Hello to all;
Crosman CO. introduced in 1955-1956 perhaps one of their most famous series of CO2 Rifles, the 160 series. Model 160 .22 cal. and the Model 167 .177 cal. powered by dual CO2 cartridges. The lesser known and smaller production, number wise, Model 167 .177 cal. is under review here. The 160 /167 series were made from 1955 – 1971. There were three variants of the 160 series, 1st variant, pinned trigger thru stock no barrel band, 2nd, variant simple trigger with barrel band and the 3rd variant with the adjustable trigger mechanism and barrel band. All the 160/167 series were powered by dual 12 gm. CO2 cartridges. They weighed 5 lbs. 10 oz. and were 39 inches long.
I had been looking for a M-167 for many years to compliment my M-160 and was finally able to locate one in excellent shape it had the rare Crosman 360 peep sight, this peep sight differed significantly from the more well-known Mossberg S331 peep sight seen on many 160 series models. The C-360 peep sight was a rather simple design attached to a slotted plug on the rear portion of the rifle with a thumb screw. The thumb screw when loosened allowed raising the peep sight for elevation; the peep could be moved left or right for windage. The 360 peep could be taken off and rotated 180 degrees reattached via the thumb screw thereby returning to the use of the standard rear sight located on the barrel, a simple but elegant innovation!
Another unique attribute on the 160-167 series rifles was the cocking mechanism it was bolt operated, however it utilized the feature of “cocking on closing” a feature used on many Military center fire rifles. Most of the other Crosman rifles utilized the more familiar feature of “cocking on retraction” of the bolt or cocking knob!! The 160 series were advertised as NRA Training Rifles and the cocking on closing feature satisfied the training aspect for the NRA/Military.
The safety on my M-167 rifle was also a bit unique, some called it auto safety, when retracting the bolt back for pellet loading a rear portion of the bolt contacted a paddle on the safety which pushed the safety rearward into the safe position detent, thus after inserting a pellet into the loading port and moving the bolt forward to cock the Rifle, the safety was” already” in the safe position. All that was required to fire the rifle at this point was to slide the safety forward! No forgetting to put the safety on here, it was on safe before loading and cocking, by design!! Remarkable for an air rifle made in 1956.
Charging the Rifle required removal of the Knurled Tube Cap (making sure of course the rifle is not under pressure or loaded) and the insertion of 1-12 gm.CO2 cartridge small neck end first and a second 12 gm. Cartridge small neck end up, screw on the Tube Cap firmly by hand then back off quickly 1/8 of a turn this will pierce and open the top C02 cartridge, using bolt cock action and pull trigger this will pierce the other CO2 cartridge and the Rifle is now fully charged.
I have mentioned before that I normally make a clearance bushing for the stock attachment bolt on the receiver, because the thru hole in the stock is generally much larger than the attachment stud on most Crosman air rifles, not necessary on the 160 series, it is a tight fit as it comes from the factory and may in part be attributable to the excellent accuracy of the 160/167 series air rifles! The C-167 I received was as stated, in excellent condition however it would not hold a charge, so a complete valve rebuild was necessary. After the rebuild I did some chronograph testing with the Polymag Predator .177 cal. pellets @ 8.16grains I used this pellet as it had demonstrated very good accuracy previously in other .177 cal. Crosman CO2 Rifles and preliminary accuracy testing with the C-167 indicated the same.
The Pro Chrono Digital Chronograph was set up and all testing was done @ 25 yard from a bench rest, as is my practice, with the muzzle 24 inches from the first sky screen. The results revealed a remarkable consistency velocity wise, the first 25 shots averaged 690 fps and 8.6 ft. lbs. A high of 701 fps to a low of 678 fps! (The 25th shot was 678 fps) The next 10 shots bringing the total shot count to 35 brought the total aggregate of 35 shots to an average of 642 fps 7.45 ft. lbs. The 35th shot was 583 fps!! This is remarkable consistency from a 56-year-old air rifle and testimony to the valve timing design!! One could expect to get approximately 50 shots from the 2 CO2 cartridges but after the 35th shot POI may start drifting with each consecutive shot. In reality the first 25 shots would be the most useful velocity range for pest hunting with only a 23 fps spread.
