Noting that lots of shooters seemed keen to buy these pistols, US sporting and fitness goods manufacturer Healthways (РІР‚Сљ AmericaРІР‚в„ўs most unusual line of sporting goods productsРІР‚Сњ) decided that a CO2 powered replica air pistol would fit nicely within its existing range which included outdoor and sports equipment such as diving gear.Р”Р‡or the design of what would become the Plainsman, Healthways employed engineer and gunsmith Kenneth R. Development By the mid-1960s, the use of CO2 in air pistols was well established with, amongst other things, a range of Crosman CO2 powered replicas.Р”В¬O2 cartridges, mainly still the 8g type produced for soda makers, were readily available, relatively inexpensive and offered a reasonable number of shots per CO2. All good reasons for considering the Plainsman if youРІР‚в„ўre thinking about expanding your collection of vintage replicas though you do need to know which version to buy if you are to avoid problems sourcing ammunition. Like the Colt Woodsman that it (sort of) resembles, itРІР‚в„ўs also a decent shooter as well as being reasonably well made, robust and reliable and decent examples can be had for relatively little money.

The Healthways Plainsman was designed and first produced in the sixties and it lies somewhere between the quality and technical sophistication of, for example, the Crosman 600 and the cheap and cheerful end of the market represented by the Marksman 1010. Incidentally, donРІР‚в„ўt confuse this with the much rarer and more valuable Challenger Plainsman, a pump action pneumatic air pistol manufactured by Challenger Arms Corporation in the 50s and 60s. Just make sure you know what youРІР‚в„ўre buying or you may find yourself with a replica that itРІР‚в„ўs almost impossible to find ammunition for. ItРІР‚в„ўs an ugly little devil, looking like some kind of Frankenstein marriage between a Colt Woodsman and a Japanese Nambu, but itРІР‚в„ўs robust and reasonably powerful and accurate. had to replace the dried out O-ring and rebuild the valve stem seal.Р”Р„ll back together and working again.This time weРІР‚в„ўre looking at the Healthways Plainsman, a CO2 powered multi-shot replica of the classic Colt Woodsman. I was very surprised at the size of the valve body.was expecting much smaller.Р”Вisassembled valve body. There are two O-rings in this pistol one behind the piercing pin shaft.the other in the valve body.actually if you count the one I installed as the main Co2 seal that makes three.the design is pretty cool the way it feeds BB's into the valve body and up to the barrel almost like a little elevator.the pistol is a very strong shooter for an old BB pistol after I was done with the repair I ran it over the chrony and got 470fps not bad if you ask me. Wasn't even sure if there were missing peace's.after some debate on what kind of a seal this thing would take I eventually tried a #009 or 0010 O-ring and that seamed to work out fine.after inserting an 8gr Co2 cart it started leaking out the valve pretty bad so time to dismantle it.

So pretty much had to guess my way around this repair job.I quickly noticed there was no Co2 end seal Got this gun to fix its pretty rare and had no idea about it because there is pretty much nothing on the net that I could find on the pistol besides some pictures nothing like a parts diagram or anything.even asked Len for some insight to which he replied that he has never had the opportunity to have worked on one before.but he did try to provide as much help as he could without ever seeing a Plainsman 175 before.thanks Len

Healthways plainsman 175 rebuild