These are popular in countries that pretty much ban "firearms" and will humanely take large game (deer size normally). Some pest control operations purchase them for use in the city limits as the laws prohibiting firearms are preventive for such activities.
Living in South Korea for 4 years, I seen some really fine looking air rifles but they were prohibitively costly for most folks.
I found it very interesting Lewis and Clark used them. The early ones had an air storage capacity and were some of the very first repeating arms used in battle.
The draw back were the bellows (air pumps) they used at the time took a while to pressurize and weren't so popular when engaging enemy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girandoni_air_rifle
Living in South Korea for 4 years, I seen some really fine looking air rifles but they were prohibitively costly for most folks.
I found it very interesting Lewis and Clark used them. The early ones had an air storage capacity and were some of the very first repeating arms used in battle.
The draw back were the bellows (air pumps) they used at the time took a while to pressurize and weren't so popular when engaging enemy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girandoni_air_rifle