Quote Originally Posted by DT Fletcher View Post

Kolbe is an interesting study. Blackmore did an article, Who was Kolbe? He also featured a Kolbe rifle on the cover of one of his books.

In terms of English airguns, Kolbe is about as old as you can get. Absolutely nothing known before circa 1750 that I can recall.

Note that the barrel reservoir type was the common type and was typically made by instrument makers instead of by gunmakers. There was no need for any proof testing for these guns so you didn't have to be a gunmaker to produce one.

I suspect that the only reason the Kolbe guns are still around is because of the artwork. From what I can tell, the only way to repair one of these barrel reservoir types would be to desolder it. The valve just cannot be accessed otherwise, at least from the drawings. Which means that these types would invariably end up in the trash or metal reclaim shop.

The Kolbe design always reminds me of the early repeater, St Louis Air Rifle Co., WR Benjamin designs, it's the exact same type of brass soldered construction.
Fascinating. A perfect lazy Sunday Morning read over my bacon and eggs. Many thanks.