AIRGUN POWERPLANTS

There are several different major types of airgun powerplants, and there is something to like about each one. It's little wonder that many shooters own, or have owned, just about one of every type.

The Spring-Piston Powerplant

The springer appeals to the man who just wants to grab a tin of pellets, a rifle, and go - 'cause that's all you need. Spring-piston powerplants are self-contained, deliver consistent velocity from shot to shot. They use a lever to cock a spring which shoves a piston forward and causes the pellet to rocket downrange. Spring-piston rifles are low maintenance, requiring only occasional lubrication of pivot points and points of wear, and a high quality springer can last for half a century or more with occasional replacement of seals and/or spring. Springers are often very quiet when compared with other airguns powerplants delivering the same level of power.

Springers can be phenomenally accurate, but it generally takes an extremely good shooter to master the forward-and-back recoil of this powerplant and get the highest possible accuracy. In addition, springers demand an "airgun rated" scope. As the power level of springers goes up, the reliability often goes down. Spring breakage, piston head damage, and hard wear on cocking linkages and trigger sears can appear because the powerplant is being pushed really hard.

There are, however, exceptions to the high-power-means-high-wear rule, and there are a few powerful springers available that are truly wonders: high power, easy to shoot, and understressed. One of the nice things about springers is that the barrel is dried on every shot, so you don't have to worry about problems with moisture.

Precharged Pneumatics

The precharged pneumatic, or PCP for short, might well be described as an instant hero kit because they are extremely easy to shoot well, turning a beginner into a deadline almost instantly. PCPs use a SCUBA tank or high-pressure hand pump to pressurize the rifle's on-board reservoir. PCP triggers are generally excellent, and it is far easier to get high power levels with a PCP than with a springer.

PCPs are generally louder than other powerplants, although some have shrouded barrels for a more neighbor-friendly report. In non-regulated PCP rifles, the velocity may vary with the reservoir pressure. In addition, exceeding the recommended fill pressure may actually result in lower power and velocity. Except for occasional seal replacement, PCPs require little in the way of maintenance.

With a PCP, you need a dive bottle, pump or compressor to keep refilling the gun. With a sporting PCP, you may get 40-60 shoots between refills. With a match gun, you may get as many as 200 shots between fillings. Because moisture tends to collect in the barrel of a PCP, it's wise to lubricate pellets before shooting them. But this doesn't have a huge chore: just sprinkle a couple of drops of Shooter's Choice FP-10 on a tin of pellets, stir them with your finger, and you're done. So, while it's a very good idea to lubricate pellets for a PCP, it only takes a few seconds once you know the trick.

CO2 Powerplants

CO2 powerplants are all about convenience and ease of shooting. They use 12-gram cartridges, bulk-filled tanks or the new AirSource 88-gram CO2 cartridges to drive pellets down the barrel. They are recoilless, convenient, sometimes astonishingly accurate and generally easy for the whole family to shoot. Big drawbacks: their performance can drop significantly when the temperature gets below 50 degrees, and when the CO2 runs out, you have to change the cartridge or refill the tank.

In my experience, when you fire a gun that uses 12-gram cartridges rapidly, the velocity can drop by as much as 100 fps as the cartridge cools rapidly. AirSource-powered guns seem much more consistent in their performance. In addition, some of the AirSource-powered guns pack enough wallop to be used for hunting pest control.

If you are into "replica" airguns - airguns that look identical to their firearm counterparts -- or if you want to do rapid shooting with an air pistol, CO2 power is just about the only game in town. In England, where it is virtually impossible to legally own a powder-burning pistol, shooters have taken up IPSC-style action pistol shooting with replica air pistols powered by 12-gram CO2 cartridges.

Single- and Multi-Stroke Pneumatics

Single-stroke pneumatics are self-contained, recoilless, and often phenomenally accurate. They require just a single stroke of an on-board pumping lever to fully charge the gun. The only significant downside of this powerplant is that they rarely generate more than 6 foot-pounds of energy, so they generally are not a good choice for hunting, except for small varmints at close range.

Multi-stroke pneumatics are recoilless and self-contained, and both the power and the velocity can be varied with the number of pumping strokes. Multi-stroke pneumatics generally deliver accuracy and power sufficient for small game hunting and pest control. As the name implies, multi-stroke pneumatics require multiple strokes of a pumping lever to pressurize an on-board air reservoir. But once you pull the trigger, the multi-stroke pneumatic must be pumped up all over again.

A Personal Favorite?

For personal and professional reasons, I get to shoot 5,000-6,000 rounds through airguns every year, and I can honestly say that I don't have a personal favorite powerplant.

It all depends what I want to do. For long-range, high accuracy shooting, a PCP rifle gets the nod. For Field Target competition, I'll shoot a springer or a PCP, but when my neighbor wants to remove a pest from his garden, I'll usually turn to one of my multi-stroke pneumatics. When it's time to shoot in the local air pistol league, my single-stroke pneumatic is usually picked, but a CO2 replica is the pistol of choice for rapid-fire plinking. But when my brother-in-law and I want to spend a relaxed afternoon dropping targets at medium range, I usually select a springer.

