Where do .22 and .177 come from? ...and Why?

[JimmieDee]

Not saying anyone is wrong... but...

Smith states in his Gas, Air and Spring Guns of the World book on page 34, very last line, "Accuracy is excellent, as the barrels were well-rifled evn in 1871."

It seems Smith was referring to his own Quackenbush combination guns (a Haviland and Gunn model) dated 1871 amd 1878.

So it would seem that he had hands on experience of an 1871 rifled airgun.

[DT Fletcher]

The combination airgun may well have been rifled but it was rifled for the .22 rimfire not for pellets, since pellets did not exist in the US at the time, so, it only shot slugs or darts.

The pivotal event was when BSA combined a rifled barrel with the diablo pellet.