GB2250574A - Air guns - Google Patents

Abstract

An air gun has a carrier for a magazine 85 which has three parallel bores each adapted to receive a number of pellets. end-to-end. The magazine is slidable transversely of the gun, so as to align successive bores with a gun loading mechanism including a pivotable plate 42 having a pellet-receiving bore. A spring loaded plunger 97 urges pellets in the bore for the time being aligned with the gun loading mechanism towards that mechanism, for entry into the pellet-receiving bore in the plate 42 when that plate is in a position suitable for receiving a pellet. Also disclosed is a gas release mechanism for an air gun utilising a pre-charged cylinder 15 of gas, to release an accurately metered quantity of gas each time a loaded pellet is to be discharged. The gun stock is configured to define a receptor for the cylinder. <IMAGE>

Description

AIR GUNS This invention concerns an air gun, and in particular relates to various aspects of an air gun powered by a pre-charged cylinder of compressed gas.

Specifically, this invention relates to an air gun in combination with a pellet magazine therefor, to a gas release mechanism for a gas operated air gun utilising a pre-charged cylinder of gas, to a loading mechanism for an air gun and to a gas operated air gun having a receptor for a gas cylinder.

A known design of air gun utilises a pre-charged cylinder of compressed gas (and usually compressed air) together with a valve assembly allowing that charge to be released in a succession of measured pulses, each time a pellet is to be fired from the gun. The usual arrangement is to have the gas cylinder mounted beneath the receiver or below the barrel, but this considerably increases the weight of the gun forward of the receiver, so making it more difficult to hold the gun still, when aiming and firing. Moreover, the known valve mechanisms for releasing gas from the cylinder tend to release much more gas than is actually required; this leads to considerable wastage of the charge, so allowing only a relatively small number of pellets to be fired from any one charge.The wastage arises as a consequence of the relatively high pressure of the charge with in the cylinder; the valve mechanism for releasing a pulse of compressed gas thus requires a considerable force for its operation, and it is then difficult precisely to control the amount of gas allowed to leave the cylinder in one operating cycle.

A further problem associated with the known designs of pre-charged gas cylinder operated air guns is that the loading mechanisms are prone to jam or otherwise are unreliable. This problem is often exacerbated if the gun has been designed to operate with a particular type of pellet, and the user then chooses to use a different pellet design, though of the same calibre.

The present invention proposes a new design of air gun incorporating various features aimed at least at reducing or wholly overcoming some of the disadvantages associated with known forms of pre-charged gas cylinder operated air guns, as briefly discussed above.

Accordingly, one aspect of the present invention provides in combination an air gun and a pellet magazine therefor, which magazine has at least two parallel bores each able to receive a plurality of pellets end-to-end, and means to retain in the bores pellets loaded thereinto, and which gun has a magazine carrier for receiving the magazine and permitting sliding movement of the magazine in a direction transverse to the length of the bores in the magazine whereby the bores may successively be aligned with a gun loading mechanism, which said gun loading mechanism is arranged to receive pellets one at a time from the magazine bore for the time being aligned therewith, and which gun further comprises a plunger adapted to cause pellets located in an aligned bore in the magazine to be urged towards the gun loading mechanism.

The magazine arrangement of this aspect of the present invention enables a relatively large number of pellets to be fired sequentially from the gun.

Typically, each bore may hold ten pellets and the magazine may have three bores; in this way, thirty pellets may be fired from the gun after a single magazine has been loaded into the gun, with the operator needing to do no more than effect a relatively small transverse movement of the magazine, after each magazine bore has been emptied. The pellet retaining means may comprise a clip which embraces the ends of the magazine and into and out of which the magazine may be slid.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a gas release mechanism for a gas operated air gun utilising a pre-charged cylinder of gas including a gas release valve, which mechanism comprises a housing adapted for connection to the gas release valve and having a bore in which is slidably mounted a release piston, a spring biasing the release piston to a position where the piston bears on the release valve on a connected cylinder, in a valveopening sense of the release valve but with insufficient force to open the valve, a firing piston also mounted in the housing bore and biased by a spring to move towards the release piston, and catch means to hold the firing piston at a position spaced from the release piston.

