Gat Guns....remember these?

[hyflier]

Hi all,

 

I have two of these hopelessly inaccurate little air pistols, both were flagging in power and one wouldn't even pop the pellet though the target so, bored one day, I took one to bits and as you can see from the photo, there is indeed a piston washer in there and the gun doesn't just chuck the pellet out. After a bit of inspection, it was reasonably obvious that this washer weren't a lot of cop and it needed a new one. A bit of research on the "net" and a phone call to Mark Knibbs turned up nothing, so I decided to make my own. The result was excellent 😊 I have a full 2ft Lbs hopelessly inaccurate gat gun to play with. if anyone has similar issues, don't throw the gun away, I am happy to make a few more of these washers for you to fit at home. Send me a PM and I'll see if I can help.

H.

[strimmer_13]

I love my gat, mentioned on a few threads over the years 

[hyflier]

I think there should be a national Gat Gun competition 😃😃😃

[strimmer_13]

Aim 2ft low I always found 

[strimmer_13]

Never taken mine apart either. Wondering if a good.polish would improve things 🤣

[enfieldspares]

Yes and also the tufted darts, yellow, red, green that you could fire through them. The first air pistol I ever fired was a GAT. Great fun. 

[Andy H]

Yes the Gat gun ,The reason I have a small scar in my palm and a bigger scar on the back of my hand where the surgeon took the pellet out😬.

[DUNKS]

I used to have a chrome one. Well low and left if you wanted to hit anything. My older brother "no longer with us " took a big V out of his front teeth blowing down the barrel whilst pulling the trigger, carried the scar till his death at the age of 96.

[GingerCat]

My first air pistol, as said above aim low and left. 

[ditchman]

what if you made the hole into the barrell bigger ?............i used to shoot darts out of mine

[12gauge82]

6 hours ago, DUNKS said:

I used to have a chrome one. Well low and left if you wanted to hit anything. My older brother "no longer with us " took a big V out of his front teeth blowing down the barrel whilst pulling the trigger, carried the scar till his death at the age of 96.

Ooof I've got an image in my head of that. I always recognised the most dangerous thing about a gate gun was the barrel popping out.

[Robden]

Me and my mates used to have "cowboy style" gun fights in the garden with gats. Don't remember anyone be hurt TBH.

[London Best]

Gat guns: junk, dangerous toys,  always were and to me always will be.

I just cannot see what anyone can see in them. 
Yes, I know they were the starter for many, but I would not count that as being “real guns”.

[Dougy]

14 minutes ago, London Best said:

Gat guns: junk, dangerous toys,  always were and to me always will be.

I just cannot see what anyone can see in them. 
Yes, I know they were the starter for many, but I would not count that as being “real guns”.

They are something that kids had a bit of enjoyment out of. 

I bet more kids wete injured from sticks than there were with Gat guns. 

 

[hyflier]

The chrome one was really posh 😲, I couldn't afford one of them. Like Robden, we also ran around shooting each other with them, it stung a bit if by some miracle someone got a shot on target but that was all. There was a massive variety of ammunition available, pellets, darts, BB's nails, stones...anything that would fit into the barrel really 😇.

Ditchman asked "what if the hole into the barrel was bigger?" I thought about that, there is a 1mm hole right through the barrel, if it were bigger there would be more swept air entering the breech to push the pellet forward, but would it still allow the pressure build up? There's no way back from doing that as there's no such thing as a "putting on drill" I wouldn't want to destroy one of mine BUT if anyone does give it a try, let me know how it goes please 😃

[humperdingle]

I know it’s a bit of a cliché, but a pupil at my high school lost an eye when someone shot him with a Gat Gun, so they’re certainly not toys!

 

But like a lot of people, my first ever experience with guns was with a Gat Gun that I pleaded with my folks to buy me at a local market.

 

Many hours were spent shooting that thing in the back garden, especially in winter, when i’d blatt snowmen with it 😂

[moondoggy]

My first gun was a Gat, gifted to me it set me on the road to a life long love of shooting.

Also used mine with corks in the barrel end. Great fun for knocking things over in the attic.

[amateur]

At the age of 13, I would be shaving the incendiary material off Swan Vesta matches, packing it into .177 pellets and firing them from the Gat against brick walls, where they exploded very satisfyingly.

I never did work out how to make tracers.

I have all my digits and limbs, surprisingly

[30-6]

I think about 1976, the game fair was in Margam Park in Wales. Harrington's who made the GAT had a stand there and I bought the pistol and rifle version from him.

My claim to fame with the GAT pistol was shooting a sparrow off the roof gutter, and, me and my friend was taking turns at throwing a balsa wood plane in his garden and trying to hit it. On one of my turns I hit it and down it came with the pellet stuck in the wing.

Sold pistol and rifle to a girl in the street for shooting mice , or trying to, in her avairy.

[strimmer_13]

22 hours ago, amateur said:

At the age of 13, I would be shaving the incendiary material off Swan Vesta matches, packing it into .177 pellets and firing them from the Gat against brick walls, where they exploded very satisfyingly.

I never did work out how to make tracers.

I have all my digits and limbs, surprisingly

Used to do the same with 22 pellets tho you could just nip the whole head off the match and force it in the skirt. Makes a nice bang and flash. A lot of the branded red matches used to work but sadly a lot don't now, tho I've not done it in a few years 

[1066]

I still have my old "Gat", although mine is a Diana mod. 2. Bought second hand in 1958, it cost 10 Bob (a new one was 19/6) I was 8 years old.
Cat slugs were it's usual diet, bought from the local garage at 6d a hundred in a little square white box. 500 was 2/3d in a light green box.

I remember getting into hot water with my brother and a couple of mates when we discovered that Elder berries were just the right calibre and got our school shirts covered in mini "paintball" red splashes.
 

[ditchman]

51 minutes ago, 1066 said:

I still have my old "Gat", although mine is a Diana mod. 2. Bought second hand in 1958, it cost 10 Bob (a new one was 19/6) I was 8 years old.
Cat slugs were it's usual diet, bought from the local garage at 6d a hundred in a little square white box. 500 was 2/3d in a light green box.

I remember getting into hot water with my brother and a couple of mates when we discovered that Elder berries were just the right calibre and got our school shirts covered in mini "paintball" red splashes.
 

that is the excact model i had..

[aliwer]

for airsoft guns and accessories visit guns and gadgets.

Edited September 27, 2023 by aliwer

[30-6]

1066, were cat slugs like a dome shape ? They were short with no waist as such.

I remember using those as well in my Gat.

[strimmer_13]

Lanes used to make them I believe