Amazing video! Not only highly entertaining to watch, but unique and very important for the historical record. There is nothing to compare with it, either in the literature or in videos, for explaining the inner workings of these iconic guns and for demonstrating how they perform. Great skill in the restoration as well!
I wished I could know more about the efficiency of this type of airgun... theres nothing like it today. modern materials could do a lot to improve this type of bellow design, I mean, its made of partchment! theres bound to be a plastic that behaves better than this. I've also noticed theres no compression port, and maybe add a bellow with more volume. It would be cool to test the possibilities of that! more people should watch this channel, people were brilliant back in the day, so much innovation!
I did some slo mo filming showing the difference between how this bellows gun compresses air and a volute spring rifle. The spring gun works on ‘pop gun’ where the pressure builds up behind the dart till it ‘pops’ it out. The Bellows seems to provide all the air at a constant pressure. Have a look at ‘slomo airgun darts’ I think a modern version could be an interesting experiment, but inherently low power. The bore has to be at least .25 to let the air out. There were some with double bellows back in the day, never seen a real one though. Cheers
The details in the sear cover, etc. In fact, it was seen by any future gunsmith and, after all these years, by all of us. I, for one, appreciate the craftsmanship of the original smith. Great job 👏 sir.
It's just a brilliant, interesting system and I like that some parts of the mechanics look quite medieval. It reminds me of some very old door locks or church tower clockworks from medieval times. Thanks for these insights, it was a real pleasure to see.
There are definitely unique characteristics to how the air moves in bellows guns. I showed it in my slomo darts vid. It would be very interesting to see a modern repro. Thanks
I had the dart video come up in my feed a couple weeks ago, then stumbled on this video from searching on a Facebook group I belong to. Are the bellows made of one split piece of wood, or two halves glued together, secured by the iron ring? I was pleased by the velocity this rather large bore had considering what looked like a small volume of air. If I make one I'll put a brass or steel sleeve in an old cheap muzzleloader barrel and use an off-the-shelf set trigger. @@dkjngl1
What an amazing air rifle, the engineering that went into it is quite a feat. I'm a fan of early firearms and the work that went into their creation. Many are works of art. I have a deep appreciation for the people who bring them back to working condition and keeping history alive. Great video, thank you. (It would be great to see a reproduction of this gallery gun, but the cost would be prohibitive.)
Wow!. I read about this type of air rifle in a book called “Hunting weapons from the Middle Ages to the twentieth century” about 7 years ago. It’s absolutely amazing.
I have an elaborate rifle very much like the one you show (including the adjustable rear peep sight). I'm in my 80's and hope that it will go to someone who can truly appreciate it.
Engraved on the barrel is: STRASSBERGER IN TRAUNSTEIN with an elaborate scroll. The gun is very fancy and complete. The rear sight on the barrel is a work of art. And I have taken many photos of the gun.
Fantastic video and talent. The ornate design in the sears is never seen but just goes to show the pride that these gunsmiths had in their work. Fantastic 👏👏👏 I’ve bought back to life a couple of original Daystate’s but this is something else. 😂
Thank you, It’s a journey into the unknown taking something like this apart but I’m really glad I did. The few pics of bellows mechanisms I’ve seen have been pretty basic, so it was a real surprise to find this level of craftsmanship inside. I like to think that whoever commissioned Joseph Kuchenreuter to make this airgun visited the workshop during construction, and knew what was going inside and was happy to pay a bit extra to have some hidden luxury in there that only they’d know about. Amazing thing. Cheers
I've watched most of your videos and made as lot of purchases based on these.....Original model 10 a little while ago with that wonderful anti recoil system, 3 weeks ago a Feiwerkbau 300su, about 3 months ago I took up 'proper' 10m target shooting at Rugeley Rifle club, bought a Feiwerkbau 600 which I've customised to fit me.........can you see a German theme here 🤪 they don't arf know how to make quality air guns. Anyway now look what you have done to me.......I want one of those 😂😂 Brilliant video, Thank you.
