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LOT 298
Rare Documented, Engraved, Relief Carved and Silver Inlaid Austrian Girardoni Repeating Grip Reservoir Air Pistol - NSN, 9.5 mm , 7 5/8 inch octagon bbl., blue/bright finish, walnut stock. This impressive embellished air pistol utilizes the Girardoni repeating system, and this exact example is photographed and described on pages 598 and 601 of the book “Blue Book of Airguns, Thirteenth Edition”. The Girardoni (sometimes spelled “Girandoni”) is easily the most famous early air rifle (pistol in this case) or windbuchse largely thanks to the fact that for many years it has been associated with Lewis & Clark and their famous Corps of Discovery Expedition. It is widely believed that they either had a Girardoni or a very similar design by Isaiah Lukens of Philadelphia. The Girardoni was designed by Bartolomeo Girardoni around 1779 and is also significant as one of the first widely used repeating martial arms, with a magazine tube on the right side of the barrel for use with lead balls and a breech block that is able to be pressed sideways against spring pressure for loading/repeating capability. The rifles were notably used by Austrian sharpshooters from 1787-1815. Because the air tanks took around 30 minutes of pumping by hand to bring to full pressure, the riflemen had assistants that repressurized the reservoirs initially and later also had more efficient wagon mounted pumps. “Wind guns” had several advantages over conventional firearms including that they were quieter, smokeless, quicker to reload, and relatively unaffected by rain. They also required less cleaning since they did not require corrosive black powder.
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