Antique air pistols.....
- Thread starter Waterfowler
- Start date
Only the first one. That's a Webley & Scott 'Junior' model, probably made between about 1948 and 1955. Too bad about the rust/pitting, but it's not too severe. I have one of the same model in a bit nicer condition, bought about 10 years ago through the Canadian airgun forum for $175. I bought a new spring, seal for the piston, and made a new leather seal for the breech, and it delivers about 300fps using H&N Finale Match .177" 7.56gr. The bore is smooth, no rifling, which was typical for the Juniors. The earlier models had a more upright, square looking grip. Here's a picture showing the Junior alongside my very nice condition Senior in .22". Love these little cast iron framed pistols. They're not strong shooters, they are very hard to group with owing to the odd forward-and-down recoil, but they're just so darn cool.
I made a short GIF showing the way the thing moves when fired. This is filmed at 300 frames per second using my Sanyo HD1010. The forward/down arc of the pistol is a reaction to the piston going back hard to push air through the U-shaped port to the back of the pellet. I can shoot about a 3" group at 10 metres with this thing. 2" with the Senior. 3/4" with my Pardini K12.
I made a short GIF showing the way the thing moves when fired. This is filmed at 300 frames per second using my Sanyo HD1010. The forward/down arc of the pistol is a reaction to the piston going back hard to push air through the U-shaped port to the back of the pellet. I can shoot about a 3" group at 10 metres with this thing. 2" with the Senior. 3/4" with my Pardini K12.
Square boots
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- Stampede city
Brother,
You have some very interesting and cool pistols there. I hope you enjoy them. I am no expert, but have a junior I truly enjoy plinking with.
Cheers,
Mike
You have some very interesting and cool pistols there. I hope you enjoy them. I am no expert, but have a junior I truly enjoy plinking with.
Cheers,
Mike
The third one is a Healthways Plainsman, a super-cool little CO2-powered BB gun that was popular back in the early 70's (maybe much later and/or earlier as well). I worked for a sporting goods dealer back then, after school, and we used a couple of these in the warehouse/attic to shoot pigeons that invaded through holes in the eaves and windows. This was in the second floor of an old building right in the the downtown sector of a city of over 200,000 people.
They killed pigeons with authority; raccoons just got pissed off...
They killed pigeons with authority; raccoons just got pissed off...
The place to watch for wear on the Webley, is the little link on the end of the connecting rod, between the barrel and the end of the piston inside.
It's a smaller piece than maybe they could have used, and it is the piece that I have seen take a fair few of these out of service.
I had a Plainsman long ago. Fun little rig, other than the cost of CO2 at the time.
I know that the Schimel has a fair bit of collector value, that Oklahoma is a funky looking one that I cannot recall ever seeing anything about, though.
It's a smaller piece than maybe they could have used, and it is the piece that I have seen take a fair few of these out of service.
I had a Plainsman long ago. Fun little rig, other than the cost of CO2 at the time.
I know that the Schimel has a fair bit of collector value, that Oklahoma is a funky looking one that I cannot recall ever seeing anything about, though.
I used to find them in the Dept store Houswares section, they were used in both Seltzer bottles (soda water for mixing drinks) and for some whipped cream dispensers. Last time I bought any, I bought them at Sears, if that doesn't date it a bit.
The thing to ask after is "Seltzer Bottle Chargers"
Some folks have made extended caps for the CO2 cavity on their guns, to hold the longer 12 gram carts as well.
The thing to ask after is "Seltzer Bottle Chargers"
Some folks have made extended caps for the CO2 cavity on their guns, to hold the longer 12 gram carts as well.
