Military pellet/air guns - USAF air pistol

[Bob Hudson]

A pick last week netted me a Crosman 38C .22 cal CO2-powered air pistol. My son and i have an indoor range for our break-barrel pellet rifle and his 550 fps AK-47 airsoft gun. But, the only pistol was a sucky low-FPS airsoft.

 

This Crosman fills the void: it has the heft of an S/W 38 and fires a pretty tight group in either single or double-action mode.

 

 

 

 

What surprised me in researching this were the references to the US Air Force having used this for basic weapons training.

 

One online poster wrote, "The United States Air Force used the Crosman 38C and 38T for weapons training in the early 1960's to simulate the standard issue S&W K-38."

 

Another quoted what he made sound like something official, "... drill with the Crosman air gun is a good deal more conventional [than the rapid reaction training the Daisy was used for]. He [the trainee] is schooled in the standard shooting positions, sight alignment and trigger squeeze."

 

To add to this, this pellet gun came from the estate of an Air Force Colonel and I also got a tall shooting trophy that was presented to him for his support marksmanship training unit at Lackland AFB (where he was, I believe, the XO).

 

Further googling turned up info about the Air Force also buying the Crosman 160 rifle in the 1960's for training.

 

Here's a USAF tag someone posted elsewhere:

 

 

I also found references to the Army using Daisy air guns and to some sort of WWII automatic air gun for training aerial gunners. If you have any info on military uses of air guns, please share them here.

 

And remember, be careful with these or else

 

[Bob Hudson]

This Crosman is a six-shot revolver and you can fire them off as quick as you can pull the trigger. It has a revolving cylinder and you rotate it to load each shot. There's a spring loaded slide that pushes each pellet into place when you release it.

 

 

[dalbert]

I have a Crosman 38T that I've owned for 30+ years, and you are correct, the heft and feel of it is similar to S&W revolvers. I never realized it had a military training connection.

 

The WWII air machine gun you mention was the McGlashan Air Machine Gun. I've seen a couple of them, but never fired one. There was a really cool article about them that I recall reading around 1984 or so. I think it might have been in one of the annual digests...I'll have to look and see if I still have it.

 

David Albert

[email protected]

[Bob Hudson]

The WWII air machine gun you mention was the McGlashan Air Machine Gun.

 

Thanks for that info: I found info on it at http://browningmgs.com/AirGunnery/11_Training.htm

 

[Bob Hudson]

Does anyone own one of the Crosman 160's used by the Air Force?

 

The website at http://www.pyramydair.com/blog/2012/08/crosmans-160-part-1/ says

 

"At some time in the 1960s, the Air Force bought a large number of 160s that were fitted with a Crosman S331 peep sight (made by Mossberg) and sling swivels that held a one-inch leather sling. As chance would have it, several hundred of these rifles were discovered unused in a government warehouse..."

 

Here's one of the Civilian Marksmanship Program Crosman 160's with the USAF tag on it:

 

[kwill]

Somewhere in my files I think I have an article about the USAF use of air rifles and Crosman handguns. If I can find it I'll scan and post it. Seems like it was from the 1960s.

 

Regards,

Kevin Williams

[firefighter]

http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/283335-us-army-quick-kill-bb-gun/