The HR-81 was an air rifle manufactured by Dagenham based, small arms manufacturer, Sterling Armaments Company. [1]
Sterling, known for their production of submachine guns, entered the air rifle market in 1982 with their revolutionary HR81 air rifle. Designed by Roy Hutchinson (whose initials reversed gave the rifle its name) along with Peter Hart and Peter Moon, the rifle was cocked with an under-barrel lever and loaded via an unusual (at the time) bolt action breech. The breech design, whilst unusual was also the rifle’s main design fault as it restricted the rifle’s power. [2] It was produced and finished to a very high standard using traditional production methods and avoided the use of plastics or synthetic parts. Available only in .22 calibre and costing approximately £120 upon release, it was one of the more expensive air rifles available on the market at the time.
A deluxe version, the HR-83 was introduced at the end of 1983, this differed from the HR-81 in having a fine oil-finished walnut stock with hand cut chequering, sling swivels, a more secure underlever release catch and a removable foresight. Early samples had a more complicated trigger mechanism, but this proved troublesome and few if any were released for sale. Once again, the level of finish was especially high and this was reflected in the retail price of approximately £195. It is thought that as few as 200 of this model were made (198 right hand and 2 left hand samples). Sales were very limited and the anticipated .177 and .20 calibre models were never introduced.
Production ended during 1984 and Sterling was sold on 1 January 1985. The new owners had no interest in air rifle production and production never resumed. Sterling was again sold in 1989 to British Aerospace and, after the assets were stripped, ceased trading.
In 1988 the rights to the designs were purchased by Benjamin-Sheridan [3] and the HR-81 and HR-83 then enjoyed limited production in the USA. [4] The American model differed from the UK model in that the rearsight, which was moved rearwards to become a removable part, was mounted on the scope rail, and the stock had a noticeably different shape. These versions were available in .177, .22 and .20 calibres. Production ceased in 1994 when Benjamin-Sheridan was bought out by Crosman.
The Lewis gun is a First World War–era light machine gun. Designed privately in the United States though not adopted there, the design was finalised and mass-produced in the United Kingdom, and widely used by troops of the British Empire during the war. It had a distinctive barrel cooling shroud and top-mounted pan magazine. The Lewis served to the end of the Korean War, and was widely used as an aircraft machine gun during both World Wars, almost always with the cooling shroud removed, as air flow during flight offered sufficient cooling.
The Martini–Henry is a breech-loading single-shot rifle with a lever action that was used by the British Army. It first entered service in 1871, eventually replacing the Snider–Enfield, a muzzle-loader converted to the cartridge system. Martini–Henry variants were used throughout the British Empire for 47 years. It combined the dropping-block action first developed by Henry O. Peabody and improved by the Swiss designer Friedrich von Martini, combined with the polygonal rifling designed by Scotsman Alexander Henry.
Webley & Scott is an arms manufacturer founded in Birmingham, England. Webley produced handguns and long guns from 1834 to 1979, when the company ceased to manufacture firearms and instead turned its attention to producing air pistols and air rifles. In 2010 Webley & Scott restarted the production of shotguns for commercial sale.
The Sterling submachine gun is a British submachine gun (SMG). It was tested by the British Army in 1944–1945, but did not start to replace the Sten until 1953. A successful and reliable design, it remained standard issue in the British Army until 1994, when it began to be replaced by the L85A1, a bullpup assault rifle.
The ArmaLite AR-18 is a gas-operated assault rifle chambered for 5.56×45mm NATO ammunition. The AR-18 was designed at ArmaLite in California by Arthur Miller, Eugene Stoner, George Sullivan, and Charles Dorchester in 1963 as an alternative to the Colt AR-15 design, a variant of which had just been selected by the U.S. military as the M16. A semi-automatic version known as the AR-180 was later produced for the civilian market. While the AR-18 was never adopted as the standard service rifle of any nation, its production license was sold to companies in Japan and the United Kingdom, and it is said to have influenced many later weapons such as the British SA80, the Singaporean SAR-80 and SR-88, the American Adaptive Combat Rifle, the Belgian FN F2000, the Japanese Howa Type 89 and the German Heckler and Koch G36.
The Mannlicher–Schönauer is a rotary-magazine bolt-action rifle produced by Steyr Mannlicher for the Greek Army in 1903 and later used in small numbers by the Austro-Hungarian Army. Post-war it was sold for civilian use.
