1.
Air gun
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Both the rifle and handgun forms typically propel metallic projectiles, either the non-spherical pellets, or the spherical BBs. Certain types of air guns may also propel arrows or darts, the first air guns were developed in the 1500s. The guns have used in hunting, sporting and warfare. Air guns use three types of power, depending on the design, spring-piston, pneumatic and compressed carbon dioxide, Air guns represent the oldest pneumatic technology. The oldest existing mechanical air gun, an air gun dating back to about 1580, is in the Livrustkammaren Museum in Stockholm. This is the time most historians recognize as the beginning of the air gun. In the 17th century, air guns, in calibers. 30–.51, were used to hunt big game deer and these air rifles were charged using a pump to fill an air reservoir and gave velocities from 650 to 1,000 feet per second. They were also used in warfare, the most recognized example being the Girandoni air rifle, at that time, they had compelling advantages over the primitive firearms of the day. For example, air guns could be discharged in wet weather and rain, moreover, they were quieter than a firearm of similar caliber, had no muzzle flash, and were smokeless. Thus, they did not disclose the shooters position or obscure the shooters view, in the hands of skilled soldiers, they gave the military a distinct advantage. France, Austria and other nations had special sniper detachments using air rifles, the Austrian 1770 model was named Windbüchse. The air reservoir was a removable, club-shaped, butt, the Windbüchse carried twenty-two.51 caliber lead balls in a tubular magazine. A skilled shooter could fire off one magazine in about thirty seconds, a shot from this air gun could penetrate an inch thick wooden board at a hundred paces, an effect roughly equal to that of a modern 9×19mm or.45 ACP caliber pistol. The celebrated Lewis and Clark Expedition carried an air gun. It held 22.46 caliber round balls in a tubular magazine mounted on the side of the barrel, the butt served as the air reservoir and had a working pressure of 800 psi. The rifle was said to be capable of 22 aimed shots per minute and had a bore of 0.452 in. One of the first commercially successful and mass-produced air guns was manufactured by the W. F and their first model air gun was called the Challenger and marketed in 1888. Their next model was the Chicago followed by the King, the Chicago model was sold by Sears, Roebuck for 73 cents in its catalog
2.
Pellet (air gun)
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A pellet is a non-spherical projectile designed to be fired from an air gun. It can have a flat, round, hollow or pointed tip, from the waist back, the pellet is hollow, and flares out to full diameter when pressurized by the gun. The head, or solid part in front of the waist, is sized to fit the bore just touching the rifling. This keeps the pellet centred in the bore, while keeping the friction as low as possible, the effect of friction is used in order to keep the pellet stationary until the piston has reached the end of its travel, compressing as much air as is possible. The skirt of the pellet is thin, and made of a material, usually lead or lead alloy. When shot, the skirt will obturate to fit the bore and provide a good seal, in a smoothbore barrel, the skirt will still flare to provide a tight seal, but since there is no rifling, the pellet will not spin, and is less accurate. In most cases of type, the solid head in the front. However, this is not always the case, and some types of this nature will tumble in flight. When this happens the pellet will not leave a clean, round hole in the paper and this phenomenon is known as keyholing. Pellets are designed to travel at subsonic speeds, high velocities can cause light pellets to overly deform, or even break apart in flight. The transition from subsonic to supersonic velocities will cause almost all pellets to tumble, the closer a pellet gets to the speed of sound, the more unstable it becomes. This is a problem for high powered break-barrel and pre-charged pneumatic air rifles, a few companies have addressed this issue by manufacturing heavier than normal pellets for use in these high powered air guns. The heavier weight of these pellets ensure that they travel at speeds well below the sound barrier, resulting in less tumbling. Their weight also makes them susceptible to air resistance, and thus imparts more kinetic energy downrange. Match pellets are used for the 10 metre air rifle and 10 metre air pistol disciplines and these 4.5 mm calibre pellets have wadcutter heads, meaning the front is flat, that leave clean round holes in paper targets for easy scoring. Match pellets are offered in tins and more elaborate packagings that avoid deformation, match pellets are made of soft lead. The antimony content is used to control the hardness of the soft lead alloy and it is a very soft alloy, which makes it easy to process. Since the soft lead alloy is prone to strongly deform when striking a bullet catcher, it loses its kinetic energy
3.
