It's not a switch. They still have firearm competitions in rifle, pistol and shotgun.
You eliminate a lot of accuracy variables when you get rid of the primer, powder and case. All that's left is the pellet. The air charge released to fire the pellet is very tightly controlled by a regulator so it's very consistent. Also, the discharge is much less violent so things like barrel whip and vibration that are present even in rimfires are virtually eliminated.
They're pretty accurate, but they operate in a completely different performance envelope than firearms so comparing them isn't really very practical, IMO. I mean, who really cares how accurate their .22 rifle is at 10 meters? The shortest range that rifle firearm accuracy is typically evaluated at is 50 meters.
A top quality airgun is going to be pretty accurate within the limitations it's designed for. For one thing, a firearm is somewhat dependent on ammunition (primer, powder, bullet, case) for accuracy while an airgun is completely self-contained with the exception of the pellet.Is an air rifle like the ones used in competitive olympic shooting going to ALWAYS BE MORE ACCURATE than a gun powder rifle competition set up exactly the same way?
You eliminate a lot of accuracy variables when you get rid of the primer, powder and case. All that's left is the pellet. The air charge released to fire the pellet is very tightly controlled by a regulator so it's very consistent. Also, the discharge is much less violent so things like barrel whip and vibration that are present even in rimfires are virtually eliminated.
They're pretty accurate, but they operate in a completely different performance envelope than firearms so comparing them isn't really very practical, IMO. I mean, who really cares how accurate their .22 rifle is at 10 meters? The shortest range that rifle firearm accuracy is typically evaluated at is 50 meters.