The Birmingham Small Arms Company Limited (BSA) was a major British industrial combine, a group of businesses manufacturing military and sporting firearms; bicycles; motorcycles; cars; buses and bodies; steel; iron castings; hand, power, and machine tools; coal cleaning and handling plants; sintered metals; and hard chrome process.
An air gun or airgun, is a gun that fires projectiles pneumatically with compressed air or other gases that are mechanically pressurized without involving any chemical reactions, in contrast to a firearm, which pressurizes gases chemically via oxidation of combustible propellants that generates propulsive energy by breaking molecular bonds.
A BB gun is a type of air gun designed to shoot metallic spherical projectiles called BBs, which are approximately the same size as BB-size lead birdshot used on shotguns. Modern BB guns usually have a smoothbore barrel with a 4.5 mm (0.177 in) caliber, and use steel balls that measure 4.3–4.4 mm (0.171–0.173 in) in diameter and 0.33–0.35 g (5.1–5.4 gr) in weight, usually zinc- or copper-plated for corrosion resistance. Some manufacturers still make the slightly larger traditional lead balls that weigh around 0.48–0.50 g (7.4–7.7 gr), which are generally intended for use in rifled barrels.
SIG Sauer[ɛs iː ɡeː ˈzaʊ̯ɐ] is the brand name used by several sister companies involved in the design and manufacture of firearms. The original company was Schweizerische Waggon Fabrik (SWF), later Schweizerische Industrie Gesellschaft (SIG) but it then went through several selloffs and the SIG Sauer brand is now spread over several companies. The original SIG is now known as SIG Combibloc Group and no longer has any firearms business.
Weihrauch & Weihrauch GmbH & Co. KG is a German manufacturer of target and sporting air rifles, air pistols, cartridge rifles and pistols. In North America, they are often distributed under the Beeman brand name.
The BSA Meteor is a break barrel spring powered rifle first made in Birmingham, UK, in 1959 by The Birmingham Small Arms Company and the first BSA air rifle engineered to fit a telescopic sight. It is one of the worlds best selling air weapons with over 2 million sold worldwide. Marketed as an introductory rifle for plinking, hunting and firearm training as a replacement for the BSA Cadet, it is available in .177 and .22 caliber with standard or carbine length barrels.
Daisy Outdoor Products is an American airgun manufacturer known particularly for their lines of BB guns. It was formed in 1882 initially as the Plymouth Iron Windmill Company in Plymouth, Michigan, to manufacture steel windmills, and from 1888 started bundling BB-caliber air guns with each windmill purchase as a sales promotion. With the unrivaled popularity of their 1888-model Daisy BB Guns, the company changed the name to Daisy Manufacturing Company in 1895 and switched their business to solely producing air guns for sale. Throughout the 20th century, Daisy has been known as a company that makes and sells BB guns and pellet youth rifles. Their Red Ryder BB Gun is perhaps the best known and longest production item, which has been featured in many TV shows and movies since its introduction in the spring of 1940.
Field target is an outdoor airgun field shooting sport. Competitions are usually fired at self indicating steel targets placed between 9 to 50 m. There are two classes; Piston for spring-piston air guns, and PCP for pre-charged pneumatic air guns. In sanctioned competitions, the same competition rule set is used around most of the world. A small match can consist of 40 to 60 rounds, while the world championship consists of 150 rounds. It is common to use scope sights with high magnification and a short depth of field such that an adjustable parallax knob can be used to precisely determine the target distance. The target kill zones have three standardised sizes, which are 15 mm, 25 mm or 40 mm.
The BSA Supersport is an air rifle produced by BSA Guns (UK) Limited a subsidiary of Spanish manufacturer Gamo and was first introduced in 1986. It is essentially the same rifle as the Lightning, the only difference being that the Lightning has the BSA Volumetric Silencer fitted. It is made in three calibres, 0.177 in (4.5 mm), 0.22 in (5.6 mm) and 0.25 in (6.4 mm).
A pellet is a non-spherical projectile designed to be shot from an air gun, and an airgun that shoots such pellets is commonly known as a pellet gun. Air gun pellets differ from bullets and shot used in firearms in terms of the pressures encountered; airguns operate at pressures as low as 50 atmospheres, while firearms operate at thousands of atmospheres. Airguns generally use a slightly undersized projectile that is designed to obturate upon shooting so as to seal the bore, and engage the rifling; firearms have sufficient pressure to force a slightly oversized bullet to fit the bore in order to form a tight seal. Since pellets may be shot through a smoothbore barrel, they are often designed to be inherently stable, much like the Foster slugs used in smoothbore shotguns.
Stoeger Industries is a manufacturer and importer of firearms into the United States.
Airforce Airguns is an American manufacturer of pre-charged pneumatic air rifles. The company was founded in 1994 in Fort Worth, Texas. The rifles were designed to be lightweight, accurate, and inexpensive. The design also allowed easy attachment of accessories, as well be easily adjustable in power.
The BSA Scorpion Air Pistol was an air pistol made by the Birmingham Small Arms Company and first produced in 1973. It was a large, heavy, spring powered, single-shot weapon available in .177 (4.5 mm) and .22 (5.5 mm) calibers and was BSA's first air pistol. At 5.5 ft•lbf, it was close to the UK legal power limit for an air pistol.
The BSA Ultra is a popular, precharged pneumatic air rifle manufactured by a subsidiary of Spanish manufacturer Gamo, BSA Guns (UK) Limited and sold worldwide. Widely used for both sport and hunting it has proven itself to be both accurate and reliable. It is an unregulated, pneumatic powered air gun available in both .177 and .22 calibres and with a choice of either single shot or multi-shot. It is one of the cheapest PCP air rifles available in the market. It was designed by BSA designer John Bowkett.
DIANA Mayer & Grammelspacher is an air gun manufacturer founded and based in Rastatt, Germany. The company, named after Diana, the mythological goddess of the hunt, is best known for producing quality air rifles.
This is a list of laws concerning air guns by country.
The BSA Mercury was a break barrel, spring powered, Air Rifle first produced in 1972 by the Birmingham Small Arms Company and then Gamo (UK) Limited. It was manufactured in .177 (4.5 mm) .22 (5.5 mm) and .25 (6.35 mm), the latter named the "635 Magnum". The Mercury was marketed between the BSA Meteor and AirSporter models and was a light, easy to use rifle, giving a "just under legal limit UK power" of 11.5 ft•lbf of energy.
The BSA Buccaneer was a break barrel spring powered air rifle first produced in 1977 by the Birmingham Small Arms Company, manufactured in both .177 (4.5 mm) and .22 (5.5 mm) calibers and marketed as an introduction air rifle for younger shooters with a muzzle energy of 5.5 ft•lbf. The rifle had a safety catch, which was disengaged by operation of a lever next to the shooter's thumb.
The BSA AirSporter was an underlever spring powered Air Rifle first produced in 1948, by the Birmingham Small Arms Company and remained more or less unchanged until 1962 when the Mk2 was produced. The Mk1 had a one-piece barrel and receiver assembly with a leather piston washer, while all other marks had a screw-in barrel with most having a PTFE piston and breach seal, giving a "legal UK power" of 10 ft•lbf of energy.