Hi, glad to hear the videos have been of use and led to you acquiring some of these excellent airguns, thanks. Good choice on the 600, I have a 602 and to me it marks the last of those classic 10m match rifles. Great guns. This bellows gun feels like a 190 yr old 10m rifle. Apart from the pre war of the Lincoln Jeffries BSA, Cox Britannia and Mk2 Webley Service all my air rifles are German. Cheers
Also, can I ask how did you customise your 600? Did you have to make any alterations outside the inbuilt adjustment for these rifles? I think on mine I removed the butt pad adjuster that slides in and out of the stock and just screwed the 2 part adjustable butt-pad to the stock to reduce the length of pull by about 5mm
@@dkjngl1 I think TH-cam removed my reply as I put an email address in it so I'll try again. Cosmetically, I stripped the stock, it had yellowed a lot, lightened it as much as I could with hydrogen peroxide and bleach, prepared and sprayed with water born satin as this does not darken the wood, painted the cheekpeice and handle area black, bought suitable size carbon fibre tube and covered the barrel. Other mods, the coach said for the gun to fit me, I needed to drop the butt pad lower than it would go, so I shaped some walnut to fit the stock and the butt plate so it looks 'pretty' this is about 18mm thick, I had spacers anyway, sits, about 30mm lower and painted this black. Apparently coach said I have a long upper arm compared to my forearm, he got me shooting on my knuckle but I needed the front even higher, so I built a riser out of walnut and again painted black... do some people call it a hamster? Attached this to the accessory rail via a top hat nut with its edges flattened to fit with a bolt going through and supported with carbon fibre tube and another bolt going through, using a longer bolt going into the original hole of the stock into the action. Finished off with some nice Gahmann irises. Also it's very nose heavy, so I filled the stock with lead, it has 2 holes behind the butt pad on the 600, I don't know if this, was the same with the later models? It's just in the legal limit by about 50g! I've started on the 300, I thought I would do it in spray polyurethane rather than oil, spent hours flatting it with 2000 and 2500 wet n dry, buffed it with rubbing compound ........ Absolutely hated it, it looked like polished plastic, which I suppose it is? so this has been stripped again ready for oiling😂 Also trigger carrier snapped 😭 I'm in the process of learning 3d software for when I buy a 3d printer end of Jan, I'm thinking of melting out the metal inner and printing new plastic parts in carbon reinforced PLA, apparently this is supper strong but in the meantime, I experimented, and got some 5mm steel, a grinder and a file and made a trigger carrier, a couple of washers..... Guess what, it bloody works! Had to adjust all setting as I could not get it exactly the same as FWB but it now works well. Apparently the part is no longer manufactured, the guy in Canada, is it Nikkonos who was selling then told me this. I don't know how to get some pics to you?
@@mickchaganis6607 Hi, sounds like you've made that 600 fit you well, the modern 800 series are adjustable in every possible way but these earlier ones do need a bit more work. I fitted a wedge type wooden hamster I got from Germany and I put loads of weight on the back end of mine to get the balance point fractionally in front of my supporting hand. I put some in the recess by the butt and also a load in the space between the cheekpiece and the stock. It weighs a ton but once shouldered it's as stable as a table. I did want to reblue the barrel but it's bonded into the same block as the cylinder so can't be removed. Your carbon sleeve is a good idea which wouldn't add any forward weight. Impossible to add pics here but if you p.m me on airgunbbs or airgunforums or instagram (ptdunk on all those too) we can sort something out. Cheers
@@dkjngl1 brilliant, will message tomorrow after shooting club, busy trying to get a Walther Cp5 working that I bought from the club going through it bit by bit......haven't a clue what I'm doing 😂😂......looking like its a lazy solenoid.
I've always been curious about how this type of airgun worked and what they were like inside. This one at least is amazing. You'd expect anything bearing the name Kuchenreuter to exhibit fine workmanship - and so it does, but the condition is startling too. And parchment - I always thought the bellows would be made of fairly substantial leather. And two heavyduty leaf springs... Truly, my eyes have been opened. Thankyou so much for showing this.
Thank you, I too was intrigued to see how it worked and was not disappointed. This will probably be the only example of a bellows I will ever own and I count myself lucky to have found such a lovely example. Regarding the bellows, I wonder if the large 8.5mm bore & low resistance Dart mean you don’t get too much back pressure on firing, and subsequently the bellows don’t fold outwards on compression.
