It wasn’t long ago when the majority of the airgun accuracy tests were accomplished at twenty-five yards, these days the bar has been raised. When testing an air rifle most airgunners or airheads aren’t interested in the twenty-five yard results. Some may even skip right past them for the fifty, seventy-five, or one hundred yard results.
The technology and advanced components that makeup modern airguns make long distance shots possible. There are always those who were born to push the envelope and drive home another innovation. This community does not, in any way, fall short of that.
Not All Airguns Are Created Equal
Some airguns aren’t purposed for a shooting distance further than ten yards, while others are able to hit the mark at a few hundred. The question begs some discussion. There are some calibers that quickly receive an answer. Big bores, like the EDgun Leshiy 2, 9mm deserve a minimum of thirty-five yards, but fifty or greater should be the goal.
Small bores are a little different, the answer varies. Many airgunners love airguns because they have a backyard the size of another’s living room, or they use airguns for short distance plinking or pesting. Not every airgunner is trying to accomplish the max power and max distance possible.
The Diana Two-Fifty break barrel air rifle warrants a twenty-five yard test and is perfect for these types of airgunners. Like the ones with a small backyard or even just a basement to utilize as their shooting range, or the ones who may be taking care of a rat problem at close range. So for those airgunners, the answer is yes, twenty-five yard testing is relevant.
What about short range competitors using the Avanti Champion 499B? The Daisy Nationals airgun shooting competition is at a distance of ten meters, again warranting a much shorter distance for testing and practice.
And The Other Guy
We’ve only spoken of a small population of the airgunner community, another part of the community warrants much greater testing distance than twenty-five yards. Who might we be speaking of? Read on my friend, read on!
Competitors shooting field target, 100 yard bench, hunters, long distance plinkers, and more will need to know the performance of the air rifle at various distances and many of them are much farther than twenty-five yards. For these airgunners testing the RAW HM1000x, that distance doesn’t give them the answers they need.
A Real Situation
When a squirrel is at the base of the tree only fifteen yards from the shooter, then it darts up the tree to perch on a branch sixty-three yards above its original position, it’s crucial to know if the airgun is capable of making an accurate shot at that distance before taking the shot.
Or if a competitor steps up to their station at a competition and in order to win, they must accurately hit three targets, three times. The first one is at twenty-five yards, the second at sixty and the final at one hundred. How would they ever know how it will perform farther than the first target if it is never tested?
Maybe some would read the title to this blog and immediately have a definite answer. “No! That is not far enough!” or “Of course! That’s plenty!” Let’s just say both answers are right. In conclusion the answer is yes and no.
Twenty-five yards is a useful distance for other accomplishments as well, perhaps the sighting in of the Vortex Crossfire HD 3-9×40. Once the zero is accomplished, set some Crosman Squirrel Resettable Targets at multiple distances and test away!
