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What is the major difference between a handgun that fires around 1000 FPS and a Pellet Gun that does 1200 FPS?
Before you state the obvious, I understand the difference is 200 feet per second.
But what makes a pellet gun with a maximum velocity of 1200 feet per second less dangerous or fatal than a handgun that with a muzzle velocity of, say, 1000 FPS? I understand that actual handguns use much more menacing bullets, compared to the .22 caliber pellets a high end air rifle would use, but is it simply the bullets that make handguns much more lethal than air rifles of similar velocity? Or is it the gun powder combustion and hammer, etc. that makes an actual handgun that much more powerful?
5 Answers
- TDMLv 61 decade agoFavorite Answer
It's not so much the velocity, it's the fact that the pellets are so tiny.
A 14.2 grain pellet at 1200 fps has 45 foot-pounds of energy.
A 230 grain .45 bullet at 1000 fps has 410 foot-pounds.
To match that energy, the same pellet would have to be traveling over 4000 fps!
- Anonymous1 decade ago
The main difference would be the projectile weight.
For instance:
A 147 Grain 9mm Round traveling at 1000 FPS will hit much harder than a 16 Grain .22 Caliber Pellet going the same speed. Kenetic energy being the big factor in regards to lethality.
- Anonymous1 decade ago
It's all about the amount of energy transferred to the victim. It's insane to even compare a .22 pellet with a 230 grain bullet even though both are travelling the same speed. Not only does the 230 grain bullet transfer more energy but it loses its initial velocity much slower.... the principle of inertia.
- C_F_45Lv 71 decade ago
Air rifles that "claim" up to 1200fps are generally .177 caliber, and shooting ultra lightweight pellets(5gr)
Even if the rifle does actually deliver 1200fps with a 5.4gr pellet. That's 17.27ft-lbs of muzzle energy. Compared to say a 240gr bullet at 1000fps, which delivers 533ft-lbs. That's a substantial difference.
The method of propulsion doesn't matter. There are air rifles capable of pushing heavy bullets.
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- 1 decade ago
Most of the time pellets dont even break skin, every once in a while you may get one that does but thats it. Bullets penetrate the skin, and depending on what kind, can release led, slowly poisoning and killing the victim.
