New article published... Quackenbush and his Model 1 air rifle....

[JimmieDee]

I've just published my latest article. It's a long one. Probably the longest yet that I have done. I hope I haven't waffled on too much but there is a lot of ground to cover with regards to Quackenbush....

As usual, comments and constructive criticism is very welcome.

As a side note, the things you find when trawling the patent registers can be mind boggling.... one I came across whilst trying to find all of Quackenbush's patents is an invention about preserving dead bodies! It encases them in glass, hermetically sealing them from the environment. Two drawings were provided... one showing a man in his funeral suit encased in glass. The other drawing of a smaller cube with just a man's head!

Also, W.H. Elliot, inventor of the Remington Army and Navy revolvers and Derringer later patented an improvement to roller-skates....

https://www.facebook.com/notes/jimmi...73255659438972

I hope you enjoy it.... it is a long read and filled with plenty of pictures and photos as usual...

All the best,
Jimmie Dee

[micky2]

Hi Jimmie, a very well done and informative artical on Quackenbush and his inventions, although a lot of this as been done in the past by John Atkins in the Airgunner mag.
But you have done a excellent job in putting it alltogether in one artical which is easy to find and read. keep up the good work, and l look forward to see what you come up with next.
ATB,
Mick.

[Garvin]

Phew that was a long read! Mick's right about the Quackenbush story being a well-trodden road, but I found it interesting an enjoyable (if a bit long!). Being online it's accessible too (and free!). So thanks Jimmie. Great stuff.

[Abasmajor]

Hello Jimmie,

Thanks for taking the time and effort to produce another very comprehensive article for us to enjoy and enhance our collective knowledge.

Regards

Brian

[AC99]

A very comprehensive and interesting article Jimmie.
It seems my Quackenbush number 1 is the sixth variant (s/n 26729) produced about 1901 and not in such nice condition as the one you illustrated; there is still some evidence of nickel plating however. When I purchased this about five years ago it was my intention to acquire a better example and sell this one on but sadly I have failed to find another!
According to Dennis Hiller it was made of a very simple design using only 15 or so component parts and was produced competitively for gallery rifle sport in and around New York.
Aubrey

[JimmieDee]

Thanks chaps. I appreciate the subject has been covered by many people, not just John Atkins. After all, it's all history....

I started writing articles to satisfy my own curiosity of my collection and a way of documenting each item. First I began by photographing them as a means to easily pick an air gun to take to the range. Then I started a blog page and before I knew it, I was writing my own articles. Like many, I don't have access to the vast back issues of the air gun magazines. Some of which were written before my time perhaps. So whilst the subjects may have been covered before, they are inaccessible to many, especially to people outside the UK. There are people from the US, Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, South Africa, Holland and Canada, to name a few, that read my articles. Also, being an online I'm not limited to the few pages allocated in a magazine. I try to write the articles in my own style, collating what I can find in one place, not just about the air gun, but also about the designer, their business relationship and perhaps, try to get inside their head.

I already have plans for the next article. It could be a short one, or it may not, it all depends on what I can dig up. I always think he next article will be short, but then I surprise myself on how much I am able to discover.

Maybe one day I will put them all together in a book. Maybe. But for now, I'm just enjoying learning about my collection.

[ccdjg]

Keep up your enthusiasm and keep up with the writing! You have a point concerning the inaccessibility of much of the older magazine material to many enthusiasts. Also you should aim ultimately at putting all your research and writings into a book, as books are so much more permanent than web sources of information. You probably will not make any money, but at least your work will be always be there for future generations to read.

For similar reasons, I hope that Danny's superb gallery will be produced as hard copy some day!

[JimmieDee]

A very comprehensive and interesting article Jimmie.
It seems my Quackenbush number 1 is the sixth variant (s/n 26729) produced about 1901 and not in such nice condition as the one you illustrated; there is still some evidence of nickel plating however. When I purchased this about five years ago it was my intention to acquire a better example and sell this one on but sadly I have failed to find another!
According to Dennis Hiller it was made of a very simple design using only 15 or so component parts and was produced competitively for gallery rifle sport in and around New York.
Aubrey

Hi Aubrey.

Do you have any information on the dating of each of the variant you could share please? I used the blue book as a reference and it quotes your serial number as being anywhere between variant 6 and 11. But no dates.

All the best,
Jimmie

[AC99]

Hi Aubrey.

Do you have any information on the dating of each of the variant you could share please? I used the blue book as a reference and it quotes your serial number as being anywhere between variant 6 and 11. But no dates.

All the best,
Jimmie

The information on my No.1 I posted came from Dennis Hillers 'Air Rifles' 4th edition (1985).
The whole of page 190 gives a fairly comprehensive account of the development and history of the number1 together with a table charting information from Quackenbush factory production records from 1893 to 1922 but there is no information on the variants unfortunately. The table shows year of manufacture, production quantities and corresponding serial number sequences. There is also quite a lot of speculation from Dennis since there are some gaps in the company records and he makes some estimates of average production rates.
Other sources such as Smith's 'Gas Air & Spring......' and the 'Blue Book' you mentioned gives only limited data on production years v s/nos. so I hope this helps.
Aubrey

[JimmieDee]

I have Dennis Hiller's book. But I must admit not referring to it too much. I find it a right pain as there is no table of contents or index! But thanks for the reminder to go and have a read.

[Josie & John]

I have Dennis Hiller's book. But I must admit not referring to it too much. I find it a right pain as there is no table of contents or index! But thanks for the reminder to go and have a read.

There may be no index but Dennis's books are in alphabetical order. They are a mine of information and remain very relevant to this day.

John

[JimmieDee]

Indeed it is. Thanks John.