Girandoni Air Gun (original 1780 example)

[@DomRivers67]

It might "only" produce around 70 ft/lb, but at sub 100 yards, that is quite enough to go clean through a human head, remember, back in the day a good rifleman could fire and reload his musket, at best, in dry conditions, 3 times a minute, for maybe a dozen shots before he had to field clean his gun......if you managed to get half a dozen soldiers, out to the battlefield flank armed with these...and the capability of 40 aimed shots per minute, with a 120 round capability...each....no matter what the weather....that was a devastating firepower to bring to bear especially at closer ranges. The units were issued with a horsedrawn charging station with the hand pumps just used for topping off partially discharged cylinders in lulls in the action. An idea before it's time though in material terms, the rifles themselves were reliable enough if the leather seals were kept oiled, but all the pumps an paraphanelia also needed maintenance a bit beyond the common soldier, I'm surprised more weren't used navally, they would have made an excellent boarding gun in a situation where you commonly had a lot of time on your hands prior to any hand to hand combat, and when it came it tended to be face to face

[@Perktube1]

Good point about boarding guns. Still, military minds then were quite stubborn and traditional. Also I'd like to see that horse drawn charging station, because, 1500 pumps? Sheesh.

[@granddukeofmecklenburg]

Prussians got it down to 4 rounds a minute...That small difference along with Superior drill,and discipline helped Prussia(a secondary power) hold off the 3 great powers of europe(France,Austria, and Russia) along with Sweden, Saxony, and other various pro Austrian german states, for 7 years

[@granddukeofmecklenburg]

Also...these Air rifles only worked well for Jeagars,light infantry, snipers and skirmishers because after your out of reseviours, your done...so it's out of the question for Line infantry who need to provide sustained fire...also these air rifles were atrociously overly complicated and unreliable, expensive and mass producability was out of the question

[@gholland5840]

The point of the weapon was to kill, not disable

[@itsmeagain7825]

in the uk you can only have up to 12 ft lbs without a licence , and they don't come easy !

[@Shrapnel82]

"Let's look at how the Austrians pumped these up" With the the help of Hanz and Franz, of course.

[@linkmasterspitz]

@Matrox One you missed the Saturday night live reference

[@ghostofreagan3181]

You know why their here.

[@junichiroyamashita]

@@linkmasterspitz which one?

[@benzracer]

Shrapnel82 Comment of the decade right here

[@therlowpopejr3540]

Shrapnel82

[@DaveScottAggie]

It seems very advanced for the 1700's. Thanks for sharing.

[@Perktube1]

Indeed. I wonder how old many of our 'new' ideas really are.

[@gravygraves5112]

@@Perktube1 Fin stabilized discarding sabots (the modern tank rounds for killing tanks) were invented in the medieval era. Handgonnes, a small cannon mounted on a stick, could not propel round shot at high enough speeds to punch through the armor of knights, so someone in central Europe got the idea to take crossbow bolts, put metal fetching on them, then wrap them in a leather cylinder that would fall off once the bolt left the barrel of the handgonne. Made it so that handgonners could punch through knight armor with ease. Really is scary shit how some old ideas become new again.

[@hunter5502000]

Fine example of how when Democrats say that they only had muskets when the 2nd amendment was written, that they're full of shit.

[@derekhugh]

nah were just retarded willfully

[@ironfox2778]

@@gravygraves5112 I second that. I remember reading about Richard Gatling and how he continued to experiment with his rotary guns (which was weirdly enough based on an agricultural invention) in the years after the Civil War. Even during the War, it was possible for a well-trained crew to achieve rates of fire close to 1000 rounds per minutes. If I remember correctly, sometime around the 1890's he got a hold of an electric motor and was able to get the rate of fire of his rotary gun close to 3000 rounds per minute. Fast forward a hundred years later and here we are still using his design.

[@Skullminersgaming]

Man ian got old quick

[@douglasfulmer5483]

+Skullminersgaming lol.

[@Jose-kb6nc]

And he loss his majestic beard.

[@FrogmortonHotchkiss]

Gun Jesus will rise again.

[@sigma6656]

Is this Gun Jesus' father? Does that make him Gun God?

[@Perktube1]

It was all that pumping.

[@pcblah]

They should make modern re-pros of this...

[@StoneSlinger0oo0]

There are modern big bore airguns that can surpass the performance of the Girandoni rifles. Look up airguns made by Dennis Quackenbush for some examples.

