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Politics : Bush-The Mastermind behind 9/11? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Raymond Duray who wrote (4357)	12/9/2003 12:59:56 AM
From: Don Earl	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 20039

Ray, OT <<<For instance, I had no idea that air guns could be accurate to the range you suggested. I remember pellet guns from my youth. Sounds like they've become a lot more powerful over the years.>>> Actually, back in the 1800s, the French were using a 50 caliber air rifle as a military weapon. At the time they considered the multi shot capability of the air rifle an advantage over the single shot black powder variety. There are currently 9mm and .45 air rifles on the market, and last I heard, there is supposed to be a .50 coming out. The rifles are charged with air to about 3000 psi. Power wise, they're pretty comparable to a light to medium weight hand gun, but a lot more accurate due to the rifle length barrel. They're a bit pricey and you wouldn't want to treat one with any less respect than you would a firearm. A very different animal than your pump it up 10 times $40 Daisy .177. From what I understand they're fairly popular for hunting in parts of Europe where the population is dense enough where a high powered rifle is a bad idea due the long distances the bullet can travel. Also from what I understand, some US police departments are doing some experimenting with them. I'm not sure why, but my guess is with a sound moderator, they might have some tactical uses. They don't use gun powder, so no muzzle flash. They're subsonic, so no loud crack from breaking the sound barrier. And with a sound moderator to quiet the release of compressed air, there wouldn't be much to give away one's position at night time. In Europe a silencer is considered good manners to avoid making noise to bother the neighbors, but in the US you just about have to be in law enforcement to own one. A cop watching the back door during a drug raid might consider it useful. They're kind of interesting if you're curious about that sort of thing, and there's quite a bit of information available online using the various search engines.