Crosman Golden Powerlets. Yes, that’s right – GOLDEN Powerlets! They’re a real blast from the airgun past. Let’s take a look…
Every airgun enthusiast is familiar with 12 Gram CO2 cartridges. Or capsules as they’re called back in the UK.
We use them to power all those replica air pistols that are such a dynamic part of the current airgun scene. And they’re used to provide power for a number of other non-replica air rifles like the QB78 and the Crosman 2240 air pistol.
Crosman Powerlets were introduced over 60 years ago, in 1954/5. They accompanied the iconic Crosman 160 air rifle and 150 air pistol models which were introduced at around the same time.
We all know that 12 Gram CO2 cartridges contain – well, er, 12 Grams of CO2. But that was not always the case, as we can see from these Crosman Golden Powerlets!
For the old Crosman Golden Powerlets featured in this story are actually labeled to contain 12.5 Grams of CO2. That’s half a Gram of CO2 more than the specification in more recent times.
And there’s another difference between these old Golden Powerlets and current production. The Golden Powerlets has a “bottle cap” system to retain the CO2 inside the steel cartridge. This was prone to leakage. Modern Powerlets have a welded top which is far superior.
Above, the bottle cap closure. Below a comparison with the current welded method.
Another difference is that the Golden Powerlets were manufactured in the old Crosman plant by the Erie Canal in Fairport NY. The building is still there, used for a variety of light industry today.
Current production 12 Gram Powerlets are manufactured – of course – at Crosman’s HQ in Bloomfield NY, about 15 miles away.
Hard Air Magazine will be making a comprehensive review of currently-manufactured 12 Gram CO2 cartridges in the near future. Stay tuned for what we find out…
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