Gamo (airgun manufacturer)
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The company is based in Spain and is the largest producer of guns and rifles in Europe, and the largest producer of pellets in the world. The company was founded in 1959, as El Gamo, today Gamo production includes rifles, pistols, ammunition and optics. They produce primarily low end air guns intended for mass market, in 2011 Gamo introduced its IGT range. The IGT range replaces a conventional spring powered power plant with a gas cylinder or gas ram. Achieves a velocity of 1100 feet per second, 2011- Whisper IGT- A gas ram air rifle with a noise moderator in synthetic stock. Promoted through by its gas ram technology under the name IGT internationally, in the US the model was launched under the name of Silent Stalker Whisper. With very little emphasis on the gas ram technology, extreme CO2 Whisper Whisper X Whisper Deluxe Whisper VH Whisper Fusion CSI Camo Viper Viper Express Viper Skeet Viper Max Rocket Shadow CSI Shadow RSV Shadow 1000 is 177. /0
4.
Field target
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Field target is an outdoor air gun discipline originated by the National Air Rifle and Pistol Association in the United Kingdom in 1980. In UK rules, competitors aim to shoot the small “kill” zone that forms part of a larger metal faceplate and these face plates are often shaped to resemble small game animals, although there is currently a move towards simple geometric shapes. On most competition targets, the hit zone forms the end of a lever that tips the faceplate backwards when successfully hit. These targets have to be reset by tugging on a length of cord attached to the faceplate above the hinge, targets are shot from open “gates” in a firing line, and are divided into “lanes” of two targets each. Many competitions impose a restriction of 2 minutes to shoot both targets after a competitor first looks through his or her sights. Targets may be placed at any distance between 10 yards and 55 yards from the firing line, targets are often placed at about the same height as the shooter, but it is not uncommon for them to appear high up banks or in trees, or down steep slopes. The targets are painted with the kill a contrasting color to aid visibility, although the paint is removed by hits during competitions. Most competitors carry a small beanbag or cushion to sit on while shooting, in competition, 20% of the lanes will be designated as compulsory standing or kneeling, and there must be as even a split as possible between the two. Most competitions have 40 targets arranged in 20 lanes, so it is usual to have 2 standing lanes and 2 kneeling lanes, grand Prix events have 25 lanes, so there will be 2 lanes of one position and 3 of the other. Standing or kneeling targets must be no more than 45 yards from the firing line, points are scored with 1 for a hit, and 0 for a miss. The highest score of a competition forms the benchmark for all the other scores – they are calculated as a percentage of this rather than the total number of targets. This means that competitors attending a shoot on a day will not necessarily affect their average score over a season. Members of the British Field Target Association are graded according to their performance every six months and your average percentage score over this period determines which of the four grades you are given – C, B, A and AA. Prizes at shoots are awarded by grade, so less experienced shooters still have a chance of winning a trophy if they perform well, pistols are far less common than rifles in FT, and they are shot in special events designed to accommodate the differences in shooting style. In the UK,0.177 inch caliber rifles are the most popular, one downside is that. 177” pellets are very light and can be affected more by light crosswinds than the heavier pellets of a. 22” rifle. Pre-Charged Pneumatic rifles are more popular than spring guns as the lower recoil provides more confidence in aim for most people. There are some FT shooters who compete at a high level with a spring gun. Telescopic sights are favored for obvious reasons – it is impossible to see the kill zone of the furthest targets clearly with the naked eye, another advantage of high-magnification scopes is their ability to act as a simple range-finding tool
5.
BB shot
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BB guns are a type of air gun designed to fire spherical metal projectiles similar to shot pellets of approximately the same size. Modern BB guns usually have a barrel with a caliber of 4.5 mm and are available in many varieties. These guns usually use steel BB shots, plated either with zinc or copper to resist corrosion, some manufacturers still make lead balls around 0.48 to 0.50 g in weight and slightly larger in diameter, which are generally intended for use in rifled barrels. The term BB gun is often used to describe a pellet gun. Although in many cases a steel BB can be fired in a pellet gun, similarly, the term is also often used incorrectly to address airsoft guns, which shoot plastic balls that are larger but much less dense. The term BB originated from the nomenclature of the size of steel used in a shotgun. Size BB shots were normally 0.180 inches, but tended to vary considerably in size due to the loose tolerances in shotgun shells. They called these round shots, but the BB name was well established, and most users continued calling their guns BB guns. Subsequently, the term BB became generic, referring to any small spherical projectiles of various calibers and this includes bearing balls often utilized by anti-personnel mines.177 caliber lead/steel shots used by air guns, plastic round balls, small marbles and many others. It has become ubiquitous to refer to any ball, such as a BB. However, BBs should not be confused with a ball bearing, BB guns can use any of the operating mechanisms used for air guns. However, due to the inherent limited accuracy and short range of the BB, only the simpler and less expensive mechanisms are generally used for guns designed to fire only BBs. Because the strength of the steel BB does not allow it to be swaged with the low energies used to accelerate it through the barrel and this limits accuracy because little spin is imparted on the BB. It also limits range, because some of the air used to accelerate it is lost around the BB. Since a BB will easily roll unhindered down the barrel, it is common to find guns that use a magnet in the mechanism to hold the BB at the rear of the barrel until it is fired. The traditional, and still most common powerplant for BB guns is the spring piston, the lever-action rifle was the first type of BB gun, and still dominates the inexpensive youth BB gun market. The Daisy Model 25, modeled after a shotgun with a trombone pump-action mechanism. Lever-action models generally have very low velocities, around 84 m/s, the Daisy Model 25 typically achieved the highest velocities of its day, ranging from 114 to 145 m/s
6.
