peashooter85:Italian Partisan Air Rifle, Apparently this strange air rifle was a weapon concocted
peashooter85: Italian Partisan Air Rifle, Apparently this strange air rifle was a weapon concocted by an Italian bicycle maker during World War II. In WWII Italy there were many paramilitary groups disgruntled with the German occupation of Italy and the Italian Fascist Party. The rifle was filled with air from a bicylce pump and several 11mm round bullets were inserted into a spring fed tube magazine on the left hand side. To load the user worked a bolt which fed a bullet from the magazine into the chamber. Pulling the trigger forced a strong gust of air into the chamber propelling the bullet. While primitive compared to modern firearm technology, this unique air rifle would certainly have been deadly. It had a range of up to 100 yards and actually packed enough force to kill a person. It would have been especially useful because it was silent and lacked muzzle flash or smoke when discharged. Currently this odd air rifle is in the possession of the Beeman Precision Air Rifle Company. -- source link