John Camp
AH enthusiast
If you need to trank an elephant, get a biopsy sample from a Blue Whale, or collect some DNA from a Polar Bear, this is the tool. Or maybe you just want to play Daktari. These are two tranquilizer dart rifles. One is made by Pneu-Dart and the other Paxarms, a New Zealand company started by the man that invented tranquilizer guns. I picked up both rifles from an auction. They were vet school guns and it looked as though no one in vet school ever learned how to clean a gun. Neither functioned. I broke them down and found out why. The Pneu-Dart gun is built from a Remington 580 bolt action .22. It was loaded with that dart in the images, which is too long for the action. The dart became stuck and the gun went into retirement.
The Paxarms is built from an Anschutz 1441/42 bolt action .22. The bolt was stuck in place. The trigger has two adjustments and one had worked itself out enough to immobilize the sear. I cleaned them both up and they are working guns once more. Both are accurate out to about 60 yards. (By accurate I mean pie plate size groupings)
The Remington was made sometime in the early to mid-eighties. The Anschutz around 1975. (This is my best estimate using available internet data). They use .22 blanks. The Remington has a .50 caliber barrel attached to a truncated .22 barrel. It has an adjustment for pressure/velocity at the end of the .22 barrel. It is tapped for a scope. Considering all, the gun is in good shape.
The Anschutz/Paxarms design is different. They use a rotating and locking section of the barrel to load the dart. Look at the pictures. The gun is older and looks it. The wood is in really good condition, including the finish. The metal is not. The bluing is tired. The place where the barrel is grasped to open the breach is the wort part. Still, the gun functions and there is no significant damage. I think both are really cool. The Paxarms is the Mark 24. The Pnue-Dart the model 171. Very few of these show up for sale, and when you do see one it is usually in much worse shape than these. If I keep them I will have them both reblued and will refinish the wood. If anyone is interested I would sell either for $350.00.
The Remington:
The Anschutz:
The Paxarms is built from an Anschutz 1441/42 bolt action .22. The bolt was stuck in place. The trigger has two adjustments and one had worked itself out enough to immobilize the sear. I cleaned them both up and they are working guns once more. Both are accurate out to about 60 yards. (By accurate I mean pie plate size groupings)
The Remington was made sometime in the early to mid-eighties. The Anschutz around 1975. (This is my best estimate using available internet data). They use .22 blanks. The Remington has a .50 caliber barrel attached to a truncated .22 barrel. It has an adjustment for pressure/velocity at the end of the .22 barrel. It is tapped for a scope. Considering all, the gun is in good shape.
The Anschutz/Paxarms design is different. They use a rotating and locking section of the barrel to load the dart. Look at the pictures. The gun is older and looks it. The wood is in really good condition, including the finish. The metal is not. The bluing is tired. The place where the barrel is grasped to open the breach is the wort part. Still, the gun functions and there is no significant damage. I think both are really cool. The Paxarms is the Mark 24. The Pnue-Dart the model 171. Very few of these show up for sale, and when you do see one it is usually in much worse shape than these. If I keep them I will have them both reblued and will refinish the wood. If anyone is interested I would sell either for $350.00.
The Remington:
The Anschutz:
