air gun
Sign in to saveAlso known as pellet gun, BB gun
gun that uses compressed air to launch projectiles
~36 min read
Encyclopedic overview
A para-athlete competing with a match air rifle A collection of lever-action, spring-piston air rifles
An air gun or airgun is a gun that uses compressed air or other pressurized gases to fire projectiles, reminiscent of the principle behind the ancient blowgun. This is in contrast to a firearm, which shoots projectiles using pressure generated via combustion of a chemical propellant, most often black powder in antique firearms and smokeless powder in modern firearms.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “air gun” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.