In the gas release mechanism of this invention, no gas is released from a connected cylinder so long as the release piston remains in contact with the release valve solely under the action of the release piston spring. When that release piston is struck by the firing piston, moving under the action of its spring following the release of the catch means, the combined forced of the release piston spring and the momentum of the firing piston, and possibly also of the firing piston spring, serve to open the release valve. The mechanism may be finally tuned to release the required amount of gas by adjusting the relative forces of the springs respectively associated with the release piston and the firing piston, as well as the masses of the release piston and the firing piston.For example, the spring associated with the firing piston may be arranged no longer to act on the firing piston at the point at which the firing piston strikes the release piston. The respective masses of the firing and release pistons may be adjusted so that the momentum of the firing piston in combination with the spring force of the release piston spring are sufficient to overcome the valve opening force needed to open the release valve, for the required time to permit sufficient compressed gas to escape to fire a pellet.

According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a loading mechanism for an air gun, comprising a bolt slide movable generally parallel to the barrel axis, a loading member disposed adjacent the breech face of the barrel and having a pellet-receiving through-bore, the loading member being pivotally mounted about an axis parallel to the barrel axis and being coupled to the bolt slide so that the member pivots between a first position where the through-bore is aligned with the breech and a second position where the through-bore is accessible for loading a pellet there into corresponding to movement of the bolt slide between a cocked position and a loading position, there being a breech pin also coupled to the bolt slide and adapted to move a pellet out of the through-bore of the loading member and into the breech during the latter stage of bolt slide movement towards the cocked position.

In a preferred form of the loading mechanism described above, the loading member is adjustably arranged on a shaft defining the pivotal axis for that member whereby the spacing between the adjacent faces of the loading member and the breech may be adjusted to suit pellets of different lengths. Also, it is preferred for there to be spring urged means within the through-bore to engage a pellet located in the throughbore, to restrain movement of a pellet out of the through-bore until positively pushed by the breech pin.

Yet another aspect of the present invention provides a gas operated air gun having a main frame on which is mounted a barrel and a gas release mechanism, the gun further comprising a stock formed as a part of or connected to the main frame and defining a gas cylinder receptor whereby a cylinder pre-charged with gas under pressure may be positioned within said receptor within the stock and be coupled to the gas release mechanism.

It will be appreciated that by locating the cylinder within the stock, not only is the mass of fore-part of the gun kept as low as possible, but the volume of the fore-part also is maintained as low as possible. In addition, by positioning the relatively heavy cylinder in the stock, it is unobtrusive and does not adversely affect the stability of the gun when it is being aimed.

Various preferred features of the gun of this invention will be described in greater detail below, but it will be understood that the invention extends to each and every novel feature of the air gun described hereinafter, whether taken singularly or in any viable combination.

By way of example only, one specific embodiment of air gun incorporating various features of this invention will now be described in detail, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a side view of the air gun, with certain parts removed for clarity; Figure 2 is a plan view on the gun of Figure 1; Figure 3 is detailed vertical section through a gas release mechanism used in the air gun, in an intermediate position; Figure 4 is a section similar to that of Figure 3 but in a cocked position; Figure 5 is a partial view, in plan, of the breech mechanism of the air gun; Figure 6 is a detailed end view on a pellet loading mechanism; Figure 7 is a side view of the mechanism illustrated in Figure 6; Figure 8 is a plan view on a magazine loading system used in the air gun; Figure 9 is a plan view, partially cut away, of a magazine clip;; Figures 10 and 11 are respectively a front view and a cross-sectional view through the clip of Figure 9; Figure 12 is an end view on a magazine for use with the clip of Figures 9 to 11; and Figure 13 is a plan view, partially cut away, of the magazine illustrated in Figure 12.

