Post by zoompitman on Nov 4, 2009 9:25:29 GMT 8
Brief History
Over 40,000 years ago, the first blowguns began to appear in many different parts of the world. Although crude, these primitive weapons were extremely accurate. It is not known exactly where blowguns originated, however, it is generally believed that they appeared simultaneously in many parts of the world. Back then blowguns were made from bamboo or other hollowed out woods. Blowguns are still used today for hunting by Amazonian Indians in South American, and by Pygmies in Africa. They were also used by the Ninja prior to 1500 in Japan for silent assassination with poison darts.
Earliest evidence of blowguns appeared in parts of Africa and Asia. Blowguns are still used today by the Dyak tribe of headhunters in Borneo for hunting and as weapons in tribal wars. Using hollowed out bamboo tubes, which reach lengths of over 20 feet and darts made out of reeds, the Dyak are very capable hunters. In the tropical areas of Africa, the Pygmies use blowguns to hunt their prey of small game. Around 1500 in Japan, Ninja assassins used blowguns to kill in complete silence using poisoned darts used in the blowgun. The Ninja also used the blowgun for diversions by shooting darts in different directions to make the enemy believe they were surrounded.
In the America's, blowguns have been used for several thousand years by native Americans as survival weapons. Amazonian Indians today still rely on the extreme accuracy of the blowgun to hunt for wild game. Although rarely used as a weapon, blowguns do play an important role in tribal wars. North American Indians relied on the extreme accuracy of the blowgun for hunting and for skill games. The art of blowgun making is still taught to anyone wishing to learn at many Native American festivals and on reservations. Although over 40,000 years old in technology, the blowgun still holds the fascination of young and old.
Today modern man has found may uses for the blowgun. Today's hunter uses the blowgun to hunt small game silently while still-hunting larger game. Blowguns are used all over the world to help maintain wildlife by delivering tranquilizer darts in complete silence. The animals are then studied and released back into the wild. Herpetologists use the blowgun with stun darts to help them capture elusive lizards. Today, many people are finding that blowguns offer a quite challenging sport. With many different darts to choose from, blowguns are finding their way into everyday society. With the introduction of paintballs and soft-tip darts, the blowgun offers a wide variety of sporting activities.
TRIVIA
Range & F.P.S.
The Range and the F.P.S. (feet per second) of a blowgun depends on how long the barrel Is and also the caliber. The standard .40 caliber blowguns are as follows, An 18" will shoot 100 F.P.S. With a RANGE of about 40'. A 24" will shoot 150 F.P.S. at 60'. 30" 200 F.P.S. at 100 feet. 36" 250 F.P.S. at a 125' Range. The 48" will do 300 F.P.S. and a range of 165'. A 54" will shoot 350 F.P.S. with a range of 200'. With .50 caliber Teflon treated blowguns expect A 35% increase in Velocity and Penetration. With A flatter Trajectory. This Is a perfect Hunting or Survival Weapon. WWW.BLOWGUNS.NET
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Blowgun Size and Lung Capacity
One of the most important factors to consider when chosing your blowgun is it's size or caliber. A human lung holds around 240-365 cubic inches of air. Some of that air remains in the lungs between breaths though, so actual useable lung capacity is between 100-180 cubic inches for a child and about 220-300 cubic inches for an adult. A rule of thumb for blowgun size is that you want the volume of the blowgun tube be a maximum of 1/10th of your available lung capacity for good dart acceleration.
A 36 inch .40 cal. blowgun has a volume of about 4.5 cubic inches. Increase the length to 48 inches and the volume increases to around 6 cubic inches. These are good choices for small children to use for target shooting. This size blowgun can also be found at up to 7 feet long ( 10.5 cubic inches) and is commonly used
in paintballing.
A .50 cal. blowgun has nearly 9.5cubic inches at 4 feet, almost 12 cubic inches at 5 feet, over 14 cubic inches at 6 feet and about 16.5 cubic inches at 7 feet. These are routinely used for high end target shooting, or entry level small game hunting.
A 7 foot long .625 cal. blowgun has a tube volume of over 25 cubic inches. These are the high end small game hunting blowguns. A 7 foot long .81 cal. has a volume of over 43.5 cubic inches, well in excess of the 1/10th lung capacity rule of thumb.
Another major design factor in blowgun tube design is tube length. For instance, a 7 foot long .625 cal. blowgun has roughly the same volume as a 4 foot long .81 cal blowgun. But a dart from the .625 cal. will perform much better, largely due to the increased length of the tube. Because of the smaller diameter, and length of the tube, the gas (your breath) remains compressed longer against the dart. Specifically, the compressed gas has more time to exert it's force on the dart, due to the increased length, and the gas is more highly compressed due to the smaller diameter. This principle carries over to conventional firearms as well... the same round fired from 2 different guns will travel farther from the gun with the longer barrel.
The down side to increased tube length is that eventually the tube will not be able to support it's own weight, and will begin to bend when aiming.
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