Originally Posted By: ZeeOSix
Originally Posted By: Cujet
While there are plenty of claims that air powered rifles can somehow compete with the power of a real firearm, that's simply not true. Yes, you can achieve acceptable Lb/Ft numbers, but that does tell the entire picture. Projectile diameter, mass and velocity are quite different than a conventional firearm. And, therefore, so is real world performance.
Air guns can operate at chamber pressures just over 2000 PSI. Typical quality firearms operate at up to 55,000 PSI and some 223 ammo has been measured at 63,500 PSI.
Some of the .22 cal air rifles can put the projectile at about 1000 ft/sec, so they have some pretty good energy on those projectiles ... about 1/2 of a .22 firearm due the .22 pellets only being about 1/2 the weight of a typical .22 bullet. Still, I bet if you shot somebody at close range in the head it could cause death pretty easily.
No question they can be effective. There are large bore airguns that can be used for hunting. So, clearly they can kill.
My point was simply that they don't really compare to firearms. The 22 caliber example is a good one. As the 22 cartridge is limited to about 20,000 PSI chamber pressure due to design. The 22 magnum, about 25,000 PSI.
The airgun in 22, with a light weight projectile, can achieve excellent speed, for really good accuracy. But it's energy numbers are very low. A typical basic 22 firearm round is about 140 lb/ft energy at the muzzle. Stingers and other "high powered" 22's are near 200 Lb/ft. The best 22 airguns are in the mid to low 20's Lb/ft. Or, put another way, 10 to 20% as powerful. And, that's comparing to the lower pressure 22 round.