Accuracy test were conducted at 25 yards from a bench rest using the rear sight on the barrel (I could not use the Peep my old eyes would have none of that) I selected 2 pellets I knew shot best, Polymag Predators 8.16 gains and JSB Exacts 8.4 grains and a third Beeman Silver Bear 7.2 grains which most recommended for Air Pistols so I did not know how it would shoot. As always, I use card stock paper with ½ diameter adhesive dots, three on a target shooting left to right. Shooting 5 shot groups, JSB went into 1.075; (after a called flyer, elbow slipped) 5 shots of the Polymag Predator went into .780 and 5 shots of the Beeman Silver Bear strung vertically into 2.340 inches (obviously not for this rifle).
The clear winner was the Polymag Predator pellet, shooting a .780 inch group at 25 yards is as good as I can shoot with any open sight Air Rifle and I could do this consistently from the bench with this Crosman M-167. I always try to set up an Air Rifle for maximum accuracy, there just was not much to do for this rifle it was intrinsically accurate, trigger was good @ 4.0 lbs. etc. groups could have been improved with addition of a scope no doubt (which I normally do) but I am resisting this at least for now, the rifle is just such a pleasure to shoot with open sights.
It has been my experience that the use of Polymag Predator pointed tip pellets for hunting significantly increases the lethality of a .177 caliber .8 grain. pellet at 8.5 ft. lbs. I have downed rabbits at 25 yards using the Predators, and with head shots, they dropped as though pole axed no jumping, twitching etc. Their penetration is lethal!!! Yep, rabbits can be taken with round nose pellets @ 8.5 ft. lbs. just not as decisively in my experience!
The Crosman 160/167 series were a real leap forward in the realm of CO2 Air Rifles and would still hold a prominent place in any collection of Airguns today!!
Garey
Crosman CO. introduced in 1955-1956 perhaps one of their most famous series of CO2 Rifles, the 160 series. Model 160 .22 cal. and the Model 167 .177 cal. powered by dual CO2 cartridges. The lesser known and smaller production, number wise, Model 167 .177 cal. is under review here. The 160 /167 series were made from 1955 – 1971. There were three variants of the 160 series, 1st variant, pinned trigger thru stock no barrel band, 2nd, variant simple trigger with barrel band and the 3rd variant with the adjustable trigger mechanism and barrel band. All the 160/167 series were powered by dual 12 gm. CO2 cartridges. They weighed 5 lbs. 10 oz. and were 39 inches long.
I had been looking for a M-167 for many years to compliment my M-160 and was finally able to locate one in excellent shape it had the rare Crosman 360 peep sight, this peep sight differed significantly from the more well-known Mossberg S331 peep sight seen on many 160 series models. The C-360 peep sight was a rather simple design attached to a slotted plug on the rear portion of the rifle with a thumb screw. The thumb screw when loosened allowed raising the peep sight for elevation; the peep could be moved left or right for windage. The 360 peep could be taken off and rotated 180 degrees reattached via the thumb screw thereby returning to the use of the standard rear sight located on the barrel, a simple but elegant innovation!
Another unique attribute on the 160-167 series rifles was the cocking mechanism it was bolt operated, however it utilized the feature of “cocking on closing” a feature used on many Military center fire rifles. Most of the other Crosman rifles utilized the more familiar feature of “cocking on retraction” of the bolt or cocking knob!! The 160 series were advertised as NRA Training Rifles and the cocking on closing feature satisfied the training aspect for the NRA/Military.
The safety on my M-167 rifle was also a bit unique, some called it auto safety, when retracting the bolt back for pellet loading a rear portion of the bolt contacted a paddle on the safety which pushed the safety rearward into the safe position detent, thus after inserting a pellet into the loading port and moving the bolt forward to cock the Rifle, the safety was” already” in the safe position. All that was required to fire the rifle at this point was to slide the safety forward! No forgetting to put the safety on here, it was on safe before loading and cocking, by design!! Remarkable for an air rifle made in 1956.