[@pcblah]

StoneSlinger But I would still like to have a working replica of this rifle, mostly for collecting purposes.

[@diasirea]

pcblah Someone hand made a small number of these a decade or so ago. I saw one at a gun show. I think price was $3500. Trivia: Austrian soldiers would charge reservoirs in cool early morning. When sun heated them up some would reportedly burst from resultant excess pressure of warmed air.

[@pcblah]

diasirea Holy crap... (at the price and the explosions)

[@diasirea]

"The rich, they're not like you or I, old sport," Jay Gatsby.

[@wcoastbo]

Great presentation! I always wondered how the Girardoni operated. I couldn't get my brain wrapped around how one could have developed a high pressure big bore air-gun given the technology of the era. It's simplicity & innovation is amazing! Truly out of the box thinking. If Girardoni were alive today, given the technology we currently have, he would probably be the most innovative firearms maker. His 236 year old air rifle has more features than most modern versions.

[@gregkerr725]

I've read that historians think that it was Girandoni air rifles that Lewis and Clark carried on their expedition across the continent in 1803-1805. Supposedly they had at least two. An interesting sidenote is that every time they encountered an indian tribe they gave a shooting demonstration. Now the Indians had or had seen, muskets, but it is speculated that the fast firing Girandoni's may be the reason that the expedition never had any major difficulty with any tribe and never lost an expedition member to violence. Seems the awesome fire output made the Indians leary of a confrontation, figuring that the entire expedition must be armed with the same rifle...although they weren't.

[@mattstanislen3165]

So a good guy win a gun kept potential threats at bay simply by having it. Love it.

[@lysajsmrtihlav6549]

I never cease to marvel at Girardoni. If this gun didn't actually exist, I'd think it was a figment of some steampunk author's imagination. In the context of the second half of the 18th century, it's absolutely, absolutely astonishing. The repeating mechanism itself is a work of genius.

[@alnbaba]

And here I thought pumping my old daisy air rifle 10 times was a pain, 1500 strokes to get up to pressure. I can see why it didn't last more than 10 years, very cool rare rifle. Thanks for posting another great video.

[@TheRogerx3]

Heard a lot of the Girardoni over the years and even seen pictures.. Thanks for making this video. The Lewis and Clarke expedition in particular is very interesting with respect of Taming the natives with demonstrations.

[@arsyesis]

Quelle ingéniosité ! Une belle preuve du talent de nos anciens !

[@byosvaldo794]

Amazing video with a wonderfull narrating explanation about the specs, well done

[@robertreynolds9228]

Absolutely ingenious design! Air weapons are way underrated.

[@toddcroce3136]

Thanks Ian. It's nice to see the heritage of my sport and the predecessor of modern air powered rifles like my Rapid HM1000X. I am always amazed and awestruck at the innovative designs of yesteryear.

[@williamroberts5716]

That's incredible tech for the time. I'm glad you said the air reservoir was a reproduction. I'd hate to attempt to use the original. But, 1500 pumps will make your arms wobbly. Better have a backup pistol while you're pumping this for 30-45 minutes or whatever.

[@thra5herxb12s]

So wonderful that this rifle survived at all and to have one with the accessories is amazing.

[@colintilbrook]

gorgeous and brilliant, thank you for the walk through.

[@Nephi895]

You can see the one that was on the Lewis and Clark expedition at the Evergreen Aviation Museum in McMinnville, Oregon.

[@Aranubis]

There was also a bigger compressor to fill the air reservoirs. You can see one at the military history museum in vienna.

[@tomservo5347]

I'd say the thing was robust if it survived the Lewis & Clark Expedition. Probably too expensive, and generals have a hard time allowing changes to their tactical doctrine. (At this time the bayonet charge was what broke formations, and I noticed the lack of a bayonet lug.) Amazing the Austrians were forward-thinking enough to even try it. Even during the Civil War when technology allowed for the full equipping of the Union Army with repeaters the US Ordinance Department was too slow to accept any idea or push in that direction. The old farts in charge hated change and also assumed soldiers would waste ammunition if they knew they didn't have to reload. (They were also notoriously tight as bark on a tree and it took Lincoln's personal intervention a few times to over-ride them.)

[@dionmorse4788]

Dion Morse

[@dionmorse4788]

it seems that as usual, generals and supply sources have always been guilty of fighting the last war, over and over. But we know now that wars are constantly evolving and with the level of communication which our confrontation adversaries also have a battle field tactic can change in an almost fluid way.

