Testing A 1960s Crosman CO2 Powerlet

[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.

[cinedux]

must try some and see if they are dead. In the late 1970s I could buy an outer of Nittan 12Gm Powerlets(20 boxes) or an outer of Crosmans (12 boxes) for $19.50....from Tisdalls Ltd(Petone).This included postage! I visited this store(a general sports store) on one occasion,they had 27 different air pistols.How change times. ;-)Those Crosman 1100 sets cost around $120 all up. Trev

[draitzer]

Years ago I bought a couple hundred Crosman 'bottle-cap' cartridges dirt cheap at a firearms show. It turned out that less than one out of three held enough CO2 to be usable at all and most were empty - a false bargain for sure. I've never dissected one, but surely there's a seal/gasket that deteriorates allowing the contents to escape. Interestingly, the old Sparklet 8-gram ones with a visible gasket are still reliable after 50+ years.

Don R.