Muzzle energy
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Muzzle energy is the kinetic energy of a bullet as it is expelled from the muzzle of a firearm. It is often used as an indication of the destructive potential of a given firearm or load. The heavier the bullet and especially the faster it moves, the higher its muzzle energy, the general formula for the kinetic energy is E k =12 m v 2 where v is the velocity of the bullet m is the mass of the bullet. A subsonic variant of ammunition that would otherwise be supersonic has its velocity limited to less than the speed of sound, for ammunition with this limitation the muzzle energy is variable only with respect to the bullet mass m. In the SI system the above Ek will be in unit joule if the mass, m, is in kilogram, in United States engineering units, particular care must be taken to ensure that consistent units are used. Mass, m, is given in grains and the speed, v, in feet per second but kinetic energy. Most sporting arms publications within the United States report muzzle energies in foot-pound force.163 ft/s2 rather than the standard of 32.1739 ft/s2 is used. The formula therefore becomes E k =12 m v 2 × The bullet energy, remaining energy, down range energy, and impact energy of a projectile may also be calculated using the above formulas. It must be stressed that muzzle energy is dependent upon the previously listed. Also note that the energy is only an upper limit for how much energy is transmitted to the target. While the above list mentions some averages, there is variation in commercial ammunition. A180 grain bullet fired from.357 magnum handgun can achieve an energy of 580 foot-pounds. A110 grain bullet fired from the gun might only achieve 400 foot-pounds of muzzle energy. Some.45 Colt ammunition can produce 1,200 foot-pounds of muzzle energy, some jurisdictions stipulate minimum muzzle energies for hunting. In Germany airsoft guns with an energy of no more than 0.5 J are exempt from the gun law. Free recoil Muzzle velocity Power factor Edward F. Obert, Thermodynamics, Mc Graw-Hill encyclopedia of Science and Technology, volume ebe-eye and ice-lev, 9th Edition, Mc Graw-Hill,2002
7.
Air gun laws
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This is a list of laws concerning air guns by country. While in some air guns are not subject to any specific regulation, in most there are laws. There may be minimum ages for possession, and sales of air guns and ammunition may be restricted. Some areas in the world require permits and background similar to those required for firearms proper. Australian law is quite restrictive and differs on a basis, however, as general rule all air guns - regardless of action - are considered firearms for purposes of law. Air rifles are considered Class A firearms and as such are subject to licensing, Air pistols are considered handguns and require membership and attendance at a pistol club for six months before allowing ownership, and to shoot in four competitions per year to keep the licence. Paintball markers are treated differently to other airguns, refer to the section on legality for a state-by-state breakdown. Airsoft guns are prohibited except in the Northern Territory and the ACT. Airguns in the first group may be purchased by anyone over 18, airguns in the second group can only be purchased by people registered in the army, transportation depends on authorization, and usage is allowed only in places approved by the army. Airguns of any kind may not be carried openly, there is no muzzle energy limit for any type or calibre. Scopes with magnification equal or above 6 times and/or over 35 milimeters, or equipment that mark the target, are restricted to civilians, the permitted equipment has to be registered in the civilians document, this process is called Apostilamento. The document for a registry is called Certificado de Registro de Atirador. Air guns can freely bought and owned by any person older than 18 years old, only pistols with muzzle energy exceeding 7.5 joules are not allowed. There is no muzzle energy limit for rifles. Open carry of airguns is not allowed, the use of air guns is restriced non-public places, being shooting ranges, inside a house or a backyard that is not easily accessible from the street. Air guns with both a muzzle velocity greater than 152.4 meters per second and/or a muzzle energy greater than 5.7 joules are firearms for purposes of both the Firearms Act and the Criminal Code. Usually the manufacturer’s specifications are used to determine the muzzle velocity. Air pistols are classified as restricted if their barrel is longer than 105 mm or prohibited if their barrel length is 105 mm or less, however, they are considered to be firearms under the Criminal Code if they are used to commit a crime