[@MrSven3000]

i believe, this tiny handpump was more of a backup for the individual soldier. when visiting the army history museum in the vienna arsenal, i saw a big thing labelled "regimental pump". i didnt watch it closer back then, it was just a huge thing on a wheel carriage, two wooden beams standing 12 feet high, some kind of balloon between them and sorts of brass covered steel handles and spirals. so i guess, in theory soldiers got their reservoirs pumped up by a regimental pumping team using the big thing.

[@WhatIsYourMalfunction]

Most informative. Thank you for your efforts to bring this to the public . I love the history of this rifle.

[@solomonkane223]

Ingenious. I'd buy one today if some company would put them into production. Great hunting / survival tool.

[@Drunk3n1rish2009]

What is amazing is that they were able to build this mechanical marvel with the technology in 1780

[@stevengrotte2987]

I first read of this weapon in a paperback novel about a British Navy captain who was hunting Spanish pirates who also turned out to be Spanish rebels who wanted to take New Orleans back from the French and return it to Spain, he had captured the rifle from the Spanish rebels/pirates I was amazed that there were repeating guns that early and more.amazed that it was an air gun,!!!

[@thornwarbler]

what an absolute gem.....................Thanks for posting

[@seaboss17]

Thank you Ian! This was awesome. I always learn something from you videos, and I hope you never stop producing them. Take care

[@morgs456]

What a lovely gun for its age. Thanks for sharing

[@JBo77]

Things were so well made back then.

[@swayingGrass]

He sounds like Bill Hammack from engineerguy, very pleasant voice to hear and the narrative is really clear

[@ArnCital]

Great hunting rifle for Lewis and Clark which can reuse the lead to make replacement lead balls.

[@stianberg5645]

I had no idea anything like this existed back then! much less that it was actually in use.. impressive!

[@frankdantuono2594]

OMG! OMG! I've only ever seen illustrations of this gun. Not pictures, f-ing drawings! GREAT VIDEO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@flyingninja1234]

I'm surprised no one is making replicas of these on a massive scale. I'd love to shoot one of these.

[@cleber44mag]

What about muzzle velocity???

[@fz1000red]

Wow! It's a 240 year old air rifle! The old man narrating is an excellent instructor. I'm willing to bet he's a retired teacher or professor of some sort.

[@jeffmiller6954]

When I first read about Lewis and Clark having this weapon and I looked into the history, I was amazed that the technology was actually more than 200 years old at the time of the expedition. I would have guessed air rifles were first invented in the early 20th century. Note that compressed air was used for powering other things in the 19th and 20th centuries -- I think steam engines could be adapted to using compressed air fairly easily.

[@YCCCm7]

This guy makes me think Bob Ross of gun mechanics.

[@magistrumartium]

I once read that snipers used airguns against Napoleon's troops. I wondered how those airguns worked. Now I know. Thank you! That was a very interesting video.

[@kripvorlund7849]

Amazing engineering. Thank you for the demo!

[@billwessels207]

I thank you for this information. Very well done. No wonder their enemies wanted these weapons outlawed. No wonder the natives were impressed when Lewis and Clark would demonstrate this piece. I was not aware of the accessories pouch containing 2 spare tanks as well as 4 spare speed loaders. For that day and time it would have been truly awe inspiring to the those who had to face such an awsome weapon with the slow loading single shot weapons which they had to defend themselves. Thge natives of course had bows which were very fast to reload as well. However they could see the handwriting on the wall. I would like to see a video or a set of plans to replicate this piece.

[@ShawarmaFarmer]

Thanks FW for showing us such a unique and interesting Austrian rifle.

[@hasmatiks]

I had no idea they had that kind of air pressure technology in the 18th century!

[@expert244]

It is unbelievable that in the 1700’s they could make a tank and even more so a valve that could handle 800 PSI. Not to mention the pump...

[@prestongolden9901]

Never knew these existed. Absolutely fascinating...thanks for sharing this with us.

[@ianfarquharson3772]

An old rifle that will work and shoot in rain or bad weather.Great vid as always. ThankQ. TkEZ>UK

[@simoneboxler1065]

@Forgotten Weapon His name was properly Gilardoni. born as Bartolomeo Gilardoni. He was an Italian clock maker born in Cortina D'ampezzo. The name of the rifle was "sćiòpo a vento".