@@dkjngl1 I think you are correct - no high pressure air here! Just a fascinating example of low energy engineering. If you could shoot it over a chronograph sometime... It would be interesting to see how it compares to more recent target airguns.
@@davidpowell5437 it does 3ftlbs with 30.6gr darts. I have a few volute spring crank wound gallery airguns which followed on from the Bellows airguns in the late 1800 early 1900’s and they do 2 ftlbs. Later 1960’s match air rifles did around 6 ftlbs and still do today. Cheers
Your knowledge and work is amazing with the engineering of replacement parts and immersing yourself and commiting to complete rebuilds of airguns. Have you ever thought of building your own air pistols or rifles and putting them forward to the retail market? All the best from lancashire uk.
Hi, I just repair or tune airguns, it’s John Griffiths who makes the reproductions of prototypes that we filmed. They take so long to make there’s no market for selling them really, and I don’t think he has the time. Shame as I’d love to buy an example of the Bellows pistol he made. Thanks from London, Matt
Sir, you are a pedagigic genius! The way you've filmed, edited and presented this restoration is unpresidented. I hope that you will find a way to capitalise from your talent. If I were still in business, I would hire you without any other credentials. In a minute. Keep it up, please.
That is very nice of you to say, thank you. I try to make both the visuals and narration independently explanatory, When combined they seem to work well. I’m happy to do it for the love of the Hobby, and without annoying adverts. Cheers, Matt
The bending stock looks indeed terrifying. Is there no other hinge to the barrel than the bending stock itself ? Very interesting and informative video ! Never thought that its made with bellows.
The barrel has a v spring that pushes it up at the breech, and a stop that catches it at the correct height. The front of the barrel is attached to the stock near the front via a pin. The stock bends just behind this and does act as a hinge of sorts. The wood of the stock is in good condition and must have been kept nice and dry for the last 200 years. Cheers!
Different than the models which had a compressed air reservoir -- this is sort of like a blowgun. I was unaware of this sort of mechanism. The reservoir model, which is described in other videos, was actually powerful enough to kill a human and were used in IIRC the Austrian army in the late 18th century. These weapons were repeating rifles while gunpowder versions were single-shot muzzle loaders. There are reasons why such air-powered weapons were not more popular -- two are difficulty in manufacturing and training of soldiers in their use.
Me too, there is something very satisfying about shooting a dart accurately at short distances. I can certainly see why it was so popular hundreds of years ago. Apparently Mozart used to shoot these regularly indoors as after dinner competitions. he wrote about it in his shooting diary’s. Cheers
Thanks, glad you liked it. It sucks air into the bellows through the barrel so if you put the dart in before cocking it could suck the dart into the bellows, or at least restrict the air on its way in. You could leave the barrel open but the way the stock flexes when the barrel is open I wouldn’t want it in that open position any longer than necessary. Whole cocking & loading routine is pretty smooth once you get used to it. Cheers
Hi, I acquired this from Protek Supplies in Bognor Regis U.K. I’ve found some amazingly rare stuff there in the past, great little shop. 214fps with a 30.6gr dart, which is about 3.15ftlbs. Most of the later volute spring gallery guns only do 2.5 ftlbs so this is pretty good. Prototype construction video is ongoing, would have to be a montage if still pictures of the construction stages with narration if that would be of interest? Cheers, Matt
Typical I think of Teutonic precision engineering. What is the bore size? Is the bore rifled or smooth and does the gun fire darts only or ball ammo as well? There were of course pump-up guns in antiquity capable of killing game but guess this is a bit milder. Excellent presentation!
Hi, that sounds like a very interesting project, I have lots more pics, can’t send on here or give you an email but I’m on airgunbbs.com and Facebook as ptdunk if you want to get in touch o either of those
@@dkjngl1 unfortunately I kinda gave up and have been slowly saving up for one to model in person. But as life loves to do fun spending money often has to be taken and used for unfun things.
@@dkjngl1 some markings on the lockwork the letter A it looks like, stamped on the side of the trigge the barel has some writing to but it not clear enough to read,dose no look like english, at a guess i would say its late 1900s
Nicely phrased! When you put it like that it does sound a bit odd. Apparently Mozart and his sister used to shoot these every weekend in competitions with his group of friends. We know this because of his diary.
