Once in a blue moon you find a needle in a haystack,,,this time that needle happen to be in my hobby of airguns! I had the opportunity to buy a Al Nibecker Quigley V series,,,,serial #5. I really did not know much about this rifle but it sparked my interest and the more i looked the more i realized this is a very rare piece of airgun history.For those of you that dont know Al Nibecker's Quigley story it goes something like this, in a nutshell.
Al was a retired mechanical engineer in Hawaii and decided to build a multi pump airgun capable of putting out 30ft lbs of energy. His intention was to build this rifle and then sell the technology to a manufacture. Well Al succeeded in building a very well built powerful airgun capable of shooting 30 ft lbs but failed in selling the technology to a airgun manufacture. The problem was that the rifle was too expensive to build.This rifle was $2850 plus shipping back in 2008.
This particular rifle that i now own is serial #5 and i don't think too many of them were actually made.I did find one article in Airgun Hunter magazine that Jim Chapman wrote and explains about the rifle. http://www.americanairgunhunter.com/quigley.html
Ana Arms Site on Wayback Archive: https://web.archive.org/web/20091129014717/http://www.ana-arms.com:80/
I will say this that it is very very well made. I have been into airguns for over 25 years and have never seen a a airgun made so well.It has that unique heirloom feel to it and just oozes quality.I can tell Al Nibecker was a engineer when you look at how robust this rifle is.The stock is made of koa wood and is extremely dense,,,,i don't think you can put a pressure mark in this stock if you tried. It has a very unique loading procedure and is different than any gun i have ever seen before.I shot it a few times and it does shoot obtain 30ft lbs of energy.
I am not a collector and my intentions are to get this rifle into a serious collectors hands or possibly a museum if there is such a thing as a airgun museum anywhere. Yes i think it is that unique and rare and its build quality certainly will prove that. So if anyone knows of a serious collector please forward this info to them and get ahold of me.This rifle is flawless and has no defects as far as i can tell. I was able to take these pics this afternoon and hopefully they do this rifle justice. If anyone knows of anyone else that has one of these Quigleys let me know. I am interested to know exactly how many of these were actually made.My guess is less than 10. Anyway here is Nibecker Arms Quigley V serial #5.
Sincerely
KeithWalters 444xlr@gmail.com
That is the nicest Quigley I ever saw. I don't think the one Al posted back in the day had anywhere that nice wood. I may be wrong though, that was a long time back.
The problem I see for you is the difference between rare and desirable. While it is one of the rarest of modern airguns not too many people will find it desirable. I would suggest that you post this on the Vintage Airgun Forum. I think the guy that runs the forum it is the guy that will be interested in it.
David Enoch
Given the Quigley V's provenance, the American Vintage Airguns forum would also offer a receptive audience.
