Quality Engineering

[Abasmajor]

One of the things that attracts me to old airguns is the very high standard of build quality and finish together with attention to detail resulting in some innovative little extras that would not be financially viable in current times. It's nice to just to pick up and handle these old pieces and admire the sometimes-quirky ideas that probably took more time to design and produce than their use justified. An example is this pellet seating pin attached to the sealing knob on the A.G. Parker crank wound air pistol dating from the 1920s. Once the pellet has been inserted and seated using the attached pin, the sealing knob is retuned to the upright position and tightened down using the knurled head of the knob. There is no sealing washer, so close metal to metal tolerances are needed to prevent air escaping from the breech.



Brian

[Binners]

What a great photograph, never mind the pistol

[45flint]

Totally agree, I love Airguns that are a bit quirky. Something done in the past that would just never be done today. When I saw this old Benjamin pistol I just had to have it. Three tubes for repeating feed. 22 lead balls with rifled bronze barrel, inside steel outer barrel. Nicely machined fittings never happen today.

[Abasmajor]

The grip safety fitted to the 7th Series Titan and similar to that used on the Colt 45 ACP is another example of incorporating neat ideas into air pistols. The gun cannot be fired until the cocking lever at the rear is pressed tightly enough in the hand to deactivate the safety mechanism.



Brian

[Garvin]

I also love the gizmos as standard that you sometimes find fitted to prewar guns that became optional extras in later years, Brian.

The beautifully-machined peep sight on the Mk2 Service rifles springs to mind.

Another useful feature that must have cost next to nothing to add was the pellet sizer hole in the postwar Abas Major cocking lever.

Going even further back, to the eighteenth century and thereabouts, you had airguns tricked out with all sorts of unnecessary (but costly) features, like 'flintlock' flash pans, muzzle-loading ramrods and the like to make the transition from powder to air easier...

[rapidresponse1]

look very nice

[Garvin]

Going even further back, to the eighteenth century and thereabouts, you had airguns tricked out with all sorts of unnecessary (but costly) features, like 'flintlock' flash pans, muzzle-loading ramrods and the like to make the transition from powder to air easier...

PS I wonder if the early 'flintlock' airguns were in fact disguised as real powder burners because airguns were generally viewed suspiciously as silent assassin's weapons?