Sussex Armoury - a brief history

The Sussex Armoury Jackal trademark

 

Are you old enough to remember Sussex Armoury in the United Kingdom?

Anyone over 50 years of age in the UK and with an interest in guns will probably remember Sussex Armoury for their great selection of replica guns. They also sold a range of airguns as well as a whole range of other replica collectables including knives. 

Back in 1980 I was browsing through the long running magazine Exchange & Mart when I saw an advert from Sussex Armoury selling replica guns. The black and white advert included pictures of various guns including a Stirling sub-machine gun for £99. After a while I sent off for their catalogue which I eagerly awaited. Exchange & Mart was the place to look for almost anything back in the days before the internet.

Exchange & Mart magazine October 1979

Here's a few Sussex Armoury adverts from the 1979 edition of Exchange & Mart. It's quite interesting to see the prices back then. I can remember the replica WW2 German helmets. 

I'm pretty sure I had one of the same replica Naval survival knives shown in the advert above but purchased it from elsewhere. 

Here's some more adverts from other companies in the same Exchange & Mart catalogue. Again, interesting to see how much they were being sold for in 1979. Some are quite expensive for that time. 

When my Sussex Armoury colour catalogue arrived I was thrilled and spent lots of my time contemplating what I would like to have, even though I couldn't afford anything as a schoolboy. One of my favourites was their Colt M16 assault rifle. The level of detail was certainly the best I had ever seen for a replica - every detail looked authentic. I believe the non-firing replicas were made by one of the Japanese makers like the Model Guns Corporation (MGC).

 

Sussex Armoury Catalogue 1980

 

Their 1980 catalogue was in the form of a pull-out poster. I also had their 1982 catalogue, by which time the price for a Stirling sub-machine gun had risen to £120 or maybe £130, from memory. The catalogues from 1981 were booklet style. These brochures are now over 40 years old and have become quite scarce. The centre ’Jackel’ design on the cover below has been made using airgun pellets and darts. Their 1980 catalogue occassionally appears on eBay and sells for around £20. I've yet to see a copy of their 1981 catalogue offered for sale on eBay. 

Extract from the 1980 Sussex Armoury catalogue

'Western' selection from the 1980 catalogue

Sussex Armoury Catalogue 1981

Within what seemed like a relatively short time the company was facing closure. I can remember getting their sale offers, which were fantastic. All I could afford to get was a sub-standard Colt Peacemaker. It was heavily discounted because the 'gun blue' was sub-standard. Perhaps unwisely, I decided to use wire wool to remove the black finish. I then used a polishing wheel to give it a nice shine. I was initially quite pleased with this, but after a while it would tarnish leaving a mat grey effect. If  I'd have kept the gun then I might have tried some cold liquid gun blue application to make it look more realistic. 

Here's the model Colt Peacemaker I purchased

I came across this example on the internet which is identical to the one I once owned. It even has the black finish removed like mine. Perhaps it is my old gun, 40 years later! 

Sussex Armoury Colt Peacemaker with 4 3⁄4 inch barrel

 

Here's the Colt Peacemaker .22 blank firing version with the slightly longer 5 1⁄2 inch barrel. The main difference in appearance compared to the non-firing version is that it has small holes drilled around the cylinder. These are air vents needed when firing blanks on guns which have blocked barrels. The most realistic blank firing guns are front venting, which means the smoke and gasses exit the barrel as with a real gun. This version is painted black, which becomes apparent on closer inspection. It has the same plastic grips with the Sussex Armoury Jackel logo. The Sussex Armoury guns are reasonably well made for a replica and overall they look and feel realistic. The better ones have a more realistic 'gun blue' finish rather than just painted black.

I missed out on a ton of other collectable goodies at very cheap prices at the time of their liquidation sale.  I think that many of their militaria collectables may have come from Collectable Armoury Ltd. I gave the Colt Peacemaker away to a charity shop when we moved house about 1986. 

Sussex Armoury Catalogue 1980

I kept both of my Sussex Armoury catalogues until about 2011 when I had a huge clearout and threw them away. I regret that now as they were an excellent reference source for those guns. It's a shame I didn't take the time to scan them digitally. I would love to browse through them again.

There's not too much information available online regarding Sussex Armoury. I've seen a few forum threads about the company but most of the information focuses on their airguns and almost nothing about their replica guns.

Replica Models UK Ltd was formally registered on 22 October 1970. During the 1970's they had a sister company in the USA called Replica Models Inc. See my related article in July 2021 regarding RMI. 

