Here's a question.... what was the first British spring powered air pistol?

[Garvin]

Stand back and wait, gents. We are extremely fortunate to have among us the esteemed author of the largest, most comprehensive encyclopedia of spring air pistols ever written. He has probably forgotten more on this subject than we'll ever know...

[RichardH]

Stand back and wait, gents. We are extremely fortunate to have among us the esteemed author of the largest, most comprehensive encyclopedia of spring air pistols ever written. He has probably forgotten more on this subject than we'll ever know...

Good shout

[ccdjg]

It is an interesting question, and one that as yet does not have a definitive answer. However, I think we can fairly safely say that it would have been a late 19th century Bussey spring air pistol that was the first all-British production model - but not necessarily the one described in his 1876 patent for which rifles are known but no spring pistol has yet been found.

The only commercial air pistol unequivocally made by Bussey was this relic, which has a missing barrel, and is inscribed “ Bussey 1469 London” and “Patentee Brevete”. It was located in Germany.




Originally I thought that the barrel arrangement would have been a simple removable barrel as in the 1876 patent, but a German advert has recently surfaced which pictures the self-same gun fitted with a sliding barrel, and describing the pistol as a “BUSSEY”. Unfortunately the advert is undated, but has all the hallmarks of the 1870’s. This sliding barrel loading system was patented in Belgium by Simonon in 1878. The numbers 469 appear on one of the relevant Belgium patents, so possibly the 1469 on the Bussey pistol refers to this patent. This all suggests that Bussey manufactured this pistol in the UK around 1878, basing it on the Simonon barrel system, and for some reason he marketed it on the continent rather than in the UK. At least, a UK example has not turned up yet.



A possible prototype for this Bussey pistol is this one, which was a mystery unmarked pistol discussed by John Atkins in Airgunner Sept-Oct 1996. It has an identical sliding barrel system.





Why do I think it is a Bussey-made prototype? Well compare its unusual style of grip with this old prototype pistol of mine. They must surely come from the same stable. My pistol is assumed to be a Bussey prototype, as it is inscribed “1878” and “ B&C” ( standing for Bussey & Co. ?) and is a simple improvement on his 1876 patent. That is, to cock and load the barrel is removed to insert the pellet, and the plunger is used to directly compress the spring.







So it seems that in the late 1870’s Bussey was very active in the development of spring air pistols, and produced various prototypes (mine is marked number 7). At least one went into commercial production, though probably not for the British market. He was the only gun maker in Britain to show this interest until Anson’s Highest Possible development some 25 years later.

[RichardH]

Impressive answer..... thanks

[JimmieDee]

That's marvellous John. Thank you! Some great finds there.

[greenwayjames]

The company was famous more for its sporting goods than air rifles and pistols. That was a tiny part of its lengthy history and was soon abandoned. Bussey served an apprenticeship as a saddlemaker and the company was well known for its leather gun cases. It was a very large concern manufacturing all sorts from tennis rackets to cricket bats and many other weird and wonderful sporting devices which Mr Bussey had patented. The company even owned a willow farm to produce the cricket bat material. Bussey made a fortune and died in his rather grand house on the I-O -W. The Bussey building is still in existance.

[Garvin]

Fantastic answer, thank you.

Isn't it a retrograde step, design-wise, to have to remove the barrel for loading (and cocking) when, eg, various opening and closing breaches were in widespread use by then, such as gas-type turn breaches on butt reseroir airguns (and air canes?)?

Fair enough for a tinplate cheapie like the Diana mod 1, but not on a relatively expensive pistol/rifle like the Bussey, surely?

It's such a pain to have to remove the barrel for every shot, who would shoot for long?

Could it have been patent reasons that led Bussey to go with his novel plunger-cocking method in the end?

[JimmieDee]

It is interesting that the Quackenbush Model 1 is very similar except that it uses the barrel to push the piston back to cock it and reveals a slot in the barrel to load a dart. The barrel is then pulled forward to close the breech. Quackenbush patented his design a month later than Bussey. Also the Bussy is similar to the Bedford and Walker designs and perhaps the Johnson and Bye Champion. All of which had patents registered the same year as the Bussey. However Bussey did so first.

Bussey stated in his patent that he was already aware of the Pope rifle air pistol and a Belgian pistol. I wonder what the Belgian pistol was?