Sharps rifles are a series of large-bore, single-shot, falling-block, breech-loading rifles, beginning with a design by Christian Sharps in 1848 and ceasing production in 1881. They were renowned for long-range accuracy. By 1874 the rifle was available in a variety of calibers, and it was one of the few designs to be successfully adapted to metallic cartridge use. The Sharps rifles became icons of the American Old West with their appearances in many Western-genre films and books. Perhaps as a result, several rifle companies offer reproductions of the Sharps rifle.
H&R 1871, LLC, or more commonly known as Harrington & Richardson, is an American brand of firearms and a subsidiary of JJE Capital Holdings. H&R ceased independent production February 27, 2015.
Crosman Corporation is an American designer, manufacturer and supplier of shooting sport products, with a long-standing presence in airgun design and a tradition of producing pellet and BB guns. Crosman is also a producer of many varieties of airgun and airsoft ammunition and CO2 Powerlet cartridges. In addition, Crosman sells branded, licensed products as well as a variety of airsoft guns.
John Hancock Hall was the inventor of the M1819 Hall breech-loading rifle and a mass production innovator.
Remington Rolling Block is a family of breech-loading rifles that was produced from the mid-1860s into the early 20th century by E. Remington and Sons. The action was extremely strong, and could easily withstand the increased pressure of the new smokeless powders coming into use by the late 1880s.
The Remington Model 30 is a US sporting rifle of the inter-war period based on the military P14/M1917 Enfield rifle action, which was manufactured for the British and US governments during World War I. Initial specimens used surplus military parts with some modifications in order to consume the stock of parts, though further modifications were made as production progressed and later rifles were produced from newly manufactured parts. Most early rifles were in the military .30-06 calibre used in the M1917 but it became available in a variety of chamberings. It was the first high-powered bolt-action sporting rifle produced by Remington. Some would beg to differ as Remington made the Remington Lee factory sporting rifle from 1899-1909, 1446 were built in a variety of calibers.
The BSA Ultra is a popular, precharged pneumatic air rifle manufactured by a subsidiary of Spanish manufacturer Gamo, BSA Guns (UK) Limited and sold worldwide. Widely used for both sport and hunting it has proven itself to be both accurate and reliable. It is an unregulated, pneumatic powered air gun available in both .177 and .22 calibres and with a choice of either single shot or multi-shot. It is one of the cheapest PCP air rifles available in the market. It was designed by BSA designer John Bowkett.
The ACR is a modular assault rifle designed by Magpul Industries of Austin, Texas, and was known initially as the Masada.
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The BSA Mercury was a break barrel, spring powered, Air Rifle first produced in 1972 by the Birmingham Small Arms Company and then Gamo (UK) Limited. It was manufactured in .177 (4.5 mm) .22 (5.5 mm) and .25 (6.35 mm), the latter named the "635 Magnum". The Mercury was marketed between the BSA Meteor and AirSporter models and was a light, easy to use rifle, giving a "just under legal limit UK power" of 11.5 ft•lbf of energy.
The Model 721 and Model 722 along with the later Model 725 variant are bolt-action sporting rifles manufactured by Remington Arms from 1948 until 1961. The 721/722 replaced the short-lived Model 720. The Model 721/722 is considered to be one of the first modern, economically produced sporting rifles whose design largely continued with the subsequent and highly successful Model 700. Manufactured with high precision, it is known for exceptional accuracy. The bolt and receiver design, based on the Mauser action, is considered one of the strongest ever produced. Samples in excellent condition have become collectible.
Frank Wesson rifles were a series of single-shot rifles manufactured between 1859 and 1888 in Worcester, Massachusetts. They were purchased by many state governments during the American Civil War, including Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, and Ohio. They were one of the first rifles to use rimfire metallic cartridges.
The Daystate Air Ranger is an air rifle manufactured by Daystate. The Air Ranger was introduced in 1978 and was the first model produced by the company. Several iterations of this rifle have been produced in varying designs and calibres and is currently identified as the Air Ranger mkII
Sheridan Products Inc. was an American air gun manufacturing company. It was purchased by the Benjamin Air Rifle Company in 1977, and later purchased by Crosman in 1994.
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