"The Girandoni Air Rifle was an airgun designed by Tyrolian inventor Bartholomäus Girandoni circa 1779. The weapon was also known as the Windbüchse ("wind rifle" in German)."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girandoni_Air_Rifle
Good design, but ahead of the technical capabilities of its time.
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Ahead of the technical capabilities? I'm not tracking. Supposedly it performed as advertised and way ahead of it's time to be sure. After reading that link and several others including the L&C journals long beforehand which alerted me to the existence of such a rifle, I still don't understand how the reservoir maintained it's integrity. I can't imagine what the psi would have been to achieve a velocity of a .46 caliber projectile comparable to a .45ACP. Followed by successive shots. Amazing! And oh yeah....ahead of the technical capabilities of it's time. Jeez, Bud.
However, according to the Journals, it did fulfill it's intended purpose of impressing the Native Americans. H e l l, it impresses everyone to this day!
Wonder how effective it would have been at dispatching city dwelling back yard rodents?
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Quoting from the link:
"The reservoirs themselves, made from hammered sheet iron held together with rivets and sealed by brazing, proved very difficult to manufacture using the techniques of the period and were always in short supply.
In addition, the weapon was very delicate and a small break could make it inoperable."
Obviously, a good idea, but manufacture was difficult and continued field use caused problems not up to obtainable standards of the day -- else, it would continued to be issued.
The weapon was issued to special Austrian sharpshooter units. Because of its rapid fire and silence, the French so feared the weapon Napoleon threatened to execute any soldiers found with the weapon.
Canes equipped with air guns were popular as self defense weapons in the Victorian era, I believe one such was featured in a Sherlock Holmes story.