From wikipedia article

"Spring-piston guns have a practical upper limit of 1250 ft/s (380 m/s)
for .177 cal (4.5 mm) pellets. Higher velocities cause unstable pellet
flight and loss of accuracy. This is due to the shock wave generated as
the super sonic pellet contacts the air. Shortly after leaving the
barrel, the pellet falls below the speed of sound and the shock wave
overtakes the pellet, causing it to tumble. Drag increases rapidly as
pellets are pushed past the speed of sound, so it is generally better
to increase pellet weight to keep velocities subsonic in high-powered
guns. Sonic crack from the pellet as it moves with supersonic speed
also makes the shot louder sometimes making it possible to be mistaken
for firearm discharge and drawing unwanted attention. Many shooters
have found that velocities in the 800–900 ft/s (240–270 m/s) range
offer an ideal balance between power and pellet stability."

"In the 17th century, air guns, in calibers .30–.51, were used to hunt
big game deer and wild boar. These air rifles were charged using a pump
to fill an air reservoir and gave velocities from 650 to 1,000 feet per
second (200–300 m/s). They were also used in warfare; the most famous
example is the Girandoni Military Repeating Air rifle. "

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"Larry W" wrote in message ...

Not talking about powder-operated fasteners here, but let's consider.
As
a previous poster pointed out, a nail gun can drive a (say) 10d nail
through 3 inches of wood. You know what? in my younger and healthier
days, I could take a framing hammer, and after a few setup taps, also
drive a 10d nail through 3 inches of wood in a single hit, too.

So, it must stand to reason then, that if the nail gun can kill at
a distance, I should be able to (with practice of course) toss that
nail
up in the air, strike it with my hammer as it falls, and propel it to
a lethal hit with similar performance to the nail gun, right? What do
you guys think? Somehow I don't think I'll be doing any hunting
with hammer and nails any time soon...

(I have no idea where that poster got the 100 mph figure though, which
comes to mere 150 or so feet per second, not a lot faster than what a
good major league pitcher can do to a baseball. Even the most anemic
modern pistol rounds move at more like 800 fps. Personally, I'd rather
get hit with a nail at 150 mph than a baseball at 100)


--
There are no stupid questions, but there are lots of stupid answers.

Larry Wasserman - Baltimore Maryland - lwasserm(a)sdf. lonestar.
org