Referring initially to Figures 1 and 2, there is illustrated an air gun constructed and arranged in accordance with various features of the present invention, but with a side cover plate for the bolt mechanism removed for clarity. The air gun utilises a pre-charged gas cylinder and has a bolt cocking and reloading action, whereby a number of pellets may be fired in relatively rapid succession, with the pellets being taken one at a time from a magazine, and loaded into the breech.

The air gun comprises a main frame 10 on which is mounted a barrel 11 extending forwardly from a receiver 12, the main frame 10 extending rearwardly of the receiver 12 to define a stock 13 which carries a shoulder pad 14. The stock 13 is of open construction and defines a space within which is mounted a cylinder 15 for compressed gas. The cylinder is of a conventional design and has a screw-threaded nozzle 16 by means of which the cylinder may be connected to a valve mechanism 17 (Figures 3 and 4). The cylinder may be removed from the stock 13 by releasing a catch 18 associated with the pad 14, and then pivoting the pad 14 about pin 19 to gain access to the cylinder through the rear end of the stock 13.

Also mounted on the main frame 10 is a pistol hand-grip 20, in front of which there is a trigger mechanism including a trigger 21 enclosed within a trigger guard 22.

A bolt mechanism is provided for reloading the gun and cocking the gas release valve, the bolt mechanism comprising a primary bolt slide 23 mounted for fore-and-aft sliding movement on the main frame 10 and having a bolt lever 24 projecting laterally therefrom.

The bolt lever 24 is hinged to the slide 23, and projects through an L-shaped slot in a bolt mechanism cover plate (not shown) configured such that when the bolt lever 24 has been pushed fully forward, it may then be hinged downwardly within the slot in the cover plate, to lock the bolt slide 23 in its forward position.

The bolt slide 23 is formed with a toothed rack 25 which meshes with a pinion 26 rotatably mounted on a shaft 27 carried at one end in the receiver 12 and at the other end in a plate 28, which plate is supported on the main frame 10 by means of two pairs of pins 29 and 30. Pins 29 extend through a slot 31 in the primary bolt slide 23, to constrain that bolt slide 23 to move linearly fore-and-aft, as mentioned above.

Pins 30 extend through a slot 32 formed in a secondary bolt slide 33 formed with a toothed rack 34 similar to rack 25 and also meshed with the pinion 26. In this way, the secondary bolt slide 33 will move with the bolt slide 23, but in the opposite direction.

The rear end of the receiver 12 defines a breech 35 which may be closed by means of a breech pin 36 linked to the bolt slide 23 by means of a bracket 37, the breech pin 36 also being slidably mounted in block 38 forming a part of the main frame 10. The breech pin 36 has at its forward end a pellet-pushing rod 39 and a sealing section 40 on which is carried an 0-ring 41, to seal the rear opening of the breech 35 in the receiver 12.Pellets are moved to a position adjacent the breech 35 of the air gun by means of a pivoting loading plate 42 (to be described in detail below) and then, on forward movement of the primary bolt slide 23, the breech pin 36 pushes a pellet out of a bore in the loading plate 42 and into the breech 35, until the pellet is located in front of a gas transfer port 43 in the breech, in which position the 0-ring 41 seals the breech 35 behind the gas transfer port 43.

Adjacent the breech, there is mounted on the primary bolt slide 23 a plate 45 in which there is formed a groove 46 having a rear portion extending generally parallel to the barrel axis, and an upwardlyinclined forward portion. A peg 47 projecting from the loading plate 42 runs in the groove 46, the plate being fixed to a shaft 48 rotatably mounted in the receiver.

In this way, fore-and-aft sliding movement of the bolt slide 23 causes the loading plate 42 to move between a first position where pellet-receiving bore 49 in the loading plate is aligned with the receiver 35 (i.e.

with the primary bolt slide in a forward position), and a second position where bore 49 in the loading plate 42 is aligned with a magazine (Figure 8) carried above the receiver. A spring-loaded ball 50 projects to a small extent into the pellet-receiving bore 49 in the loading plate 42, so that a pellet (not shown) located in the bore 49 is held there until positively pushed out of that bore, by the breech pin 36.

