FEATURE GTW
Nigel Silcock (pictured) and his team offer quality British engineering.
Brocock airguns: British and proud of it
T e name Brocock holds a special place in gun markets around the world for its innovation and unique ideas. However, with changes in legislation and distribution it has been forced to rethink its strategy in some areas...
B
rocock is well known far beyond the shores of its native Britain, having
designed and manufactured the Brocock Air Cartridge System (BACS) that powered a range of pistols and rifl es once very popular in the UK. T en legislation changed, eff ectively banning them to new customers in Britain. However, Brocock still supplies
thousands of BACS cartridges, and hundreds of hand pumps to charge them with, to Continental and other export markets because
they are hugely popular – and legal – abroad. Nevertheless, with its home
market for them all but gone, Brocock reacted in the way good British gun makers do when faced with change – it adapted. In this case the setback was the
catalyst for a move into another form of airgun that was beginning to gain popularity at around the same time – that of the pre- charged pneumatic airgun, known as a PCP, which it took to with a fl ourish.
Changing markets Using compressed air was nothing new in itself but the use of modern technology and materials, the ready availability of compressed air from diving shops plus aff ordable high-pressure pumps made PCPs a more practical proposition. With knowledge of high-
pressure air systems plus miniature air valves and so on, Brocock had the expertise to put into developing PCP airguns. It also had a long history in making high-precision parts for
the aerospace industry, producing key components for major suppliers to that industry, such as Eaton Aerospace, APPH and American-owned Hampson in Birmingham, with many items ending up in Rolls-Royce aircraft engines. T is background meant Brocock
had the design and production skills to work in modern materials to extremely fi ne tolerances. Combining this with its experience in air-cartridge guns, the evolution into PCP airgun manufacture was
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