Cortina d'Ampezzo

[DT Fletcher]

It certainly is primitive looking especially the rear of the butt. That is either very crude workmanship or a later repair. It does look to have been in a fire and suffered. The hammer just doesnt look right, its out of proportion and of a weird shape. Could this be a later single shot roughly made copy? The workmanship looks crude in some areas but the main casting housing the mechanism looks well made. Maybe some anonymous tinkerer, after the Napoleonic war, got hold of some fire damaged parts and had a go at making something out of them? Girardoni wouldnt have used this as a pattern on which to base his 1780 model surely?

Contrary to your view, I don't see anything wrong with this gun. I don't see any fire damage, but, with only the one picture it's just premature to make any firm comments. Note: I believe that side plate, hammer and tank are made of forged iron not steel which would account for their appearance.

This gun is of the Austrian-Butt-Reservoir battery type (as described by Wolff.) The only real difference between this gun and the Girardoni is the addition of the Girardoni repeater magazine; otherwise, everything is the same. The history of the ABR battery type air gun, prior to the Girardoni, is essentially unknown. This is the only example of an airgun of the type that appears (at least to my eyes) to be earlier than 1780.

In terms of production: Cortina d'Amprezzo's traditional commercial connections are to the south in northern Italy where gun production dates back to the 1500's (Beretta, etc.) It's entirely possible that the castings came from a commercial foundry in northern Italy and was then completed in Cortina d'Amprezzo.

The hammer: Yes, very odd. One thing I think we can be pretty sure of is that the maker was not a professional gunmaker. It's also not impossible that this gun is so early that the flintlock mechanism had not yet appeared or had not yet come to dominate gun production. From what I understand, Tyrol was very late to the game with flintlock designs. It seems that they generally preferred the wheel lock long after the flintlock was popular elsewhere.

The museum has promised a bunch more pictures, hopefully some time in January, so, with any luck we should get a better look at this bad boy.

[greenwayjames]

Contrary to your view, I don't see anything wrong with this gun. I don't see any fire damage, but, with only the one picture it's just premature to make any firm comments. Note: I believe that side plate, hammer and tank are made of forged iron not steel which would account for their appearance.

This gun is of the Austrian-Butt-Reservoir battery type (as described by Wolff.) The only real difference between this gun and the Girardoni is the addition of the Girardoni repeater magazine; otherwise, everything is the same. The history of the ABR battery type air gun, prior to the Girardoni, is essentially unknown. This is the only example of an airgun of the type that appears (at least to my eyes) to be earlier than 1780.

In terms of production: Cortina d'Amprezzo's traditional commercial connections are to the south in northern Italy where gun production dates back to the 1500's (Beretta, etc.) It's entirely possible that the castings came from a commercial foundry in northern Italy and was then completed in Cortina d'Amprezzo.

The hammer: Yes, very odd. One thing I think we can be pretty sure of is that the maker was not a professional gunmaker. It's also not impossible that this gun is so early that the flintlock mechanism had not yet appeared or had not yet come to dominate gun production. From what I understand, Tyrol was very late to the game with flintlock designs. It seems that they generally preferred the wheel lock long after the flintlock was popular elsewhere.

The museum has promised a bunch more pictures, hopefully some time in January, so, with any luck we should get a better look at this bad boy.

Thank you for your reply. It will be interesting to see more pictures for a better look. The reason I mentioned fire damage was due to the lack of leather or similar covering on the air flask. Wheel locks were expensive to make but gave a good surefire ignition which, agreed, explains their continued popularity after the introduction of simpler mechanisms - if you had the money. Dog locks and flint locks reach back into the 1600's. Thats a bit too early

[DT Fletcher]

My guess is that the reservoir was originally covered; that was the standard practice, as far as I'm aware of. If this gun is as old as I think it is, it's no surprise that the original leather is no longer there.

I'm hoping this spurs some interest in Tyrol. Up till now, it's been hard to do much because there really are so few early airguns left in the region (everything I've seen is post 1800) With the Cortina d'Amprezzo airgun, I can say, "Hey, Tyrol, there's a story here: an unwritten page of your history, sitting, waiting for you, in Slovenia."

My dream would be to get this bad boy modeled and spec'd (a la Baker/Currie) so it can be reconstructed and tested. I bet it would prove to be a great gun. Without the magazine crap in the way, a better shooter than a Girardoni, for sure.