timeline of air rifles

is that all just 20 years LOL 

well the first thing you should do is get a new Blue Book of Air Guns when it come out later this spring and start reading and study up

there isn't enough room here to chronicle one year no less 20

well said

or just go on line and Read....too much has happened....and it has been picking up faster month by month,not year by year...

Dude.... I think the PCP goes back to Lewis and Clark....

50 years ago start with a Red Ryder, then, a crosman 400, a Marlin 22lr WMR , Now , discoverys Marauders, Hatsans pcps,Dianas. and its a start !

Dude.... I think the PCP goes back to Lewis and Clark....

Click to expand...

Yeah, "PCP air rifles" definitely date back to the late 1700s.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pqFyKh-rUI



Sam -

In the late 80s, I got to plink with a few different lever action rifles..
In the early/mid 90s, some friends and I got big into multi-pump rifles.. 
Around the mid/late 90s, I also started messing with springers.. 
Through the 00s, I kept using multi-pump and springers, 
while keeping a close eye on PCP rifle tech.. [wanting to go there]
After using a handful over the years, I was sold. 
[I do still miss shooting springers though]
As mentioned, PCP tech has been advancing insanely fast lately.
I couldn't be happier about that. [It just keeps me chronically poor]

I think I know what you are asking and I also asked a good friend of mine who was big before FX. He told me back in the 90s and early 2000, Falcon Air rifles were all the rage. Don't hold me this statement about Falcon Air rifles and if anyone knows anything more about this brand, I would be interested. In the history of PCP, FX is a very recent company.

Couldn't find it but saw a picture of AOA's display for the 2002 SHOT. It was full of Falcon rifles. FX was not there or were under their Logan Brand name. Iw was a very interesting picture. 

Well, TSmith,

I can't give you a detailed history with years and all — but it seems in those 20 years you mention airgunning has developed and advanced so much that I feel this is a golden age to be an airgunner...! Let's celebrate! 



So, what do we have now that the average shooter 20y ago did not have — buying off the shelf and not able to spend thousands upon thousands of dollars on this hobby?:



Precision out to 75y, 100y, 150y, and beyond (➔ thanks to barrels, high quality pellets, regulators even in budget PCPs — "throwing down the Gauntlet!")



Maximum useful range (➔ thanks to powerful PCPs — without hold-sensitivity, high quality pellets, slugs)



Killing power (➔ thanks to PCPs, price point magnum springers)



Wind drift resistance (➔ thanks to high BC pellets — cf. Hugh Earl's inventions at Prometheus (UK), and of course slugs that aren't much more expensive than high quality pellets anymore — thanks to pioneer Niels of NSA for example)



Precision and versatility in the aim (➔ thaks to good quality glass and repeatable turrets and large magnification ranges often under $500 — Discovery and Vector brands, Falcon, Athlon, many others)



Convenience in the aim for hunting with variable magnification scopes (➔ thanks for affordable first focal plane scopes)



Precision in calculating pellet trajectory (➔ thanks to full ballistic calculators — in my pocket!, BC lists, GA drag model [ChairGun], chronographs — accessible!)



Portability and concealment (➔ thanks to bullpups, powerful PCP pistols, PCP's mousefart quiteness with legal silencers and shrouds)



Fixing & modding without needing a gunsmith ($!) or much technical experience (➔ thanks to sharing knowledge and advice on our forums [Bob Sterne and many many others!])



TT&C Looks — the Traditional and the Tactical look, and the Colorful look (with laminate stocks and ceracote) — whatever floats your boat...!



What a great time to be an airgunner!

Matthias