the three basic types of airguns
TRANSCRIPT
The Three Basic Types of Airguns
Airguns come in many shapes and forms. You know this to be true because you just might want to
own one of these swell airguns but can't understand why Beeman imports so many when you want
just one. I'll give you some basic information so that you can make a considered choice. Besides the
question of caliber, modern airguns fit into three basic groups defined by their power plants (means
of pushing a pellet out the barrel). 1. Pneumatic Airguns 2. Spring-Piston Airguns 3. CO2 Airguns.
Pneumatic Airguns
Pneumatic airguns use compressed air for power. The way you get the air compressed in the airgun
depends on the type of pneumatic it is. The most common pneumatic airgun is the Multi-Stroke or
sometimes called Pump-up type pneumatic airgun. To get the tiny bit of air compressed in a multi-
stroke pneumatic takes, as the name implies, between two and ten strokes of the forend pump lever
to get the internal pressure needed to power the pellet out the barrel at a decent pace. Most multi-
stroke pneumatic airguns are compact, recoilless and light weight. Multi-stroke pneumatics are
moderate in power. The big down side to a multi-stroke pneumatic is all the time and effort needed
to get a shot off, and a second shot is near impossible before your quarry runs or flies away. As you
pump up the multi-stroke airgun each progressive pump takes more effort. Accuracy from a multi-
stroke is just OK. There are too many variable in the pumping procedure to allow for stellar
performance aside from the human error. A more preferable form of
pneumatic is the single stroke pneumatic airgun. As the name implies,
one motion of the cocking lever is all that is needed to compress the air
for propulsion. The single stoke format is used on many high end 10 meter match airguns, such as the
Beeman/FWB 601. Consistency, accuracy and lack of recoil are the reasons top shooters gravitate to
this type of power plant. The downside is lowish power, but with tack driving accuracy at close range,
again the reason 10 meter shooters love them. The third type of pneumatic airgun is the pre-charged
pneumatic. This is the best of both worlds. You can get variable power from low to high if you want
it. Incredible accuracy, easy cocking, and no recoil and lots of shots
from an air charge. The charge take little effort on your part because
the air is compressed at the dive shop into a SCUBA tank. All you need to do is siphon some of the
3000 psi out of the SCUBA tank and into the airgun via a special hose with a pressure gauge. Pre-
charged pneumatics come as competition airguns for the field target set, and lightweight hunters for
those so inclined. Some of the pre- charged airguns are multiple shot repeaters so the airgun hunter
with poor aim can get a second chance with no pumping.
Read more: Choosing the Best Gamo Air Rifle
Spring-Piston Airguns
When someone says airgun these days they probably mean a spring-piston airgun thanks to Dr. Robert
D. Beeman's relationship with Weihrauch and Feinwerkbau, two of the best and most prolific makers
of high quality spring- piston airguns over the years. Spring-piston airguns are the easiest airguns to
shoot, maintain and own. The spring-piston gun most shooters cut their teeth on is the break barrel.
The break barrel airgun is cocked by holding the stock in one hand and
breaking the airgun in half at the breech holding the barrel with the other.
This action of breaking the airguns moves a piston backward within the
receiver as well as compressing a stout spring behind it. The trigger sear clicks into a notch in the
piston and holds the whole works in tension. With a break barrel airgun the pellet is placed directly
into the breech and the barrel is tipped back into position and now you are ready to fire. Take the
safety off and put positive pressure on the trigger. When the sear released the piston, it moves forward
briskly with the power of a big spring behind it. All this action pushes a column of air forward into
the rear end of the pellet sitting in the breech. The effect of all this causes the pellet to move briskly
out the barrel towards the target of you choice. Spring-piston airguns are cocked be breaking the
barrel, cocking an underlever, a side lever,
or a top lever (overlever). Inside they are
basically the same in principle. Things like
spring rates, diameter of the compression tube (receiver) and swept area
can be different depending on the gun designers ideas. Spring-piston airguns are very reliable and
long lived. The worst thing you could do to any spring-piston airguns is to "dry fire" it, that is, fire it
without a pellet in the breech. What happens when this error occurs? The piston head is smashed into
the front of the receiver (compression tube) because the missing pellet cannot offer the needed
resistance to the air column. This resistance cushions the piston from the tremendous energy the
compressed spring releases to move the air column. Spring-piston airguns last a long time, but the
springs do wear out after a while. Do not worry. A spring piston replacement and piston seal change
are relatively cheap and very easy for an airgun smith to accomplish, but again we are talking years
of use and thousands of pellets. Most firearms shooter like the recoil sensation felt when shooting a
spring airgun. This is a smooth steady push to the shoulder as the spring inside the airgun does its
work pushing the pellet out the barrel.
CO2
As their name implies, these airguns are powered by CO2 as a power plant for an airgun is kind of
funny because it is used in some of the cheapest non- precision airguns along with the highest of the
high-tech 10 meter match airguns. Kept at room temperature, CO2 is approximately 900-1000 psi
and very consistent, but raise or lower the temperature and the point of
impact of a CO2 airguns can and will change. You wonder with this point
of impact change situation why would these serious match shooters choose
the CO2 propulsion system to break records. Well, these people are smart. They bring their CO2
airguns to the range, let the airguns stabilize to the ambient temperature in the range and sight in.
Right-left (windage) point of impact will be constant, your up- down (elevation) zero will very
slightly until you sight in. The real issue with CO2 as a power plant is for the airgun hunter or plinker.
The airgun hunter who sights in on a warm day and goes out to hunt on a cool one or visa-versa will
not know where the airgun will hit. A temperature change during the day will also be a problem. CO2
airguns are generally easy to cock and recoilless to shoot. The match CO2 airguns are very consistent
and incredibly accurate at 10 meters.
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