That's one of the great things about airgunning as a hobby - there's something to like about each of them.

 

 

AIRGUNS: THE POWERPLANT:

You probably know about the three common airgun powerplants - spring-piston, pneumatic and CO2. Actually, there are several types of pneumatics, including multi-pumps such as the Sheridan Silver Streak, single-stroke pneumatics such as the Beeman P3 and precharged pneumatics such as the AR6 by Evanix. Today, we'll look at a different type of spring gun that uses both the power of the spring directly, such as a catapult gun, and also functions as a spring-piston airgun.

What I'm about to show you is a very common type of mechanism, but it's not universal. There are some BB guns that have different powerplants, such as the Crosman 350, 3500 and M1 Carbine. But this mechanism is what most collectors think of when they refer to a BB gun powerplant. It's the same one found in the Red Ryder.

By combining the catapult and the spring-piston, designers got a lot of power from a relatively weak mainspring. The catapult works initially to get the BB off its seat and moving, then a blast of compressed air from the spring-piston kicks the BB in the tail to boost it to maximum velocity.

For this type of mechanism to work well, the BB needs to be held fast at the breech end of the barrel, awaiting a shove from the air tube. Initially, manufacturers relied on a slight constriction in barrel diameter to hold the BB. That worked as long as BBs were made of pure lead, but did not work when they switched to steel in the 1920s. A wire spring was then used for many decades to hold the BB in position. It also worked very well, and the spring could be easily pushed out of the way by the air tube when it passed, so it was a good solution for a long time.

When magnet technology improved in the 1960s, small magnets soon replaced the wire spring, and then nothing had to be pushed out of the way. Magnetic shot seats are the standard today.

 

So What Is A BB Gun?

This is an air-powered gun that shoots round BBs or sometimes pellets that are made of metal. BB Guns shoot farther and faster than many Airsoft guns. BB guns and pellet guns are far more dangerous that Airsoft guns.

Why Do People Confuse These Two Types of Air Guns?

For one thing - the BB gun certainly came on the market first and everyone is used to the concept of this gun already. Many more people have heard of the BB gun, before they've heard of Airsoft, no doubt.

The general understanding that air is the main source in a BB gun is probably one reason why people assume that the airsoft gun is the same thing since the word "air" is in the name. Both guns also use a type of BB for shooting, so the term 'BB' are also known and associated for either gun.

Also, the pellets for both guns are round, even though they are made out of different materials. The confusion between the two guns generally comes from a lack of education in air guns. Once people are taught the difference they can easily see what makes each gun different and unique.

Airsoft Differences in BB Gun Types of Ammo Used?

The airsoft gun shoots out plastic round pellets. These are normally 6mm or 8 mm in diameter, which come in a variety of weights. The weights typically range from 0.12 to 0.88 grams. The heavier the weight, the harder the impact (or hit) is. Generally, a 0.2 or 0.25 gram weighted plastic pellet is used. This is because it has been known to get the best range and accuracy. The great thing about this Airsoft ammo is that it was designed to be non-lethal.

 

The BB gun has ammo that is made from steel, which is plated in copper or zinc so that there is no corrosion. The ammo piece also measures at 4.34mm to 4.39mm in diameter. There are some plastic BBs on the market that were made by Asian companies for recreation.

Is One Gun Safer Than The Other?

The airsoft gun is by far much safer than the BB gun. The BB gun shoots its ammo much faster and this specific ammunition is made with materials that will pierce the skin.

With the "right" ammo, placement, and speed; the BB gun's pellets can kill humans and animals. BB gun ammo is also highly known for ricocheting.

The soft plastic that is used as ammo in the airsoft gun will not kill anyone. Generally and currently, airsoft guns are much more popular than the more traditional BB guns because of their look and their safety.

Air Pistols

Air pistols and air rifles are classified as air guns. Air guns may be exact replicas of real-life pistols, but the main difference between air guns and regular guns is that air pistols fire using compressed air to shoot ammunition, while actual guns use a burned propellant. This makes air guns significantly less dangerous than real pistols because the energy and weight of the ammo must be lower.

Airsoft Guns

Airsoft guns are actually a smaller classification of air guns, pistols and rifles. The difference between the two is that while air pistols may fire metal ammunition, airsoft guns are air guns which are only used to fire plastic projectiles. The guns originated in Japan because of a ban on real firearms in the country, and have become a popular toy because of their relative safety.

Regulations on Air Guns

Regulations on air pistols vary from place to place, although they are not subject to the U.S. Gun Control Act, which regulates regular firearms. Since the ammunition is non-explosive, they cause less damage, but metal projectiles can still be a hazard.