How a Pellet Gun Works

Pellet guns are air guns that use compressed air to fire pellets (as opposed to BBs or slugs). They all work on the principles of air density. By compressing air into a small space, it is forced out of that space quickly, a movement that is used to fire pellets.

  1. Manual Springs

    • The simplest pellet guns are pumped manually with springs. As the shooter pumps the spring back several times, it pulls back a piston. This piston compresses the air in the chamber. When the shooter fires the pellet gun, the air is allowed to escape, coming from directly behind the pellet.

    Manual Pneumatics

    • Manual pneumatic guns function on the same principle as the spring-operated manual guns, but with one key difference. With these guns, the shooter only has to pump up the chamber once. A piston compresses the air inside a chamber, and each firing of the gun releases some air from this chamber, rather than all of it. This makes it better equipped for firing several shots in a row.

    Precharged Pneumatic

    • Finally, the precharged pneumatic (PCP) guns compress air by connecting the pneumatic cylinder to an oxygen tank or external pump. This makes them capable of holding much more air than the above two guns and also capable of compressing air more densely, giving PCP guns either more shots and/or more powerful shots.