Airgun Collector

4 <strong>Airgun</strong> <strong>Collector</strong> <strong>Airgun</strong> <strong>Collector</strong> 5 Pneumatic duo: the Cantarinis Long-time collector and airgun writer Larry Hannusch at last reveals the extraordinary story behind his acquisition 20 years ago of this remarkable matched pair of butt reservoir Austrian Girandoni-style repeating air pistols, apparently made by the master gunmaker Joseph Contriner. Over the years, I have had the immense pleasure to see and handle some of the finest antique air arms extant. Certainly, many of the most magnificent examples are safely tucked away in museums. But there are still enough beautiful specimens out there in private hands which can afford us the opportunity to personally handle and really get a Figure 1: These beautiful Austrian repeating air pistols illustrate the pinnacle of a pneumatic airgun maker’s skill and artistry, dating from the early 19th century. first-hand sense of the high level of art and workmanship created by some of the old masters. I’d like to present this awesome matched pair of repeating Cantarini air pistols as exhibit A. By way of a brief introduction, this pair of air pistols are technically defined as pneumatic repeaters, which means their power source is high pressure air which is stored in a reservoir to be released upon demand to fire the weapons. The air reservoir on each pistol Figure 2: Both air pistols are essentially identical in appearance and dimension, with only a few small detail differences seen in the decorations. is housed within the hollow metal grip of the piece. A percentage of the pressurized air within the reservoir is released upon each shot, allowing multiple shots to be fired with a single charging of the pistol. The pistol is further defined as a repeater in that it is fitted with a tubular magazine holding a number of lead balls which are readily available for continued firing without the need to reload. Before we get into the specific details about these pistols, I’d like to give a little “back story” about how these remarkable air arms came to reside in my safe deposit box for now these almost 20 years. It is a true story launched with a friendship, but soon other subsequent events spiraled downward, creating anguish and the need to make tough decisions. This is one of those collecting life lessons that reminds us that a deal is not done until both parties complete their respective commitments. Though it has been a couple of decades since all this went down, I can still recall the details as if it were yesterday. Back in the early days of Tom and Edith Gaylord’s “<strong>Airgun</strong> Forum” internet hangout about 20 years ago, there was not a lot of good airgun information out there on the world wide web. This was a time before I had even gotten introduced to its potential ( I think we ourselves had only then just recently obtained electricity). As their forum monitor, Edith had received a request for information about a pair of antique air pistols that an individual had come across in an estate liquidation. Edith and Tom graciously decided that I should get involved to help, because there was always that possibility that the air pistols might be available for sale. Not having an internet connection, they gave me his phone number. I quickly called him on my black rotary telephone to begin the process. He soon sent photos and I knew I was hooked. I learned that this special pair of air pistols had come out of a