What was the first home grown produced British spring powered air pistol and when was it first produced?
What was the first home grown produced British spring powered air pistol and when was it first produced?
Interesting question, presumably it was a Gat type Air Pistol if you are only considering machine made in bulk items, but I don't know that, it's only a guess. I believe that Westley Richards were early 20C from around 1907 onwards, with Lincoln Jeffries pistols a few years later, but I'd be interested to hear what came before, presumably something along simpler lines ?
If you count limited production specialist made items such as Bellows Guns and Gallery pistols, maybe the timeline slips back a couple of Centuries at least.
Vic Thompson.
Last edited by Vic Thompson; 06-08-2018 at 07:39 AM.
Bedford and Walker Eureka 1876 pat. in the running perhaps ? Or was that American. Bisley Backstrap 1911 ?
Baz
Last edited by Benelli B76; 06-08-2018 at 09:35 AM.
BE AN INDEPENDENT THINKER, DON'T FOLLOW THE CROWD
What about a Bussey?
Was the Dolla ever made in the UK though? Besides, didn't the Germans make it first (based on Quackenbush patent/license)?
The Edwin Anson/Westley Richards "Highest Possible" was my thoughts on the first home grown British spring powered air pistol.... that was until I learnt about the Bussey 1876 patent. Although only rifle examples of the patent are known to exist, the patent drawings are for a pistol.
used 'rifle' and 'pistol' in a rather non-specific way.Covered all bases?
The pistol at the bottom of the page has some rather 'Bussey' features.
http://cinedux.com/all-things-bussey.php
That pistol of yours could be a Bussey. Or an improved version of the design without needing to remove the barrel. It could also be something else entirely of course. I certainly has some resemblance of the Bussey patent.
For me it's still the Highest Possible so far that's seems to be the first British produced spring air pistol - at least from a production run point of view perhaps.
Looking on your page Trev, there is an advert that clearly mentions "rifle & pistol". So it does make you wonder if they did produce a pistol afterall.