I remember when I got my hands on my first airgun. I’m pretty sure it was a Crosman or Benjamin pump of some sort. I don’t remember how old I was, but I sure remember how much fun I had shooting at just about anything. I think it’s in our blood to be “the hunter.”
Many, many years passed before I saw my next “real” airgun. I must have been in my early teens and it was a co2, multi-shot, uzi that tore through targets as quickly as it tore through co2 and bbs. Again time passed and I found myself with a single pump M16 Crosman pump. I actually miss that old airgun as we had many long treks in the Vermont woods under our belts.
Time passed again and by this time I had graduated from “toys” to “real” guns, i.e. firearms. It took many years before I came in contact with something that held my interest in the same way my firearms did.
Gamo Fusion Whisper IGTIt was then that I was introduced into the world of Modern Adult Airguns. These were not the wimpy multi-pump & co2, plastic airguns I grew up with, these were real airguns with hardwood stocks, nice bluing, sweet scopes, and they actually felt like “real” guns. As I became more interested in the sport I learned that what we call “Modern Adult Airguns,” have been around for a very long time. Most recently, I’ll say in the last 15 years or so, they have come out of the eccentric hobbyist niche, and into the mainstream filling store shelves. Today’s airguns produce power levels, have advanced features, and comparably low price points, that just blow yesterday’s airguns out of the water. Some prominent models would be: RWS 34, Benjamin Trail NP, Gamo Fusion Whisper IGT, Browning Leverage, Hatsan Mod 95, and too many more to list here.
So why would a full grown adult even consider messing around with airguns? Well I got that question a lot when I first started shooting airguns in my back yard in South Carolina. First of all let me say that airguns are not for everyone. I love shooting them. I love collecting them. I love testing, review, writing, etc. etc. about them. You get the idea, I really like airguns. But you don’t have to be a fanatic about them to enjoy shooting them.
After someone would ask me about why I would even bother with airguns, I would take them out to my back yard range and we’d start doing some shooting. This is usually the first big “eye opener” for the airgun skeptics; the ability to have a shooting range in back yard or even indoors so long you have enough room to shoot safely. Rather than having to drive to a gun range, or 45 minutes out in the country, I could satisfy my itchy trigger finger right on my own property.
Now came the fun part. Airguns take more skill to shoot accurately than most firearms (see the article “How to Get a Springer to Shoot Straight” for more information on this). To get really good groups at 20 yards takes more skill than most people are willing to admit. Sure, having a good rifle and the right ammunition really helps, but the shooter is the biggest variable by far. Once I got someone to actually sit at the table and take a few shots, it was pretty much all she wrote; they were hooked.
H&N Pellet SamplerToday Modern Adult Airguns make even more sense to the avid shooter in that they cost so much less to shoot, and more shooting means more practice, and more practice means you’re a better shot when it counts. I recently checked on the price of .22lr ammo and it was hitting .20 and .30 per round. That’s insane. Quality airgun ammo can run about $15 per 500 on the upper end, making all that trigger time much, much, more affordable. And, there’s the potential option and convenience of indoor and/or back yard shooting; something most of us can’t do with our firearms.
So where do you go to learn more about adult air rifles and which may fit the bill for your needs? You pull up a chair and spend some time in this “Airgun University” developed and supported by AirgunDepot.com. This is a great resource for shooting enthusiasts, with information to help shooters ranging from the casual to the fanatical. And, with Airgun Depot’s commitment to airgun education backing the Airgun University, you can expect new, relevant information on a regular basis.
There are so many options out there for everything from extreme precision shooting, to pest control, to small, medium, and even large game hunting, to just casual plinking at tin cans and water balloons. There are airguns to fit every budget too. The most popular are spring powered airguns that create a tremendous amount of energy with just one cock of the main spring. There are also CO2 powered airguns, pump pneumatic airguns, and at the top of the hill, Pre-Charged Pneumatic airguns.
Each of these airgun types have their strengths and their weaknesses. With a little time reading and watching videos in our on-line education center, or picking up the phone and speaking with one of our airgun consultants, you can learn what will work best for you. Airgunning is a great sport with great products that are certainly not just for kids anymore.
