Air Cane

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tiriaq

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This is a British air cane, with faux bamboo finish. Its handle and muzzle cap are missing. The air chamber is the rear portion. You can see the valve and the striker which releases a shot of air. The gun is cocked with a square key. When cocked, the little trigger button pops out. The screw which retains the forward casing is also the rear sight.
To load, the air tank would be attached to a pump, then returned to the gun. It is muzzleloading, about .30 caliber.
I have no idea if the air cylinder is still capable of holding a charge of highly compressed air.
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does the barrel key work on a rack and pinion set up to compress the coil spring ? That is going to keep me awake at night for a while speculating on how I could make one :>) :>) Definitely interesting. I saw one a number of years ago. it was around 35 or 40 caliber (I think) and used a hand pump to charge the pressure cylinder

cheers mooncoon
 
I don't know the mechanism that cams back the hammer. It is about 3/4 turn. Note that the coil mainspring is broken. Still quite strong. I believe that the valve in the reservoir is struck a tappet blow, so that only some air is released.
Note that the barrel starts off center, and but is centered up at the tip.
The pump is long gone. From photos I've seen, it was not unlike a bicycle pump, but adapted for high pressure. Apparently it took vigorous pumping to charge the reservoir.
As far as making one goes, a firearm would be easier...
 
tiriaq said:
I don't know the mechanism that cams back the hammer. It is about 3/4 turn. Note that the coil mainspring is broken. Still quite strong. I believe that the valve in the reservoir is struck a tappet blow, so that only some air is released.
Note that the barrel starts off center, and but is centered up at the tip.
The pump is long gone. From photos I've seen, it was not unlike a bicycle pump, but adapted for high pressure. Apparently it took vigorous pumping to charge the reservoir.
.
Click to expand...

I don't think that the one that I saw had a key like yours and I am pretty sure the air reservoir was good for several shots, perhaps 20 or 30. The owner had brought several of them over with him when he moved to Canada from England. I think it would take a lot of experimenting to make a valve which would release a small amount of air very quickly. Definitely a lot more puzzling than a cartridge gun or a muzzle loader

cheers mooncoon
 
I got to shoot a French-made air cane a few years back. An adaptor had been made to allow the use of a modern high-pressure air rifle pump, and it took around sixty strokes to charge up to around 80 BAR or thereabouts. It shot a 8.5mm ball clear through 6mm plywood at 20m. Definitely a close-up killer, as originally intended, of course.

tac
 
I have studied it carefully, and cannot find any maker's marks. Internet searches have turned up photos of similar canes. Also found a link for reproduction pumps. With a pump typical of those accompanying air canes, 500psi would seem to be a typical initial operating pressure.
I'm thinking of turning up an adapter so that my shop compressor could be attached to the tank. This would let me play with 100psi, see if the poppet valve holds air, and responds to the action.
The air cylinder is about 16" long, the gun portion 20 1/4. Diameter of the air cylinder at the butt end is 1.04"
 
I have a book on these somewheres. They came in a variety of calibers and ranges of power. The most impressive one I’ve seen was one in .40 cal, the fellow who restored it gave it a few pumps and fired a shot at his cast iron stove in his shop. Destroyed the stove, blew the door on it to bits.
 
tula said:
I have a book on these somewheres. They came in a variety of calibers and ranges of power. The most impressive one I’ve seen was one in .40 cal, the fellow who restored it gave it a few pumps and fired a shot at his cast iron stove in his shop. Destroyed the stove, blew the door on it to bits.
Click to expand...

Many years ago, I read that book.
 
quackenbushairguns.com/pumps.html
Description of reproduction pumps for antique airguns. It occurred to me that I could make a pump using a piece of shotgun barrel for the cylinder. Only tricky part would be the valve in the piston.
 
tiriaq said:
quackenbushairguns.com/pumps.html
Description of reproduction pumps for antique airguns. It occurred to me that I could make a pump using a piece of shotgun barrel for the cylinder. Only tricky part would be the valve in the piston.
Click to expand...

A couple valve cores from a tire fill valve would be a pretty easy adaptation, set up to 'sniff' open, and with them already spring loaded to closed.

Lots of potential in scrounging through the air tools section at he hardware store too. Not much difference between the valves used on air guns, compared to those used in paint sprayers and air nozzles for blowing stuff around the shop.

Even a reed valve would work.
 
Thanks!
These pumps work in a manner akin to the old bilge pumps. Only valve in the pump is the air inlet. It is the poppet valve in the reservoir that retains the pumped air.
 
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