Such historic events fondly reminds me of YT Radio Theme Time Hour with host Bob Dylan. A series where he'd taken random subjects and took them back to when it was first mentioned in music; then those said historical subjects were inducted into societal usage.@@dkjngl1
They had some beautiful repeating PCP’s in the 1700’s like the Girondoni, but they were so powerful they’d have blown a hole in the wall! I’ve come to appreciate these bellows guns were a masterpiece of low pressure technology, ideal for after dinner indoor parlour shooting. I bet on some dusty shelf somewhere there’s some ancient repeating prototype 😊 cheers
@@dkjngl1 I didn't know the Girodoni had a backup shot I automatically assumed it was single. I see a display version of it for sale , I'm almost tempted. I see some spiral springed Bugelspanner occasionally but never really looked into older air rifles.
I have a few of the later spiral ‘volute spring’ airguns and they are also very interesting, but becoming a bit more mass market by then. They went crank wound, like the bellows, then briefly side lever, then eventually trigger guard under lever cocking Bugelspanners. Although the Bugelsanners are definitely mass market by comparison the cocking mechanism is a joy to use.
@@dkjngl1 My intention is to build a single stroke rifle not spring but compressed air. A skeleton stock/frame to include not only the trigger guard but also the length of the butt as an underlever. Splitting from butt pad to muzzle (picture bolt cutters). The hopeful end result being a multitude of atmospheres. Should be an amusing endeavor.
@@robertarthurs328 That sounds very interesting, I always wondered why no-one made a modern springer that uses the leverage you get from a Bugelspanner, maybe with higher power it would be too hard to cock. Be wary that a Single stroke pneumatic would obviously compress when you were closing it, not pulling it open so the mechanical advantage would be less in the design you describe. The Walther LGR (first SSP) has a side lever hinged at the back and is quite hard to close, the later Feinwerkbau 600 series of SSP rifles hinges at the front so when you close it you are pulling the end of the side lever into your waist, and it's much easier to close. Could you have your hinge in front of the trigger, maybe incorparating the trigger guard? Interesting project.
Amazing video! Not only highly entertaining to watch, but unique and very important for the historical record. There is nothing to compare with it, either in the literature or in videos, for explaining the inner workings of these iconic guns and for demonstrating how they perform. Great skill in the restoration as well!
Thanks John, as mentioned it was your Bellows pistol that inspired it.
I love what you are doing with this video and your channel in general. Great work, keep it going please.
Thank you, there are some nice videos in the pipeline.
I wished I could know more about the efficiency of this type of airgun... theres nothing like it today. modern materials could do a lot to improve this type of bellow design, I mean, its made of partchment! theres bound to be a plastic that behaves better than this. I've also noticed theres no compression port, and maybe add a bellow with more volume. It would be cool to test the possibilities of that! more people should watch this channel, people were brilliant back in the day, so much innovation!
I did some slo mo filming showing the difference between how this bellows gun compresses air and a volute spring rifle. The spring gun works on ‘pop gun’ where the pressure builds up behind the dart till it ‘pops’ it out. The Bellows seems to provide all the air at a constant pressure. Have a look at ‘slomo airgun darts’ I think a modern version could be an interesting experiment, but inherently low power. The bore has to be at least .25 to let the air out. There were some with double bellows back in the day, never seen a real one though. Cheers
What a pleasure to watch it come alive again
Thank you so much for the patience and care put into this
Thank you
very very clever i i rely enjoy you videos looking forward to part 2 of 100 years of air pistols
Thank you, more to come
The details in the sear cover, etc. In fact, it was seen by any future gunsmith and, after all these years, by all of us. I, for one, appreciate the craftsmanship of the original smith. Great job 👏 sir.
Thanks
An amazing historic air rifle and a first class video
Thank you 😊
So awesome!!! I’m an airgun enthusiast so this was really amazing to watch
Thank you, it was a very enjoyable project
It's just a brilliant, interesting system and I like that some parts of the mechanics look quite medieval. It reminds me of some very old door locks or church tower clockworks from medieval times. Thanks for these insights, it was a real pleasure to see.
Thank you, glad you found it interesting
I've thought about building one for a few years, but never could quite grasp what all goes on inside - this is quite helpful.
