Look what I found!

[ptdunk]

Very interesting stuff Matt, it just shows that gun makers used what ever things that they had at hand to keep the cost down.

Yes, this one is pretty plain and seems to have been made to a price so makes sense to recycle some parchment. I think it was made for a lady shooter as it seems to have been made to be as light as possible. Not to say all women need a lighter gun.
My missus has agreed to do a loading and shooting comparison with this one and the heavy Kuchenreuter and see if she finds this lighter one nicer to use. That’ll be a good ending for the eventual video.
We know women took part in after dinner competitions in Germany from the diary of Mozarts sister, who used to shoot with him regularly using a bellows gun:

https://forum.vintageairgunsgallery....the-airgunner/

Don’t see why they wouldn’t have had bellows guns made to order.

It would be great to see a blow-by-blow account of how you restored your bellows, as I don't think this has been documented before. Can't wait for the video!

Cheers, John

I filmed the process John, I’ll get some stills and post a pictorial account here when it’s done.
I worry that once imgur starts charging all my previous posts will be pictureless, heartfelt thanks to Danny for replicating topics of interest on the gallery.

Cheers,
Matt