing]

Does any one own the 761XL?

I have never seen one other than in photos. Is this the famous Whalley Crosman? I certainly like the bolt and breech on this rifle but I must be in a minority because no one ever enthuses about them. For a crosman this thing looks solid....I doubt that they ever reached these shores but I remember reading reviews in the magazines and trying to save for one-even though I had never even seen one for sale! Any one else have the same late 70s memories?

I have one that needs fixing in the swaps section
Mike

[JSD]

hi all, can anyone put a few pics on here for the above rifle ?
thankyou very much.. J. S. D.

[flatrajectory]

http://db.tt/OqqDfkOkQUOTE=JSD;6058830]hi all, can anyone put a few pics on here for the above rifle ?
thankyou very much.. J. S. D. [/QUOTE]


Pics of my 761xl ,first variant, as requested. I also have a Whaley 761xl super.
Pete.

http://db.tt/HAfAdo4D

http://db.tt/OqqDfkOk

http://db.tt/fNAaq7uK

http://db.tt/2myM4pOk