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Thread: Crosman 108 Town & Country

  1. #1
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    Crosman 108 Town & Country

    Just came today and very nice. Cool part it has not been messed with, so its just like it left the factory. It was so dirty, I spent over an hour just getting the grim off the wood and metal. I looked at the butt plate and thought it had a little damage, but it all came off! Butt plate is the only indentification on the gun, interesting? The metal is amazing almost no paint loss. The stock has it bumps and bruises but reminds me of a M1-Garand. A massive gun by pump Airgun standards. You can tell a Army General helped design it. Also it came very tight, the bolt will lock down and stay down, a issue if they get worn. It pumps up and shoots. Have only shot it once, but warm days are coming! This completes my Crosman collection, been looking for this gun for 2 years. My Airgun acquisition fund is now exhausted, time to do some shooting!

    https://imgur.com/gallery/bXjmA
    Last edited by 45flint; 15-02-2018 at 09:40 AM.

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    I've always had good luck shooting the T&C, so I think you will love it..

    The bolt does have a tendency to fling up when shot. What I did was apply some spring damping compound to the bolt. With that, the bolt handle would literally glide into place and stayed perfectly still during shooting (a bouncing bolt is never good for accuracy.)

    The no marking was pretty much standard in 1949. I did have a 107 that had complete markings with model and serial number on the compression tube up near the muzzle!

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    Quote Originally Posted by DT Fletcher View Post
    I've always had good luck shooting the T&C, so I think you will love it..

    The bolt does have a tendency to fling up when shot. What I did was apply some spring damping compound to the bolt. With that, the bolt handle would literally glide into place and stayed perfectly still during shooting (a bouncing bolt is never good for accuracy.)

    The no marking was pretty much standard in 1949. I did have a 107 that had complete markings with model and serial number on the compression tube up near the muzzle!
    Two question came up in my research about this model. With the two front sight options, I saw a rear sight that had a blade open sight on top of the peep sight. Is that what the taller front blade is intended for? Mine doesn’t have that blade sight. Would be easy to make.


    I also read on a forum that Crosman made around 45,000 108s and about 35,000 107s. That seems pretty high to me?
    Last edited by 45flint; 15-02-2018 at 02:05 AM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by 45flint View Post
    Two question came up in my research about this model. With the two front sight options, I saw a rear sight that had a blade open sight on top of the peep sight. Is that what the taller front blade is intended for? Mine doesn’t have that blade sight. Would be easy to make.


    I also read on a forum that Crosman made around 45,000 108s and about 35,000 107s. That seems pretty high to me?
    Yes, the blade is positioned to work with the taller front sight such that no adjustment is needed when switching from one to the other.

    Those production numbers look like the ones from....... can't remember his name offhand, put out the "Identifying all Crosman" pamphlet ... and they are entirely bogus as far as we could ever tell. The Crosman engineer who worked with me on the 75 Years book tried his best to find any production numbers and, for the most part, completely failed. In short, we could never confirm those number although they, as the story goes, originally came from Crosman.

  5. #5
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    That looks like a very well made rifle and I love the simple elegance of the rear sight. Now your fund is used I hope you enjoy using your fine collection
    WANTED: Next weeks winning lottery numbers :-)

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    Quote Originally Posted by DT Fletcher View Post
    Yes, the blade is positioned to work with the taller front sight such that no adjustment is needed when switching from one to the other.

    Those production numbers look like the ones from....... can't remember his name offhand, put out the "Identifying all Crosman" pamphlet ... and they are entirely bogus as far as we could ever tell. The Crosman engineer who worked with me on the 75 Years book tried his best to find any production numbers and, for the most part, completely failed. In short, we could never confirm those number although they, as the story goes, originally came from Crosman.
    I find it very believable that those production numbers are entirely bogus. Given there are no serial numbers I think you could probably use sampling statistics to probably estimate a number. How many of these do you see in a year for sale? As one example, how many Sheridan SuperGrades do you see for sale in a year? How many of both do you see at guns shows? I have followed both guns pretty closely in the last several years. We know how many Sheridans were made, several thousand. In the last 2 years it would have been much easier for me to buy a Supergrade than a T&C. Of course there could be many factors going on: the high value and reputation of a Super Grade may bring more out of the woodwork? But if there were really 75,000 made I have no doubt you would see many more surface. 5000 would be more believable to me and I would bet my money that is too high.
    Last edited by 45flint; 15-02-2018 at 10:26 AM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by 45flint View Post
    I find it very believable that those production numbers are entirely bogus. Given there are no serial numbers I think you could probably use sampling statistics to probably estimate a number. How many of these do you see in a year for sale? As one example, how many Sheridan SuperGrades do you see for sale in a year? How many of both do you see at guns shows? I have followed both guns pretty closely in the last several years. We know how many Sheridans were made, several thousand. In the last 2 years it would have been much easier for me to buy a Supergrade than a T&C. Of course there could be many factors going on: the high value and reputation of a Super Grade may bring more out of the woodwork? But if there were really 75,000 made I have no doubt you would see many more surface. 5000 would be more believable to me and I would bet my money that is too high.
    Could easily be less than a thousand or so. It was, from what we know, a disaster at retail. Just too expensive. Crosman actually dumped their remaining stock to a Chicago wholesale house, they (the wholesale house) sold them off for something like $10.

    I came across 2 model 107, which really do seem to ultra rare, rather early in the process. One was the find of a lifetime, it was at a super antique mall in Davenport, Iowa (home of the Brown Pneumatic) and I figured there would be an outside chance of a Brown showing up at an antique mall, well, a TC was found instead. Spotted it from a distance. Up close I could see that it was .177 caliber. It was in wonderful condition. Slowly turned over the price tag..... after seeing so many stupid prices on airguns I didn't want to be devastated ...... $35.00. Asked for and received a 15% professional discount. Ended up selling it at some point and then no more TC's came around. Had to wait for the Myron Kasok auction to finally get another one.

