A rare boxed Venuswaffenwerk ‘Tell 3’ .177 Calibre Air Pistol.
This was made in Germany by the Venuswaffenwerk company in Zella- Mehlis between 1937 and 1940 just prior and early into the Second World War.
Its a very well made break barrel pistol resembling the style of the P.08 Luger and designed to appeal to the German Market and very symbolic of its day. These were also exported prior to the war into the UK and other countries.
This pistol is in excellent original condition with most of the deep black blued finish remaining. The stamping’s on the metal work are crisp and detail, on the left side ‘VENUS-WAFFENWERK ZELLA-MEHLIS’, on the left side of the barrel ‘KAL 4 1/2 mm’ and below ‘cal .177’ On the cocking lever is figure of a man holding a gun and standing on top of an apple (William Tell) and below this ‘TELL MOD 3’. The serial number of this example is ‘678’ which is located under the back sight plate.
The one piece grips, which are made of bakelite, have on each side a brass/enamelled circular medallion with ‘TELL’ in raised letters. The grips are in good condition, they seldom are as they are very prone to cracking, the only mark we can see is a very small chip to the left bottom right side otherwise no other chips or cracks.
The pistol cocks and fires with no issues.
It comes in its original cardboard packaging which is a dark blue crocodile fish with gold lettering detailing ‘TELL 3’ an embossed relief design of the pistol and figure of William Tell. The lid is showing signs of wear mainly to the edges and corners but it is otherwise complete.The inside has the instructions printed in German, English and French and possibly Swedish language.
The lower portion has dividers for the pistol and accessories. This comes with an incredibly rare opened tin of ‘TELL’ branded pellets .177 Pellets. The contents showing 100 . It does contain a number of pellets. There is a cleaning brush and a small yellow duster for cleaning the pistol (These were an original item that did come with these pistols from the factory)
This is a very rare Air Pistol seldom seen as under 1000 were manufactured and few of those have survived.
A very collectable air pistol with its original packaging.