This US advertisement from the Marine Corps Gazette in January 1972 shows that Replica Models UK were trading at that time. 

Replica Models Inc. advertisement - Marine Corp Gazette January 1972

Here's a 1970's Sussex Armoury black and white pull-out poster catalouge. Unfortunately there's no date shown and no price list included. 

The poster measures 20cm x 15.5cm when folded

The rear

This poster measures  59cm x 42cm.

Poster reverse

Here's separate scans of the schematic diagrams.

Here's some closeups from the poster.

This piece of paper accompanied the poster:

Sussex Armoury catalogue 1976

Sussex Armoury 'Wanted' press advert 1972

Sussex Armoury advertised extensively throughout the UK during the 1970's looking to buy militaria.

The Sussex Armoury 'Jackal' air rifle certainly ruffled a few feathers when it was on sale in 1977. The film "The Day of the Jackal" had it's cinema release four years previously in 1973.

'Jackal' air rifle, Sunday Mirror newspaper 1977

At some point the same company starting trading under the name Sussex Armoury, although the formally registered company name was Replica Models UK Ltd. At the beginning of the 1980's they had stores in London, Manchester and Hailsham, Sussex. Unfortunately on 19 February 1982 the company went into voluntary liquidation and their stock was offered to customers heavily discounted, which I can remember well. They also sold a small selection of reproduction militaria. I believe the militaria they sold probably came from the Collectors Armoury Ltd of USA. I can recall Sussex Armoury selling US Civil War Kepi's, which Collectors Armoury also sold.

 

Apparently a company called NSP engineering (trading as NSP Developement & Manufacturing Engineers since 1984) were making some of the airguns sold by Sussex Armoury. There's more information available elsewhere on the airguns they sold but almost nothing about their replica firearms. These ’old school’ replicas have been superceded by the new generation of airsoft guns which look as good as the original Sussex Armoury replicas. This perhaps explains the lack of interest in these older collectable replicas. 

Richard Marriot-Smith was the Managing Director of Sussex Armoury and after buying up much of their old stock, went on to create The Phoenix Arms Company Ltd. Some of the Sussex Armoury old new stock was simply resold by the The Phoenix Arms Company. Phoenix Arms Company went into voluntary liquidation in April 1991. 

Curiously, a Sussex Armoury Ltd was formally registered as a trading company name on 9 June 1983 by Graham Barton in the UK. Graham was previously employed by Sussex Armoury (Replica Models UK) in the early days before he went on to create Battle Orders (1983-1988) and Shogun UK Ltd (1988-2009). These companies sold a range of collectables including knives, swords and replica guns. A new Battle Orders Ltd is currently active online with a similar product line but I believe ownership changed in 2009.

Here's a Phoenix Arms  'flyer' from 1986. What's nice is that it includes all the prices from that time. 

The 'Western' replicas here are very high quality blank firers, relfected in the prices. These were made by the Italian company Pietta. Pietta also makes live firing replicas to a very high standard, even today. Pietta and Uberti currently produce some of the best live firing replicas available. That's why their blank firing replicas are so good. Engineered to the same high standards as their standard live firing counterparts. The only difference being that since these are unlicenced copies of famous handguns, they don't have the original makers marks.

Here's the wall poster mentioned in the flyer above a s a free giveaway for orders over £10.

Below are a couple of Sussex Armoury 'old new stock' black firing revolvers made in Italy being resold by Phoenix Arms Company in the early 1980's. You can see from the box artwork on the first example that the gun has the Sussex Armoury Jackel logo on the grip but there's a Phoenix Arms Company sticker on the box. Nice to see the original price label also showing £46.50 on the first example. The dramatic comic style artwork is quite entertaining.

These appear on specialist auctions sites from time to time. Although still reasonably good replicas, they don't tend to sell for that much. These older replicas probably appeal more to the nostalgic collector. Also, many have had a hard life over the years in the hands of enthusiastic teenagers and collectors. Most of those I've seen for sale look old and tired. Some retailers may stock second hand versions but they are generally over-priced. 

This rather tatty example of a Sussex Armoury .22 blank firing replica sold for just £20 at auction in 2020. These replicas were simply painted black which was not durable and easily flaked off over time, as seen here. For a replica in this condition the best option could be to strip off all the remaining black paint and try a cold gun blue solution.

 

The pitfalls of buying online are that it's difficult to see exactly what you're getting from the photographs alone. The photographs are often limited to a few of low resolution snaps. Sometimes the name of the maker is not even provided. With such a big difference in quality of these replicas, a lack of such basic information means you won't know if it's any good until you've paid for it and it's delivered. Also bear in mind you're likely to pay an extra 30% of the sale price to cover the auction house buyers premium and VAT - the auctions have to make their money some way.

