Air gun
gun that uses compressed air to launch projectiles
An air gun or airgun is a gun that uses compressed air or other pressurized gases to fire projectiles, reminiscent of the principle behind the ancient blowgun. This is in contrast to a firearm, which shoots projectiles using pressure generated via combustion of a chemical propellant, most often black powder in antique firearms and smokeless powder in modern firearms.
Air guns come in both long gun (air rifle) and handgun (air pistol) forms. Both types typically propel metallic projectiles that are either diabolo-shaped pellets or spherical shots called BBs, although in recent years Minié ball-shaped cylindro-conoidal projectiles called slugs are becoming more popular. Certain types of air guns (usually air rifles) may also launch fin-stabilized projectile such as darts (e.g., tranquilizer guns) or hollow-shafted arrows (so-called "airbows").
The air guns were first developed in the 16th century, and have since been used in hunting, shooting sports, and even in warfare. There are three different power sources for modern air guns, depending on the design: spring-piston, pneumatic or bottled compressed gas (most commonly carbon dioxide and recently nitrogen).
History
Air guns represent the oldest pneumatic technology. The oldest existing mechanical air gun dates back to about 1580, and is currently kept in the Livrustkammaren Museum in Stockholm. This is approximately what most historians recognize as the beginning of the modern air gun.
“Air gun” enters the record as gun that uses compressed air to launch projectiles. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what uses, compressed and launch can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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This entry incorporates text from “Air gun” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.