Charging the Rifle required removal of the Knurled Tube Cap (making sure of course the rifle is not under pressure or loaded) and the insertion of 1-12 gm.CO2 cartridge small neck end first and a second 12 gm. Cartridge small neck end up, screw on the Tube Cap firmly by hand then back off quickly 1/8 of a turn this will pierce and open the top C02 cartridge, using bolt cock action and pull trigger this will pierce the other CO2 cartridge and the Rifle is now fully charged.
I have mentioned before that I normally make a clearance bushing for the stock attachment bolt on the receiver, because the thru hole in the stock is generally much larger than the attachment stud on most Crosman air rifles, not necessary on the 160 series, it is a tight fit as it comes from the factory and may in part be attributable to the excellent accuracy of the 160/167 series air rifles! The C-167 I received was as stated, in excellent condition however it would not hold a charge, so a complete valve rebuild was necessary. After the rebuild I did some chronograph testing with the Polymag Predator .177 cal. pellets @ 8.16grains I used this pellet as it had demonstrated very good accuracy previously in other .177 cal. Crosman CO2 Rifles and preliminary accuracy testing with the C-167 indicated the same.
The Pro Chrono Digital Chronograph was set up and all testing was done @ 25 yard from a bench rest, as is my practice, with the muzzle 24 inches from the first sky screen. The results revealed a remarkable consistency velocity wise, the first 25 shots averaged 690 fps and 8.6 ft. lbs. A high of 701 fps to a low of 678 fps! (The 25th shot was 678 fps) The next 10 shots bringing the total shot count to 35 brought the total aggregate of 35 shots to an average of 642 fps 7.45 ft. lbs. The 35th shot was 583 fps!! This is remarkable consistency from a 56-year-old air rifle and testimony to the valve timing design!! One could expect to get approximately 50 shots from the 2 CO2 cartridges but after the 35th shot POI may start drifting with each consecutive shot. In reality the first 25 shots would be the most useful velocity range for pest hunting with only a 23 fps spread.
Accuracy test were conducted at 25 yards from a bench rest using the rear sight on the barrel (I could not use the Peep my old eyes would have none of that) I selected 2 pellets I knew shot best, Polymag Predators 8.16 gains and JSB Exacts 8.4 grains and a third Beeman Silver Bear 7.2 grains which most recommended for Air Pistols so I did not know how it would shoot. As always, I use card stock paper with ½ diameter adhesive dots, three on a target shooting left to right. Shooting 5 shot groups, JSB went into 1.075; (after a called flyer, elbow slipped) 5 shots of the Polymag Predator went into .780 and 5 shots of the Beeman Silver Bear strung vertically into 2.340 inches (obviously not for this rifle).
The clear winner was the Polymag Predator pellet, shooting a .780 inch group at 25 yards is as good as I can shoot with any open sight Air Rifle and I could do this consistently from the bench with this Crosman M-167. I always try to set up an Air Rifle for maximum accuracy, there just was not much to do for this rifle it was intrinsically accurate, trigger was good @ 4.0 lbs. etc. groups could have been improved with addition of a scope no doubt (which I normally do) but I am resisting this at least for now, the rifle is just such a pleasure to shoot with open sights.
It has been my experience that the use of Polymag Predator pointed tip pellets for hunting significantly increases the lethality of a .177 caliber .8 grain. pellet at 8.5 ft. lbs. I have downed rabbits at 25 yards using the Predators, and with head shots, they dropped as though pole axed no jumping, twitching etc. Their penetration is lethal!!! Yep, rabbits can be taken with round nose pellets @ 8.5 ft. lbs. just not as decisively in my experience!
The Crosman 160/167 series were a real leap forward in the realm of CO2 Air Rifles and would still hold a prominent place in any collection of Airguns today!!
Garey
