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Crosman Triple Threat Review

Basic CO2 Pellet Revolver

“I know what you’re thinking.” ‘Did he fire 10 shots or only 9?’ “Well, to tell you the truth, in all the excitement, I’ve kinda lost track myself….” Ah, the wonders of a higher capacity rotary pellet magazine in a CO2 revolver!

Entry-level is for beginners. It is the most gun for the least money that will introduce and instruct in the safe handling of a firearm, and what better way to begin than with a revolver. In my youth semi-autos were what the Army carried, police and lawmen still packed double action revolvers, Colt and Smith & Wesson models, and I learned to shoot a revolver long before I ever picked up a semiautomatic pistol. Even today, a goodly number of first time gun owners chose to begin with a snub nose revolver, rather than a compact semi-auto as a concealed carry pistol. Modern thinking (conventional wisdom not withstanding) is that first time gun buyers should purchase a semi-auto, while some older gun shop owners will still recommend a revolver. This has taken on an air of being condescending to first time buyers, but honestly, it is not; a revolver is just a good place to begin learning gun handling skills. For a CO2 pistol, the same is appropriate for this new Crosman model since it not only requires learning basic gun handling and shooting skills, including learning how to adjust sights, it affords the opportunity to experiment with different barrel lengths, and for a mere $70 investment.

The Crosman 44-R Triple Threat is not as elegant as most S&W and Colt DA design wheelguns, but its simple design makes it a very practical one for beginning shooters or even practiced shooters who want something for backyard plinking that can also deliver accuracy.

I’m going to begin testing the Triple Threat just as it comes out of the box, or rather out of the blister pack, with the 6-inch barrel mounted. The 6-shot rotary BB clip is nice but for this test I’m going fully leaded with the 10-shot pellet clip. Do you shoot expensive wadcutter pellets in an entry-level CO2 pistol? Why not? You might as well get the best performance out of the airgun’s rifled barrels.

Velocity By the Inch

I am going to begin with the 6-inch barrel and run the velocity test using Meisterkugeln 7.0 gr. lead wadcutter and at the same time shoot a 21 foot target test with the sights set just as they come from Crosman.

It looks like a conventional swing out cylinder revolver design, but the Triple Threat is literally Old World in its operation, using a topbreak design that goes back to 1870’s S&W models. Pressing down on the rear release lowers the forward catch…
…allowing the barrel assembly to tilt forward and expose the rotary magazine loading post and barrel breech. This is actually different from S&W and other topbreak designs since the cylinder, which is molded into the frame on the Crosman, should actually be tilting down with the barrel.
This is familiar to those of you who have western guns like the Bear River Schofield, which is based on the S&W model of the same name. The latch on top of the frame releases the barrel and cylinder to rotate down for automatic ejection of the spent shells (and any loaded ones you forgot to shoot!), but for the CO2 model it stops short of ejecting to keep from sending the reusable shells flying.

Average velocity with the 6-inch rifled barrel clocked 421 fps with a high of 440 fps and a low of 399 fps for 10 consecutive shots fired single action at 15 second intervals. The factory rated velocity of “up to 465 fps” doesn’t say if that is with BBs or lead pellets. Next week we’ll find out, but at 21 feet using with Meisterkugeln lead wadcutters, the Triple Threat with 6-inch barrel is already looking pretty good.

Shooting through the chronograph, the sights were left adjusted as they came from Crosman and the Triple Threat, with the 6-inch barrel, shot a little left of POA, but slammed 10 shots into 1.21 inches, with eight of 10 wadcutters grouping into 0.75 inches. Not a bad start.
author avatar
Dennis Adler
Dennis Adler has been an author and contributor to Blue Book Publications since 1997 and was co-author of the First Edition Blue Book of Airguns. He is an airgun collector and enthusiast for over 20 years and wrote the Air Show column on air pistols for Combat Handguns magazine and other publications before joining the Pyramyd Air writing team. His articles appeared in the Pyramyd Air Airgun Experience blog and provided readers with expert reviews and in-depth articles.

8 thoughts on “Crosman Triple Threat Review”

  1. If airgun makers want to do top break revolvers, how about an H &R Sportsman? As to revolvers, they still have s place. If you see someone carrying a revolver, they are probably someone to fear. In NYC yesterday a retired 54 year old NYPD detective stopped a baseball bat armed lunatic on a subway train , by drawing a 2 inch 38. The enemy of good is better, and revolvers are good.

  2. O.k. Dennis, one more time, you drew our attention. Could you please remind me of the reasons for not having an S&W N frame, .22 cal, 5-6 fpe like the 2240, available sometime now?

  3. This gun is a ‘blast from the past’ in that back in the mid eighties I bought the Crosman 357 pellet/bb pistol that was very similar to the Triple Threat in this review. Same plastic packaging with the 3”, 6” and 8” barrels and a couple each of 6 shot bb clips and 10 shot pellet clips. The main difference was the 357 was all metal except for the 3” barrel which was shrouded in plastic and it had more of a cowboy grip than the later guns.
    This was a working gun then as my place had an infestation of ground squirrels. The combination of 8” barrel and adjustable rear sight made it one of the most efficient de-rodentenators that I have ever used around here.
    Before the 357 I used a Crosman MK-1, .22 cal., but the multiple shoulders on the rear sight made it difficult for me to use, just too hard on my eyes!
    I didn’t have a chrony until the mid 90’s and found the 357 was hot averageing around 490 to 495 fps. with the 8” barrel and Crosman domes and most of the time I was shooting 1” to 1.5” groups at 10M. Those ground squirrels just didn’t have a chance as I cleared the place out a bucket full at a time.
    About 1995 I sent it up to Edmonton to get it resealed so it stood up real good for the first 10 years as a working gun and 2 years ago it was still holding its own with those seals after more than 20 years!
    Corrosion had started its little thing by then and it was getting increasingly difficult to pop the barrel release so when I sold off most of my airguns then the 357 was one of the first to go!
    Last summer I saw 2 ground squirrels compared to when I was clearing them out with the 357 I was shooting about 25 in an afternoon. Now with no moving targets I shoot action pistols and PCP’s at targets and tin! Still lots of fun but I’ll never forget that little Crosman 357.
    Cheers
    Red

  4. When I bought my Crosman 357 (pictured below) in 2012, it was available only with the 6″ barrel. According to Red’s comment above, the Crosman 357 was originally available with 3″, 6″, and 8″ barrels. I apparently missed out on the extra barrels by not buying mine sooner.

    Everything about the Crosman Triple Threat appears to be identical to the Crosman 357 except for the new barrel designs. Even the 10 shot pellet clip appears to be identical, and Pyramyd AIR lists the Crosman 0407T rotary clip for the 357 and Vigilante revolvers as an accessory for the Triple Threat as well.

    I think it would be possible to attach any one of the Triple Threat barrels to the 357 revolver and have the combo work and shoot as if the Triple Threat barrel and 357 revolver were made for each other. Would anyone at Crosman like to confirm or deny this possible combination?

    If that combination does indeed work, would Crosman consider selling the Triple Threat barrels alone (singly or as a 3 pack) as an accessory for the benefit of 357 revolver owners who want the updated barrels?

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