Indonesian Airsporter?

[Josie & John]

...Coming up for auction this coming week.

http://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/au...3-a60400c0e1fc

It would be interesting to see some clearer images if anyone on here decides to bid or view!

John

[guy]

I will be going to view will get some pictures and post them up.

[T 20]

There's some pictures of one here, John :-


http://www.network54.com/Forum/405945/thread/1217708309





All the best Mick

[Josie & John]

Thanks Mick. Looks very home made to me. Wonder why the auctioneers think it's Indonesian?

John

[MarcDV]

There Josie and John,

I suspect that there are very many more Indonesian Airsporters than one might imagine. I worked in Bandung, Indonesia for two years in 1988-1989. One day, my driver took me to a village about a 30 minute drive out of Bandung. There was an area which had airguns for sale displayed in brightly colored kiosks down both sides of the road. There were homemade copies of many popular air rifles including MKI Airsporters. I looked over a few and the lettering was all done with hand-held electric engravers and just a few moments inspection told me that the material was all low grade mild steel. The stocks were mahogany (so common out there that we used it for barbecue fuel). The wood finish was some grim varnish, but they fired OK. I thought about getting some spare parts to take home, but thought better of it.

I also found some copies of Chinese made AK74 folding air rifles at a market on Thai side the border with Burma, a town called Mae-Sot. The market location boasts a huge sign proclaiming itself "The Westest place in Thailand". The stall owner had the guns hidden under a canvas. These guns appeared to be of a reasonable quality. They had wire frame folding stocks (no wood), with the metal finish what appeared to be Parkerised. I bought one for a Thai friend for $50.

Marc DV.

[Josie & John]

There Josie and John,

I suspect that there are very many more Indonesian Airsporters than one might imagine. I worked in Bandung, Indonesia for two years in 1988-1989. One day, my driver took me to a village about a 30 minute drive out of Bandung. There was an area which had airguns for sale displayed in brightly colored kiosks down both sides of the road. There were homemade copies of many popular air rifles including MKI Airsporters. I looked over a few and the lettering was all done with hand-held electric engravers and just a few moments inspection told me that the material was all low grade mild steel. The stocks were mahogany (so common out there that we used it for barbecue fuel). The wood finish was some grim varnish, but they fired OK. I thought about getting some spare parts to take home, but thought better of it.

I also found some copies of Chinese made AK74 folding air rifles at a market on Thai side the border with Burma, a town called Mae-Sot. The market location boasts a huge sign proclaiming itself "The Westest place in Thailand". The stall owner had the guns hidden under a canvas. These guns appeared to be of a reasonable quality. They had wire frame folding stocks (no wood), with the metal finish what appeared to be Parkerised. I bought one for a Thai friend for $50.

Marc DV.

Thank you for sharing your fascinating recollections Marc. The AK74 copies sound interesting - I wonder if they are the same as the BAM made rifles that loosely resemble AKs and which were imported some years ago. They can still be regularly found but frustratingly many have M16/M4 magazines attached rather than the AK type!

Kind regards,

John