Erik Geiger's Blog

I agree with Tim MacMurray and other authorities that the Crosman 600s are very well engineered pistols that are a great deal of fun. I have had mine for three of four months. I sent it off to Dave Gunter for a performance tune and got it back last week. Velocity is around 410 fps with RWS Hobby pellets, which feed very reliably.

Dave remarked that mine was one of the nicer ones he's seen, not only in terms of condition, but also in terms of factory production standards. Evidently the quality of the 600s varied pretty widely - the casting method used for the frames often resulted in warping. Dave valued mine at $200.00, without a box or other materials.

However, and I may be alone in this, I prefer my first model 38T, also rebuilt by Dave Gunter. This gun is worth about $60.00.

Its performance is much the same as the 600s in terms of velocity - the chrony tape that Dave sent me shows numbers in the high 300s or low 400s depending on the pellets used, but the 600 was chronied at 75 degrees, and the 38T at 70 degress, so the disparity would be even less at the same temperature, and may disappear entirely. I get 30 shots per cart from the 600 and 50-60 from the 38T.

While I am not personally capable of achieving this rate of fire, Ed McGivern and Jerry Miculek have shown us that a double action revolver is actuallly faster than a semi-auto. Anybody read Fast and Fancy Revolver Shooting by McGivern? He once fired 5 shots into a playing card in 2/5 of a second, at a range of 18 feet. That simply can't be done with a semi auto.

My 38T is more accurate than my 600. I don't know if this is typical, but my experience is that for my 600, 1 to 1.5 inch groups are the norm. My 38T's groups are less than half that size.

I realize that the 600 is capable of being tuned to better accuracy and higher velocities, which leads me to the area where the 600 really shines - after market modification. You simply can't easily mod the 38T to the degree that you can the 600.
There can be no high capacity, helical magazines for a 38T.
Bulking a 38T is possible, but not as easy as a 600. No dedicated bulk is possible because there is no gas tube on the 38T.
No factory should stocks exist for either, but the 1399 stock can be fitted to the 600.
A custom stock could be made for the 38T, but that's a lot more time and trouble.
The two are about even in terms of fitting after market optics, the 38T might even have an edge, since if you have one of the early models, you can use Smith and Wesson mounts on it without altering the pistol.

But taking two stock examples of these guns, ultimately for me the matter of a difference of a few FPS or a few fractions of an inch in groups is not the deciding factor. The repeating mechanism of the 38T is simpler, more robust and reliable than the 600. It is also insensitive to pellet type - pointed, domed flat head, they all feed equally well. My 600 will only feed domes and flats. Some only work with flats.
I guess my preference is based on the old revolver versus semi-auto arguments that have existed in centerfire shooting for a century. I don't expect anyone to agree with me, except maybe other revolver lovers, and I respect and understand the opinions of those who prefer the 600, but I prefer my 38T.