Parker hale crank pistol.

[Josie & John]

Hi John, The Whiting Webley is a waste of time regarding power, about 1ft lb due to the small cylinder bore, even smaller spring, no piston seal and long barrel.

Mac

Thanks Mac,

Makes sense I guess but a great looking pistol nonetheless. I always think the performance of old airguns needs to be taken in perspective and even at 1 ft lb, I reckon I'd still enjoy shooting at coke tins!

Kind regards,
John

[ccdjg]

I can't remember how long it took to make probably a couple of months in my spare time. The gears I had made by the apprentices at Chubb where I used to work. I made a few different airguns over a period of 20 years. It wasn't the most difficult pistol I made, that was the swing handle BSA. I wouldn't have made the Parker if I had known that they were available however rare. All the other guns I made didn't go into production. Even then, circa 1980 they were expensive. When a well known collector heard about my Parker he asked me to restore one he had. I did it as a favour but he insisted on paying me with a Hakim air rifle.
Mac

I can personally attest to Mac’s incredible craftsmanship as a few year ago I was lucky enough to take possession of one of the three BSA pistols that he made (this one marked with serial number 3). http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q...BSANormana.jpg


http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q...BSANormanb.jpg

I have taken it apart a few times , once to take the liberty of reblueing it (as it came with some scratches) and the complexity and precision of the build is amazing. No wonder back in 1912 the gun never made it commercially – it would have cost a bomb to make and the low power would never have justified the cost. Despite its complexity, Mac’s pistol cocks and fires reliably.
I have no idea what happened to Mac’s other two pistols, but I do know that at one tine this other example http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q...BSANormanM.jpg

with case was owned by a Swedish collector.

Mac’s work on making prototypes from scratch was a great inspiration to me, and made me decide to try to learn a few gunmaking skills of my own from scratch. So I got myself a lathe and a few books and embarked on making a reproduction early nineteenth century bellows air pistol for my collection, as only two are known to exist and this was the only way I would ever get one. Luckily the great American collector Larry Hannusch kindly sent me scale photographs of his pistol and its innards, which enabled me to start the build. It is now virtually complete just requiring some brass inlay cosmetic work. The hardest parts were boring the barrel and making the bellows, and the most fun part was casting the brass trigger guard.

http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q...lowspistol.jpg


http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q.../Powerunit.jpg


http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q...relrelease.jpg

[trevor1]

I made this pistol 30 years ago but as I had never seen one I made it from the original Patent drawings. I eched it too deep. It shoots like a Webley but is much easier to cock. Apparently they were popular on cruise ships as the ladies could load their own gu

Very nice indeed.What a skilful bloke :-).
All the same,the Parker is a weird design.I've a 1925 Webster's catalog and on one page there is a Parker Precision,a Titan and a Lincoln-all rather weird pistols really!They certainly make the Webley design look simple and effective-even stylish.Trev

[Abasmajor]

Very nice indeed.What a skilful bloke :-).
All the same,the Parker is a weird design.I've a 1925 Webster's catalog and on one page there is a Parker Precision,a Titan and a Lincoln-all rather weird pistols really!They certainly make the Webley design look simple and effective-even stylish.Trev

Hi Trev,

Any chance you could scan and post a copy of the Webster's catalogue as this kind of reference information is invaluable to collectors.

Regards

Brian

[trevor1]

http://www.cinedux.com/old-catalogues.php

Brian,I put them up here...under "Old Catalogues". This is the airgun section of the Webster catalogue of 1925/26.They are a bit slow to download.Print two pages per A4 photo paper and images are very good(you can read the writing on the Parker!;-) ),Trev

[Abasmajor]

http://www.cinedux.com/old-catalogues.php

Brian,I put them up here...under "Old Catalogues". This is the airgun section of the Webster catalogue of 1925/26.They are a bit slow to download.Print two pages per A4 photo paper and images are very good(you can read the writing on the Parker!;-) ),Trev

Hi Trev,

Very much obliged. I always find these old catalogues fascinating to read apart from their reference value when dating some of the older and rarer items.

Regards

Brian

[trevor1]

It occurs to me that the gunsmiths of this city must have had a fiddle with old airgun designs.I'm sure they could knock up some Parker or Norman pistols.Just the place to get replica's done...doncha think?

[elanmac]

Great pistol John, you have made a fantastic job of it. Copying a ready made pistol from photgraphs etc. is a lot more difficult than making one from drawings.
Mac