New Benjamin Air Rifles have a lever hand pump”, which shows this same model. The last photo, courtesy of Trev’s Airgun Scrapbook, has a caption that reads “MODERN MECHANIX December 1939.
The model shown is a 1942 312 “Under-Lever” pneumatic pump. 322, courtesy of 'rsmith15', which transitioned into the first 'Under-Lever' pneumatic pump version. The first two photos show a third variant Model no. For the purpose of this study, changes with respect to exterior components will be used to determine “Transition Models”. If there is any misleading information, please bring it to my attention. My intentions are to be as accurate as possible using guns from my collection, member’s guns, and those found online to fill in the gaps. 3XX, which was Benjamin’s last in a series of what is referred to as “Push-Pull Pump Style” compressed air models (1934-1940), and ending with Benjamin’s 39XPA with the “P” style trigger group which was replaced by an entirely new “Trigger Pack” beginning in 1997. The purpose of this thread is to look at exterior components of Benjamin’s transition models beginning with the third variant Model no. With thanks to Marty for the text and pics, first posted on the American Vintage Airguns forum.
A look at Benjamin Transition Models (1930s-1997)
