Czech-made overlever air pistol

Czech-made overlever air pistol 

With thanks to Eberhard.

Rough translation follows.

John Griffiths, author of the Encyclopedia of Spring Air Pistols, says of this pistol:

What a weird and wonderful take on the Webley principle.  I have never heard of this prototype before, and  weighing more than twice a Webley Senior I can understand why it was never commercialized.

 Unfortunately  the above translation leaves a lot to be desired, but it seems that the intention was to produce a Webley-type pistol with a longer cylinder and barrel, and at the same time getting a major increase in mechanical advantage thanks to the long extension on the front of the cylinder.   In theory the extension should help reduce the cocking effort quite significantly compared to a Webley, but according to the reviewer it was still hard to cock.   The photo comparison with the Tex 2 is interesting, and judging from their similar cylinder diameters and the length of the piston movement in the prototype compared to that of the Tex, I would estimate it must have at least twice the swept volume of the Tex.  This should give it a massive power boost, but it is  pity that the article gives no indication of the muzzle energy, It must be well over the UK legal limit though, which would make it a non-starter here.

This is reminiscent of the ill-fated Kueng Hypermagnum pistol, which was also based on the Webley system and which was deliberately designed to be the first 12 ft lb spring air pistol.  In this case , it did almost make commercialization and pre-orders were being taken before production was pulled in 2008.