The collection of hunting weapons in the Gatchina Palace and Estate Museum contains perhaps the most perfect model of the air guns of the 18th century — a Girandoni air rifle. This air gun was designed by Italian inventor Bartolomeo Girardoni from the town of Cortina d’Ampezzo in South Tyrol. He developed his own advanced system of repeater air guns. His main innovation was the construction of magazine which allowed a high rate of fire — it took just about 3 seconds to get the rifle ready for another shot. When the magazine was empty it could be refilled from previously loaded tin tubes which contained up to 10 bullets each.
When the pressed air reservoir, which also served as a buttstock, was emptied, it could be quickly replaced with a spare one. Judging by the inscription on the magazine, the air rifle was made in 1796 by Michael Fruitetz. The forged iron barrel of the rifle is blued and is octagonal in section. The bore has twelve semi-circular grooves. The rear sight is made of iron and has one fixed and one folding blade. The front sight is made of brass. On the upper plane of the barrel at the breech end there are silver letters “M S”. There is a tube for bullets soldered to the right side of the barrel by the breech end. The top of the tube is covered with a flap-lid.
The spring is decorated with a floral pattern inlaid with silver. It also has an inscription which is significantly worn away but can still be read: “Michael Fruitetz 1796”. On the bottom plane of the barrel there are three eyelets for the barrel pins. The lock construction is similar to that of a French type flintlock mechanism. The main difference is in the absence of a priming pan and a frizzen. The hummer is substituted with a handle of the similar shape. The surfaces of the lock plate and the handle are flat. They are decorated with an engraved band of stylised leaves along the edges. The butt reservoir is made of brass and includes a valve assembly. It is decorated with an engraved monogram of the letters “PP” under a crown enclosed in a wreath.
