Meriwether Lewis' air rifle

http://www.youtube.com ^ | February 1, 2011 | NFMCurator·

[NKP_Vet]

Lewis and Clark's secret weapon - a late 18th Century .46 cal. 20 shot repeating air rifle by Girandoni , as used bin the Napoleonic Wars. A Treasure Gun from the NRA National Firearms Museum.

[Myrddin]

Raccoons are really tough. I took rabbits with a shot in the eye. I didn't trust the pellet to do the job directly on the skill. I shoot just behind the eye with .22LR. A .177 really doesn't carry enough energy for a raccoon. A 17HMR is ideal if you're taking them for the pelt.

[Myrddin]

Raccoons are really tough. I took rabbits with a shot in the eye. I didn't trust the pellet to do the job directly on the skull. I shoot just behind the eye with .22LR. A .177 really doesn't carry enough energy for a raccoon. A 17HMR is ideal if you're taking them for the pelt.

[freebird5850]

Nice, I love my model 40 as well. I’m curious in trying the above trick using the cotton and the various additives.

[TexasRepublic]

Do you value your health? I would be concerned about “spontaneous unscheduled disassembly”. Those guns probably are not engineered with a margin of safety to withstand the pressures of diesel-type internal combustion; they simply were not designed for that. It could be an interesting idea for a purpose-built gun though.

[freebird5850]

You are right, not worth it. Amerex just did a tune up on it for me a few months back. I think 1170 fps does the job fine. Thanks for responding.

[yarddog]

Just about all springers will diesel a bit, especially after they have recently been greased. It is not good for them but they will stand it for a time.

Hermann Weihrauch used to make a model which was designed to diesel. There was a port which swung out and you would add a drop of ether. Today ether is hard to find but I have heard you can substitute starting fluid.

I have a couple of dozen air rifles. Probably the best one is an RWS Diana (dynamit nobel) model 48. It is a pretty old design but they still make it.

[freebird5850]

wow that’s great. I may be mistaken...I have forgotten which model I have....it is .177 and it’s not a break-barrel. It has the side lever for cocking. I’ve had it for 15 years or so. Great gun.