Very rare George Wallis air rifle sells at auction

The air-powered rifle was made by 18th Century Hull gunsmith George Wallis

A "very rare" air weapon made by 18th Century gunsmith George Wallis has sold for £1,500 at auction.

The muzzle-loading rifle was designed to fire multiple shots using compressed air rather than gunpowder.

The weapon, which was sold on Friday, had been expected to fetch £200 - £400.

Scarborough-based auctioneer Will Duggleby said air weapons were "immune" to the weather, unlike those fired using gunpowder.

Wallis, from Hull, was "one of the most renowned" gunmakers in the country during the 1700s, Mr Duggleby added.

According to Scarborough-based auctioneers David Duggleby the gun was made in the late 18th or early 19th Century.

Describing the weapon as "striking-looking", Will Duggleby said it had a walnut stock, with a 34-inch rifled barrel.

"To use it, the reservoir is removed and filled with compressed air using a hand pump before being re-attached for firing," he said.

"It is a very, very rare gun; not least because just a few years after it was made, a Scottish clergyman invented percussion ignition and that made other systems obsolete overnight."

However, Mr Duggleby said Wallis, in his day, had been at the very forefront of technology.

"The matchlocks and flintlocks of the 16th and 17th centuries were pretty primitive - slow, noisy, inaccurate and prone to failure in wet weather," he said.

"Experiments had proven it was possible for guns to be powered by compressed air rather than gunpowder.

"Not only could air guns be just as effective but they were also quicker to use, capable of multiple shots before the air ran out and immune to weather conditions."