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Thread: Frank Clarke Titan Mk1 Air Pistol.

  1. #1
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    Frank Clarke Titan Mk1 Air Pistol.

    A fellow collector has recently made me aware of his very low Ser No Mk1 Titan air pistol being No 77 with the previous lowest known being I believe No 124.
    He also has a very interesting website with links to some excellent pictures and YouTube videos of which I was previously unaware.

    Well worth clicking the link below for more information.

    https://mkguns.co.uk/frank-clarke-ti...77-air-pistol/

    Brian

  2. #2
    ccdjg is offline Airgun Alchemist, Collector and Scribe
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    Cool

    Quote Originally Posted by Abasmajor View Post
    A fellow collector has recently made me aware of his very low Ser No Mk1 Titan air pistol being No 77 with the previous lowest known being I believe No 124.
    He also has a very interesting website with links to some excellent pictures and YouTube videos of which I was previously unaware.

    Well worth clicking the link below for more information.

    https://mkguns.co.uk/frank-clarke-ti...77-air-pistol/

    Brian
    It is indeed a very fine example of the Mark Titan, and a valuable addition to our list of known examples, which now stands at seven. The serial number is well below the other reported serial numbers (124, 234, 274, 298, 344, 397). Amazing to think that for many years this model was only known from one advert drawing, and some collectors believed it never existed as such, and the illustration was just artistic licence.

    However, I must correct some of the assertions made in the linked article about Frank Clarke. Perhaps this article was written before 2008? If so then it needs some serious updating.

    The article makes such statements as "Unfortunately, concrete biographical information about Frank Clarke is sparse" "It is believed that Clarke operated in Birmingham" , "The precise timeframe of his activity is unclear, though estimates suggest it falls between the 1916 and 1940s". "Despite the obscurity surrounding Frank Clarke himself".

    In reality more is known about Frank Clarke's early life, his products, his changes of premises etc. than any other individual airgun producer.
    John Atkins' many early articles on Frank Clarke, The Encyclopedia of Spring air Pistols , 1st and 2nd editions, provide abundant data about Clarke (who incidentally lived from 1876 to 1937, and started his own gun making business in 1900.

    One other point of error is the suggestion that Clarke's pop-out Briton was a potential precursor to the Mark 1 Titan. The Briton was made from 1925 onwards (not 1916 as suggested by the author) so could not have had any influence on the Titan, which we know for sure first appeared in 1916.

  3. #3
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    Morning Abasmajor, ccdjg

    I have updated the info on MK Guns. I will give it a plink today and see how she does.

    Appreciate the interest Brian.

    best

    Grant

  4. #4
    ccdjg is offline Airgun Alchemist, Collector and Scribe
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    Great!
    You have a fantastic pistol there.
    Cheers,
    John

  5. #5
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    [QUOTE=grantybe;8298581]Morning Abasmajor, ccdjg

    I have updated the info on MK Guns. I will give it a plink today and see how she does.

    Appreciate the interest Brian.

    best

    Grant[/QUOTE

    It will be interesting to know how the Titan performs.

    Brian

  6. #6
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    The Titan MK1 still works. It had low Power but I did use .177 Darts which are slower coming out of any Pistols than Lead Pellets. Its only a little thing too so wouldn't of thought they ever pushed any Pellets out to a decent velocity.

    Here's the Video Guys,

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuAc_DbBu3o

  7. #7
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    Nice to see it in action.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by grantybe View Post
    The Titan MK1 still works. It had low Power but I did use .177 Darts which are slower coming out of any Pistols than Lead Pellets. Its only a little thing too so wouldn't of thought they ever pushed any Pellets out to a decent velocity.

    Here's the Video Guys,

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuAc_DbBu3o
    Thanks for sharing the YouTube link to your first outing with the Titan. I tend not to shoot the rarer of my pistols regularly, but I do like to have shot them at least once.
    I have never seen a Titan Mk1 or Mk2 in the flesh and have always imagined it to be larger, so the video clip helps provide a better idea of size.

    Brian

  9. #9
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    Appreciate the kind words. My family had to get by with little food in the cupboards over the last few months, sometimes you have to prioritize things in life :-)

  10. #10
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    Thanks for the video. One tends to forget how petit some of these early pistols are. I always sort of expect some hulking great lump, like a Westly Richards.

  11. #11
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    The plunger style cocking rod looks a lot less clunky when fired than I thought it would, and as said it’s quite compact. Nice pistol

  12. #12
    micky2 is offline The collector formerly known as micky
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    What a great find, and it is in such good condition.

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