Restoring an antique strike-pump air gun

[DT Fletcher]

Thanks. That explains it. It was the strike part that threw me off. I thought it referred to the energy from the spring being being passed to the projectile by way of a stiff rod

Hoff closely follows Wolff, so, he tends to be a stickler for terminology: see Wolff's Air Gun Batteries.

By the way, there are very few proper antique air gun references available. Hoff's work and Wolff's are absolutely essential. Not much else is.