Looking for a Sharp Victory

[jirushi]

Hi,

After a year of reducing, I'm back in collecting mode
I'm looking for a Sharp Victory.
Who knows!
Perhaps I should go to Kempton to find one?
Or is Kempton mostly about old BSA's and Webleys?

This one belongs to a friend by the way.
It's complete (parts are in a bag).
I'm going to try to bring it back to life.

Cheers! Louis

[jonnyone]

I don't think these sold in any quantity. Adverts seemed to be there one month gone the next. I may even have that wrong and perhaps they didn't make to advert but maybe a gun test and no release? Memory fails me on that.
Another thing about them (again if I recall right) was that there may have been an issue with their power potential topping the limit a bit too easy.
I know a good shooting buddy progressed through an Innova, onto an Ace and had his heart set on one but it never came off.
I do think someone on here also has one.
Dave

[I. J.]

I do think someone on here also has one.
Dave

Correct.

[jonnyone]

Correct.

My memory is not all bad then. Nice one Ian
Dave

[jirushi]

I don't think these sold in any quantity. Adverts seemed to be there one month gone the next. I may even have that wrong and perhaps they didn't make to advert but maybe a gun test and no release? Memory fails me on that.
Another thing about them (again if I recall right) was that there may have been an issue with their power potential topping the limit a bit too easy.
I know a good shooting buddy progressed through an Innova, onto an Ace and had his heart set on one but it never came off.
I do think someone on here also has one.
Dave

Thank you Dave, that's interesting.
It would be great to find some old Sharp adverts in the eighties mags.
I'll ask my friend Steven if he can find some
Ian's Victory is exquisite. It can also be seen in an interesting episode of Hot Air about pumpers.
The Victory above that needs a full restauration, is somewhat of a mystery by the way.
Victory Model 648. No info on the net. Perhaps a very early version, or a prototype.
The valve is still inside; a former owner tried to get it out. I guess it will require a special tool - Ped, can you have a look in your magic toolbox?

[JB101]

You should definitely try and get to Kempton as there are all makes and types there👍
ATB
James

[jirushi]

You should definitely try and get to Kempton as there are all makes and types there👍
ATB
James

Something like this would be loooovely
My favourite Victory piccie. From a collector in New Zealand.
Mr Kensuke Chiba got it right - again.



Does anybody have Victory paperwork? And did they come in a nice box like the Innova's and Ace's?

[johnbaz]

I bought one of the last batch of Aces to come in to the UK (International guns, Stairfoot), It was brand new and came with a manual but I don't think there was a box with it, If it did it will most likely be in the loft, Just can't recall a box for some reason!


John

[Geezer]

The few that came in were advertised or written up in the mags as a new improved up-market version of the Innova.

According to John Walter they were actually an older design (1969?), on which the Innova (1977) was based.

Imported in 1982.

Reportedly had issues conforming to the 12 ft-lbs limit.

Unlike the Innova and Ace (1981), which have triggers that get heavier with more pumps, the Victory has a constant weight adjustable trigger.

Good luck in your search.

[I. J.]

Unlike the Innova and Ace (1981), which have triggers that get heavier with more pumps, the Victory has a constant weight adjustable trigger.

Good luck in your search.

Also the trigger has to be set before use like the Pan Target.

HTH
Ian

[jirushi]

The few that came in were advertised or written up in the mags as a new improved up-market version of the Innova.

According to John Walter they were actually an older design (1969?), on which the Innova (1977) was based.

Imported in 1982.

Reportedly had issues conforming to the 12 ft-lbs limit.

Unlike the Innova and Ace (1981), which have triggers that get heavier with more pumps, the Victory has a constant weight adjustable trigger.

Good luck in your search.

Thank you very much Geezer.
That is interesting information. Did John Walter write an article about Sharps?
Great to have the birth dates of the Victory, Innova and Ace.
I am still looking for a photo of Kensuke Chiba by the way.
A respected bbs member told me that Kensuke San once sent a .20" barrel to New Zealand describing it as a garden hose fitting.
The customs officer commented that he had never before seen a rifled garden hose fitting!
I might need to go to Japan one day, and go on a Sharp quest. There is so much left to find out.

[Geezer]

Thank you very much Geezer.
That is interesting information. Did John Walter write an article about Sharps?
Great to have the birth dates of the Victory, Innova and Ace.
I am still looking for a photo of Kensuke Chiba by the way.
A respected bbs member told me that Kensuke San once sent a .20" barrel to New Zealand describing it as a garden hose fitting.
The customs officer commented that he had never before seen a rifled garden hose fitting!
I might need to go to Japan one day, and go on a Sharp quest. There is so much left to find out.

Info is from Walter’s The Airgun Book (3rd edition) and my own memory. The former is probably more reliable!

[jirushi]

Info is from Walter’s The Airgun Book (3rd edition) and my own memory. The former is probably more reliable!

