There are actually quite a few variants of the Briton. The first model, which is relatively small and heavy, being made of forged steel rather than pressed sheet steel, is the rarest and most desirable. This dates to as early as 1925. You will find pictures in Danny's Gallery here https://forum.vintageairgunsgallery....tols/#post-719. If your gun was one of these then £40 would have been an unmissable bargain, as it would be worth as much as £200. The more common pressed steel variant is still a good buy at £40 if all original. Other variants, like the one with the inlaid plastic grip plates or the alloy version inscribed "Mark III", would command progressively higher prices, and the very rare Super Briton would probably be worth £150-200 to a collector.

Incidentally, when trying to identify a pistol or rifle quickly, your frst port of call should always be Danny's Gallery, as a picture is worth a thousand words, and the images are of super quality.

My only gripe with the Gallery (sorry Danny!) is that all push-barrel pistols are relegated to a single group under the slightly derogatory title "Pop-out Pistols", so if you are unaware of this you will find it hard to locate specific models, either by model name or maker.

I know that in the eyes of many air rifle and target air pistol collectors these "pop-outs" are barely worth consideration, and grouping them in this way helps to cut them down to size a bit, but the pop-outs have played a major part in the history of air guns and I feel that they deserve a bit more respect. Collectability is not just defined by quality, as market prices of these things continue to show.