When most people think of air guns, they may picture a kid in a cowboy hat holding a BB gun or Ralphie from the Christmas Story movie getting warned that he’ll shoot his eye out. However, the world of air guns is much more sophisticated than what most people realize. From a backyard plinking blaster to a game-taking sniper rifle, there is an air gun for any shooting enthusiast or hunter.
The basic idea behind an air gun is that it uses a pressurized reservoir to propel pellets from a barrel. This concept has been in use for centuries and is the basis of modern pneumatic guns. Modern air guns can vary dramatically in power and complexity, but the basic concept has remained the same.
There are four main categories of air guns: break barrel, side cocking, underlever and pre-charged pneumatic (PCP). These types of guns use a cocking mechanism to retract a spring that pushes an internal piston to fire a pellet. They are generally a lot quieter than other types of airguns and require less effort to cock.
Pre-charged pneumatic guns are the most sophisticated of all types of airguns. They utilize an internal reservoir that is pre-filled from an external source such as a diving cylinder or air compressor and remains pressurized until used. When the trigger is pulled, a valve opens and a set volume of the pressurized air is released to fire the pellet. This process is repeated until the gun’s pressure and pellet supply are depleted. Modern PCP airguns can be regulated or unregulated and can even utilize compressed pure nitrogen instead of ordinary bottled compressed air. air guns