what does FPS mean?

[tweedking]

what does it mean if a manufacturer say that a gun makes X FPS?

if a manufacturer says x FPS, then more than that is a fantasy, that # is a dream to obtain, less is almost (90%) the case. but, that's just my plink'n opinion.... what's you guys take?

thanks,
rob

[AHMSA]

Yeah, I used to be tricked by the FPS claims.  Now I know better.  I usually wait for some people to do some testing and see the FPE to decide on how powerful a gun is.  I really like the fact that Hatsan's velocity claims are pretty accurate using "normal" weight lead pellets.

[DavidS]

My opinion is they take the absolute best one produced, do some minimal tuning for power, then test with the lightest pellet they can get.   For most companies and AirGuns anyway.      I think that they are afraid of people holding them responsible for injury if an AirGun is slightly more powerful than the packaging claims (I may be wrong).

Though I must say that my first modern Daisy 880 actually lived up to the claim of 715FPS with 7.9 grain pellets at 12 pumps before I modified it.    So there are exceptions to the rule.

And my first Crosman 2289g shot at 484FPS at 12 pumps with CPHP 14.3 grain pellets, new out of the box, so it met its claim of 480FPS.

Though for most see my first paragraph.

[cnjl3]

It is sad that a dealer would use the lightest pellet to be able to claim the highest FPS because "Speed Sells." Most buyers will look at what is available in their price range and select the highest FPS model because it has to be "better" than the other slow pokes on the rack. You could probably sell even more of them if you added "Magnum Mangler" after the caliber. Yep, the suckers would really line up and drool all over their hard earned cash for the deal of the decade.