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No. 107522
ID: 5a1e0c
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So why is it that the gun still sells well today, even with so many more accurate, cheaper guns around? And more curiously, why is it that I- someone who repeats Warren Page’s contention that “the only interesting guns are accurate guns” like a mantra- why is it that I continue to keep this pistol, while having bought and sold scores of better air pistols over the past few decades?
I could say, like some, that its inaccuracy, clumsiness, and reverse recoil make it a good firerarms trainer for basement practice. Of course, as I haven’t done any firearm pistol shooting in ages, that would be a bit or a stretch. Or I might argue, as others do, that it’s a good gun to introduce new shooters to the sport, which would be an even bigger lie. It’s a dreadful gun for that.
The real attraction of the Tempest is precisely that it is such a difficult, fussy, and eccentric gun- in other words, and quintissentially English gun, brought to you by the makers of the Webley-Fosberry Automatic Revolver, and, for that matter, the same nation that gave us Monty Python, Cricket, and great eccentrics like Lord Rokeby, who endevored to spend his entire life floating in water. Every time I pick up my Tempest, I am reminded of Great Britain, and all her eccentricities, and her many charms. Long may she prosper.
Update: The Tempest was discontinued, owing to costs of production in the UK, but it was brought back as a gun manufactured by Hatsan in Turkey. Not quite the same same gun, but unless you can find a used one, the only way to get one today.
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