Life expectancy

[where's it gone]

What would be the operational life expectancy of a today's co2 pistol ? I mean if you bought a brand new, never had a co2 used, come to think of that, neither seal lube used either, stored in original box and put away in a daily used house, would the pistol be useable in years to come or are today's offerings throw it away type ?
Just wondering.

[Shed tuner]

Depends... the simple single shot sypes, like a crosman 2240, or a Cp1, should last for eons. Or the complex mag fed, single/double action, with CO2 bulbs in the grip, tiny feed tubes, and a million small, fragile, internal parts ? Not so much...

[laverdabru]

Interesting question. Some I've looked at seem to be made of what we used to call 'pot metal'.
I've only got 3 CO2 pistols, a pellet firing Crosman 357-6, Legends PO8 BB, & a Dan Wesson 8". Although not often used - summer plinking only - can't see any being around in 50 years time, unlike my post war Webleys.

[evert]

The old Crosman 357 seems to be unlikely durable, actually more durable than the umarex counterparts.
Anything can be abused, and seals will dry out, but seal changes must bee seen as normal service on co2 guns.

[where's it gone]

Although not new, I was thinking wether my Umarex Desert Eagle, point five o, sorry I got carried away there,(Snatch) would be a good candidate to preserve?

[Hsing-ee]

I've got a Hammerli Single CO2 match pistol which is 60 years old, it must have been resealed at some point but it works as new. Presumably very expensive at the time of manufacture and beautifully made to a relatively simple design. Mechanism is all steel. The Zamac things might have issues with corrosion I guess.

[MikeHW45]

What would be the operational life expectancy of a today's co2 pistol ? I mean if you bought a brand new, never had a co2 used, come to think of that, neither seal lube used either, stored in original box and put away in a daily used house, would the pistol be useable in years to come or are today's offerings throw it away type ?
Just wondering.

I think theres definitely some dependency on the initial price point. The Baikal Makarov pistols are extremely well made using a large percentage of "real" parts and seem pretty indestructable. Whereas cheaper pistols that are comprised of a lot of di-cast parts will definitley fail in time. My Walther CP99 from years ago has done pretty well all things considered but it is getting tired these days.

[Biker_Bob]

I have seen ancient CO2 guns working well (usually Crosman and Daisy), but I have seen many many relatively new ones leaking like a sieve.
As said above quality counts, but physics being what it is eventually the seals will fail and some of these modern blowback semi auto things are just waiting to fail IMO.
You can confidently buy a pre-war spring air pistol, I wouldn't be confident buying a second hand CO2 gun of any age unless it said "2240" on the side of it.
Treat them as disposable - not least because the market for these guns is so fast moving that the chances of buying replacement parts a few years later are going to be slim.

[Josie & John]

I think theres definitely some dependency on the initial price point. The Baikal Makarov pistols are extremely well made using a large percentage of "real" parts and seem pretty indestructable. Whereas cheaper pistols that are comprised of a lot of di-cast parts will definitley fail in time. My Walther CP99 from years ago has done pretty well all things considered but it is getting tired these days.

Yes, agreed about the Baikal Makarov. The mechanism is made of firearms quality parts and the pistol only needs the odd reseal if it sees heavy use.

It would be interesting to see a 'pot metal' replica tested to destruction.

John

[Re01312]

I think my Crosmans like the MK 1 & 2 will be around another 60 years and functioning just fine. Topic is interesting. I am not fond of the plastic co2 air pistol very few co2 are built to last.

Everyones opinion is different about new co2 air pistols being unworthy of resealing efforts in the future.

Most see the rubbish bin not the repair bench in my home.


Randall