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Thread: Variable Power Girandoni in Cortina museum

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2012
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    Portland, Oregon
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    Variable Power Girandoni in Cortina museum

    In Arni Hoff's book, he describes an interesting Girandoni type airgun in the Cortina Town Hall. Cortina is, as we all know, the home town of Girandoni. He had to move from Cortina to Vienna to build his secret airgun for Emperor Joseph II. This interesting gun is signed, Franceso Colle, which was the name of the apprentice who traveled with Girandoni to Vienna as recorded in 1780. Today this airgun is now in the Cortina museum. Note: The art of varying the power of the Austrian Butt Reservoir battery, that Girandoni’s apprentice is demonstrating here, is not well known and is only known to be demonstrated in this single airgun.

    The good folks at the museum were kind enough to send me some pictures of the Colle airgun; however, since they didn't understand the importance of the variable power lever on the lefthand side, it can't be seen in these pictures. You'll want to see the pictures in Hoff's book for that.

    If any airgun enthusiasts travel through the southern Tyrol, might want to visit one of the most important, and probably the closest you'll ever get to a true Girandoni, airguns in history at the Cortina Museum: the Franceso Colle variable power Girandoni airgun.

    CIMG0274.jpg by Dean Fletcher - Photographer - Portland, on Flickr

    CIMG0273.jpg by Dean Fletcher - Photographer - Portland, on Flickr

    CIMG0272.jpg by Dean Fletcher - Photographer - Portland, on Flickr
    Note the history here is not accurate, so, I haven't bothered with the translation.

    CIMG0267.jpg by Dean Fletcher - Photographer - Portland, on Flickr

  2. #2
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    Jan 2017
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    Gloucester
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    LockPlate

    Its very bizarre to see a Lock Plate at such a pronounced go sporty angle .
    With the oversize pseudo percussion hammer , it looks as if the whole assembly had to be canted forward to accomodate the internals .

  3. #3
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    Jul 2012
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jimny4x4 View Post
    Its very bizarre to see a Lock Plate at such a pronounced go sporty angle .
    With the oversize pseudo percussion hammer , it looks as if the whole assembly had to be canted forward to accomodate the internals .
    I agree, the right side plate looks weird. But, first, it's a terrible picture. Also, this gun was originally built over 200 years ago and there's no way for us to know what may have happened to it over that time. And, from the looks of it, this hammer plate looks just the same as the usual English made ones. So, it's entirely possible that the internals are English so things may have been somewhat slapped together. During this time, circa 1800, it appears that the English production of precision airgun parts dominated even European production of airguns. It was only after the end of the Napoleonic wars that Europe (in particular Austria) caught up.

    I am of the opinion (guess) that Girandoni's assistant is making a point with this gun. It seems to me that he is, without speaking it, telling us the state secret of Griandoni's airgun. In short: it is possible to vary the power of a Girandoni type gun. Note that this airgun is the only indication, in the entire history and literature of Girandoni type airguns, that variable power is possible. Other than Arne Hoff and what I have written, there is absolutely nothing written about this.

    I do owe the forum the picture of the left side plate seen in Hoff's book. Will try and get it uploaded in the next day or so. It will help to make this more understandable.

  4. #4
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    Jul 2012
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    pics from Arne Hoff's book

    So, here we are, the pictures from Arne Hoff's book:

    Note that the only unusual setting here would be M(olto) Or the setting between N(ulla) off and T(utto) full on. The standard English style decocking lever provides both T and N settings (full on and full off)

    The M setting positions the striker latch midway between the T and N settings, this changes the how long the hammer dog engages the latch in it's travel, thus resulting in a decrease in the exhaust valve travel distance and results in lower power than a full power shot.


    hoff018A by Dean Fletcher - Photographer - Portland, on Flickr

    hoff019 by Dean Fletcher - Photographer - Portland, on Flickr

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