Pneumatic Weapon

a type of small arms in which the bullet is ejected from the barrel by compressed air.

Pneumatic weapons appeared in Europe in 1430. At first they were used for hunting, and then the Austrian, French, and other armies adopted them as combat weapons. However, owing to their short range of fire, which was only up to 100 m, and lack of effectiveness, they did not become widespread. Modern pneumatic weapons in the form of air rifles and air pistols are used primarily for training and as sporting arms. They have calibers of from 3 to 5.6 mm. There are cylinder and breech pneumatic weapons. Special small blunt-nosed lead bullets, or shot, and sharp-nosed steel bullets with rear stabilization are used as ammunition. The range is usually 10 m. In troop training, it is 10–20 m and more.