My brothers had many play guns ala James Bond and the Rifleman that had an air powered cartridge in them.
We would jamb the barrels in the dirt and blast the bejesus out of the "enemy" (usually neighbors or cousins.)
My grandma lived in SE New Mexico and she had a Lila tree in her front yard (sorry I don't know the name in English or even if that is how it is spelled). We used to always get in lila fights with our cousins when we went to visit. They weren't good for much else--hard little cranberry sized fruit, always green. Left a nice welt if you threw it hard enough.