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The Girardoni air rifle was designed by Bartholomäus Girardoni of the Princely County of Tyrol (today part of Italy and Austria). The rifle was used from 1780 to around 1790 as the service rifle of the Austrian Military; its high rate of fire, smokeless propellants and rather soft muzzle report caused it to gain initial acceptance in the Austrian army, but its mechanical complexity for the time caused it to be dropped from service and relegated to a sniper role.
The Girardoni was famous for being associated with the Lewis and Clark Expedition, where Cpt. Meriwether Lewis and 2LT William Clark used this weapon in nearly all the demonstrations that they had performed for the Native Americans while on said expedition.
After the weapon's removal from service in the Austrian Army, they were ordered to be destroyed; however, there are some surviving examples.
The rifle uses a .46 caliber lead ball, with a .20 — 22-round gravity-fed tube magazine. The weapon had a loading lever which was located on the left side of the weapon. Pushing the lever caused a ball to drop onto said lever and be pushed into the barrel. The reservoir is a club-shaped apparatus that also acts as the weapon's stock and is screwed onto the rear of the weapon; pressure is estimated to be about 800 — 850 psi.
As with most weapons of the time, the Girardoni was hammer-fired. The hammer has two positions as with most weapons of the time; half-cock and full-cock. When placed in full-cock and fired, a small rod in the rear of the weapon protrudes out and releases a check valve in the reservoir, which releases air into the rifle and fires the weapon.
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https://americansocietyofarmscollec...-A-Brief-History-of-the-Airgun-of-Meriwet.pdf
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