Product Details
A SCARCE .577-450 (M/H) HAND CRANK-OPERATED MACHINE-GUN, MODEL 'BIRA',
circa 1896-97, with approximately 42in. twin barrels, large squared iron action-body measuring approximately 20 x 8 x 11in., reverse operating crank handle and red painted maker's plaque mounted on the right hand side, elevation gauge mounted to the left, the top of the breech with an externally ratchet-operated drum magazine 16in. in diameter, the whole fitted on an iron trolley approximately 70in. long with brass traverse and elevation wheels and fitted on 36in. diameter wooden spoked wheels
Other Notes: The Bira gun was a .577/450 Martini–Henry calibre machine gun designed and manufactured in Nepal during 1896-97. It was a development of, and based upon, the American Gardner gun (especially in the reciprocating bolts), but the internal mechanism of the Bira Gun is actually quite different in a number of ways; most notably in that it is hand-crank fired but the handle is rotated counterclockwise, as this was found more reliable than the usual clockwise rotation of most other mechanical guns such as the Gatling and Nordenfeldt gun. It is double barrelled, but feeds through an overhead drum magazine similar to the later Lewis gun. Invented by the Nepalese General Gehendra Shamsher JBR (1871–1905), Bira guns are literally handmade, with few parts from one interchangeable with those on another. They were apparently never used in battle but are interesting artifacts in that they were built at a time when fully automatic machine guns, such as the Maxim, had successfully been developed and were becoming increasingly common.
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Estimate £25,000-35,000