It may surprise many readers to learn that airguns are not a modern day phenomenon. In fact, there is evidence that their ancestors, at least, might date to before the time of gunpowder based firearms. Well before, actually. There is even some correlation between blowguns, which used lung-power to shoot their small ammo, and the common airguns of today. With this correlation and this rich history behind this method of gunpowder, it should come as no surprise to laymen that this hobby and sport have attracted so many.

Explorers in the 1800s were known to carry airguns on their expeditions through the wilds of western America. One of the more popular models of the day was a .31 caliber rifle, which had two barrels which could be exchanged for one another at any time, with one being a rifled barrel for the bigger game and a 36 gauge barrel for fowl hunting. Some of the more prominent museums dedicated to the sport advise us that it would have taken approximately two hundred pumps from a separate hand pump in order to prime the gun for twenty rounds.

All of the airguns from days past were operated and primed with pump style pneumatics, and it was often a lengthy process to prime the gun for even a few shots (though this changed and got better as the years went on). Even with that said, however, with the sports and hunting our ancestors used the guns for, this method of priming the guns must have done the trick. Some people favored the air-powered rifles even after there was a plentiful supply of gunpowder based firearms. They were cheaper, for one, and in the early day of firearms, some might even have said they were more accurate. They were certainly quieter, and they could get the job done.

Of course, there was also the matter of time. Although it may have taken hundred of pumps to get the airguns ready to fire, this would set the gun up for at least fifteen or twenty rounds of shots. This in comparison to the muzzle loaded guns, which required a somewhat lengthy process of reloading each and every time the gun was fired. By that time, the quarry could have escaped to higher ground and the hunt would continue from there. Without the smoke produced by the old firearms, there was also a better line of sight, making aiming easier and more accurate.