Tue. Oct 3rd, 2023

 

Air powered guns operate with either pneumatic, spring or CO2 (gas) driven pressure while powder guns operate with the explosive force caused by igniting powder. The mechanism of the air gun is more complex than powder guns, and there are pros and cons of both types of guns.trail boss powder

First a brief history of both air and powder guns.

Air guns have been in existence for thousands of years, dating back to the uncertain beginning of the use of lung powered blow guns. The beginning of the use of mechanical air powered guns is also unclear; but, we have evidence of the usage of these guns in Europe in the 1600’s. We know that a mechanical air gun powered by pressurizing an air chamber by hand pumping was used in the us by Lewis and Clark in their 1803/4 expedition. They used this gun, made in London by T. J. Mortimer for small game (wildfowl) with a. 30 caliber shot and large game (deer and boar) with a. 40 caliber shot. For them a pumping action of 200 pumps would provide enough pressure for about 20 shots. This gun was also demonstrated to amazed Indians on their expedition. The evolution of the air powered gun continues to our current time, with an emphasis on recreation and training.

Powder guns, better known as firearms have been in existence for about 800 – 900 years. Black powder, the explosive used in powder guns, originated in Arabia or China around 1200 AD. The first recorded use of firearms was in 1312 AD at the battles of Crecy and Agincourt. Black powder, later referred to as Corn powder (not because corn was used in its production, but because the powder was produced as uniform kernels for consistency in fire power) has been improved over the centuries to its current efficient no smoke, less gun barrel debris, higher velocity usage. A significant reason for this development was the use of firearms in war. The production of gun powder during our civil war gave birth to a corporate giant, DuPont, which continues to prosper to this current date. The evolution of the powder gun also continues to our current time with the emphasis on war and law enforcement.

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