My fairly late interest in collecting classic spring powered air pistols started with finding good examples of those from my youth which meant mainly those from Webley followed by some rarer but still seen enough to be within my reach. There were however four extremely rare models that I coveted but thought I would be lucky to come across never mind be able to afford. This changed when a casual visit to my local gun dealer who mainly sold modern air guns resulted in my obtaining an Anson Star which is probably the rarest pistol in collection at a price I would have been happy to pay for a nice Webley or more readily available model from another manufacturer.
Shortly after this, another of my Holy Grails appeared at auction which given the saving I had made on the Star encouraged me to pay the expected premium needed to get a Westley Richards Highest Possible Concentric on the rare occasion they seem appear on the market.
Encouraged by this I was lucky enough to find the third pistol on my list a Cogswell & Harrison Certus from an Arms Fair at Bisley also at what I considered a reasonable price.
Although probably seen a bit more often than the others, the AG Parker Crank Wound which was final pistol on my list took longer before finally being listed on-line by antique dealer some years later who was happy to sell it at a bargain price as it was out of his usual speciality.
I don’t have a limitless budget, but this just shows that with some luck and determination, even those items we think beyond our wildest expectations' can be found. Does anybody else have a Holy Grail they have found or are still chasing ?
Brian
Originally Posted by Abasmajor
My fairly late interest in collecting classic spring powered air pistols started with finding good examples of those from my youth which meant mainly those from Webley followed by some rarer but still seen enough to be within my reach. There were however four extremely rare models that I coveted but thought I would be lucky to come across never mind be able to afford. This changed when a casual visit to my local gun dealer who mainly sold modern air guns resulted in my obtaining an Anson Star which is probably the rarest pistol in collection at a price I would have been happy to pay for a nice Webley or more readily available model from another manufacturer.
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