Geared air rifles

Gearhead

— the presence of a gearbox for air supply in a PCP rifle.

The gear mechanism is installed between the tank and the combat valve, which is responsible for supplying air to the barrel. The purpose of such a mechanism is to ensure stable pressure with each shot, which, in turn, allows you to achieve maximum accuracy and repeatability. With a properly adjusted gearbox, the muzzle velocity of the bullet remains unchanged until the pressure in the reservoir falls below a certain critical value. This is especially important for high-precision sports shooting with a series of numerous shots. However when the pressure drops below the threshold level, geared pneumatics begin to work already as a conventional gearless (direct-flow) — however, this happens after at least several dozen shots, and up to this point, the advantage of geared rifles over "direct-flows" remains undeniable.

Another advantage of this design lies in the very economical air consumption — this allows, with the same tank capacity and pressure in it, to make more shots on a single refill, and without compromising muzzle energy. On the other hand, geared rifles are much more expensive than straight-shot rifles, and they also require special maintenance from time to time during use. Therefore, such a design is found exclusively in high-end professional pneumatics, including sports ones.