Sussex Armoury/Phoenix Arms Company .22 blank firing side-venting .357 revolver c.1983 (as seen above)

Sussex Armoury/Phoenix Arms Company .22 blank firing side-venting .44 revolver c.1983

Blank firing replica showing the blocked barrel

Sussex Armoury .22 blank firing Official Police Revolver

 

 This model was being advertised back in 1977 for £10.25

Cheshire Observer Friday 02 December 1977

 

Here's another example of the same .22 starter pistol but this one was 'old new stock' later sold by Phoenix Arms Company in the early 1980's following the closure of Sussex Armoury. 

 

These were made in Italy exclusively for Sussex Armoury. Notice that on this box it's called a "Cobra Dynamic" and the other is "Official Police Revolver". These names make it sound more appealing than 'starter pistol'. A starter pistol was the traditional method used to signify the start of running competitions, as used at the Olympic games until being replaced by an electronic version in 2012.

 

Back in the early 1980's I had an almost identical .22 blank firing 'starter pistol' which was probably an old Sussex Armoury version from the late 1970's. I never really liked it because I always thought it was too small to look like a real gun. It was about the same size as a children’s cap gun. Being under-age we never got hold of the .22 blanks to try it out. That probably went to the charity shop too! Almost identical versions are still being produced today and sold by many retailers such as Collectors Armoury Ltd, who sell the Bruni ($44/£32) and Kimar ($75/£55).

Sussex Armoury automatic starter pistol resold by Phoenix Arms Company

 

Sussex Armoury blank firing Colt Peacemaker c.1981

The full size replica above has Sussex Armoury stamped on the barrell. I think this would have been a .22 blank firing replica. This example was painted black rather than gun blued. You can clearly see as in this example that over time they suffered from paint flaking leaving them looking quite tatty. Many of the blank firing versions were made in Italy. 

To this day I still don't know the maker for the replica non-firing single action Colt Army Peacemaker which I purchased from Sussex Armoury. It had the shorter 4 3/4 inch barrel and black plastic grips. It was a pretty good replica on the whole. The chamber could take dummy cartridges. The only thing that let it down was having the chamber cylinder blocked so you couldn't see any bullet heads. A schoolfriend’s Father tried to drill out the chamber holes for me but it was unsuccessful. Even the whole cylinder chamber could be removed like the real gun, for cleaning, unlike the current Denix replicas from Spain.

Some of the Colt blank firing western revolvers sold by Sussex Armoury were made by Kimar of Italy as seen here:

Sussex Armoury blank firing Colt Peacemaker made by Kimar

This next example from Sussex Armoury is stamped with "Gun Toys SRL" of Italy. Gun Toys SRL disappeared from the internet around 2002. They were part of  Fabrica Armi Giocattolo E Sport. I'm assuming this is the same as Armi Sport, which are part of the Chiappa Firearms company of Italy, which also includes Kimar. Whilst Japan has dominated the market for non-firing replicas and now airsoft, Italy and Germany are known for making quality blank firing replicas.

The Italian gun maker Uberti started making live firing replicas of 'wild west' handguns in the 1950's. They provided film makers with blank firing guns for many famous films such as The Good, The Bad and The Ugly in 1966, which was filmed in Italy. They continue to make high quality live firing 'replicas' as well as versions converted to fire blank ammunition sold as collectables. These are some of the best quality blank firing guns available and also the most expensive.

Sussex Armoury Colt Peacemaker Army

Sussex Armoury Python revolver made in Italy

The Sussex Armoury 'Jackal' logo often seen on their pistols

        

New legislation introduced into the UK in 2007 has severly restricted the sale of all forms of replica guns. Known as VCR (Violent Crimes Reduction Act 2007), to own a realistic replica gun you must be either a museum, theater company, film/TV company or a registered re-enactor. So gone are the days when you could simply buy one via mail order. It's pretty much killed the replica gun market for the majority.

WANTED

If anyone else has any memories of their replica guns or other items then please comment. Especially if you still have one of their old catalogues. I would love to have some high quality scans of their catalogues which I could share for everyone here.

I've seen a few of these old brochures sell on eBay for over £20. I suspect these have been bought by nostalgic airgun enthusiasts who still have fond memories of  the Sussex Armoury pellet air guns. I've seen lots of discussion about the old Sussex Armoury Jackel air rifles elsewhere on the web.