Author Topic: A bit drastic??  (Read 2774 times)

A bit drastic??
« on: 22 December, 2011, 05:35:58 pm »
I took my grandson to The Royal Armouries museum in Leeds today, and spotted this exhibit.

I wonder how it would go down today as a dog scarer?? (Sorry about the photo quality but it was the phone camera and it's very dark in the museum)



a lower gear

  • Carmarthenshire - "Not ALWAYS raining!"
Re: A bit drastic??
« Reply #1 on: 22 December, 2011, 07:31:01 pm »
Dog scarer or dog despatcher? The caption doesn't seem to imply it fired blanks!  ;)

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: A bit drastic??
« Reply #2 on: 23 December, 2011, 09:52:20 pm »
If attacked by a pack of feral dogs, shooting one would give the rest of the pack an easier target than a fast-moving cyclist. Maybe.
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

mcshroom

  • Mushroom
Re: A bit drastic??
« Reply #3 on: 23 December, 2011, 11:28:30 pm »
Hasn't Deano just got a sort of dog scarer/taser thingy?
Climbs like a sprinter, sprints like a climber!

Andrij

  • Андрій
  • Ερασιτεχνικός μισάνθρωπος
Re: A bit drastic??
« Reply #4 on: 24 December, 2011, 02:59:16 pm »
A dog botherer.  ;D
;D  Andrij.  I pronounce you Complete and Utter GIT   :thumbsup:

Juan Martín

  • Consigo mi abrigo
Re: A bit drastic??
« Reply #5 on: 24 December, 2011, 06:53:19 pm »
These were marketed in France as 'Velo-dog' revolvers. I have one that is very similar with a slightly longer barrel. It came to me heavily worn - I think it had been dug up in someone's garden but I managed to get it to operate, main spring from biro, assorted BA screws etc. I think it is sub-.22 calibre, perhaps 4mm, 6 shot. The construction is fairly cheap and nasty. Some of them were 'hammerless' or more correctly had a shrouded hammer so as not to catch on clothing when drawn from a pocket while awheel presumably.

I rather think that these are more correctly pocket or ladies' revolvers and the dog scarers were more likely to be single shot models.

But for proper dog slaughtering advice I usually refer to Richard's Bicycle Book.

Re: A bit drastic??
« Reply #6 on: 26 December, 2011, 05:28:20 pm »
Quote
Of these brilliant riders the star was George Pilkington Mills. By the end of the 1890s he was regarded as the greatest long distance rider the world had ever seen. He set many long distance records including seven in one season. At the age of 19, in 1886, he rode a penny-farthing from Land’s End to John O’Groats in 5 days. Fellow Anfielders, who knew the roads, helped with the record-attempt. They organised accommodation and food, and ensured that local clubmen guided him along the way. Mills rode day and night, snatching little sleep, and his record for a penny-farthing was never bettered. During the next 15 years he took up the "end to end" challenge time after time, holding the record on the first modern bicycles, tandems, and tricycles.

Mills also turned his attention to racing in France, and helped inspire the Tour de France winning the first Paris - Bordeaux race in 1891. This episode revealed another talent: Mills was a crack shot, and while training was so bothered by dogs chasing him that he shot five with a Colt revolver which accompanied him on rides for just such a purpose.





http://www.anfieldbc.co.uk/history.html