November 5, 2024

Are you unaware of air guns and want to know how an air rifle works? Often people get confused about why air guns are different from regular guns. The basic point distinguishing an air rifle from traditional firearms is co2 or compressed air for propelling pellets, BB ammunition, and slug. However, this doesn’t mean that they are not as powerful as a firearm since many air rifles like Reximex Mito air pistol and Mito pistol have the feature of high velocity compared to powder burners. Professional shooters also use air rifles for hunting activities. So by no means are air guns powerless, and people mistake them to be toys. Following are the ways to help you understand how air rifles work and how these guns fire slugs, BBs, and pellets. 

The Internal Mechanics of the Air Rifle

The process of the firing of BBs and pellets occurs in a complicated sequence of reactions that takes just milliseconds. In the case of a spring-piston air rifle, the level of the air rifle is flexed by the operator, and this moves the spring-loaded pump piston back into the mainspring, which results in compression unless the piston rear engages the sear. When you pull the air gun’s trigger, you can see the sear starts disengaging, which decompresses the mainspring. This releases the potential elastic energy and pushes the piston forward. The piston compresses the air present in the pump cylinder, increasing the pressure, which ultimately leads to propelling of ammunition through pressurized air. 

One common power plant that most of the air guns company use for building air rifles is the spring piston power plant. This is the typical way spring-piston air rifles operate, irrespective of which power plant they need. Another two airgun power plants, are compressed gas and Pneumatic gas, slightly differ in their operation from the spring piston. 

Powerplant Modules

The power plant is the important module that controls all the air gun operations. Some mechanism that air trifles use for creating pressure is-

  1. Break barrel

This is identical to a break-action firearm. To get the breach hinging and flexing down of the barrel takes place for operators. Cocking of air gun also takes place through the barrel.

  1. Fixed barrel 

This barrel doesn’t move, and a different lever is needed to cock the air rifle. It includes the following

  • Underlever – It is a cocking lever that is located below the barrel and is flexed downward
  • Overlever – It is not seen in many air rifles, and this cocking lever is located above the barrel 
  • Sidelever – This cocking lever is located on the receiver’s side. 

Jamie Jones is the author of this article on Reximex Mito air pistols. Find more information, about Mito pistol.