Pneumatic strikedown system for projectiles

Claim 1

A handling device for a projectile having a temporarily mounted resilient boot on one end comprising, a vertically oriented tube having an inner diameter slightly larger than the diameter of said projectile and slightly smaller than the diameter of said resilient boot whereby said resilient boot provides an air seal when said projectile is falling through said tube, at least one orifice in the side of said tube near a lower end for allowing air to escape during descent of said projectile through said tube thereby regulating the speed of descent of said projectile, a drum rotatably positioned at the lower end of said tube providing a closure for the lower end of said tube, said drum being rotatable about a horizontally oriented shaft offset a first fixed distance from the central axis of said vertically oriented tube, and at least three cavities in said drum each having its central axis offset a fixed distance equal to said first fixed distance whereby said central axis of each said cavity is alignable with the central axis of said vertically oriented tube and whereby loading of a projectile through said vertically oriented tube into one of said cavities causes rotation of said drum.