There are definitely unique characteristics to how the air moves in bellows guns. I showed it in my slomo darts vid. It would be very interesting to see a modern repro. Thanks
I had the dart video come up in my feed a couple weeks ago, then stumbled on this video from searching on a Facebook group I belong to. Are the bellows made of one split piece of wood, or two halves glued together, secured by the iron ring? I was pleased by the velocity this rather large bore had considering what looked like a small volume of air. If I make one I'll put a brass or steel sleeve in an old cheap muzzleloader barrel and use an off-the-shelf set trigger. @@dkjngl1
Fascinating work. Thanks for making the video. Great skill you have there.
Thanks mate, glad you enjoyed it
What an amazing air rifle, the engineering that went into it is quite a feat.
I'm a fan of early firearms and the work that went into their creation.
Many are works of art.
I have a deep appreciation for the people who bring them back to working condition and keeping history alive.
Great video, thank you.
(It would be great to see a reproduction of this gallery gun, but the cost would be prohibitive.)
Wonderful video! You did a great job restoring this beautiful historic piece of craftsmanship! :)
Thanks 😊
Very nice work and what an amazing rifle. I think anyone would be proud to have it in their collection.
Thank you
Fantastic explanation and video work!
Thank you very much
Fantastic work!
It’s a really special airgun, thanks mate
Wow!. I read about this type of air rifle in a book called “Hunting weapons from the Middle Ages to the twentieth century” about 7 years ago. It’s absolutely amazing.
Thanks, I’m very happy to have been able to get it on film, I think it’s a very special airgun. Cheers
Fascinating , thanks for sharing.
I have an elaborate rifle very much like the one you show (including the adjustable rear peep sight). I'm in my 80's and hope that it will go to someone who can truly appreciate it.
Hi, they generally command a high price so I’m sure it’ll end up with someone who’ll appreciate it. Does it have a makers name or anything?
Engraved on the barrel is: STRASSBERGER IN TRAUNSTEIN with an elaborate scroll. The gun is very fancy and complete. The rear sight on the barrel is a work of art. And I have taken many photos of the gun.
Awesome! I wish someone made copies of these. I would love to have one...
I know a man who can… just got to encourage him to have a go at it!
Fingers crossed
@@dkjngl1 well, let's encourage him!
Fantastic, thanks for sharing!
Glad you enjoyed it!
I always wondered how these worked. Superb video. Thank you.
Cracking job on the restoration mate 👌
Thank you, it was slightly nerve wracking but well worth it.
This Contraptions gotta be Worth a small fortune, I love it
Extremely cool, I never knew there was a bellows airgun, can't believe that parchment is still holding up.
Crazy eh? I don’t think it had been apart much over the last 200 years so pretty much hermetically sealed. Glad you enjoyed the vid, cheers
You are a lucky man, you have the honor to own a real Kuchenreuter.
It really is an honour. Cheers
Fantastic video and talent.
The ornate design in the sears is never seen but just goes to show the pride that these gunsmiths had in their work.
Fantastic 👏👏👏
I’ve bought back to life a couple of original Daystate’s but this is something else. 😂
Thank you,
It’s a journey into the unknown taking something like this apart but I’m really glad I did. The few pics of bellows mechanisms I’ve seen have been pretty basic, so it was a real surprise to find this level of craftsmanship inside.
I like to think that whoever commissioned Joseph Kuchenreuter to make this airgun visited the workshop during construction, and knew what was going inside and was happy to pay a bit extra to have some hidden luxury in there that only they’d know about.
Amazing thing.
Cheers
Excellent job and video
Thank you very much!
What an absolute wonderful video for a brilliant airgun❤ Thank you sir
Glad you enjoyed it, I really enjoyed making it. Thank you very much 😊
A beautiful gun and a great restoration ! - subscription added.
Thanks
Fascinating! Thank you for this video.
I've watched most of your videos and made as lot of purchases based on these.....Original model 10 a little while ago with that wonderful anti recoil system, 3 weeks ago a Feiwerkbau 300su, about 3 months ago I took up 'proper' 10m target shooting at Rugeley Rifle club, bought a Feiwerkbau 600 which I've customised to fit me.........can you see a German theme here 🤪 they don't arf know how to make quality air guns.
