Tin
Club Member
Now that Snyder has signed the bill reclassifying airguns, we will be legally allowed to shoot them in our yards. Before the bill was signed, airguns were classified as firearms by the state due to heavy lobbying on behalf of Daisy, who wanted to monopolize the market with their BB guns at one time. Now you'll be able to sling lead in the yard legally, as long as it stays on your property.
Airguns make fine pesting tools. Most are quiet enough that the neighbors won't hear a thing. To them, it wouldn't be any louder than a pneumatic nailer, most times even quieter than that. Rats, squirrels, sparrows, starlings, or raccoons? We all have had trouble with them at one time or another, or will have trouble with them in the future. Chuck a little lead their way and show em who's boss. Way cheaper than calling an exterminator, and a hell of a lot more fun, too
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Now that you are aware of our newly signed law, you need a tool to do the job. The first rule of thumb for buying a new air rifle. If you are shopping a break-barrel that uses a spring piston or gas piston, repeat after me, "I will not buy a Crosman or Gamo rifle because they're Chinese junk with poor triggers, poorly machined parts, improperly lubricated, and crap quality control." There's a reason they're the $100 Walmart special. What you will get is an inaccurate rifle with a clangy twangy powerplant and a heavy single-stage trigger that will frustrate the shit out of you. Those junk rifles advertise high FPS (usually around 1200FPS), nothing but a marketing ploy to put a piece of junk in the hands of the unknowing. For starters, the numbers they get are from using light weight alloy pellets. A pellet breaking the sound barrier becomes woefully inaccurate, since they end up tumbling down range instead of spinning. The sweet spot is between 600 and 900FPS. If your airgun hits that mark, you have a fine hunting/pesting machine providing your rifle is of suitable caliber.
There are far better rifles that cost not much more than your Walmart Crosman/Gamo junk. Your best bet for something good and cheap (yes, that does exist with some airguns) is to pay a visit to Flying Dragon Air Rifles and grab one of their offerings. You see, Flying Dragon rifles have lifetime warranties, great triggers, and superb accuracy. It's well worth the money to pay for a tuned rifle, as they use the proper lubricants, deburr, recrown, and rework the trigger so it performs more like a match rifle. Smooth shooting, smooth cocking, and very accurate. The other good brands out there are the German, British, and Turkish guns, such as Weihrauch, Beeman (specifically the R7, R9, and R1), Air Arms, Webley, BSA, Feinwerkbau, RWS Diana, and Hatsan.
Now we need to choose the proper caliber. The common train of thought is .22 for fur, and .177 for feathers. My preference is .22 for both, because I prefer the impact of the larger caliber. Some rifles are offered in a .25 caliber, but they have an overly arching trajectory for my tastes, but they have a lot of smack to them. A .22 is a nice medium for power and trajectory. Whatever you choose, make sure it's not too heavy, nor too light for your rifle. A low powered gun like a Beeman R7 or HW30 in .177 won't need a pellet more than 7gr or so, whereas a R1 Supermagnum or HW80 will be better with a 10gr pellet. If you got those guns in .22, you'd be about 12gr to 14gr for the R7, and 18gr for the R1 Supermag. Bigger calibers carry more energy down range, which is another reason I like the .22 better than the .177. A .25 will carry even more energy, but you'll have to compensate for the loopy trajectory.
Airgunning is fun stuff, and much cheaper to shoot than powder burners. I get tins of my favorite pellet for $15 for 500 rounds, and many are even cheaper than that. Set up a trap in your yard and have at it, it'll keep your skills fresh
Airguns make fine pesting tools. Most are quiet enough that the neighbors won't hear a thing. To them, it wouldn't be any louder than a pneumatic nailer, most times even quieter than that. Rats, squirrels, sparrows, starlings, or raccoons? We all have had trouble with them at one time or another, or will have trouble with them in the future. Chuck a little lead their way and show em who's boss. Way cheaper than calling an exterminator, and a hell of a lot more fun, too
.Now that you are aware of our newly signed law, you need a tool to do the job. The first rule of thumb for buying a new air rifle. If you are shopping a break-barrel that uses a spring piston or gas piston, repeat after me, "I will not buy a Crosman or Gamo rifle because they're Chinese junk with poor triggers, poorly machined parts, improperly lubricated, and crap quality control." There's a reason they're the $100 Walmart special. What you will get is an inaccurate rifle with a clangy twangy powerplant and a heavy single-stage trigger that will frustrate the shit out of you. Those junk rifles advertise high FPS (usually around 1200FPS), nothing but a marketing ploy to put a piece of junk in the hands of the unknowing. For starters, the numbers they get are from using light weight alloy pellets. A pellet breaking the sound barrier becomes woefully inaccurate, since they end up tumbling down range instead of spinning. The sweet spot is between 600 and 900FPS. If your airgun hits that mark, you have a fine hunting/pesting machine providing your rifle is of suitable caliber.
There are far better rifles that cost not much more than your Walmart Crosman/Gamo junk. Your best bet for something good and cheap (yes, that does exist with some airguns) is to pay a visit to Flying Dragon Air Rifles and grab one of their offerings. You see, Flying Dragon rifles have lifetime warranties, great triggers, and superb accuracy. It's well worth the money to pay for a tuned rifle, as they use the proper lubricants, deburr, recrown, and rework the trigger so it performs more like a match rifle. Smooth shooting, smooth cocking, and very accurate. The other good brands out there are the German, British, and Turkish guns, such as Weihrauch, Beeman (specifically the R7, R9, and R1), Air Arms, Webley, BSA, Feinwerkbau, RWS Diana, and Hatsan.
Now we need to choose the proper caliber. The common train of thought is .22 for fur, and .177 for feathers. My preference is .22 for both, because I prefer the impact of the larger caliber. Some rifles are offered in a .25 caliber, but they have an overly arching trajectory for my tastes, but they have a lot of smack to them. A .22 is a nice medium for power and trajectory. Whatever you choose, make sure it's not too heavy, nor too light for your rifle. A low powered gun like a Beeman R7 or HW30 in .177 won't need a pellet more than 7gr or so, whereas a R1 Supermagnum or HW80 will be better with a 10gr pellet. If you got those guns in .22, you'd be about 12gr to 14gr for the R7, and 18gr for the R1 Supermag. Bigger calibers carry more energy down range, which is another reason I like the .22 better than the .177. A .25 will carry even more energy, but you'll have to compensate for the loopy trajectory.
Airgunning is fun stuff, and much cheaper to shoot than powder burners. I get tins of my favorite pellet for $15 for 500 rounds, and many are even cheaper than that. Set up a trap in your yard and have at it, it'll keep your skills fresh
I just figured out how to load BB's into it... never knew it shot both!