Referring now to Figures 7 and 8, it can be seen that the position of the loading plate 42 with respect to the receiver 12 is controlled by the position of a wheel 51 on the shaft, which may be adjusted by means of a grub screw (not shown) fitted into a radiallyextending threaded bore 52 in the wheel 51, spring 53 being arranged to push the shaft 42 forwardly until the wheel 51 engages an adjacent receiver part 12A.

Pellets are loaded into the plate 42 from a nozzle 42A disposed to receive pellets from a magazine assembly, to be described below. The nozzle 42A is screwed into frame component 95, and may be adjusted so that its end face lies closely adjacent the side face of plate 42, adjusted by means of wheel 51. In this way, the position of the plate 42 may be pre-set to allow the gun to be used with pellets of different lengths, with the assurance that the back end of each pellet when carried in bore 49 in the plate 42 will be appropriately disposed to clear the next following pellet from the magazine as the plate moves towards the breech.

Referring now to Figures 3 and 4, there is shown the gas valve mechanism for releasing air from the cylinder 15, to drive a pellet loaded into the breech 35 along and out of the barrel 11. The nozzle 16 of the cylinder 15 is screw-threaded into the housing 60 of the valve mechanism 17, which housing includes a drilling 61 communicating with the gas transfer port 43 in the breech 35. The cylinder and its nozzle 16 are of a known conventional design, and the nozzle has a gas release valve incorporated therein, operated by a plunger 62 including an 0-ring 63 sealing to an axial bore in the housing 60.A further 0-ring 64 is disposed with the threaded bore of the housing into which the nozzle 16 screws, so that all air released from the cylinder is constrained to pass up through the drilling 61 and to enter the breech 35 The housing 60 has a principal bore 65 in which is slidably mounted a release piston 66 having a release pin 67, the release piston 66 being urged leftwards (in Figures 3 and 4) by means of a spring 68 so that the release 67 pin bears on the plunger 62. The right hand end (in Figures 3 and 4) of the spring 68 bears on a washer 69 secured at an appropriate position within the bore 65 such that the spring 68 urges the release piston 66 with a force insufficient to drive the plunger 62 towards the cylinder nozzle 16; no air is thus released from the cylinder 15 under the action of spring 68 bearing on the release piston 66.

Also slidably mounted within the bore 65, but to the right (in Figures 3 and 4) of washer 69 is firing piston 70, a firing rod 71 projecting from the piston 70 through the washer 69 towards the release piston 66.

A further spring 72 acts between the firing piston 70 and the right hand end of the housing 60.

A cocking bar 73 is mounted on the secondary bolt slide 33 and projects into the housing 60 through a slot formed therein, the cocking bar 73 always lying to the left of the firing piston 70. Movement of the primary bolt slide 23 rearwardly will move the secondary bolt slide 33 forwardly, the cocking bar 73 carried by that slide thus pushing the firing piston 70 towards the right, against the action of spring 72.

Conversely, movement of the primary bolt slide 23 forwardly will move the secondary bolt slide 33 rearwardly, the cocking bar 73 also moving rearwardly (i.e. to the left in Figures 3 and 4) and so allowing the firing piston 70 to move to the left under the action of spring 72.

The firing piston 70 is normally held at its right-most position (Figure 4) by the trigger mechanism which includes a trigger 21 coupled to a trigger sear 74 and pivoted to the main frame 10 by pin 75. A spring 76 biases the trigger 21 and sear 74 in a counter-clockwise direction, the sear 74 co-acting on a trigger lever 77 pivoted to the main frame about pin 78 and urged in a counter-clockwise direction by a spring 79. The trigger lever 77 has a release peg 80 which projects through an opening 81 in the housing 60 when the trigger lever 77 is in the position illustrated in Figure 4.Operation of the trigger 21 against the action of spring 76 allows the lever 77 to pivot about pin 78 under the action of spring 79, so moving the peg 80 partially out of the opening 81, and releasing the firing piston 70; in turn, that piston moves under the action of spring 72, to the left in Figures 3 and 4.

