Reading through the October '21 issue of Airgun World, I enjoyed the article by John Milewski about the history of Panther pistols and Sussex Armoury. It bought back many memories of the late 1970's and my introduction to airguns.

I remember that Jim Johnson, 1577 London Road, Norbury, selling the Panther Artillery Carbine for £17.95, and a few friends purchased them with a tin of H&N Pointed 'Verminkiller' pellets for hours of plinking fun.

I recall buying a second-hand one for £15, with signs of 'light wear', or other wise known as chipped paint and marks to the plastic grips. The thread at the back of the action stripped, and so I wrapped the thread on the shoulder stock with cellotape to stop it wobbling about in the action. I swapped the gun for a Tasco telescope when the rear sight broke, and I had to aim it 'shotgun' style along the top of the action.

One lad bought a telescopic sight for his, I think it was a 1.5 x 15 model, possibly branded 'Sussex Armoury'.
With this piece of magnificent glass mounted on top, tin cans at 20 yards were sometimes hit, but at half that distance they did not survive the onslaught of hot H&N lead.

We would strip the guns down for a polish and relube, and apply 'Tri-Flow' lubricant or Singer sewing machine oil to the actions.
In our minds we had improved their performance and consistency, not to mention an added whiff of smoke during the firing cycle.

One lad had the RO71 pistol, and as John mentions in his historical study, the trigger pull was terrible with a hard drag before firing. The triggers on the RO72 models were better, and as I and John recall, were 'adjustable' by means of a white plastic slotted screw.

Many thanks John for an interesting article and bringing back some fine airgun memories.