Quote Originally Posted by draitzer View Post
A possible candidate would be the Haviland & Gunn combination air/rimfire rifle of the 1870's.
To quote ccdjg from 'earlier':
" Hawley's patent is dated 1869, Haviland & Gunn's first patent appeared in 1871, and Hawley's Kalamazoo was already being sold in 1870 in .22 calibre, so I think we can safely say that Hawley pre-empted H & G in introducing the .22 calibre onto the airgun scene."