First recoiless air rifle patent?

[Epicyclic]

Great find Matt. I spent many happy days in the old Patent Office when it was at Southampton Buildings off Chancery Lane. Although I was researching pneumatic designs and seldom wandered over to spring/piston, it was evident that the way the Brits think is the widest-ranging and imaginative in this field. It struck me that countries and regions of the world had definate characteristics of thought which was evident in the way their citizens found design solutions.
In those days you had to go on the microfiche, take notes then go hunting along the shelves with ladders on wheels, lifting the large volumes of bound Patents and carting them to your desk.
My niche was F41b and although just a drop in the ocean, kept me very occupied!
Wandering 'off piste' was interesting as other random granted Patents were juxtaposed with the numbers you decided to look at and I saw how incrediably ingenious people are and have been and also had a sense of how vast the world is!...