Wind socket

Wind socket
general information
Military designation:	Military Repeating Air Rifle
Country of operation:	Europe
Developer / Manufacturer:	private gunsmiths, etc. a. Bartholomus Girandoni (1744–1799)
Manufacturer country:	Italy , Germany
Production time:	since around the 16th century
Model variants:	different versions
Weapon Category:	Air gun
Technical specifications
Caliber :	depending on the model, etc. a. 11.75 millimeters (0.463 inches), 7.5 mm
Possible magazine fillings :	Depending on the model, up to 22 bullets cartridges
Visor :	Open sights
Closure :	Valve
Charging principle:	Single loader, multiple loader
Lists on the subject

A wind rifle is a compressed air weapon that was developed in the 17th century for hunting, training and war purposes.

history

The wind rifle is a forerunner of today's air rifle . She shot large-caliber bullets with compressed air . From 1607 the wind rifles were developed by the Nuremberg fire lock maker Peter Dömbler for use in wars. However, the city forbade him to continue manufacturing it on the grounds that "one could execute a person with such murderous weapons, unnoticed where it came from".

function

The noiselessness of the wind cans, handed down in several sources, has to be put into perspective. Wind sleeves also produce an objectively loud muzzle bang when the bullet emerges from the barrel and the air, which is under a certain residual pressure, expands. However, the sound pressure is well below that which occurs when shooting with a firearm. Another advantage over black powder weapons is the absence of any smoke development and a flash in the muzzle. In the broadest sense, the weapon is comparable to a regular modern air rifle .

Wind sleeves

With a mostly external air pump, the shooter built up pressure in a removable piston (or a pressure-resistant ball) on the weapon, which was sufficient for one shot or a few shots. The first shots hit reliably up to 150 meters, with the subsequent ones the range was reduced by half or more. Even the shots with reduced range could still be fatal.

The Tyrolean Bartholomeus Girandoni (1744–1799) improved the principle around 1780 by using rifled barrels and tubular magazines with 20 rounds in the 11.75 millimeter (0.463 inch) caliber for the construction of the weapon . The bullets were loaded into the weapon from the tubes using a simple sliding mechanism. The Girandoni weapon had to be filled with approx. 1500 pumps and then delivered compressed air for the 20 rounds in the magazine. Girandoni wind rifles can be seen in the German Hunting Museum in Munich and in the Suhl Arms Museum ; a compressor for filling the air bottles is exhibited in the Army History Museum Vienna .

Because of the materials (such as brass or leather ) for the seals that were available at the time and are now regarded as inadequate, as well as the comparatively short range and limited reloading possibilities, the early wind rifles were taken out of service for war purposes. Further developments were and are often still used by poachers or guerrilla fighters .

literature

Arne Hoff: Wind rifles and other compressed air weapons . Parey, 1977, ISBN 978-3-490-08212-1 .
Auguste Demmin: The historical development of war weapons from the Stone Age to the invention of the needle gun . A handbook of armory. Seemann, 1869, p. 556, 558, 580 .
Association for historical weapons (ed.): Journal for historical weapons . tape 3 . Academic printing and Publishing house, 1905.

Web links

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