    Collecting note: the 1949 Town and Country Sr. model is distinguished by the butt plate which has the Crosman Arms round logo but is otherwise smooth. This plate breaks very easily. Setting it down on a hard surface and crack it goes. The condition of the butt plate figures significantly in the value. I would deduct at least a $100 off the value for a missing or broken original butt plate. There were never any spares in the Crosman Repair system for this part so it can't be replaced.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by averageplinker View Post
    That looks like a very well made rifle and I love the simple elegance of the rear sight. Now your fund is used I hope you enjoy using your fine collection
    The entire gun (other than trigger, sight, bolt, and a few other parts) is entirely made of brass. There's not much else quite like it.

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by DT Fletcher View Post
    Could easily be less than a thousand or so. It was, from what we know, a disaster at retail. Just too expensive. Crosman actually dumped their remaining stock to a Chicago wholesale house, they (the wholesale house) sold them off for something like $10.

    I came across 2 model 107, which really do seem to ultra rare, rather early in the process. One was the find of a lifetime, it was at a super antique mall in Davenport, Iowa (home of the Brown Pneumatic) and I figured there would be an outside chance of a Brown showing up at an antique mall, well, a TC was found instead. Spotted it from a distance. Up close I could see that it was .177 caliber. It was in wonderful condition. Slowly turned over the price tag..... after seeing so many stupid prices on airguns I didn't want to be devastated ...... $35.00. Asked for and received a 15% professional discount. Ended up selling it at some point and then no more TC's came around. Had to wait for the Myron Kasok auction to finally get another one.

    Collecting note: the 1949 Town and Country Sr. model is distinguished by the butt plate which has the Crosman Arms round logo but is otherwise smooth. This plate breaks very easily. Setting it down on a hard surface and crack it goes. The condition of the butt plate figures significantly in the value. I would deduct at least a $100 off the value for a missing or broken original butt plate. There were never any spares in the Crosman Repair system for this part so it can't be replaced.
    Out of curiosity how much did you sell it for?
    Thank you Jenny

  10. #10
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    DT thanks for the butt plate info, fun to have the smooth one. I also have noticed that some TC’s have the through the stock safety (picture above). Assume they were a later variation as well?

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    Quote Originally Posted by 45flint View Post
    Just came today and very nice. Cool part it has not been messed with, so its just like it left the factory. It was so dirty, I spent over an hour just getting the grim off the wood and metal. I looked at the butt plate and thought it had a little damage, but it all came off! Butt plate is the only indentification on the gun, interesting? The metal is amazing almost no paint loss. The stock has it bumps and bruises but reminds me of a M1-Garand. A massive gun by pump Airgun standards. You can tell a Army General helped design it. Also it came very tight, the bolt will lock down and stay down, a issue if they get worn. It pumps up and shoots. Have only shot it once, but warm days are coming! This completes my Crosman collection, been looking for this gun for 2 years. My Airgun acquisition fund is now exhausted, time to do some shooting!

    https://imgur.com/gallery/bXjmA
    " there were
    never any spares in the Crosman Repair system for this part so it can't be replaced". if the renowned mr fletcher says that about the butt pad you are really lucky-if it were my gun I'd take a mold from it & cast a new one from black silicone rubber or similar material to use the gun with, if they are that fragile the original could be kept in a safe place & replicas would sell well, just my two penny's worth.Lovley gun btw, I've always wanted one of the older high quality crosmans, congratulations on your find!

  12. #12
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    Here is some good picks of a T&C that is labeled on the receiver, has the through stock safety, and though there is no direct picture, you can see from some of the shots the butt plate is textured. Also note the serial number in the 5000s?

    http://airgunenthusiast.weebly.com/c...red-stock.html
    Last edited by 45flint; 15-02-2018 at 02:02 PM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by junglie View Post
    " there were
    never any spares in the Crosman Repair system for this part so it can't be replaced". if the renowned mr fletcher says that about the butt pad you are really lucky-if it were my gun I'd take a mold from it & cast a new one from black silicone rubber or similar material to use the gun with, if they are that fragile the original could be kept in a safe place & replicas would sell well, just my two penny's worth.Lovley gun btw, I've always wanted one of the older high quality crosmans, congratulations on your find!
    One of the fun parts of collecting, when the gun came it appeared to me that the butt plate had some burn marks. But when I started cleaning it was a crusty black grime that came off. I was happy to see it in such good shape. They are often scratched up in use. Not going to take it off, can you see me unscrewing it and in poping it off it breaks! Lol
    Last edited by 45flint; 15-02-2018 at 06:06 PM.

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jenny Dipple View Post
    Out of curiosity how much did you sell it for?
    Thank you Jenny
    Can't remember the specifics for that particular gun. Typical price back then was $700-$800 minimum for a nice 107. A nice 108 was a couple hundred less.

    Would be interesting to see what a good looking T&C might fetch on the bay these days.

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by DT Fletcher View Post
    Can't remember the specifics for that particular gun. Typical price back then was $700-$800 minimum for a nice 107. A nice 108 was a couple hundred less.

    Would be interesting to see what a good looking T&C might fetch on the bay these days.
    The gun above was bought on the bay last week for $400, with a make a offer. The gun had a old 101 sight not the original Town and Country sight. I had a 101 with a Town and Country sight that I could swap. The gun actually ended up being nicer than I thought from the pictures.

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