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Girardoni air rifle

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Girandoni System Austrian Repeating Air Rifle, Circa 1795, believed to have been taken on the Lewis and Clark Expedition
Recreation of an Austrian Girandoni system Accouterments Bag, including spare air flasks, air pump, wrenches, bullet mold and ladle

The Girandoni Air Rifle was an airgun designed by Bartholomäus Girandoni circa 1779. The weapon was also known as the "Windbüchse", which means "wind rifle" in German.

History and Use

The Girandoni Air Rifle was in service with the Austrian army from 1780 to around 1815. The advantages of a high rate of fire, no smoke from propellants, and low muzzle report granted it initial acceptance, but it was eventually removed from service for several reasons. While the detachable air reservoir was capable of around 30 shots it took nearly 1500 strokes of a hand pump to fill those reservoirs. Later, a wagon-mounted pump was provided. The reservoirs themselves, made from hammered sheet iron held together with rivets and sealed by brazing, proved very difficult to manufacture using the techniques of the period and were always in short supply.

In addition, the weapon was very delicate and a small break could make it inoperable. Finally, it was very different from any other weapon of the time and any soldier using it needed to be highly trained.

The Lewis and Clark Expedition used the rifle in the demonstrations that they performed for nearly every tribe they encountered on the expedition.

Design and Capabilities

It was 4 ft (1.2 m) long and weighed 10 pounds (4.5 kg), which made it the same basic size and weight as other muskets of the time. It fired a .51 caliber ball at a velocity similar to that of a modern .45 ACP and it had a tubular, gravity-fed magazine with a capacity of 20 balls. This gravity operated design was such that the rifle had to be pointed upwards in order to drop each ball into the breech-block and so, like its contemporary, muzzle-loading muskets, it still could not be fired from the prone position. Contemporary regulations of 1788 required each rifleman, in addition to the rifle itself, to be equipped with three compressed air reservoirs (two spare and one attached to the rifle), cleaning stick, hand pump, lead ladle, and 100 lead balls, 20 in the magazine built into the rifle and the remaining 80 in four tin tubes. Equipment not carried attached to the rifle was held in a special leather knapsack. It was also required to keep the leather gaskets of the reservoir moist in order to maintain a good seal and prevent leakage.

The air reservoir was in the club-shaped butt. With a full air reservoir, the Girandoni Air Rifle had the capacity to shoot 30 shots at useful pressure. These balls were effective to approximately 150 yards on a full load. The power declined as the air reservoir was emptied .

Importance

The Girandoni Air Rifle was an important first. It was the first repeating rifle of any kind to see military service. It was one of the first uses of a tubular magazine. And, although it saw service for only 35 years, it predated and was more advanced in design and mechanical technology than the Henry rifle which arrived fifty years later.

See Also

Footnotes

  1. Girandoni air rifle as used by Lewis and Clark. A National Firearms Museum Treasure Gun.
  2. The Beeman article on Girandoni Air Rifles in the sources section and an article in the German gun magazine "Visier" (issue 1/2007, page 141) claim the caliber was actually .463" (11.75 mm).
  3. A letter detailing regulations, "Signed, Vienna, 24th january 1788", is reproduced in the book "The Austrian Army Repeating Air Rifle" by G Baker & C Currie, 2nd Edition
  4. The military writer August Haller claimed in an 1891 treatise titled "Die österreichische Militär-Repetier-Windbüchse" that the first ten shots would be effective to about 150 paces, the next ten shots up to 120-125 paces, the next ten out to 100 paces, and then the remaining air pressure in the reservoir would be too low.

Sources


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