Quackenbush, maker of air rifles, sell in calibers large enough to ostensibly take down big game. .458... .50 calber. They are claiming velocities north of 700 feet per second with that big heavy pellet.
Hunting Cape Buffalo in Africa with a BB Gun.... it just seems... wrong.
But the Girandoni Rifle was .46 cal, sure. It only takes 1500 pump to get that baby going.
Hunting Cape Buffalo in Africa with a BB Gun.... it just seems... wrong.
But the Girandoni Rifle was .46 cal, sure. It only takes 1500 pump to get that baby going.
Enjoyed this article very much.
ReplyDeleteAir guns are new to me but provide intriguing possibilities. Do you have any specifics on wild boar hunting with an air rifle? How much noise does an air rifle make? It would seem to me that a powerful air rifle would be a great way to get a few stealthy shots into a crowd of wild boar. I've also heard that air rifles are quite rough on optics?
ReplyDeleteThe 1500 pumps on the Girandoni got you 30 shots and the guys that made the repro use a scuba tank to reacharge the reservoir.
ReplyDelete@anon - It's spring piston air rifles that are hard on optics not designed to hold up to recoil in both directions. A high powered spring piston gun will recoil like a normal gun when it is fired and then push forward when the piston hits it's stop. It's a very strange sensation for a shooter accostumed to normal recoil action and also for the lense mounts in the usual rifle scope. That's why you see specially designated air rifle scopes available.
An air rifle that uses a pressurized air reservoir to propel the projectile won't have that odd bi-directional recoil and any general firearm optic design should work fine.