[@Dannydawson537]

Mad to think air weapons would even be considered given proper firearms were legal to carry everywhere what would something like this be used for ? It’s a beautiful gun and very rare

[@unclebob540i3]

What an amazing piece of engineering! Truly ahead of it's time by decades! and what a significant advantage in fire power over the flintlock. I wonder what kind of muzzle velocity they were getting, and how consistent?

[@dtcspyker6599]

I wonder if that loading bar method was ever used on a conventional flintlock musket, I've never heard of it before this

[@bobkelley8291]

I would like to see a company make new ones and perhaps improve on this model.

[@merccadoosis8847]

great presentation

[@GunFunZS]

I was going to say that a couple of these went on the Lewis and Clarke expidition, but he mentioned it at the end. I saw a year or two ago that someone was making a sprint run of usable reproductions. They were very expensive, but man would that be cool to own.

[@marko1314]

Very interesting sir - Thank you for sharing

[@aeronwilliams94]

amazing bit of kit .

[@kellypaws]

Outstanding video.

[@kimohoganesq]

"Damn" ... I hoped we were going to get to see and hear it shoot !!!! :)

[@416brett]

Thank you again Ian!

[@goldeneye0019]

I'm told that Lewis and Clark used one of these on their expedition

[@JohnBlaze505]

I can't believe he dry fired that thing!!

[@landfair123]

He didn't say how many rounds could be fired from each charged air tank. I think I read somewhere it was almost 60 or more rounds per tank. But I am not sure.

[@JimFortune]

I was wondering that as well.

[@macnutz4206]

I believe it began losing power noticeably after the first 15 shots. Just watched a fellow shooting one and it was obviously losing power for the last couple of rounds fired out of twenty. I had thought if was more than that but I was wrong, yet again. :) On another video where it is being shot, the pressure had dropped to just over four hundred psi from 850. Your aim point has to change constantly to compensate for the continuing power loss.

[@landfair123]

***** Still even having 10 shots is worth it compared to two a minute for a musket or rifle. Multiply that by a battalion and the enemy will be gone before all the soldiers run out of ammo. If someone had come up with a better air can they might have taken over for black powder in the armies that could afford the guns. I wonder if anyone at that time had thought to make a air machine gun mounted on a cannon carriage. That would have probably been better to maintain rather then so many rifles.

[@ralphh4131]

wow. dibs out pumping that.

[@sarahmayer8539]

This is just amazing

[@claudelemay1640]

Thanks Sir!!

[@freedomis4all]

I never even knew that existed. Thank you a lot!!

[@kelavia2112]

"The founding fathers could never predict such weaponry"

[@tomj5747]

Wow, that's amazing, and from 1780! The Austrian's seem like they had their act together.

[@MrM2hb]

That is really something.

[@davidbostock6776]

Thanks for doing an excellent presentation. I envy the owner so much I may change my name to Green. I've wanted to know something (vs near nothing) about these guns for a very long time.

[@Pitchlock8251]

Very cool.

[@iainclark8695]

I love how it has a hammer.

[@gtagamerman1234]

Imagine being the poor bastard that had to pump all the tanks up lol

[@dollarbill6102]

0.0 I've wanted a replica of one of these for years .

[@johnfuller6338]

Fascinating piece of forgotten history, used by Clark expedition, scared the native Americans cause of lack of flash an smoke.

[@friedrichgeorgschmorl5056]

fantastic,awsome. and that 18th century.....thanks

[@mikeschmidt7980]

Super cool thanks for video

[@Fuddleton]

Way cool Can't imagine that air tank is the most comfortable stock though, haha Interesting to see they kept the hamemer ergos standard for the time too. All those brass pieces must of been a heck of a cost to make in the end on top of everything, curious how it would have actually fared against a standard rifle of the time.

[@camarokidbb4347]

While I don’t think the stock is too comfortable to shoulder either, it’s also firing a round little over half as massive as .45 ACP, at well under subsonic speeds, from a ~10 lb platform, so I doubt recoil would actually be an issue.

[@lindgrenland]

Eh. Take the money, buy a couple of extra wool uniforms, muskets, powder and ball and go press a couple of extra people into service by luring them to the conscription area with job offers. That's what a good colonel does "Your uniform, soldier. See yourself hastily dressed upon it." "Oh no, sir. Not I, no sir! I have not the constitution of a soldier and a mistake must have been made! I am merely here on my acceptance of the position of personal servant to the good lord Hohenkopfberg! Sold all me heirlooms to carry passage here, I did!" "Are you accusing your betters of trickery, soldier?" "N-no, sir! Clearly a mistake m-must have been made!" "Good. Now, act the proper soldier-man and put it on. We march." Meanwhile, at HQ: "HOHENKOPFBERG! Get in here, NOW! Your regiment has seen the most desertion out of ALL. Would the count care to explain himself?" "It simply perplexes me, Your Highness!"

