Blackthorn walking stick rifle

[DT Fletcher]

Was searching around and came across this interesting item. Located in Australia. What caught my eye was it's description as a "Blackthorn" walking stick rifle. It appears to be a pretty standard London Air Cane but for the bumps on the barrel shroud. After a bit of searching, Blackthorn (a type of bush) is used to make walking sticks which naturally have bumps on them.

https://collections.museumvictoria.com.au/items/371849

[greenwayjames]

Was searching around and came across this interesting item. Located in Australia. What caught my eye was it's description as a "Blackthorn" walking stick rifle. It appears to be a pretty standard London Air Cane but for the bumps on the barrel shroud. After a bit of searching, Blackthorn (a type of bush) is used to make walking sticks which naturally have bumps on them.

https://collections.museumvictoria.com.au/items/371849

Knobbly air canes are not uncommon. The bumps are usually lumps of soft solder.

[micky2]

Was searching around and came across this interesting item. Located in Australia. What caught my eye was it's description as a "Blackthorn" walking stick rifle. It appears to be a pretty standard London Air Cane but for the bumps on the barrel shroud. After a bit of searching, Blackthorn (a type of bush) is used to make walking sticks which naturally have bumps on them.

https://collections.museumvictoria.com.au/items/371849

Hi that is a term they use to discribe that type of aircane over here in the UK as well, they made that way so as to disguise them as a weapon. some people call these poachers guns as well. but like the post above they are just standard aircanes with bit on. but still a nice bit of airgun history.

[DT Fletcher]

Hi that is a term they use to discribe that type of aircane over here in the UK as well, they made that way so as to disguise them as a weapon. some people call these poachers guns as well. but like the post above they are just standard aircanes with bit on. but still a nice bit of airgun history.

Note: These weapons were not restricted to England. In 1812-1813, the Russian colonel Figner used an air cane. He was known to dress as a peasant or as a French officer, and then go behind enemy lines while armed with his air gun that looked like a walking stick. He also was observed to have executed a French officer in the field after the battle of Bautzen with his air cane. (Haller, Lowenstern)

It's pretty certain that Figner's is not an isolated occurrence. I suspect that more than a handful of English officers would have owned an air cane during the Napoleonic war era. There was even a full blown military air cane produced in Rome circa 1805 that was publicized in French texts of the period. However, I'm pretty sure that these Roman air canes would have been made with English manufactured working parts. The form is a bamboo cane that is stepped.

[micky2]

Note: These weapons were not restricted to England. In 1812-1813, the Russian colonel Figner used an air cane. He was known to dress as a peasant or as a French officer, and then go behind enemy lines while armed with his air gun that looked like a walking stick. He also was observed to have executed a French officer in the field after the battle of Bautzen with his air cane. (Haller, Lowenstern)

It's pretty certain that Figner's is not an isolated occurrence. I suspect that more than a handful of English officers would have owned an air cane during the Napoleonic war era. There was even a full blown military air cane produced in Rome circa 1805 that was publicized in French texts of the period. However, I'm pretty sure that these Roman air canes would have been made with English manufactured working parts. The form is a bamboo cane that is stepped.

Hi many thanks for that info, very interesting.