and compressing the small amount of air between the valve seat and the back of the pellet would indeed raise it's temperature.... However, the expansion of the MUCH larger volume of air in the tank which takes place to propel the pellet would surely LOWER the temperature of the total amount of air passing down the bore....
Since the velocity limit is based on the average speed of air molecules at a given temperature, I would think the "limit" would be lower than 1649 fps, not higher.... This experiment remains an anomaly, but one that seriously challenges the idea, IMO....
Perhaps the Siegel (IIRC ?) limit of 5 times the speed of sound is the one that really applies?....