Referring now primarily to Figures 8 to 13, there is shown a magazine loading arrangement for use with the air gun described above. The pellet magazine shown in Figures 12 and 13 comprises a main body 85 having three parallel pellet-carrying bores 86, in each of which ten pellets may typically be located, end-toend. The end faces of the body 85 include three depressions 87 aligned with the bores 86, to assist positioning of the body 85 in the gun. The magazine body 85, when charged with pellets, is locatable within a magazine clip (Figures 9 to 11) which clip has two portions 88 hinged together at 89, a spring 90 serving to draw those two portions 88 to the position illustrated in Figure 9. The magazine body 85 may be positioned within the clip, between arms 91 which serve to close off the ends of the bores 86, and so prevent pellets from leaving those bores.The ends of the arms 91 remote from the spring 90 are provided with pegs 92 projecting forwardly, and receivable in corresponding openings 93 formed in the gun (Figure 8) when the clip has been opened slightly, against the action of spring 90.

To use the magazine, the bores 86 are pre-loaded with pellets and then the body 85 is positioned within the clip (Figure 9) until the magazine is to be loaded into the gun. Then, the clip is positioned over the rear end of the receiver 12, and the pegs 92 are located in the bores 93 formed in frame components 94 and 95. This may be achieved only by opening the clip slightly against the action of spring 90, so that the body 85 may then be slid laterally out of the clip, as indicated by arrow A in Figure 8. The body is slid until a spring-loaded ball 96 provided in component 94 engages in the first dimple 87 in the magazine body 85, to indicate proper alignment of the first bore 86 with a plunger 97 (to be described below) provided on the gun.When all pellets have been discharged from the first bore, the plunger 97 is pulled back clear of the magazine, which latter is then moved further in the direction of arrow A until the second bore 86 is properly aligned, at which point the next dimple 87 in the magazine body 85 is engaged by the spring-loaded ball 96 and the plunger 97 may then be released; and so on also for the third bore 86. When fully discharged, the clip and magazine are removed and may of course be replaced by a further pre-loaded magazine contained in another clip.

Pellets are discharged from a magazine carried on the gun by means of a spring-loaded plunger 97 mounted above the stock, the plunger 97 being biased to move rightwardly (in Figures 1 and 2) by spring 98. A catch 99 having a release button 100 retains the plunger 97 at its left-most position until released, after a magazine has appropriately been aligned with the gun.

Then, on depressing the button 100, the plunger 97 moves to the right to engage the left-most pellet in the bore 86 for the time being aligned with the gun.

The plunger 97 serves to drive pellets out of the bore 86 and into the bore 49 in the transfer plate 42, each time the bore 49 thereof is aligned with a bore 86 of the magazine.

The left-most end of the plunger 97 carries and indicator 101, which traverses a scale 102 provided on the stock, in order that a user may readily see how may pellets remain within a bore of the magazine.

The operation of the gun described above will now briefly be explained.

A charged cylinder 15 of air is fitted into the stock 13 and the nozzle 16 thereof is tightened into the housing 60. A magazine is loaded into the gun in the manner described above, using a clip (Figure 9) and when the first bore 86 containing pellets has properly been aligned with plunger 97, the button 100 is depressed to release the plunger 97 to engage the pellets in the bore of the magazine. The gun is then cocked and loaded by pulling the primary bolt slide 23 to the left, using the bolt lever 24, which action drives the firing piston 70 to the right, to the position illustrated in Figure 4, so that the trigger sear may rotate counter-clockwise under the action of spring 76, so lifting trigger lever 77 against its spring 79 and causing the peg 80 to project through opening 81 in the housing 60. Leftward movement of the firing piston 70 is thus blocked by the peg 80.

