EG TB Air Pistol

EG TB Air Pistol.

See also a (long) rifle version of this pistol

and another example of an EG TB in the Ingvar Alm auction here.

With thanks to John G for these pics.

John says this about the pistol:

<b>"The Eisenwerke TB... [and the PP] were advertised together around 1890...

Although the TB (the letters stand for Theodor Bergmann, co-owner of the company who presumably designed it) was less expensive than the Patent Precision (PP) pistol, it does not seem to have been made in as great numbers, and consequently it is significantly rarer...

[This example] is complete and original, in full working order, and with most of the nickel plating intact. Although the gun is not marked with any lettering, it does have the characteristic crossed pistols trademark of the Eisenwerke Gaggenau company impressed on top of the barrel housing...

The mechanism is pretty simple and the spring is compressed by directly pulling the T-bar back until the piston engages with the sear... The T-bar can then be pushed back into the cylinder. Pressing a brass button on the side allows the barrel to be snapped open for loading the pellet or dart...

As you might expect, you need a good strong pull to cock the gun. However, the trigger is quite light and does have an adjusting screw. Without checking seals or lubricating the piston I put a few shots through the pistol and found that the power was not great, but nevertheless more or less on a par with some of my older Gats. Not bad for a 120 year old."</b>

Here are the PP and TB together:

The pistols advertised together in the 1891 Georg Knaak catalogue: