A new pistol for the collection arrived from Germany last week. It’s a Crosman 38T “Target” model. The “Target” model is .177 calibre as opposed to the early .22 38T that Crosman produced. It is identical in all ways except externally it has a plastic rear sight and a plastic cylinder. Internally it has an alloy valve body as opposed to the brass valve body of the early model.
These are getting very hard to find in Europe now and when I saw it with its box I had to buy it. Everything went well and the pistol arrived within a couple of days. I knew from the pictures of the advert that the grips had been damaged. This did not worry me as I have a spare pair. I could tell that perhaps the lower grip screw on the right-hand side was not original and maybe threaded all the way through to the other grip. The paintwork looked good so I thought it would be worth buying.
However, when it arrived there was a little more to this pistol’s story. For sure it needed new grips. The grip screw had not been threaded all the way through the frame but it was now a larger thread size than the original. No worry, I can have a threaded brass insert or something similar made to take an original screw. Incidentally, I have since ordered a replacement screw.
What was a little more concerning was the paintwork. On the whole, it was in great condition. However, both the muzzle and the grip base have been repainted somewhat badly. The whole pistol will require stripping back to bare metal and repainting. I may decide to cerakote this pistol for a durable finish.
Mechanically the pistol is sound although it will need to be resealed as it holds CO2 for perhaps an hour. First things first though and that’s to get the grip screw thread fixed, then get it resealed and then cerakoted.
Until next time, happy shooting!
Jimmie Dee
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