Anyway now look what you have done to me.......I want one of those 😂😂
Brilliant video, Thank you.
Hi, glad to hear the videos have been of use and led to you acquiring some of these excellent airguns, thanks. Good choice on the 600, I have a 602 and to me it marks the last of those classic 10m match rifles. Great guns. This bellows gun feels like a 190 yr old 10m rifle. Apart from the pre war of the Lincoln Jeffries BSA, Cox Britannia and Mk2 Webley Service all my air rifles are German.
Cheers
Also, can I ask how did you customise your 600? Did you have to make any alterations outside the inbuilt adjustment for these rifles? I think on mine I removed the butt pad adjuster that slides in and out of the stock and just screwed the 2 part adjustable butt-pad to the stock to reduce the length of pull by about 5mm
@@dkjngl1 I think TH-cam removed my reply as I put an email address in it so I'll try again.
Cosmetically, I stripped the stock, it had yellowed a lot, lightened it as much as I could with hydrogen peroxide and bleach, prepared and sprayed with water born satin as this does not darken the wood, painted the cheekpeice and handle area black, bought suitable size carbon fibre tube and covered the barrel.
Other mods, the coach said for the gun to fit me, I needed to drop the butt pad lower than it would go, so I shaped some walnut to fit the stock and the butt plate so it looks 'pretty' this is about 18mm thick, I had spacers anyway, sits, about 30mm lower and painted this black.
Apparently coach said I have a long upper arm compared to my forearm, he got me shooting on my knuckle but I needed the front even higher, so I built a riser out of walnut and again painted black... do some people call it a hamster? Attached this to the accessory rail via a top hat nut with its edges flattened to fit with a bolt going through and supported with carbon fibre tube and another bolt going through, using a longer bolt going into the original hole of the stock into the action. Finished off with some nice Gahmann irises.
Also it's very nose heavy, so I filled the stock with lead, it has 2 holes behind the butt pad on the 600, I don't know if this, was the same with the later models? It's just in the legal limit by about 50g!
I've started on the 300, I thought I would do it in spray polyurethane rather than oil, spent hours flatting it with 2000 and 2500 wet n dry, buffed it with rubbing compound ........ Absolutely hated it, it looked like polished plastic, which I suppose it is? so this has been stripped again ready for oiling😂
Also trigger carrier snapped 😭 I'm in the process of learning 3d software for when I buy a 3d printer end of Jan, I'm thinking of melting out the metal inner and printing new plastic parts in carbon reinforced PLA, apparently this is supper strong but in the meantime, I experimented, and got some 5mm steel, a grinder and a file and made a trigger carrier, a couple of washers..... Guess what, it bloody works! Had to adjust all setting as I could not get it exactly the same as FWB but it now works well.
Apparently the part is no longer manufactured, the guy in Canada, is it Nikkonos who was selling then told me this.
I don't know how to get some pics to you?
@@mickchaganis6607 Hi, sounds like you've made that 600 fit you well, the modern 800 series are adjustable in every possible way but these earlier ones do need a bit more work.
I fitted a wedge type wooden hamster I got from Germany and I put loads of weight on the back end of mine to get the balance point fractionally in front of my supporting hand. I put some in the recess by the butt and also a load in the space between the cheekpiece and the stock. It weighs a ton but once shouldered it's as stable as a table.
I did want to reblue the barrel but it's bonded into the same block as the cylinder so can't be removed. Your carbon sleeve is a good idea which wouldn't add any forward weight.
Impossible to add pics here but if you p.m me on airgunbbs or airgunforums or instagram (ptdunk on all those too) we can sort something out.
Cheers
@@dkjngl1 brilliant, will message tomorrow after shooting club, busy trying to get a Walther Cp5 working that I bought from the club going through it bit by bit......haven't a clue what I'm doing 😂😂......looking like its a lazy solenoid.
Good info , thank you.
You're welcome
I've always been curious about how this type of airgun worked and what they were like inside. This one at least is amazing. You'd expect anything bearing the name Kuchenreuter to exhibit fine workmanship - and so it does, but the condition is startling too. And parchment - I always thought the bellows would be made of fairly substantial leather. And two heavyduty leaf springs... Truly, my eyes have been opened. Thankyou so much for showing this.
