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