Friday, March 04, 2005
Antique Airguns
I have always been facinated with the antique airguns that were made in the 18th and 19th centuries. I never had a lot of time to do research on them myselft but alway enjoyed reading about them in various publications. Most all that I have read about were PCP rifles, I don't know of many or any airguns of that period that were spring powered. For me, the fact that the gunsmiths of the day were able to make PCP rifles that didn't leak or explode is facinating.
What sparked my blog today is an email that I got from Dr. Beeman yesterday. Somehow I have been fortunate enough to get on one of his email lists and his email yesterday was about an article he is developing about Austrian air rifles. I had read somewhere that Napolean had decreed that any Austrian soldier that was found with an air rifle would be execute on the spot. This was because the air rifles that the Austians were using at the time were accurate and powerfule enough that they could snipe at Napolean's forces and were killing and demoralizing his troops. The airguns the Austrians were using allowed them to shoot from a hidden spot and not give away their position with a big plume of smoke that would be emitted from a firearm of the time.
The Austrian air rifle article is about the Girandoni style air guns which had a 20 shot magazine for rapid fire and the reservoir was the buttstock. Antique airguns appears to be one of Dr. Beemans favorite areas of airgun research and I for one enjoy reading about his articles about them. He also has a few other articles about the Lewis and Clark airguns (Part 1, Part 2) and other general aricles about himself, Beeman History, and other interesting general airgun info (http://www.beemans.net/). It is a good place to bookmark and checkout from time to time.
What sparked my blog today is an email that I got from Dr. Beeman yesterday. Somehow I have been fortunate enough to get on one of his email lists and his email yesterday was about an article he is developing about Austrian air rifles. I had read somewhere that Napolean had decreed that any Austrian soldier that was found with an air rifle would be execute on the spot. This was because the air rifles that the Austians were using at the time were accurate and powerfule enough that they could snipe at Napolean's forces and were killing and demoralizing his troops. The airguns the Austrians were using allowed them to shoot from a hidden spot and not give away their position with a big plume of smoke that would be emitted from a firearm of the time.
The Austrian air rifle article is about the Girandoni style air guns which had a 20 shot magazine for rapid fire and the reservoir was the buttstock. Antique airguns appears to be one of Dr. Beemans favorite areas of airgun research and I for one enjoy reading about his articles about them. He also has a few other articles about the Lewis and Clark airguns (Part 1, Part 2) and other general aricles about himself, Beeman History, and other interesting general airgun info (http://www.beemans.net/). It is a good place to bookmark and checkout from time to time.
