Why is this such a siginificant picture?

[ccdjg]

My good friend Trevor Adams told me about a picture of an air pistol that he had recently spotted on the net, and this is it. It made my day. Does anyone know why it is such an amazing and significant find for the airgun collecting world?

[Geezer]

Is it a Bussey?

[ccdjg]

Yes, it certainly is.


But there is more to it than that.

[Garvin]

Is it the missing link in this pic?



Bussey rifle:

[Geezer]

Just being the first British spring air pistol would be too obvious, wouldn’t it?

[Buck25]

A quick look at the Encyclopedia of Spring Air Pistols, Part 3, Non-manufactured Patented Designs and Prototypes, shows that this is probably the first known example of the Bussey air pistol under British Patent 526. It is almost identical to the Artist Impression that the author created on page 40 of ESAP. A truly amazing find. So glad that Trevor shared this photo.

[ccdjg]

Spot on, all three of you.

Unlike the situation in the USA, Germany and France, activity in spring air pistol design in the UK in the nineteenth century was virtually non-existent. The only giving them any attention was George Bussey, who obtained his patent "Improvements in pneumatic pistols" in 1876. Although he made air rifles to the general design shown in the patent, nice examples of which still survive, a pistol has never turned up. For the past 13 years I have been of the opinion that he never actually got round to manufacturing his original pistol, but instead experimented with various prototype improvements over subsequent years. Now, thanks to Trevor and this picture we can say categorically that the pistol was an actual article of commerce and was made exactly to the description in the patent.

It is interesting to think that it would be another 40 years before a took up the challenge to invent a new pistol, when Edwin Anson designed the Highest Possible.

If the Frank Clarke Titan in the current Holts catalogue might fetch £2k, what would this pistol be worth to a serious collector of vintage British air pistols?