Thank you, I too was intrigued to see how it worked and was not disappointed. This will probably be the only example of a bellows I will ever own and I count myself lucky to have found such a lovely example.
Regarding the bellows, I wonder if the large 8.5mm bore & low resistance Dart mean you don’t get too much back pressure on firing, and subsequently the bellows don’t fold outwards on compression.
@@dkjngl1 I think you are correct - no high pressure air here! Just a fascinating example of low energy engineering. If you could shoot it over a chronograph sometime... It would be interesting to see how it compares to more recent target airguns.
@@davidpowell5437 it does 3ftlbs with 30.6gr darts.
I have a few volute spring crank wound gallery airguns which followed on from the Bellows airguns in the late 1800 early 1900’s and they do 2 ftlbs. Later 1960’s match air rifles did around 6 ftlbs and still do today.
Cheers
what an interesting gun 👍 great job mate indeed 21:42
Cheers mate
brilliant
Thank you
Your knowledge and work is amazing with the engineering of replacement parts and immersing yourself and commiting to complete rebuilds of airguns. Have you ever thought of building your own air pistols or rifles and putting them forward to the retail market? All the best from lancashire uk.
Hi, I just repair or tune airguns, it’s John Griffiths who makes the reproductions of prototypes that we filmed. They take so long to make there’s no market for selling them really, and I don’t think he has the time. Shame as I’d love to buy an example of the Bellows pistol he made. Thanks from London, Matt
Sir, you are a pedagigic genius!
The way you've filmed, edited and presented this restoration is unpresidented.
I hope that you will find a way to capitalise from your talent. If I were still in business, I would hire you without any other credentials. In a minute.
Keep it up, please.
That is very nice of you to say, thank you. I try to make both the visuals and narration independently explanatory, When combined they seem to work well. I’m happy to do it for the love of the Hobby, and without annoying adverts. Cheers, Matt
The bending stock looks indeed terrifying. Is there no other hinge to the barrel than the bending stock itself ?
Very interesting and informative video ! Never thought that its made with bellows.
The barrel has a v spring that pushes it up at the breech, and a stop that catches it at the correct height. The front of the barrel is attached to the stock near the front via a pin. The stock bends just behind this and does act as a hinge of sorts. The wood of the stock is in good condition and must have been kept nice and dry for the last 200 years. Cheers!
Different than the models which had a compressed air reservoir -- this is sort of like a blowgun. I was unaware of this sort of mechanism. The reservoir model, which is described in other videos, was actually powerful enough to kill a human and were used in IIRC the Austrian army in the late 18th century. These weapons were repeating rifles while gunpowder versions were single-shot muzzle loaders. There are reasons why such air-powered weapons were not more popular -- two are difficulty in manufacturing and training of soldiers in their use.
I wish companies would start reproducing such high quality low powered gallery airguns
Me too, there is something very satisfying about shooting a dart accurately at short distances. I can certainly see why it was so popular hundreds of years ago. Apparently Mozart used to shoot these regularly indoors as after dinner competitions. he wrote about it in his shooting diary’s.
Cheers
@@dkjngl1 Really?? Ok now thats really cool. I wonder. Would I just look for "bellows gun" if I wanted to find one of these?
‘Bellows’ gun in U.K. or U.S or ‘Windbüchse’ if you’re trying to get one from Germany, which is where they are more common. I got this in the U.K.
Bonito interessante esta arma. Parabéns pelo vídeo. Eu não sabia que as armas de ar comprimido eram tão antigas.
Thank you
Fantastic & interesting well narrated video 👍 May I and one question, Could you not load the dart before cocking the action?
Thanks, glad you liked it.
It sucks air into the bellows through the barrel so if you put the dart in before cocking it could suck the dart into the bellows, or at least restrict the air on its way in. You could leave the barrel open but the way the stock flexes when the barrel is open I wouldn’t want it in that open position any longer than necessary. Whole cocking & loading routine is pretty smooth once you get used to it. Cheers
Bloody good job! Where did you find this lovely piece? How many FPS? It sounds very good. Have you and John G. come up with any videos of his shop ?