Simultaneous with the movement of the firing piston 70 to the right, the leftward movement of the primary bolt slide 23 initially withdraws the breech pin 36 from the breech 35 and then, when the pin 36 is free of the loading plate 42, that plate is then lifted by the action of peg 47 running in groove 46. When bore 49 in the loading plate 42 is fully aligned with 'active' bore 86 of the magazine, the plunger 97 moves to the right under the action of spring 98, pushing a pellet out of bore 86 and into the bore 49 of the loading plate 42.

Subsequent movement of the bolt slide 23 to the right will initially pivot the loading plate 42 downwardly, until the bore 49 in that plate is aligned with the breech 35. Continued movement of the bolt slide 23 to the right will move the breech pin 36 through the loading plate 42 and into the breech 35, rod 39 pushing the pellet in the bore 49 out of that bore and into the breech 35. When the bolt plate 23 is fully home, the pellet will be located in front of the gas transfer port 43 and the breech 35 will be sealed by means of the 0-ring 41 on the sealing section 40 of the breech pin 36.

Simultaneous with the loading of a pellet into the breech 35, the cocking bar 73 will move to the left, and so allow the firing piston 70 to move to the left under the action of spring 72, when the trigger 21 has been pulled against the action of spring 76. When the trigger is pulled, the piston 70 will move to the left until the firing rod 71 strikes the release piston 66, and the combined action of spring 68 acting on that release piston and the momentum of the firing piston 70 will create a force sufficiently large to actuate the valve mechanism within the nozzle 16 of the gas cylinder 15. This releases a pulse of air under relatively high pressure, which passes up drilling 61 to enter the gas transfer port 43 and so to drive the pellet located in the breech to the right and out of the barrel 11. The gun may then be reloaded and cocked once more by initially pulling the bolt plate 23 rearwardly (to the left in Figures 1 and 2) and then forwardly once more, whereafter the trigger 21 may be pulled again. When all of the pellets in the first bore 86 of the magazine have been discharged, the plunger 97 may be pulled back to engage the catch 99, the magazine pushed laterally in the direction of arrow A (Figure 8) until the next bore 86 is aligned with the gun, the release button 100 depressed to free the plunger 97, and the entire operating sequence may then be continued.

Claims (25)

1. An air gun in combination with a pellet magazine therefor, which magazine has at least two parallel bores each able to receive a plurality of pellets endto-end, and means to retain in the bores pellets loaded thereinto, and which gun has a magazine carrier for receiving the magazine and permitting sliding movement of the magazine in a direction transverse to the length of the bores in the magazine whereby the bores may successively be aligned with a gun loading mechanism, which said gun loading mechanism is arranged to receive pellets one at a time from the magazine bore for the time being aligned therewith, and which gun further comprises a plunger adapted to cause pellets located in an aligned bore in the magazine to be urged towards the gun loading mechanism.

2. A combination according to claim 1, wherein each bore in the magazine is configured to hold at least ten pellets.

3. A combination according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the magazine has at least three parallel bores.

4. A combination according to any of claims 1 to 3, wherein said pellet retaining means comprises a clip which embraces the ends of the magazine and closes said bores, the magazine being slidable into and out of the clip.

5. A combination according to any of claims 1 to 4, wherein the plunger is slidably mounted on the stock of the gun for movement substantially parallel to the length of the barrel, and the plunger is spring-urged forwardly to enter a bore in a received magazine and to urge pellets in that bore out of the forward end of the bore.

6. A combination according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the gun loading mechanism includes a pivotal loading plate having a pellet-receiving bore therein, the plate being pivotable between a first position where the plate bore is aligned with a magazine bore, and a second position where the plate bore is aligned with the gun barrel bore.

7. A combination according to claim 6, wherein the gun includes a slidable bolt mechanism to open and close the gun breech, the loading plate being caused to pivot between its said first and second positions by sliding movement of the bolt mechanism.

