What is the Benjamin Pioneer Airbow For?

I see this product advertised, a compressed air powered bow, but wonder what is it's actual use?

I don't think it would qualify for most states bow hunting regulations. It's a little pricey at $800+ for a toy. It has a reserve of air for 8 shots, then it needs to be pumped back up to 3000 PSI.

Has anybody seen one, shot one, or know anything about them? Sportsman's Guide has it for sale, but says they won't be available until July. Wonder how loud they are?

Here's their ad: http://www.sportsmansguide.com/product/index/benjamin-pioneer-airbow?a=1929392

 

Pyramyd Air had some blog articles on them a few months back if I recall right. My guess is that they are looking to occupy the same area that crossbows are in, but in a more rifleman's friendly package than a crossbow is.

Having used a crossbow before- I'd be interested in the airbow a heck of a lot more. I never warmed up to shooting a crossbow. And $800 is not much compared to the cost of some of those Tenpoints.

And just to clarify- by occupying the same space as crossbows, I mean for hunting. I see much more opportunities for archery hunting than with firearm hunting.

 

Its obviously to replace the compound arrow flinger.



Improvements in arrow speed is an end-all for some.

Isn't the romance of archery wonderful?

Seriously, I also believe this is designed to replace the crossbow.

Steve

 

For those of us who are still Archers the "romance of archery" is alive and well Steve.
If you have to pull a trigger to shoot the arrow it isn't archery.

 

I'm bewildered what to think of it. Best I figure is the guys using those high tech compound crossbows with the scopes and lasers and mechanical spanners want to take archery that much farther from actual archery and closer to a gun. At that point just use a gun. Full disclosure: I'm a primitive trad archer.

 

I can't see it as legal for bow hunting in most states.

rc

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_Urm1SsVBw

Just watched a video on it. Didn't seem that loud at all.

 

I shoot one of those new fangled recurves.



For me the romance is still there.

Steve

 

^^^
Glad to see that you are an Archer too Steve.
I mostly shoot my self bows and a couple laminate longbows but I do have a few recurves as well. One of them is a signed Jim Brackenbury Drifter.

 

Um, shouldn't this really be in the air gun section?

I am reminded of some of the early spring/bellows versions of the airgun that fired darts.

This strikes me as having little to do with archery, there is no bow of any kind.

This is even worse than the in-line plastic and stainless steel sabot shooting susbstitue powder guys that call themselves "Black powder hunters"

-kBob

 

Crossbows weren't legal in Kansass for everyone but now they are .That gadget looks more like a pneumatic bullpup speargun but I'll bet it will be legal as soon as the lobbyist dollars start to flow into the legislator's pockets...

 

The video on the Bulldog rifle states the sound level is above 120dbs., not exactly quiet. Wonder if the bow propulsion system, being a little different, is quieter?

The "bow" hunting video is amusing. They show one hit, deer goes down like a sack of potatoes, DRT. Wonder how many deer were taken before that occurred, seeing as how most deer struck with a powerful rifle bullet don't necessarily do that.

 

First I've ever heard of this type... Recently though at my local range the fellow next to me had something that looked identical by Benjamin (It got my attention since I still have a fifty plus year old Benjamin air rifle that killed a bunch of small game for a young kid...). The one I saw was an air rifle in 22cal (at least that's what the pellets looked like. Here's the interesting part -using optics the shooter was working a target at 100 meters (and doing pretty darned well...). I never heard a single shot from that rifle (I was shooting a 30 carbine and had earplugs...). If that arrow launcher was as quiet as the air rifle it will take some game...

Obviously the state of the with air rifles has far surpassed what I knew back in the mid sixties.....

 

It be an arrow flinger.

It belongs here as much as compounds and crossbows.

Steve

 

There was something like this in the 90's. I remember it being used in a Van Damme movie.

 

Then so does a .410 shingle shot with the shot cup cut off the top and an arrow stuffed down the barrel...

Gads, I'm not a total traditionalist (even though I do own and have hunted with a longbow), but there has to be a point...

 

This is just a recreation of an older idea.
I’m not sure of the date, but I believe it was back in the mid 1970’s a company offered a more militarized air powered arrow gun to the US military for covert use.
The idea was as a means to quietly take out sentries without having to get too close.

For whatever reason, I don’t believe that the military bought it, so they went commercial.

Swivel Machine Works Inc. (swivelmachine.com) offers arrow shooting rifles using both high pressure air and industrial blanks,

Their top of the line offering is the Airrow Stealth capable of exceeding 500 FPS with light weight arrows.


Airrow Stealth

I was interested in one until I saw the $1,699.00 price tag.

However, they do offer a modification for the Ruger 10-22 rifle.
I bought a full kit, Barrel, arrows, and pack of high powered industrial blanks for less than $500.00.


Airrow 10-22 Kit disassembled.


It is marked for Blanks Only.


The aluminum arrows are cut off in back to fit down over the inner barrel


View of the barrel inside the outer shroud


Arrow Loaded


Broadhead shield installed on the outer shroud.

I bought a box of each power level industrial blank to see how they would shoot.


Velocity testing the different industrial blanks.

Velocity ranged from a low of not pushing the arrow off the barrel (Brown level) to over 300 fps with the max power blanks from Swivel Machine.
Top loads were very powerful.
About one in three would shoot clear through the back stop that readily stops my crossbow bolts
We usually found them within 30 feet of the target.


Three shot group at 50 yards.
Only one arrow is visible on this side.
I had to pull the arrows completely through the backstop.

Overall, this kit performs as advertized.
I like it so much that I bought another 10-22 and made up a permanent arrow shooting rifle.

So, is it archery?
Of course not. Anything that has a trigger release is not archery.

Is it practical?
Nope.

Is it fun?
Yep!

Steve

 

That looks like quite the mini harpoon gun there Steve. I wonder if a fellow got himself a "bigger boat" he could chase some carp using it..?

 

They actually do offer a harpoon gun, also line throwers and a 25 Cal pellet version of the air driven rifle.

The harpoon one might be legal for carp shooting.

I'm jut not well heeled enough to drop almost $2,000.00 for what amounts to a toy.
(Potentially dangerous as a weapon, but in actual use just a toy.)

I still choose an old 30 pound recurve that I've had since the 1960s for fish.


42" Needle Nose Gar shot in the Brazos river, central Texas back in 1969.

Steve

 

I've shot one and it will put a smile on your face. It's about as loud as a 22lr subsonic out of a rifle. Very accurate.

They have a chart on their site about legality. Most places you can at least hunt varmints with it. My only beef with it is arrow recovery. It absolutely burries them in a bag target. They are a proprietary arrow as well.

If you are an air gun guy and set up to fill it, I highly recommend checking them out.

HB