A

B

C

SHOOTING WITH AIR the next 200 years. In the late 19th century, England The pumpkin guns of Delaware are simply the latest was swept by the “air cane” craze. Although an air incarnation of machines capable of shooting things cane appeared to be but a simple walking stick, using air power, which is truly an ancient concept. inside it was everything needed to shoot a bullet Simple blowguns were used by prehistoric hunters to with enough stopping power to take down a large bring down small game. There are many references attacker. Truly, the air cane was a dangerous weapon to breath-powered shooters by classical Roman and and an impressive means of self-defense for the Greek historians. But mechanical (that is non-lung- security-minded Victorian Englishman. powered) machines have a more recent history. In 1950s America, air guns were again peaking The oldest existing air gun is in the collection in popularity. As anybody who has ever seen the of the Livrustkammaren Museum in Stockholm, movie A Christmas Story knows, Ralphie Parker, Sweden. The museum dates the device to around and most boys like him growing up in the 50s, 1580 A.D. Air gun refinement occurred continually longed for a Red Ryder BB gun, or as Ralphie put during the following 200 years. By the year 1800, air it, “the Holy Grail of Christmas gifts.” guns had developed to the point where they were Today, interest in air gunnery is peaking again, likely more accurate and more powerful than con- its health evidenced by a strong interest in airsoft temporary black powder weapons of similar size. guns, air-powered spud cannons, and — on the

For those who could afford them, air guns offered elephantine end of things — pumpkin guns. definite advantages: they were quiet and didn’t produce target-obscuring smoke. But the main perk was that they could be fired rapidly — several times a minute, which was far quicker than the load, tamp, and fire procedure required of muskets.

By comparison with smooth-bore, muzzle-loading muskets, air guns were veritable machine guns.

One of the most historically important American weapons was the air rifle carried by Meriwether Lewis during the Lewis and Clark expedition of 1803–1806. The actual gun (there is some controversy regarding its exact patrimony) may reside in the Virginia Military Institute’s (VMI) museum near the stuffed remains of Little Sorrel, Stonewall Jackson’s Confederate warhorse. VMI’s .31 caliber, flintlock-style, 900 pounds-per-square-inch pneumatic rifle was crafted by expert clockmaker Isaiah Lukens in Philadelphia.

When fired, the Lukens rifle makes a weird, loud, whooshing sound instead of a bang. But it’s powerful; it could easily take down a full-grown deer. According to the records kept by the Corps of Discovery, the air gun did its job well, being effective for hunting game and impressing enemies.

Air gun popularity waxed and waned throughout

PUNKIN CHUNKIN

At the 2006 Punkin Chunkin, held near Millsboro, Del., the long-standing distance records for pumpkin throwing came under serious pressure.

The current hot button in pumpkin chucking is breaking the mile barrier. A mile is a really long way to throw anything. Throwing a somewhat-fragile ten-pound pumpkin 10– 12 city blocks is a task that requires simultaneous application of great power and extreme delicacy. Sure, tossing a cannonball such a distance might be small potatoes for a military cannon powered by 30 pounds of explosive cordite, but for the homemade air guns on the firing line, it’s a stretch goal. Still, the people who compete here are clever and hardworking, and many of them seem to think they have a shot at the mile benchmark.

Currently, the state of the art in pumpkin hurling technology leaves the gun teams only a few hundred

Fig. A: Even the spectators come prepared for the competition. Fig. B: Fire and Ice is a double-barreled pumpkin cannon. Fig. C: An entrant in the youth air cannon division, Soldier Too was built by a son of one of the founders.

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