Air guns of this style were used primarily for hunting. "Wind guns" had several advantages over conventional firearms including that they were quieter, smokeless, quicker to reload, and relatively unaffected by rain. They also required less cleaning since they did not require corrosive black powder. This example features an exposed lock with the trigger located on the right, and loads from the breech with a sliding breech cover. Smooth bore, blade front sight and a leather wrapped metal stock air reservoir. The gun is devoid of any visible markings. Circular brass collection tag "R.D. BEEMAN/PRIVATE/COLLECTION/1243" hanging from the trigger guard. Provenance: The Dr. Robert D. Beeman Collection