Air guns have traditionally been regarded as firearms for young people and other beginners, but their appeal has spread to experienced shooters. While the term air gun conjures images of BB guns, there are many other kinds of air guns, both rifles and pistols.
Air guns use one of three types of propulsion: pneumatic, spring-piston, and CO2. Pneumatic powered guns require the shooter to pump up the guns using between one and ten strokes. A pre-charged pneumatic uses compressed air from a SCUBA tank, saving the trouble of manually compressing the air.
Spring-piston powered guns are easy to shoot. The shooter cocks the gun in half at the breech, holding the barrel in one hand and the stock in the other. This action provides the compression to power the gun.
CO2 guns use cartridges of compressed carbon dioxide to power the gun. While this is much simpler than pumping or cocking the gun, CO2 guns have the disadvantage of inconsistency. Their PSI changes with the temperature, so the range will vary with the weather.
Shooters can use steel balls (BBs) or lead pellets. Pellets provide greater accuracy than BBs and come in a variety of shapes. BBs are very inexpensive; pellets cost more but are often worth the extra expense to shooters.
Air guns should be cleaned regularly. Although they don't get the build up of gunpowder residue that other types of guns have, a clean bore will make the gun more accurate and even increase the velocity of the shot.