Hi, I acquired this from Protek Supplies in Bognor Regis U.K. I’ve found some amazingly rare stuff there in the past, great little shop. 214fps with a 30.6gr dart, which is about 3.15ftlbs. Most of the later volute spring gallery guns only do 2.5 ftlbs so this is pretty good. Prototype construction video is ongoing, would have to be a montage if still pictures of the construction stages with narration if that would be of interest? Cheers, Matt
Typical I think of Teutonic precision engineering. What is the bore size? Is the bore rifled or smooth and does the gun fire darts only or ball ammo as well? There were of course pump-up guns in antiquity capable of killing game but guess this is a bit milder.
Excellent presentation!
8.5mm smoothbore, darts only as I doubt an 8.5mm lead ball would make it across a room! Darts work very nicely though.
Cheers
Hello, out of curiosity do you have any more pictures or drawings of this interesting piece of tech, as I'd love to make a 3d model of one
Hi, that sounds like a very interesting project, I have lots more pics, can’t send on here or give you an email but I’m on airgunbbs.com and Facebook as ptdunk if you want to get in touch o either of those
@@dkjngl1 Thank you for the reply, I sent you a message on Facebook
@@inserttext2412 was that a friend request?
Hi, just wondering if you ever did a 3d drawing of this gun?
@@dkjngl1 unfortunately I kinda gave up and have been slowly saving up for one to model in person. But as life loves to do fun spending money often has to be taken and used for unfun things.
have one simler but not as old as that im sure ,,,
They are all pretty old, does yours have any markings?
@@dkjngl1 some markings on the lockwork the letter A it looks like, stamped on the side of the trigge the barel has some writing to but it not clear enough to read,dose no look like english, at a guess i would say its late 1900s
Spring Powered Parchment Lunged Blow Gun ?
Nicely phrased! When you put it like that it does sound a bit odd. Apparently Mozart and his sister used to shoot these every weekend in competitions with his group of friends. We know this because of his diary.
Such historic events fondly reminds me of YT Radio Theme Time Hour with host Bob Dylan. A series where he'd taken random subjects and took them back to when it was first mentioned in music; then those said historical subjects were inducted into societal usage.@@dkjngl1
Imagine. Having. Brain. Power. To. Make. A. Gun. Like. That' !!!
8:02
This makes a PCP seem crude and simplistic but I'm sure individuals using a bellow rifle would appreciate a repeater.
They had some beautiful repeating PCP’s in the 1700’s like the Girondoni, but they were so powerful they’d have blown a hole in the wall!
I’ve come to appreciate these bellows guns were a masterpiece of low pressure technology, ideal for after dinner indoor parlour shooting.
I bet on some dusty shelf somewhere there’s some ancient repeating prototype 😊 cheers
@@dkjngl1 I didn't know the Girodoni had a backup shot I automatically assumed it was single. I see a display version of it for sale , I'm almost tempted. I see some spiral springed Bugelspanner occasionally but never really looked into older air rifles.
I have a few of the later spiral ‘volute spring’ airguns and they are also very interesting, but becoming a bit more mass market by then. They went crank wound, like the bellows, then briefly side lever, then eventually trigger guard under lever cocking Bugelspanners. Although the Bugelsanners are definitely mass market by comparison the cocking mechanism is a joy to use.
@@dkjngl1 My intention is to build a single stroke rifle not spring but compressed air. A skeleton stock/frame to include not only the trigger guard but also the length of the butt as an underlever. Splitting from butt pad to muzzle (picture bolt cutters). The hopeful end result being a multitude of atmospheres. Should be an amusing endeavor.
@@robertarthurs328 That sounds very interesting, I always wondered why no-one made a modern springer that uses the leverage you get from a Bugelspanner, maybe with higher power it would be too hard to cock.
Be wary that a Single stroke pneumatic would obviously compress when you were closing it, not pulling it open so the mechanical advantage would be less in the design you describe.
The Walther LGR (first SSP) has a side lever hinged at the back and is quite hard to close, the later Feinwerkbau 600 series of SSP rifles hinges at the front so when you close it you are pulling the end of the side lever into your waist, and it's much easier to close.
Could you have your hinge in front of the trigger, maybe incorparating the trigger guard?
Interesting project.
Whats the FPS?
210 with 30.6gr dart