Austrian Military Airguns: A new perspective.

[DT Fletcher]

As we all know, there has been some controversy concerning the pedigree of the common Girandoni Austrian Military Airguns: The gun seen in Backer/Currie. (AMA)

There was one side that maintained, for good reason, that these had to be AMA's because of the G. XXX and double eagle markings.

On the other side it has been stated that these G. AMA did not match the only known specs of the original M1780 and, more important, they're obviously of English manufacture.

What nobody ever considered was that both statements could be true; that these guns could be manufactured in England for the Austrian army. Which is exactly what I think happened.

During the wars against France and Napoleon, England sent economic and military subsidies to Austria including guns manufactured in England for Austria.

There is actually a lot of evidence that instead of one Girandoni model there are actually two models: the original M-1780 Girandoni and the later "MKII" G. gun manufactured in England.

The Austrian army kept the use of air guns in their tactical texts on defense of fortified positions as late as 1862. Clearly, they could not be thinking of the original M-1780 model in 1862.

What kept this a bit of a secret is that the Austrian army division requesting air guns was by the k.k. Genie-Korp. The Genie-Korp are the miners and sappers. These are the guys in command of the defense of forts. It is specifically for the defense of fortresses, and underground warfare, that the Girandoni MKII was used by the Austrian army.

Was the Girandoni MkII used against Napoleon? Absolutely, yes. Graz- Schlossberg, 1809. The Austrian commander in charge of defense of the Schlossberg (Castle Hill) fortress was k.k.. Genie-Korp Major Hackher. His reports include 24 air gunners before that start of the French actions. After surrendering, the armory inventory -required by the French Command from the fortress- includes 6 air guns. Chances are, that those 6 air guns would have been G. MkII versions made in England.

[walnutfarmmick]

Hi Dean,

I've nothing to add to the above - I just wanted to congratulate you on the amount of research you do, apparently without leaving Oregon. Or do you occasionally pack your trilby hat and trusty bullwhip and slip over here to poke about in ruined castles and musty armouries?

Or am I confusing you with somebody else?

More power to your elbow, regardless.

Can't wait for the next instalment.
All the best, Mick

[DT Fletcher]

Hi Dean,

I've nothing to add to the above - I just wanted to congratulate you on the amount of research you do, apparently without leaving Oregon. Or do you occasionally pack your trilby hat and trusty bullwhip and slip over here to poke about in ruined castles and musty armouries?

Or am I confusing you with somebody else?

More power to your elbow, regardless.

Can't wait for the next instalment.
All the best, Mick

I've always figured it was best to plan treasure hunting trips beforehand. The only trick was learning how to translate German. It certainly took a few years but at this point, I'm not terrible at it and know how to get help when stuck.

Realizing that there were at least two Austrian air gun models and probably 3, all of a sudden everything else fell in place. Explains why there are no specs for the air guns themselves in the archives. Explains the funky G. and numbers on these English air guns. Everything now makes perfect sense.

I'm sure that some will still whine about their air guns not being original Girandoni-built versions but now they have another model to add to the collection, they just need to start looking for something in 13mm. Then there is the fact the original Girandoni was seen as a failure and has at best a checkered military field history. On the other hand, the MkII Girandoni, the proud to be British made Girandoni, was useful enough to the k.k. Genie-Korp for them to specification procurement of air guns as late as 1862 in their technical manuals. The MkII was at home in the darkness, hardest, most dangerous positions within the fortress. They went into the tunnels and the mines. All of which I think is a lot cooler than the funky old, always breaking down 13mm MkI versions. Plus, now that we know where the the MkII's were and who they were with, should be able to track them in the archives. I've found the details on Graz 1809, bet there are some more. Just need to look.

If I were to make an air gun history trip, it would certainly start in Paris, Army Museum. That's the best bet to find original MkI examples and maybe some MkII versions, too.

[Garvin]

Now there's an interesting idea: 'we' made the Austrian army Girandonis!

It sounds quite plausible, but wouldn't it have made some waves in London?

A contract of that size at that time couldn't have been fulfilled by a single manufacturer, could it? If the work was sub-contracted out to several or many gunmakers, wouldn't news of this 'bounty' in employment terms have found its way out there eventually - whatever secrecy conditions were imposed by the contractor - leaving some sort of trace in London/English gunmaking circles, ie trade press/archives/oral history?

[DT Fletcher]

Now there's an interesting idea: 'we' made the Austrian army Girandonis!

It sounds quite plausible, but wouldn't it have made some waves in London?

A contract of that size at that time couldn't have been fulfilled by a single manufacturer, could it? If the work was sub-contracted out to several or many gunmakers, wouldn't news of this 'bounty' in employment terms have found its way out there eventually - whatever secrecy conditions were imposed by the contractor - leaving some sort of trace in London/English gunmaking circles, ie trade press/archives/oral history?

Remember that we already have identified a number of London gunmakers (Mortimer, Staudenmayer) who built this model type.

The real question about these proud-to-be guns was: How could they be Austrian Military Air Rifles, if they were made in England?

We how have a very plausible answer.

Reading an account of the 1800 battles in Italy, there was one piece that was interesting. It recounts how the French advanced all the way to Triest (Austria's only access to the sea) and captured 20,000 British made rifles intended for the Hungarians and Croats.

The real key to understanding how plausible it is for a few thousands of airguns intended for the Austrian Military is to remember that in 1800 England is the star of the world in manufacturing: England is in the middle of THE Industrial Revolution. Which is also another identifier that these Austrian Military Airguns are English:they are manufactured to the quality standards of part interchangeability. I've been told by the highest authority that they had 3 of these air guns (civilian and military) and they could not find a single solitary variation in the parts. This was presented to me as somehow a verifications of how "military" these guns were. No, this is just another indication that they were produced by the modern industrial gun parts factories of 1800 England.

These guns have always been British made. Now, they are also legitimate Austrian Military Airguns used primarily by the k.k. Genie-Korps in defense of fortresses during the Napoleonic wars.

As you suggest, there may well be a paper trail of these guns from London to Vienna. We already know that they would have been shipped via Triest.

With all the focus on anything concerning the Napoleon war, bet there is something or someone focused on British-made weapons for export.