A Visit to the Birmingham Proof House (PICS ADDED)

[Rob M]

A nice man at the gun club I go to organised a trip for ten of us to visit the Birmingham Proof House. You might think that this would not be of much interest to an airgun fanatic, but I suppose that most of us are at least a bit interested in firearms and the history of the Birmingham Gun Trade as well, and as it happens, there is quite a bit there to interest the airgun fan. The proof house has been there since 1813, and has the look, traditions, atmosphere, and smell, of an historic building.

At the beginning of the tour, the Historian conducting us around the place showed us a heavily modified Webley Tempest. It had been modified so that the barrel was hinged at the rear of the action... On the front of the frame was a strange arrangement of steel plate like a clamp, containing a matrix of pins. We were challenged to guess what it was for, but none of us could; It turned out to be a pistol modified for piercing identification numbers into greyhounds ears! A very unusual use for a Webley Tempest!

The tour was all extremely interesting, you are guided round the facilities for deactivation testing, testing of black powder weapons, modern weapons, ammunition testing facilities, then on to the museums. There are three museums, the first is the Ammunition Museum, then there is the 'Black Museum', full of frightening exhibits showing what can happen when firearms are abused, used when worn out, used with the wrong ammunition and so on.

Finally there is the historic weapons museum. This houses examples of muskets, flintlocks, many military weapons up to the FN SLR, also some pistols. Upstairs contains examples of unusual guns, such as a 'double loading' flintlock which has two locks, you load, down a single barrel, a load of powder, a wad and a ball, then another wad, another load of powder, yet another wad and another ball... You then have to make sure that you pull the two triggers in the right order or a barrel burst and serious injury might result. Scary.

In this part of the museum I found what was for me the highlight of the tour, a case of classic air pistols, including Webley Mk1s, Juniors and Seniors, but also a Westley Richards, an Anson Star, an Accles and Shelvoke Warrior, a Parker Precision crank-wound pistol, an Abas Major (my favourite) but also, and I felt privileged to see this, as it is believed to be utterly unique, Webley's own prototype of the "Whiting" air pistol, on loan from the Birmingham Industrial Museum!

I've only ever seen photographs and drawings of this before, of course. It seems a little larger than I thought it to be, having a very long barrel, and looking very well-made indeed. A credit to the craftsmen at Webley's all those years ago. It has a small diameter cylinder and piston, and does not look powerful, and the historian verified this, saying that he has fired it and the pellets practically fall out of the end of the barrel. The small cylinder volume, small spring, and the long, rifled barrel combine to make a pistol that looks superb but unfortunately is not powerful enough even for paper target shooting. Whether it was more powerful when it was made and the spring was new I couldn't tell.

So there you go, if you get the chance to visit this historic place, do go, you won't regret it. I had not expected to find any classic airguns there (as airguns don't require proofing) but was pleasantly surprised, and as a bonus got to see a unique part of Webley and Scott's airgun history.

The tour cost £13.50 per person but was worth every penny.

Birmingham Proof House Website

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Rob M
Currently wanting: Rutten Winstar, Excellent Pistol, Hy-Score Sporter (US)

[pennineway.fswo]

Thanks for that Rob
It sounds very interesting
I was not aware of these museums, but now that I am, then I intend to visit in the near future

Regards
John

[Rob M]

Thanks for the nice BIG pictures!

A Chap in the UK has also made a very high quality replica too, the replicas though are a bit different to the genuine 'Webley Whiting Pistol' as they are based on the patent drawings. Apparently this genuine pistol differs from the patent drawings in a few respects. Both the replicas that I know of are very, very good indeed, but the one in the museum is, as far as is known, the only Whiting design pistol that was made by Webley's.

I'm hoping to post a few pictures when I get time...

