This is the 1010 air pistol.



You push down the "slide stop" thing above the grip with your thumb, pull the slide part to the rear, and push it forward again. This charges a spring powered piston- the barrel pivots upwards and you can slide in a pellet or bb; drop it down, safety off, and it sends it on it's way at a sluggish 200 fps

This pistol has a LOT of weight to it, primarily because it's supposed to look like a 1911 or something. I'd say about 80-90% of it's weight is the metal body which is pure aesthetics.

I've had one for several years (to the point where it's "shot out") but I've always been a fan of the simple design, and I've always wondered... if you get rid of all the crap, and get down to the basics (the piston/spring assembly, barrel, cocker, trigger...) would it be possible to create a "survival pistol"?

The pistol grip and frame that everything sits on can be a no-slip polymer or rough rubbery stuff around metal (like truck bed liner?), and the whole pistol could be signal orange for the PC crowd. The grip itself can be "skeleton" like to further reduce weight (and maybe a small compartment to hold pellets built in). The bulky metal cocker can be replaced by a 550 cord loop or a more compact "grenade pin" type thing, so you can still cock it without too much effort. The 1010 runs about $30, so the survival pistol probably could be around the same price...

I whipped this up in a few minutes to give an idea...










So you have a lightweight, bare bones pistol that doesn't need any external source of air (like C02 cartridges), has no unessesairy weight or bulk for "looks", and only needs pellets

While it's not fancy, and probably has a short effective range (25 feet?) due to the low velocity and short sight radius, it's better than seeing a squirrel just outside of reach when you haven't had anything to eat in days and your snares just aren't cutting it. A slingshot might work (or even a sling) but I've never been able to get the hang of those to be honest.

To boot, you can have and use it where normal firearms might be illegal. Not a big concern if you're trying to survive, but it means you can practice with it and carry it in a vehicle or bag without getting in too much trouble if someone happens to see. Here, I can use pellet guns in my back yard for target shooting, but using even a little .22 would probably get the cops out here fairly quickly.

I know the velocity is low, and I'm not sure how far a pellet going 200fps will kill a squirrel or similar small game, but most pistols I've seen (other than expensive ones specifically for hunting) are only 200-400 fps and most of the 400 fps ones require C02 canisters.

I'm not sure if something like this is feasible, it's just been floating around in my mind for a while now. It would be quite a marketing niche that, as far as I know, isn't filled.

My question is, would any of you guys find something like that useful if such a thing was on the market?

I've shot air pistols and the pellet moves in a cartoon-like arc. I think all I've ever hit was the ground. But I don't know what the speed was.... maybe in the minus range.....

'Pup

So that's a no then? <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Most of my pistols are around 400 fps (but require CO2 cartridges) and have pretty decent accuracy. It's no rifle though...

I had, and wore out, two of those when I was a kid. Got so good with it I could drill a grasshopper from the hip at ten feet just about every time. And that was just about all it would kill. Hit more than one sparrow sized bird, they just lost a little puff of feathers (maybe) and flew off, probably wondering what that funny feeling was. Great fun, but I would not rely on them for anything important...

It will be hard to build this pistol. You could only have a short stroke and a short barrel. The short stroke will take a bulky piston and a really stiff spring to get enough velocity. The stiffness of the spring will require a high force. The force will also make a simple trigger hard to pull (that´s bad for the accuracy).The short barrel means a waste of pressure which also has to be compensated.
Your best bet might be a pistol with an air container that´s pumped up to the required pressure.

Thanks for the comments guys <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
I guess it does have too many drawbacks

Keep tinkering, you may invent something yet <img src="/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

I know a little about air rifles and pistols, and have been party to several conversations as to their suitability for survival use. As with any tool, it depends on the scenario.

Be aware that it's hard to generalize too much about them, because "air" in this use encompasses at least 4 very distinct mechanism types, with several variations on each, and a huge range of available accuracy and power. The trend now is to using compressed air at high PSI, refilled from scuba tanks or expensive compressors. Personally, I consider all that too dependent on infrastructure to be of interest for survival.

There are some truly scary-accurate air pistols out there (they go to the Olympics, after all), but they're designed for 10 meters, and only the older models use hand-cocking mechanisms for power. Generally, in that kind of power range you're talking small-to-medium birds and not much else.

IMHO, the real limitations are inherent in it's being a pistol. It takes a LOT more training and practice for most people to become accurate with one. I'd say a shoulder stock was worth the weight and bulk, and if you're going to do that, you may as well take advantage of the length in leverage of the mechanism and the increased possible sight radius.. and you have an air rifle.

IMHO air rifles do have a place in a lot of scenarios. They can be compact, accurate, powerful enough for small game, SILENT, you can carry a year's worth of ammo in one pocket... and there are a whole lot more squirrels and bunnies out there than deer, and they reproduce a lot faster. They are also absolutely great for training/practice, and the marksmanship skills transfer well to firearms.

If you think it is workable, keep working on it. Maybe you can come up with something that no one else has yet.
Anyhow, for the immediate fime being, maybe you should look into a slingshot with some 00 or 000 buck or small ball bearings to fill that role. If it got right down to it, you could even pick up small rocks for ammo.

It's a great idea in theory, but you'd have to figure a way to up the velocity A LOT. I've had that model air pistol (when I was 10 yr.s old, because it looked so much like the beloved 1911, and again about ten yr.s ago, for nostalgic reasons) and the first time around was shot with it more than once. Personal experience allows me to say that all you'll do to a squirrel with it ,is make him mad <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />. But, with that said, with higher velocity, and maybe a .22 instead of.177, You'd have a fun and practical little plinker... I'd buy one if the price was right <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />.

Troy