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Today I was reminded of a gun I’d worked on over 35 years ago.

I worked at I M Crudgington’s in Bath and we had one customer how have a large collection of antiques. This customer had Whitworth percussion rifles, Forsyth scent bottle first and 2nd patterns. Over time we where repairing and cleaning them up.

One of the guns he had was an Austrian compressed air, air rifle made around 1780/1800. The air with held in the bottle in the stock and the lock looked like a flintlock.

Today I visited a gun dealer that wanted me to do some work for him. On the wall in a class fronted case is an Austrian air rifle. just like the one I worked on 35 years ago.

I told the dealer I worked one that over 30 years ago I told him. No you couldn’t have done, that was one of the Keith Neil collection. Yes and at Crudgington’s we worked on the Keith Neil collection.

Interesting. I'm really surprised that someone like Pedersoli or Uberti haven't made a replica of the Girandoni air rifle - It's not too complicated and in most of the sensible world it's still only regarded as an air rifle.

Just so far ahead of it's time, especially when you think of using leather washers and horn sealing valves.

Nice to see you are still alive and kicking Gunsmoke, it has been a while!

I saw an air rifle a while ago that was from the Napoleonic era, fascinating to see and strictly looked at only, no shooting.