Crossman/Skanaker Model #88

[PFribley]

Local pawn shop has one. Looks like a nice 10m pistol. Whats the 411 on one of these pistols????

[Greg Derr]

20 years old and no parts support that I know of.

[nvalcik]

I actually used one of these for a year while I was shooting collegiate since I was having severe elbow problems and managed to hit some fairly good scores with it. I know that when I was at Collegiate Nationals I believe that the University of Washington's team was using quite a few of them.

The pros of the Skanaker - very light weight and I personally really liked the way the cylinders filled since you knew that CO2 was topped off. The sights were very good and wide which I personally liked.

The cons of the Skanaker - the barrel had to be moved to reload every shot which could in theory cause accuracy issues (on mine this never appeared to be an issue.) The trigger left quite a bit to be desired when compared to a FWB or Walther trigger. The grips did not fit my hand at all. The cylinders had to be sent back to Crosman to reseal them since all of them leaked at the end caps of the cylinders after I had bought it. Crosman repaired them for free and were really good on their customer service. I think that getting parts and repair service on them at this time may be very difficult. On mine I had a problem with the rear seal popping out of the gun and the lever not locking the barrel down tight enough.

The bottom line - is it a good air pistol?

If you get the Skanaker cheap enough then I it could be a very good buy for someone. I liked mine, but as soon as I could I went to a FWB C-25 mini which was lighter weight than the FWB C-20 I was using. I do believe that the gun is very competitive if the person can get the trigger and grips set for them correctly.

[Rover]

I had one when they first came out. They were accurate enough and very powerful for an AP at the time. But, they were kind of crude. They would make an excellent gun for metallic silhouette.

Crosman spent a lot of money trying to put together a "real" match pistol but, I don't believe corporate every really understood what was needed.

Present status was pretty much said above. They have some minor collector value and if the price was, say, under $200 I would buy it. With a little selective marketing you could probably get double that for it.

[hurt]

They do shoot pretty hard, lots of oomph! Anyone doing repairs? I have one from 89 and it needs seals. Thanks, Dwaine

[crrmeyer]

They do shoot pretty hard, lots of oomph! Anyone doing repairs? I have one from 89 and it needs seals. Thanks, Dwaine

Tim at MAC1 airgun resealed the last one I had.
link:
http://www.mac1airgunstore.com/
I recommend calling.....

[william]

The world has gone nuts!

There are 2 Skanakers on Gunbroker.com

One of them has a starting "bid" of $400 - a little high, but a buyer ought to know what he's getting into. The other one is starting at $575. I can only wonder how long it will sit there waiting for a willing buyer.

[JoeG]

They are powerful for a ten meter pistol design, typically shooting in the 600 fps range with match pellets. With their bleeder valve system they are easier to get a complete fill of CO2 than most other designs. They do make excellent silhouette shooters, Tim McMurray did .22 caliber long barrel mods for just that reason. Pricing does vary from mid $200 range to $400/$450 for an excellent condition one in original carry case. They came with two short cylinders that could give a fairly large number of shots each. There was also a longer full length cylinder that fit (as seen below) but those are quite hard to find. There was also an optional counterweight set that attached and slid along the bottom of the barrel shroud assembly. Crosman no longer has parts for these, they dispersed them to service centers quite a few years ago. They are not particularly hard guns to work on, I have replaced the seals on mine without too much difficulty. There would be a good number of airgunsmiths that could work on them. The trigger as stated is not up to comparison to the top brands but is quite respectable and has a reasonable amount of adjustment. It is a fun gun to shoot, making quite a pop upon discharge (not a good apartment shooter). Joe G.

[PFribley]

Got the pistol for $190. Wish me luck!!!!! LOL

[nvalcik]

I think for $190 you got a good deal as long as it holds together. I would add just make sure you get the trigger set up the way you like it and practice, practice and practice with it. You should be able to get fairly good scores with it.

[mjmarz]

I believe one shooter in the Montreal Olympics used a Skanaker to score 581. As said previously, use it, practice, set up the trigger as you like it as it is very adjustable and enjoy it.

Service is available through Mike Archer in Lino Lakes, Minnesota. He fabricates parts where they are not currently available and his parts exceed that of the original equipment, especially the breech seal.

[mjmarz]

I believe one shooter in the Montreal Olympics used a Skanaker to score 581. As said previously, use it, practice, set up the trigger as you like it as it is very adjustable and enjoy it.

Service is available through Mike Archer in Lino Lakes, Minnesota. He fabricates parts where they are not currently available and his parts exceed that of the original equipment, especially the breech seal.

[David Levene]

I believe one shooter in the Montreal Olympics used a Skanaker to score 581.

I would doubt that very much.

From memory they didn't start making it until the mid-late 80s, some 10 years after Montreal.

Also, was Air Pistol in the '76 Olympics? I didn't think it was introduced until Seoul in 1988.

[j-team]

Also, was Air Pistol in the '76 Olympics? I didn't think it was introduced until Seoul in 1988.

Correct. Air rifle came in 1984, then it was joined by air pistol in 1988.

I think Womens Sport Pistol also joined in 1984. And, before anyone corrects me, it didn't have the PC name "25m pistol" then.

[PFribley]

Do you have contact info on Mr. Archer???? Thanks.

[mjmarz]

Airgun Repair and Restoration
C/O MICHAEL B. ARCHER
201 EGRET LANE
Lino Lakes, MN 55014
Phone: (651) 784-4805
WWW.AIRGUNREPAIR.COM HOURS OF OPERATION: 9:30AM-6:30PM


He does a nice job on skanakers and has all the new old stock on the Model 84 rifle as well.

[mjmarz]

I grant my reference to Skanaker's in competition is by hearsay only. I may have the event and date wrong however I have been told that Jocelyn Langlois, a Canadian shooter and currently a Coach shot the 581 with the Skanaker. He referred to having dialogue with Ragnar at the time and getting an assist in equipment at the time. Again, I may have the date and event misremembered. Jocelyn is currently the owner of Cible Canada.


Jocelyn Langlois has coached at World Championships, Pan Am Games, Commonwealth Games and Olympic Games, as well as at over 25 World Cups. He was an athlete specializing in rapid fire before his coaching career. He has achieved NCCP Level 5 Certified Coach in Pistol Shooting and he has also a certification from the International Coaching Course at the German Shooting Federation School. Also, in 1998, he coached the CIOR military gold medal team at NATO World Championship.

[motorcycle_dan]

anyone have better contact info for Mike Archer or airgunrepair.com? that web site did not work. a similar .net site was in WA state. Looking for info on how to rebuild a Skanaker CO2 cylinder.

[Rover]

There's a phone #. Try it.

[PASA008]

I had one and used it for quite a few years. It was more than satisfactory in the accuracy department, maybe a little heavier than need be and a little nose heavy. I had Archer rebuild mine once and then maybe 7 or 8 years later sent it back to him and he wound up talking me out of it, as he had a friend looking for one.