Victorian Air Cane Restomod

[greenwayjames]

Could you be thinking of the stone bow?

My example is anything but silent and at over 35 ft lbs of muzzle energy in its standard configuration even a clay ball is going to make a mess of a small bird/mammal, you won't have much of specimen left.

The two halves could be unscrewed slightly and a spacer used between them to reduce the valve opening and lower the power of the original. I was told of a farmer who used such a set up to despatch geese when he had to in his yard. His wife was a sculptor and he used clay bay balls which were very effective for head shots without putting holes in his barn doors.

[fullmetaljacket]

Fair points. I finally got a look at Baker & Currie's "The Construction and Operation of the Air Gun. Vol. 2" and the same explanation is offered:

Various explanations for their development and use have been touted, some of the most common being use by poachers, self defence or by naturalists for securing specimens. None of these explanations are really convincing as no working class poacher could possibly have afforded one, neither would it have been a sensible choice to carry for defence a loaded cocked aircane with all the hazard of an unprotected stud trigger. The case for use by naturalists is possibly the most viable; used as a shotgun with a charge of dust shot, they would have been very effective in acquiring undamaged specimens of small mammals and birds at short range.

However, this minority demand could not possibly account for the large numbers that were clearly being manufactured during this period. Most major gunmakers carried and advertised them as normal stock completely replacing the older style of butt and ball reservoir weapons. In fact they were still being listed in catalogues of the 1920's albeit as discontinued items.

Perhaps one explanation for their popularity was that for some purposes the aircane provided a viable alternative to the blackpowder firearms of the day. Its lack of flame, smoke and noise meant it could be used safely for amusement indoors by Country House shooting parties, for example when bad weather precluded normal shooting.

More importantly perhaps, the available evidence indicates the aircane filled a niche, prior to the introduction of the rook rifle as a rival to the bullet crossbow for rook shooting, as well as providing excellent sport with other small game.

The performance of the Reilly 32 cal muzzleloader quoted in the book is also in the same ballpark as my unmodified example:



Does anyone know if the addresses colin.currie1@virgin.net and geoffrey.baker@virgin.net quoted in the book are still valid?

I would very much like to compare notes with these gentlemen once I'm done playing with this thing.

[Unframed Dave]

One of my favourite airguns, the cane. I'd like to say they came in various shapes, but they certainly came in a variety of sizes.

IMG_20210304_190807.jpg

Dave

[micky2]

One of my favourite airguns, the cane. I'd like to say they came in various shapes, but they certainly came in a variety of sizes.

IMG_20210304_190807.jpg

Dave

What a nice collection of air canes you have there Dave.

[fullmetaljacket]

I'd like to say they came in various shapes, but they certainly came in a variety of sizes.

Very nice indeed!

Some more balanced valve development:



Version 2.1 with a stronger spring and a shoulder that bottoms out before the base of the valve hits the end of the balance chamber.

At 1100 psi, again using 45 grain 0.310" lead balls, the chrono read 789 fps for 62.2 ft lbs.

At 1500 psi, 860 fps / 73.9 ft lbs.

At 1600 psi, 163 fps / 2.7 ft lbs - obviously beyond what the hammer can reasonably open.

Not bad, but I was sure it could do better, so a coil was cut off the spring and further testing was carried out

At 1100 psi there was a slight improvement, up to 795 fps / 63.1 ft lbs.

At 1500 psi, WHOOOOOOOSHHHHH... no reading from the chrono as the chamber dump blew it three feet along the floor.

Subsequent investigation revealed that the spring had slipped over the valve shoulder, obviously the maximum diameter was a little too close.



This inspired the final balanced valve version 2.2 with as wide a diameter as could be made without compromising flow vis a vis the barrel diameter.

At 1100 psi it remained in the same ballpark at 786 fps / 61.7 ft lbs.

At 1600 psi now the hammer opened the valve comfortably so 4 shots were fired:

1) 869 fps / 75.4 ft lbs

2) 873 fps / 76.1 ft lbs

3) 860 fps / 73.9 ft lbs

4) 858 fps / 73.5 ft lbs

I thought I'd push my luck and took it to 1750 psi, another 4 shots were fired over the chrono:

1) 726 fps / 52.6 ft lbs

2) 883 fps / 77.9 ft lbs

3) 884 fps / 78.1 ft lbs

4) 878 fps / 77.0 ft lbs

The first low shot suggests that it's at the hammer's limit in this configuration.

More shots starting at 1700 psi showed similar results. I think I can happily call this "done", muzzle energy has been effectively doubled compared to the original and I'll wager it's some sort of record for an antique air cane. Also having fired about 25 shots with this last valve without failure, it looks like it's up to the job.

Here's one interesting result from the 786 fps shot at 1100 psi:



The lead ball entered the base of the aerosol can and ricocheted off the base at a 45 degree angle, still with enough energy to exit the can.

[fullmetaljacket]

After all the experimentation it was time to have a little fun, here's a damage video to wrap things up.

I also tried a couple of #4 birdshot loads in compressed paper wadding instead of a single lead ball, at close range you can see how it would have been useful for small game.

[Kuyajonathan]

Fascinating info, makes very interesting reading, thank you for your research, also making it easy to follow. Always intrigued by air canes, never saw many over the years or able to afford one until maybe now 🤔