8. A gas release mechanism for a gas operated air gun utilising a pre-charged cylinder of gas including a gas release valve, which mechanism comprises a housing adapted for connection to the gas release valve and having a bore in which is slidably mounted a release piston, a spring biasing the release piston to a position where the piston bears on the release valve of a connected cylinder, in a valve-opening sense of the release valve but with insufficient force to open the valve, a firing piston also mounted in the housing bore and biased by a spring to move towards the release piston, and catch means to hold the firing piston at a position spaced from the release piston.

9. A gas release mechanism according to claim 8, wherein the spring associated with the firing piston is arranged no longer to act on the firing piston at the point at which the firing piston strikes the release piston.

10. A combination according to any of claims 1 to 7, wherein the gun includes a gas release mechanism according to claim 8 or claim 9.

11. A loading mechanism for an air gun, comprising a bolt slide movable generally parallel to the barrel axis, a loading member disposed adjacent the breech face of the barrel and having a pellet-receiving through-bore, the loading member being pivotally mounted about an axis parallel to the barrel axis and being coupled to the bolt slide so that the member pivots between a first position where the through-bore is aligned with the breech and a second position where the through-bore is accessible for loading a pellet thereinto corresponding to movement of the bolt slide between a cocked position and a loading position, there being a breech pin also coupled to the bolt slide and adapted to move a pellet out of the through-bore of the loading member and into the breech during the latter stage of the bolt slide movement towards the cocked position.

12. A loading mechanism according to claim 11, wherein the loading member is adjustably arranged on a shaft defining the pivotal axis for that member whereby the spacing between the adjacent faces of the loading member and the breech may be adjusted to suit pellets of different lengths.

13. A loading mechanism according to claim 11 or claim 12, wherein there is spring-urged means within the through-bore to engage a pellet located in the throughbore, to restrain movement of a pellet out of the through-bore until positively pushed by the breech pin.

14. A combination according to any of claims 1 to 4, wherein the gun includes a loading mechanism according to any of claims 11 to 13.

15. A combination according to claim 14, wherein the gun includes a gas release mechanism according to claim 8 or claim 9.

16. A gas operated air gun having a main frame on which is mounted a barrel and a gas release mechanism, the gun further comprising a stock formed as a part of or connected to the main frame and defining a gas cylinder receptor whereby a cylinder pre-charged with gas under pressure may be positioned within said receptor within the stock and be coupled to the gas release mechanism.

17. An air gun according to claim 16, wherein the stock is provided'with a removable shoulder pad, access being gained to a cylinder received within the stock by removing said pad.

18. An air gun according to claim 16 or claim 17, wherein the cylinder has a screw-threaded nozzle by means of which the cylinder is screw-threadedly coupled to the gas release mechanism.

19. An air gun according to any of claims 16 to 18, wherein the gas release mechanism is as defined in claim 8 or claim 9.

20. A combination according to claim 14 or claim 15, wherein the gun has a main frame on which is mounted a barrel and a gas release mechanism, the gun further comprising a stock formed as a part of or connected to the main frame and defining a gas cylinder receptor whereby a cylinder pre-charged with gas under pressure may be positioned within said receptor within the stock and be coupled to the gas release mechanism.

21. A combination according to claim 20, wherein the stock is provided with a removable shoulder pad, access being gained to a cylinder received within the stock by removing said pad.

22. A pellet magazine for an air gun, which magazine has at least two parallel bores each able to receive a plurality of pellets end-to-end and means to retain in the bores pellets loaded thereinto, the magazine being adapted for use with an air gun having a magazine carrier configured to receive the magazine and to permit the sliding movement thereof in a direction transverse to the length of the bores in the magazine whereby the bores may successively be aligned with a loading mechanism of the gun.

23. A pellet magazine according to claim 22, wherein the retaining means comprises a pair of arms hinged together and arranged to embrace the two ends of the magazine into which the bores open, whereby the arms close off the bores.

24. A pellet magazine according to claim 23, wherein the arms are mountable on a gun adjacent the magazine carrier, the magazine then being slidable out of the arms and into the carrier.

25. An air gun in combination with a pellet magazine therefor and substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.