[@Killerbill54nx]

I didn't know they had air tanks back then

[@FreakinPeanuts]

Truly impressive. I've seen a reproduction one of these at the NRA National Sporting Arms Museum in Bass Pro, Springfield, MO. I'd buy reproduction if they made them. But I'd sure as Hell find a more efficient way to charge it.

[@jnelson4765]

Dry nitrogen on a regulator would do it - just have to have a high pressure charging port concealed in the buttstock.

[@bigsolidboss781]

Amazing, the guy invented this was a genius

[@ak47popoff]

Very nice

[@dannyobrian5957]

Surprised that they are so old and probtthe best thing to use in them days better than powder single shot WOW amazed thanks for this , one man army with this back then would wipe out the enemy's fast

[@VicariousReality7]

Wow, air guns have barely changed at all

[@bradleythoman6322]

They had better paintball marker back then man

[@douglasfulmer5483]

That really isn't much of a stock. I guess the recoil makes it not a problem.

[@aandrews7733]

Very interesting! I wonder what it's effective range was?

[@divine308]

Thats cool its like a giant co2 cartridge that can be refilled by pumping it up 1500 times how many shots would that equate too? Im very interested in this kind of air storage system because I have a co2 gun which I would like to replace with a pumpable cartrige gun so I dont have to get more co2 cartridges

[@enyha]

These must have been very expensive to hand manufacture.

[@trevarkonkol1935]

thats really cool

[@maitrehauchecorne846]

He is not Italian . If He was those quail would be on the table with Polenta. The Italian’s are Master Minds of innovation and Pioneers in technology and warfare.

[@jst4curiosity704]

What an amazingly well-designed air rifle! If only our current manufacturers could do so well! Current air rifles are lame by comparison - unless you've got $3500.

[@miskakopperoinen8408]

To be honest, you couldn't get this gun for that cheap when this was brand new, and you can't get one now either. This was an expensive weapon, which is exactly why it was so rare.

[@dunxy]

No, modern pcp's are more powerful. 50cal 2-300grains@ 800fps,about 750usd. 800psi? LOL modern pcp's are pushing 4000, standard is 3k.

[@jaroslawkaminski8921]

Awesome!!!!!

[@Nobody-11B]

What a treasure!

[@Jordan-ql6tm]

How many charges, or rounds could one expect outta the air tank before needing to pump it back up?

[@owenauer3406]

So just how many shots could you get off with one full air canister? Just 22?

[@mosinnagant7800]

How powerful were these compared to the black powder rifles/muskets of that time period?

[@TheHilariousGoldenChariot]

Wow I found a FW video so old it ain’t got Ian

[@chlorhexidine2506]

shut up

[@jomunjr]

I guess you don't fire it any more? Would be nice to see it. How many shots per reservoir?

[@mannequinfukr]

I heard its 22

[@d4rkhound388]

I wonder why they do not make Air rifles like this anymore, with a fairly large tank as the foregrip or in the stock and have an actual magazine, Also with modern technology they could put on a small electric pump and it would then be quite a good modern air rifle.

[@Rozbujnik_Rumcajs]

+RAI DEN even with modern technology is close to impossible built small pump that can provide at least 800 PSI. To compare an paintball marker operate on ~850 PSI. PCP airguns with decent power (for hunting) are powered by ~1500-2500 PSI tanks. You can buy hand pump for this range of pressure but its quite large. I think it is better to buy few small high pressure tanks and pump it into base/home/scuba center/or whatever place with high pressure pump or compressor. If you want airgun with large tank in foregrip mayby look for "gunpower". These airgun use standard paintball hp tanks with modded output pressure regulator.

[@d4rkhound388]

Krzysztof Żak "It is impossible to make a small pump go to 800 psi" THEY DID IT....

[@Rozbujnik_Rumcajs]

RAI DEN This isnt small!

[@d4rkhound388]

Krzysztof Żak The pump is literally a stick dude... it is considered small compared to other pumps.

[@GenesisRasphotos]

+Krzysztof Żak the pump is maybe 1 inch in diamiter and maybe 4 feet long when fully extended....i think thats pretty damn small