Crosman 600 Boxes - Different Markets

[Mark D]

That well known 'AirgunFixer' from leafy Surrey has a 600 box that is marked V600

Anybody know what the 'V' was for ?
[IMG]000_1638 by Mark Davis, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG]000_1636 by Mark Davis, on Flickr[/IMG]

[Troubledshooter]

I haven't a clue as to what the 'V' stands for, but I see it's a different style 'Rocket' box to the one I have and the other shown in the photographs, which have lift off lids and a 'Fairport, New York' address, whereas the one with a 'V' prefixing the '600' has a folding lid with a 'Dunnville Ontario' address.
It would be great if someone has a more definitive answer.

[Lawrie Amatruda]

I was hoping someone from across the pond (USA or Canada ?) may have been able to shed a light on this one
Cheers, Lawrie

[edbear2]

From a Crosman forum;


''From talking to former employees, they did make complete guns there. They had complete machining facilities for a number of models. Barrel blanks were supplied by the U.S. parent company, but the machining operations were done at Dunnville. Many of the small parts that were subcontracted out by the parent company, were also provided to Dunnville, so while not entirely stand alone, they did do a fair bit of the manufacturing.The models made in Dunnville are distinctly roll-marked to that effect.
Their hey-day was the era of the 180, 160, 140, and 400 rifles, and the 130, 150, and 38x pistols. I have seen some of these with the distinctive Dunnville markings, but not all, so some of them could have been just assembled here as well. There is a variant of the type 2 150 that by all acounts was only built in the Dunnville plant - The barrel was mounted to the gun with the plastic spacer, like on the 180 or 1400 - the barrel had no concave cut on the underside. Dean Fletcher was very interested when I sent him pics of mine - he was unaware of this particular variant. They are not that common, so I don't think that they were produced in large numbers.
Near the end of the Dunnville operation, they basically just packaged the guns for the Canadian market (bilingual packaging and instructions)and then stuck a small, foil, "Crosman Canada" tag on the gun.''




So perhaps the packaging difference is explained by the above, It's just cardboard boxes at the end of the day, probably flexograpic rubber dies souced locally (I worked in this industry for a short time), so all the info is on there, but the design slightly different.

Total guess but makes some sense (to me anyhow).

ATB, Ed

[Lawrie Amatruda]

From a Crosman forum;


''From talking to former employees, they did make complete guns there. They had complete machining facilities for a number of models. Barrel blanks were supplied by the U.S. parent company, but the machining operations were done at Dunnville. Many of the small parts that were subcontracted out by the parent company, were also provided to Dunnville, so while not entirely stand alone, they did do a fair bit of the manufacturing.The models made in Dunnville are distinctly roll-marked to that effect.
Their hey-day was the era of the 180, 160, 140, and 400 rifles, and the 130, 150, and 38x pistols. I have seen some of these with the distinctive Dunnville markings, but not all, so some of them could have been just assembled here as well. There is a variant of the type 2 150 that by all acounts was only built in the Dunnville plant - The barrel was mounted to the gun with the plastic spacer, like on the 180 or 1400 - the barrel had no concave cut on the underside. Dean Fletcher was very interested when I sent him pics of mine - he was unaware of this particular variant. They are not that common, so I don't think that they were produced in large numbers.
Near the end of the Dunnville operation, they basically just packaged the guns for the Canadian market (bilingual packaging and instructions)and then stuck a small, foil, "Crosman Canada" tag on the gun.''




So perhaps the packaging difference is explained by the above, It's just cardboard boxes at the end of the day, probably flexograpic rubber dies souced locally (I worked in this industry for a short time), so all the info is on there, but the design slightly different.

Total guess but makes some sense (to me anyhow).

ATB, Ed

Hi Ed,

That information makes sense, but I have been unable to find any information on what the V refers to (V600) on the end of the odd box that I have, inside the box it has the bilingual instructions and a list of Canadian Crosman service stations but no insert so not able to get any clue from that.

