Crosman 761 XL

[Gamocfx]

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?

[TonyL]

I'll bet there will be the odd one or two lurking unloved in some houses, neglected and gathering dust.

Yes, I'm pretty sure the Whaley Crosman was based on the 761. I can remember Rod Linton testing it for Airgun World. If I remember rightly, you could put a load of pumps in and get two shots. Or you could put a load of pumps in and just keep topping it up with a few, but if you lost track of where you'd got to consistency would suffer. Whaley obviously did a lot of work on the pump assembly, valve and hammer.

I'd guess that it never gained mega popularity over here due to a number of factors :- our home produced guns were springers, and pump-ups will have seemed like far too much work for not that much return, although recoilless. The Crosmans always appeared to be built quite flimsily, creating fear of poor reliability/longevity. If you were a Crosman fan, most would go for the 766 (still available now as the 2100), due to,it's higher power. These all paled, however, when compared to the earlier, more solid Crosmans.

And, if you were a fan of American pump-ups, all these more modern Crosmans lived under the shadow of the legendary Sheridan Blue and Silver Streaks, with their solid build and promise of magnum power levels.

[Herpquest]

If you contact 'tradingnow2010', I am sure that he will be able to help you in your search for a Crosman 761 XL. Stephen is a good lad
and will point you in the right direction if he doesn't have one at the moment.
ATB
Eric

NB. This thread nay be of some help. http://www.airgunbbs.com/archive/ind.../t-454508.html

[Gamocfx]

Thanks for the replies Chaps. yes i will definatley search for one...I kept an advert for the Whalley Crosman for years just for nostalgia reasons...never realised that they could fire two shots though!

It is strange that Crosman pistols crop up on a regular basis but not the rifles....?

[Hsing-ee]

DONT WASTE YOUR TIME AND MONEY

They are a cheap pump up pellet/BB gun and are designed by Crosman to last a few thousand pellets. They are still made as throwaways for 12 year old American kids who will graduate to .22 rimfire on the next Christmas.

In the late 1980s they were converted to higher power in the forms of the Whaley and the Marshall Crosman conversions and sold at a premium into a market where there were no PCPs, no CO2 and no other recoilless full-power rifles. The mags lied about them and a a hundred or more were sold.

They are cheap, flimsy pump ups. I lusted after one when I was a teen, even though I had a Crosman 766 which was pretty much the same power and build quality. Then one day I met one; awful disappointment.

The answer to the ultimate airgun of the time was the Feinwerkbau Sport. This is still a superb rifle. Get one of them, and you will not be disappointed.

If you still want a good pump-up, get a Sharp Ace (or Victory) or get a Crosman 140. You could even try a Sheridan now there is a good supply of quality .20 ammo.

[AllanM]

There is a 3 page road test of the Whaley/Crosman 761XL by Arthur Reid in the March 1979 issue of AGW in which it's claimed it could knock out 2 shots (735fps and 740fps) on 11 pumps with RWS Match 8.3g pellets.

There was another UK modified Crosman (almost identical to the Whaley/Crosman but it has distinctive vertical grooves on the fore-end) called the Marshall/Crosman 761XL and the .22 version was reviewed by Geoff Boxall in the February 1980 edition of AGW getting 584fps with 6 pumps.

[Gamocfx]

Ouch...another dream shattered!! Were they really so bad?? I will hunt the mags down to read the reviews...a bit like having a trophy wife I suppose, they still look good though...
I have had the Sharp Innova but didnt like the plastic. A Blue Streak maybe the way to go then.

[tradingnow2010]

If you contact 'tradingnow2010', I am sure that he will be able to help you in your search for a Crosman 761 XL. Stephen is a good lad
and will point you in the right direction if he doesn't have one at the moment.
ATB
Eric

NB. This thread nay be of some help. http://www.airgunbbs.com/archive/ind.../t-454508.html

Thanks for that eric, the 761xl first variant which they stopped making in 1978 is a very hard rifle to get hold of being very popular with collectors and commands premium prices ,the all wood stock ,brass reciever ,full power ,recoilless action makes this very collectable.. and if you like tinkering they were easy to mess with, i have a 140 ,147 2200w,2200 magnum ,2100 ,innova,s most pump ups you can get all out on display and whenever i have a visitor who has a look at my gun wall they always point to the 761xl and ask ,oooh can you get me one of those ? you have to remember crosmans sold millions of rifles ,were very innovative,with fantastic designs and had to compete with firearms in the usa which were almost as cheap, i think they have done rather well and given the customers what they have asked for..

All in all get one, dont be put off because i guarantee you if i put one on gunstar now ,in new condition in a box, i would sell it 15 times the original price ,and it would sell in minutes...

[Gamocfx]

Thanks for the replies...it is now officially on my wish list!

[fat man]

Theres a few good old Crossmans, I have a Canadian model 140 in .22, a model 1 in .22 with Williams notch sight, 766 phase 2 in .177, there all very good rifles. The old 140 still easily dose 11.2 ft/lbs with accupels for example

[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

[JSD]

hi pete, many thanx for pics.. kind rgds.. J. S. D.

[flatrajectory]

hi pete, many thanx for pics.. kind rgds.. J. S. D.

You aremost welcome.
I love my 761xl. It is basically a sound little rifle which with a few tweeks can become a cracker. Mine wasn't particularly accurate when acquired but is now a tack driver, thanks to the rifled barrel.
If anyone has a 760 xl or 761 xl that they feel isn't as accurate as it ought to be, just ask me and I will tell you how to improve it. ?.....as long as the rifling has not been shot out by shooting too many steel bb's.

Pete.