Testing A 1960s Crosman CO2 Powerlet

[Josie & John]

Well, having bought several packs of vintage Crosman Powerlets at Kempton last Sunday, curiosity has got the better of me and I decided to sacrifice a sealed Powerlet to see what would happen and indeed whether the gas had survived the last 50 years.

I weighed the sacrificial Powerlet and it came in at 33 Grams. The 'coke bottle top' seal was intact and undamaged.

I wasn't sure if debris might damage the seals of a vintage Crosman Pellgun, so decided to use a spare magazine I had obtained for one of my Baikal Makarovs as they are easy to work on and reseal.

The temperature gauge in the car told me it was 9 degrees at 06:15 this morning, so donning safety glasses at the club, I screwed in the CO2 tensioner until it was tight but I did not hear a hiss. Nevertheless, I loaded up with 5 rounds of copper coated lead and took my first shot. The pistol discharged and I could see the gold coloured ball in flight until it dropped before hitting the Pringles can I had placed 8 yards away. Sadly, that was the only ball the pistol did fire as my next shots discharged gas but the projectiles remained in the magazine before jamming in the breech area. The discharge was more of a pop than the bang usually associated with this particular Makarov, which I have tuned but it did keep 'popping' for around a dozen shots.

I then unscrewed the CO2 tensioner and what remained of the gas discharged (there was not a lot of it). The Powerlet was not cold to the touch when I removed it from the magazine.

I then charged the Makarov with a new Umarex branded CO2 cartridge and it discharged several magazines without jamming and at its usual power level. The Pringles can was shredded by the end of the short session this morning.

I weighed the 1960s Powerlet when I returned home and it now weighed 31 Grams.

So, there was CO2 in there but not enough to discharge more than one projectile.

My conclusion is therefore keep any sealed CO2 Powerlets you come across for display. Performance is virtually nil.

Photos linked below.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/1ie4ma63iYQEKKCH9

John M

[Shed tuner]

interesting.... is there a seam/joint where it could have leaked out from ?

[Josie & John]

interesting.... is there a seam/joint where it could have leaked out from ?

The crimp on these 'Coke cap' tops does not look as sturdy as today's membrane. I wonder if the gas has turned inert through age? I'm certainly no expert on gases and that may be a daft question of course!

John

[Abasmajor]

Hello John,
Thanks for sharing the results of your very interesting experiment. I can't believe anyone would want something like this except a collector for display purposes rather than anything else. The capsules I bought were very tarnished and not the sort of thing you would normally want to risk using. I have used more modern capsules after a period of about of about five years with no problems. I believe carbon dioxide is already an inert gas, so that can't have been the reason for the result.
Brian

[Shed tuner]

yeah, the co2 must have escaped...

[tunnelrat]

Interesting post.

Have you checked the weight of your remaining Powerlets? If full, one should weigh 31g + 12.5g (the claimed weight of CO2 content) = 43.5g.

An obvious leak point would be the crown cap. Does it have some form of gasket to make the seal between the cap and top of the bottle?

Further destructive testing is called for.