Crossman 180 CO2 Leaking out barrel

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dr.matthew

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Jul 18, 2020
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California, United States
I recently bought at vintage crossman 180 at a yard sale for $15. It was in ok condition but after putting a CO2 in and cocking and puncturing the CO2 it leaks out of the barrel and around the breach. I took the gun apart and replaced all of the o rings and cleaned and added new lube. It leaks a little less but still enough for it to be audible and empty the cartridge in a matter of minutes. Do you have any suggestions for what I should do next?

I'm not willing to spend the time and money to send it to Crossman as that out of my budget I want to spend for this gun. 
 
It would be the valve stem seal that leaking. Probly old and hardened it is. You can disassemble the valve and inspect it to see if some polishing of the surfaces would do any good or you will need it replaced. Mac1 should be able to fix you up with a new one or repair your old one for you.

You can put the stem in a drill, add a little polishing compound and press it to it's mating surface and spin it for a short time. This will remove small imperfections in the seal and the seat itself to help it make a good seal. Add a drop of pellgun oil to the seal, when you are done cleaning things up, before you put things back together to help soften things up a bit.

$15 is a good price on the rifle even if it needs werq.
 
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$15 is actually a steal for a Crossman 180 even if it needs work. That problem is ordinary for a vintage air gun.I see them selling for A little over $100 regularly that need repairs that are unknown. I’ve got lucky before and just flooded down in the piercing area with Pellgun oil and it stopped the leak.Just cocking it and shooting it over and over and it eventually stopped. But Bioman is correct about it most likely being the valve. It could have imperfections or be dry as a bone. Or even both.
 
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I will try polishing the valve stem and adding oil. It seems odd to me why the valve stem would be a metal on metal seal since it is a crucial part of the valve, unless my gun is missing something. I checked the schematic for the cross man 180 (https://airgunwarriors.com/resources/library/Vintage_Crosman_Airguns_Factory_Service_Manual_all.pdf PAGE 104) and I don't see any mention of a rubber washer or anything. I am wondering if I have a slightly different model than the 180 or if the previous owner installed a replacement valve from eBay because in assembly pictures and videos I see my valve looks a little different (aluminum body rather than brass) and does not have a filter piece.
 
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You don’t want to polish the valve stem. You want to polish the the end of the valve which is usually some type of plastic. Or may be hard rubber. I don’t know exactly what type of material they used then. And the surface that it seals against. Sometimes they dry out and get extra hard.The CO2 gun that I sealed by flooding it with Pellgun oil was a Crossman Mark one pistol and it was leaking three different places including out the barrel.I knew that it was possible that it could work but I was very surprised when it did since it was leaking so bad. It’s been holding Co2 for seven months since the last time I shot it.I just go check it about once a month by cocking and Dry firing it and it still has a loud pop to it. I put about five drops of oil in it and then cock it shoot it over and over and it still leaked just a little bit. Then I put another cartridge in with just a few more drops and did the same thing and after about the fourth shot it stop leaking and went out and shot it at a target Then loaded it with another cartridge and shot it about 10 times and put it away and it’s still good. Don’t know if it’ll help yours but it’s worth a try. I actually bought a rebuild kit for it and haven’t had to use it yet.I don’t know where you got your O-rings but there are people that sell kits with the O-rings and a new valve and stem For most of the more popular vintage Crosman airguns.Why would you think it’s a different model because it should be stamped 180 on it. I don’t know about that model but I know that I have a Crosman 101 that they used to use different parts in them even in the same year.When I did my research the article said that they used parts from previous years when they ran low on Specific parts. So either somebody did work on it before or the company use different materials for different years. It’s normal for that to happen with that company back then. I saved that link that you put up because it has the 101 and the 140 which I have and might need one day. 
 
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I just looked at the schematic again for the valve assembly And it does not show a washer for the 180. It’s basically like some of the other Crosman airguns.But it was already mentioned that maybe you should try cocking it first before piercing it. If I can remember correctly that’s how I have to do some of mine.I have so many different types of air guns new and old that some of them don’t get shot for quite a while and I forget how certain things work actually on some of them.
 
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I thoroughly cleaned the valve and gun and also polished the cup seal on the valve. There is a small ring of rubber but it is extremely hard and worn. The polishing did help quite a bit and the gun will hold air for more than double what it was before now a very slow inaudible leak. I will look for a replacement and mabey polish it more to see if that will solve my issue. Do you recommend I try a stronger spring or a separate rubber washer on top? I also noticed that the leak would settle down then after I shot the gun again the leak would be more strong before settling again.
 
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If the rubber part that you’re talking about Is hard and worn, I would say that’s your problem then. A lot of people didn’t maintain their air guns like they should back then. I remember when a lot of people hardly ever used pellgun oil on their CO2 cartridges Back then.That’s one of the reasons the O-rings would harden up.Some people use silicone oil instead.That’s What Umarex Recommends on their CO2 air guns. I have a Smith and Wesson 78G CO2 pistol that has a small leak that will hold CO2 for about a month and I’ll get around to rebuilding it one day soon. The Crossman Mark one and the Smith and Wesson that I have, the CO2 cartridges go in backwards so I’ll keep them charged up when not in use. I don’t have to worry about the seal crushing like the ones that go in neck first. I have a Crossman 600 also that goes in backwards and I keep it charged up. That’s why I go in there and pull them out and check them from time to time and see if they’re holding CO2.But least you’re on the right track and have fixed it somewhat. You will get it.
 
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