Cheers, Lawrie

[--ped--]

i've not seen the v before either
i have a couple of Dunnville marked guns (2nd model 130 and a 4th model 140)
a mate works for crosman i'll ask him if he can shed any light on it

[Josie & John]

Didn't Crosman also produce the V-350 and V-500 rifles during the same era?

I'm not an expert on either of the above but I'm sure someone on this forum may have some literature relating to these rifles.

John

[Lawrie Amatruda]

Didn't Crosman also produce the V-350 and V-500 rifles during the same era?

I'm not an expert on either of the above but I'm sure someone on this forum may have some literature relating to these rifles.

John

John,

The V350 is a push barrel bb rifle which has the same action as the Crosman M1 carbine, I am not sure if there was a V500, I have a V300 which I believe was their only spring pistol.

Cheers, Lawrie.

[Jerry Cornelius]

I bet Dean would have known the answer to the box mystery off the top of his head

[Leonardj]

That quote above was posted by yours truly.

That "V600" box is a new one on me, and I was unable to locate any worthwhile info thus far.
It seems that the Dunnville factory had a knack for doing things a bit differently at times, and this model 600 box may just be another example of this.
This box for their Model 157 pistol is another such example from the Dunnville factory, marked as "150-7". When I showed Dean the pics of this box, he had never heard of nor seen one prior to seeing my pics.
Both boxes could simply have been a miscommunication between the factory and the printer, and once they were printed, may as well just use them.

[Lawrie Amatruda]

That quote above was posted by yours truly.

That "V600" box is a new one on me, and I was unable to locate any worthwhile info thus far.
It seems that the Dunnville factory had a knack for doing things a bit differently at times, and this model 600 box may just be another example of this.
This box for their Model 157 pistol is another such example from the Dunnville factory, marked as "150-7". When I showed Dean the pics of this box, he had never heard of nor seen one prior to seeing my pics.
Both boxes could simply have been a miscommunication between the factory and the printer, and once they were printed, may as well just use them.

Hi Len

I notice your box also has a fold down lid like mine, if they were miscommunications I’m glad they didn’t reject them because we wouldn’t have the fun of researching them, there must be more of them hidden away somewhere because they must have manufactured quite a few of them before their production ended.

Cheers. Lawrie.

[harvey_s]

Didn't Crosman also produce the V-350 and V-500 rifles during the same era?

I'm not an expert on either of the above but I'm sure someone on this forum may have some literature relating to these rifles.

John

I thought the V-350 had that moniker because it made 350 fps... This obviously isn't the case with the 600 though .

[Abasmajor]

I have a boxed Crosman 130 dating from 1966 which has the full Dunnville address stamped on the frame and included in the accompanying paperwork. I was impressed with the accuracy of these pistols with just four pumps it will easily hold a 1" group at 10 metres. The lack of recoil and long sight radius which helps with obtaining a clear sight picture surely contribute to the excellent results obtainable with this pistol.





Brian

[Leonardj]

Hi Len

I notice your box also has a fold down lid like mine, if they were miscommunications I’m glad they didn’t reject them because we wouldn’t have the fun of researching them, there must be more of them hidden away somewhere because they must have manufactured quite a few of them before their production ended.

Cheers. Lawrie.

Hi Lawrie,
Yes, fold down lid, and corrugated cardboard construction.
I have a boxed 38C with the same style box, so it seems that whoever supplied the boxes to the Dunnville factory was not the same supplier that was used by the parent company in the US.
Despite being made in Canada, these boxes do not seem to be very plentiful here, so I suspect that the corrugated cardboard did not stand up nearly as well as their card-stock cousins.
These Dunnville "oddities" sure do their part to maintain the collectors interest.

[Leonardj]

I have a boxed Crosman 130 dating from 1966 which has the full Dunnville address stamped on the frame and included in the accompanying paperwork. I was impressed with the accuracy of these pistols with just four pumps it will easily hold a 1" group at !0 metres. The lack of recoil and long sight radius which helps with obtaining a clear sight picture surely contribute to the excellent results obtainable with this pistol.
Brian

Congrats on finding such a nice, and complete package.
Doesn't get much better than that.