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3.7" H. A.A. Gun ; well almost ~

Gspragge

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
I like the odd old toy so I saw this on ebay for a fair price in this condition and it
seems a decent deal compared to several UK ebay examples so I went for it. Though with a box (not important to me, I would likely step on it)
the price jumps and I have never seen one around here. It was $130 U.S. plus postage. I had room
for just one more and these are a good size I believe.

( Well, isn't there is always room for one more :xd: )
 

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I don't have it yet, but I asked and from muzzle to tip of leg 13 inches so it's decent enough and about all
I have space for. This is the secound page of instructions. Unless there is one of these casings in the breech
I have no idea what one would look like or indeed where to get one. It might be in the breech however
looking at the image. The seller didn't know how it operated and assumed that it didn't to be on the safe side,
but it looks okay so far in the images. These were also sold in pairs with a search light. I might try to pick up
one of those to go with it, ebay image of one.
 

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From what I have seen their 3.7" AA gun toy is the most developed
and detailed one they made.
 
Bertie Midgley told me that after the war (2nd) the Midgley Harmer Company dabbled in toy manufacture. Bertie implied that they made toys for Astra having shown, and later given, to me a Field/AT gun that he thought they made. I never did manage to confirm the relationship between Midgley Harmer and Astra Pharos; they were only a couple of miles away from each other. So what? Midgley had a long history of inventing and manufacturing munitions items. It seems to me that it would be nice to know that a toy gun was made by a firm whose MD had invented the No 146 Fuze in WW1, the 'W' Bomb, No 58 Pistols and 70 other designs of fuzes etc., in WW2. According to Midgley Senior over 200 million bombs, rockets and mines were fitted with fuzes or pistols designed by him.
 
I got it in today and what a great toy cannon it is. Perhaps one of the best of the era ~ So some
images of it, for scale beside an 18pr. Enjoy ~

It is so good that I ordered that period Search Light to go with it ~
 

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Hi Gordon,
I have the same model/toy.got it about four years ago.
There is a soft cover book all about Astra pharos toys,this model pictured on the front cover.
I don't have any toy projectiles with mine.
These were made through the 1940s and50s.
The 3.7" AA gun is the best model they made I think.
They also made a toy searchlight that would shine a distance of 1/4 mile.
Tim.
 
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