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Page 3 of 3 From the first glance Baumkircher's Billinghurst pistol presents its totally own and singular charm, a slank design, an outspoken good-fitting grip for the hand, an engraving that is not overloaded, and a balance for the one-handed firing position, which makes one realize that man must have, already in those days, been thinking long about beauty and harmony together with functionality, The technical data is presented here in summary form: .36 caliber with percussion-ignition, Underhammer, barrel forged from Böhler-Rasant steel, 200 mm barrel length, 280 mm sight axis, and finest 250 gram pull direct-trigger, sights adjustable in height, and a stock of rootveined walnut wood. The Billinghurst/Baumkircher pistol comes with a total length of 380 mm. Unloaded, it weighs about 930 grams (with advantageous muzzle loader) and has a manufacturer-guaranteed dispersion circle of 3 cm at 25 m; I could repeat exactly that and even narrower while firing groups-of-five during practical trials. Baumkircher offers three different variants at the moment. The standard model has the signature "A. Baumkircher" on top of the barrel as its only decoration and costs SFr (ask for price ). The luxury model 1 has, in addition, a hand-inscribed flat engraving on the barrel base in the form of leaf or English engraving - price SFr ( ask for price ). The luxury model 2 goes still further in that the engraving and signature are inlaid in silver and are inscribed to a medium-depth, additionally, there is a monogram-plate with two letters behind the grip. This design costs SFr ( ask for price ). The pistol illustrated here is a "quasi" special luxury model. The signature "Andreas Baumkircher" is inlaid with gold, the ornaments at the base of the five upper sides of the octagon barrel are fully equal and symmetric and are inlaid in silver. The flat side of the trigger-guard, the rounding of the frame in the area of the barrel-socket and the top strap of the fully milled frame are engraved with an inscribed, half-sculptured flower ornamentation. The ornaments obtain their discreet appearance through dulling sandblasting, where their raised surfaces become nickeled, while the deeper-situated areas remain black. This is matched, both optically and respectful to custom, by the one-piece grip of dark root-veined walnut wood, into which the metal parts are stuck in an absorption-proof manner (as a fan of historical reproductions according to picture and original model, I can only wonder over the degree of precision in the handwork). The saw-grip was usual in many cases until the middle of the nineteenth century; it offered a flat angle for a very relaxed grip just as does the shortened horn on its upper part. Following the sanding, the wood is smoothed and polished, during which a repeated dry sanding is performed after the first and second soakings. Then it is hand-polished with pumice and diatomaceous earth on felt and finally dipped in linseed oil that has been boiled several times. Linseed oil is a tried agent for the preservation of wood, when cleaning with it; no disturbing water spots remain visible. The Baumkircher pistol replicated
from Billinghurst already has its first successes behind it:
it could occupy top-ranking places through the victory of Mr.
Menden from St. Gallen in the 1989 World Championships and his
1992 Vice World Championship at Camp Perry, Ohio, USA; the Vice
European Championship of Mr. Beck of Switzerland in Bad Zell,
Austria during the past year (also the women's rifle title was
won there using a Baumkircher weapon); and through the victory
of Mr. Messerschmidt in the 1990 German Championship. The barrel
finished in Ferlach with its six right-twist riflings over there
450mm twist-length provided for the outstanding shooting performance.
The original caliber of 9.0mm was built-up to about 9.3 mm, where
Baumkircher, faithful to history, worked with lead pistons and
400 grain polish-paste. In this way the riffing/field edges obtain
a slight rounding, which does not cut the target patch. The .350"/8.90
mm caliber ball is loaded together with the thinnest possible
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