Cheers

[tjg]

Hi Rob,
Thanks for that,I can remember the Old Science/Industrial museum,it had alot of stuff connected to the gun trade,actual gunsmith shops etc,this Museum.. IS.. the biggest loss to brum since the Re-development,It was such a brilliant place on every level,the new one is a flop..better stop there...The Royal Armoury at leeds is a splendid place...
John if you Organise a small trip...book me on
TIM

[Rob M]

I've been to the Royal Armouries at Leeds... And there are a few airguns there... Sadly they're all in a big exhibition by the police about gun crime! There's a big display case with piles of airguns and replica guns that have been seized by the police from criminals. It was just cr**py anti-airgun propaganda in my opinion, and what made me even madder was seeing some nice, collectable guns in there, there was even a BSA Gold Star with various other airguns and replicas just piled on top of it...

[tjg]

I have to say it's a while since i've been,and have no recolection of this exibit,but surely you can't judge a place by one display case,and i would doubt an armery is anti-airgun...... loads to see in this world besides airguns..haha
TIM

[Rob M]

Some pictures of the buildings:








The Webley Tempest converted for piercing greyhounds' ears:

[Rob M]

An early electric chronograph:






Airguns:

[Rob M]

[Rob M]

Hope you chaps found those interesting anyway. I',m sorry about the reflections on the glass but I couldn't do anything about them.

Re: the Royal Armouries, it is a very impressive place, with lots to see, but it just rankled a bit with me that apart from an air rifle and a couple of pistols, the airguns are entirely within the "gun crime" exhibition and obviously treated with a lack of respect, while all of the other exhibits were given some sort of context, IE the shotguns were shown with photos of clay pigeon shooters, pheasant shooting etc., the airguns were specifically linked with gun crime and no other context at all. It's still an interesting place though!

[Garvin]

Great pics Rob, thanks.

Strange, when I first saw that 1922 Anson I could have sworn it was a super rare Westley Richards concentric model but the label says different. Looking at Hiller it turns out the first WR Highest Possible was designed by E Anson and that some HPs were made without the WR markings.

[lightning22]

I've been to the Royal Armouries at Leeds... And there are a few airguns there... Sadly they're all in a big exhibition by the police about gun crime! There's a big display case with piles of airguns and replica guns that have been seized by the police from criminals. It was just cr**py anti-airgun propaganda in my opinion, and what made me even madder was seeing some nice, collectable guns in there, there was even a BSA Gold Star with various other airguns and replicas just piled on top of it...

I agree the majority of airguns displayed are in the Police sponsored (IIRC) 'crime' display and portray a very negative image.

There are however a few air guns on the same floor in a historical context, I seem to remember a Stirling HR81, Webley Senior and a HW80.

Rich

[Rob M]

Now that I think about it, you're right, there are a few airguns outside the 'Gun Crime' exhibition. Not enough though! I know that " loads to see in this world besides airguns" but airguns are a major interest for me, and I also don't like to see people forever trying to associate airguns with crime, whether it's journalists, politicians, or police-sponsored exhibitions in museums.

[Rob M]

"Looking at Hiller it turns out the first WR Highest Possible was designed by E Anson and that some HPs were made without the WR markings."

The historian at the museum remarked that Anson had worked for Westley Richards until they had some sort of falling-out over Westley Richards patenting a design that was actually down to Anson, and failing to give him any credit over it. After this falling-out, Anson went his own way and set up his own firm apparently, some of the early Anson pistols were quite similar looking to pistols he had designed for Westley Richards.

[elanmac]

About fifteen years ago Ray Hill and myself went to what was then, the Birmingham Museum of Science and Industry. We went to see the Whiting Webley. It was retrieved from the store for the first time since before the war by one of Rays friends who worked there. At the time I had almost completed a copy from the patent drawings. After seeing the original I made two more closely following the copy rather than the patent. The main differences being the lifting hollows on the sides of the cylinder, the rear sight and the grips which followed the auto pistol. I kept the patent copy and gave one of the others to Ray hill , which he later gave to John Bowket. The last one was given to John Mcrossen. This is the one shown in Gorden Bruce's Webley Air Pistol book. I made a short .22 barrel to fit mine as well as the longer .177
With the short barrel fitted it closley resembles the Webley auto.
Elanmac