Posted on 08/06/2016 10:52:25 PM PDT by Rabin
Unflappable American teenager Virginia Thrasher won the first gold medal of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games on Saturday, holding her nerve against two Chinese Olympic champions to clinch the women's 10m air rifle event.
The 19-year-old U.S. college champion bumpped out China's Du Li, gold in Athens in 2004,. and Yi Siling, also of China.
Competing in her first Olympics, Thrasher, as the first champion of the 2016 Games, said the achievement was beyond her wildest dreams.
The youngest of the eight finalists by several years, Thrasher established an early lead after battling with the Russian shooter Daria Vdovina, who finished fifth.
Thrasher learned to love shooting while hunting deer with her grandfather in eighth grade. "I got my first deer and I liked the adrenaline of pulling the trigger," She joined her high school air rifle team and was recruited by West Virginia University, where she became a national collegiate champion as a freshman this year.
(Excerpt) Read more at olympic.org ...
Look closely at her eye shade: under the blue part she has added paper extensions to keep side glare out. They have been made from 10m targets cut to shape, and over her right eye you can see the size of the 10m black. That’s not the bullseye, just the black which means the 8,9,10, and X-rings.
I just took a look at my break-open pump Beeman (a cheap one). It also is rifled.
I believe the most common projectile fired from air guns is the “BB”. The real advantage to stabilizing the projectile with spin imparted by rifling is found in spinning a cylindrical projectile with the center of gravity a bit forward. A pointy nose helps, too. Spinning helps counter any defects in homogeneity in the projectile and a forward c.g. Combined with spinning prevents tumbling. These benefits don’t exist with spherical projectiles. Spinning a sphere just averages the densities. These physical properties are accumulated in a concept of “ballistic coefficient” and IIRC the projectile with the best b.c. Is the .50 cal. BMG. At least for shoulder fired weapons. The greater the mass of the projectile the better it resists wind drift, humidity, temperature, and a number of other effects ( I have never met a shooter who considers coriolis). Hence, I would expect the best b.c. Ever observed would be a sixteen inch gun.
I do recall reading about a jap battleship with eighteen inch gun, which would be even better. Again, IIRC, there were protests that such weapons were too powerful and should be/were “outlawed”. The Germans built a rail mounted gun in WWII but I don’t offhand recall the bore. Nuclear weapons put an end to the protests against ever larger bored cannons. I recall Sadaam had hired some Americans to work on a “super cannon” back in the day but, again, IIRC it was supposed to shoot a conventionally fired round that was actually a rocket which would fire and take over once at the apex of flight.
Yes. These air rifles don’t come from Daisy or Crossman. At 10 meters the 10 “ring” on the target is a .5 mm dot. She shot an amazing score during the finals, setting a new Olympic record, and having her highest international finish ever.
This is what I love about FreeRepublic. I learn something every day. I never did much air gun shooting. Got my first .22 and a box of fifty long rifle was thirty five cents when I was eleven. My dad would turn us loose on Saturday mornings and we would go rabbit shooting loading the first live round in the back yard. His only admonition was “Don’t shoot toward town.”. Never had a BB gun.
You’re talking about BBs not pellets. What you’re talking about with the spinning effect is magnus effect. (My personal observation is that with all BBs there is a flattish side for some reason)
Of course a shooter isn’t normally concerned with coriolis effect (earth’s rotation) because it usually can’t be observed for shots less than 1000 yards - thus only considered for artillery.
All I can tell you is that even my cheap Beeman break open pump is rifled - I just looked. Gimme an email and I’ll send you the picture. BTW, I quit using BBs when I was a kid. The only thing I’ve ever shot recently have been lead pellets. It is possible that what they use in the Olympics are spherical pellets, but I don’t know. I only know what air guns I’ve personally seen.
I have been shot from many a BB gun when we used to play War as kids........
The eurotrash snark towards this young lady and her win was brought to my attention yesterday, and it was received with all the consideration it deserved. Should the IOC quickly add the gas chamber, guillotine and ethnic cleansing (including via "refugee") events, I will congratulate the EU nations' wins in a reciprocal manner.
Mr. niteowl77
Damn....... that don’t look like the air rifle I use to shoot garden marauding deer with
Same here...
Just checked out my .177 pellet airguns. Both my cheap $20 Chinese break action rifle and pistol have rifled barrels, though the rifling is not deep. Hard to tell if Crosman P1377 pistol has rifling as it is a pump action bolt gun. Need a light source at the chamber to spot it.
I googled her. Not her first rodeo.
I’ve read where they try to keep the depth of the rifling between lands and grooves at a minimum.
I would not so gently push Laz out of the way to hit that.
If it’s not rifled, it’s not an air rifle.
Yes,the barrels are rifled.
With the relatively soft lead alloy sealing skirt they don’t need to be deep to acquire spin. Recall the Marlin “Micro-groove” .22’s?
Chicoms 2
WAY TO GO CUTIE!
You can see that cone skirt on most pellets now. Geometry of the head varies some, but that sealing cone is nearly always there now from my limited knowledge.
OMG! Not with a gun! The horror!
The Libs will demand she surrender her gold medal to #BLM.
For the chilluns...
Is there rifling on the inside of the barrel of an air rifle?
The air rifle I bought around 1954 had rifling's. The pellets were flared on the back end to contact the rifling's. It was deadly accurate.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.