Ah yes woopsie, I should get that book. Thank you.
Here is some interesting information I found about Sharp.
No photo of Kensuke Chiba yet, I think I should try to contact the former owner of Manchester Airguns (Mr Alan Hamer, perhaps he is on this forum?), as I'm sure Kensuke San will have visited the shop in the eighties.
This comes from this great Wikipedia page, in Japanese: https://www.wikizeroo.org/index.php?...Hjg7zjgqvjg7wp

Kensuke Chiba in Japanese is: 千葉謙介
Sharp in Japanese is: シャープ
Putting both in Google gives an interesting pdf document: a scan of the Japanese magazine "Clay pigeon shooting and hunting", from Feb 1987 (I wasn't even born yet!).
There is a page about Sharp, with this photo:



From the Wikipedia page, somewhat edited to make it readable:

Sharp Rifle (1952-2001)
Founded by Kensuke Chiba, who served as the president of the National Federation of Guns and Gunpowder Commerce and Industry and a permanent director of the Japan Rifle Shooting Association.

At the time of the establishment of Sharp in the 1950s, the Japanese private firearms industry was limited to the production of hunting guns for civilians following the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War in 1937 and Japan in 1945.

The military industry was destroyed by the defeat and the dismantling of the former Japanese army. At the National Sports Festival, rifle shooting was added to the official competition from the 6th Hiroshima National Sports in 1951, but at that time rifles suitable for small bore competition were not manufactured by domestic firearm manufacturers and imported. Since the products were expensive and the number of items that could be obtained by the strict import control of the authorities was extremely limited, air rifles that could be handled by domestic manufacturers were unavoidably used as substitutes for small caliber rifles.

Against this backdrop, Sharp has developed air rifles specializing in national body small bore competitions, along with the competition air rifle produced by Hyorinkan (note from Louis: Heirinkan). In 1956, the Sharp Victory for hunting was adopted as a ground training equipment for the Ground Self-Defense Force.

However, when the rules of air rifle competition were officially established by the International Shooting Union (UIT, later International Shooting Federation) in the 1960s, the shooting of Sharp and other Japanese airguns were pushed out of the shooting world which was under pressure by imported guns such as FWB from West Germany.

Sharp was a multi-pump type precharge (compressed air) type in 1969, referring to the blow-off valve system of the Crossman M140. A Sharp Pan Target that employs a vibration trigger mechanism was released, but the trend of retirement in air rifle competition was not recovered, and then the main production was shifted to a hunting air gun. In 1962, exports to the United States began.

In the 1970s, Sharp's founder, Chiba, focused on developing a CO2 gas type air gun that uses carbon dioxide compressed gas as a power source, and has obtained numerous US patents. In 1969, a bolt action five-shot box magazine system for a CO2 gas type air gun, and in 1976 a pump action type air / gas type air gun system were patented one after another. The former was commercialized as Sharp CO2-5 in 1967, and the latter as Sharp GR-75 in 1975. Production was completed in a short period of time, after which it only sold a single-shot Sharp UD series. However, the repetitive air gun system devised by Chiba is still highly regarded in Europe and the United States, and the GR-75 is especially similar to the Crossman M622 and Gamo G1200. Compared to a CO2 gas type air gun, it is evaluated that there is nothing comparable in the elaborate construction. In developing GR-75, Sharp focused on equipment to prevent double loading, and the CO2 gas cylinder manufactured and sold by Sharp itself appealed for safety by marking the subname of “Safety”.

In the 1980s, Sharp fully remodeled the Pan Target and introduced the new Sharp Ace series. Unlike the Pan Target and Victory where the bolts were spring-loaded, Ace uses manual bolts that eliminate the spring mechanism, closing the chamber and directing the bolt handle 90 degrees below. The closure was completed, and the closed state was changed to a specification that is easy to see for both the shooter and others. It was sold under the name Sharp Ace Hunter for hunting, and Sharp Ace Target for shooting competitions. It was evaluated as having high performance comparable to that of Blue Streak. Sharp expanded its lineup to include anesthesia guns, air pistols, small caliber rifles in the late 1980s, and expanded to the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Greece. 97% of the production capacity has been heavily dependent on external demands (such as the new SKB industry, Miroku, Seidensha, Toyoka Industries, etc). This was a common drawback with domestic firearm manufacturers.

Sharp also sold a short barrel model that was made lighter by using a lot of plastic parts based on the old model Victory, but it was sold under the name Sharp Innova. In Oceania, it was used for "Possum, Rabbit, Duck Hunt". It has enough power and has a very accurate accuracy rate. In Sweden, export was carried out from 1981 to 1989, in the orthodox .177 caliber, .20 caliber, .22 caliber, .25 caliber, and other lineups not available in Japan (.30 caliber (7.62 mm). It was described as "no air gun to replace Sharp"

Sharp changed its name to “Sharp Chiba” when Kensuke Chiba passed away in 2001.

I believe the factory still exists, as I found out in an earlier thread, via this link of a Japanese man visiting the factory in 2011 (https://ameblo.jp/hiradama/entry-10936573172.html)

This is contact info I found for the Sharp factory.
Sharp Chiba 36 Ashinozaki-cho Ueno 36, Amagasaki, Yamanashi 75 Tel: 055130-6257
The telephone number does not work, I just tried (+81 prefix).

I sent an e-mail to the Tokyo Rifle Association, who knows they can help with more info/photos.

Here's one last pic I found, with a Sharp gun slip, looks nice.


(source: http://www15.plala.or.jp/gundog/home...arp/sharp.html)

[johnbaz]

Some Sharp literature that was sent to me, I think it was Lawrie that sent these through email
















John

[jirushi]

Thank you John, that's very nice.

Has anyone ever seen the U-SL in the flesh?
Its dimensions and CO2-ness remind me of my Sears 180.
Looks like a lovely little gun.