A little deapth in understanding

[pappa]

I was reading a bad review about a very good air rifle in the Amazon web site today and could not resist the impulse to make a point that most of us already know but newbies should hearken to, so I replied/commented the following to the review. Forgive me if this seems too mundane for some, but this seems to forever bear repeating and I tried my best:

"This is not your grandpa's hopped up BB gun. Break barrel air rifles are serious and deadly weapons that have to be used with respect, understanding and training in order to be safe, effective, accurate and useful.

This rifle is one of the best in the business and can be extremely reliable and accurate. But, that said, there are some things that have to be understood to properly and safely use any high powered air rifle.

Start with patience and gaining an understanding of the operation and characteristics of a Break-Barrel air rifle. These weapons are subject to a VERY POWERFUL double rebound recoil that is stronger than anything that is experienced with a magnum powered firearm. The shooter may not feel it, but the rifle and anything firmly attached to it will. This shock is strong enough to tear the insides apart in many scopes that serve very well in a high powered magnum firearm. It must be realized that all this recoil action is taking place mostly before the pellet has a chance to exit the barrel, lending to the fact that shots that are not consistently the same will most assuredly result in pellets going all over the place from shot to shot. SO; rule no.1: never hold the rifle too tightly or allow any part of it to rest against anything rigid. Barrel mounted bi-pods and wooden or sandbag forearm rests are out (I use a soft foam rubber pad) as is anything rigid behind the butt pad. NEVER hold the rifle too firmly with either hand or pull it hard into the shoulder. All this is intended to allow as much natural movement of the rifle as possible with the least interference, that way, the rifle rebounds the same way as much as possible from shot to shot and therefore the pellets tend to come out all pointed in the same direction. The correct way to hold a break-barrel air rifle is with the "Artillery Hold" (Look it up on Google). The whole idea is to only hold the rifle steady enough to get a good consistent trigger pull and then let the rifle do it's thing. Believe me, this works!

But, all of this is useless unless the shooter is dedicated to practice, patience, thoughtfulness, patience, dedication and patience in mastering this wonder weapon.

Remember, the greatest rifle with the best tuneup firing the greatest pellets in the world is useless unless the shooter knows how to fire it well."

[Muppit]

pappa it think that was well said

[Kailua]

Hard to believe all reviews.  Especially on just one persons opinion.  Good that you gave your insight to new comers to spring guns.

[Tom @ Buzzard Bluff]

Well done! It simply cannot be repeated to newcomers too often.   Tom

[amb5500c]

You'll never make them understand. Nomatter how well worded. Most folks still regard them as simple BB guns, or toys. They just don't take them serious. Most folks will never realize the true potential of air guns because they DON'T have the patience, thoughtfulness, dedication, time, or even the "want to" to learn. However, there are a few (like us) that DO have the above attributes. It is very good that you point out the things that you mentioned above. Your words may encourage someone to keep trying and researching and learning instead of just giving up.
Good job.
Richard

[RedFeather]

I did pretty much the same thing, myself, last week.  Some kid in DC advertises for a "1200 fps air rifle to hunt turkeys with".  So I sent him an email -

Hi,

Saw your wanted ad and, while I don't have one for sale, I do have some advice.  Go to this website and ask what would be a good gun for turkey.

http://www.gatewaytoairguns.org/GTA/index.php

It costs nothing to join and the folks there have many years experience with adult air rifles.  You will find that there are very few air rifles that can actually shoot 1200 feet per second.  Those that do make the claims are using ultra-light alloy pellets such as Gamo PBA's.  If you buy a spring powered gun, especially a powerful one, and use these, you will end up breaking the spring and other parts.  And the high-speed air gun pellets are worthless for hunting - too inaccurate and they lose speed quickly.  What you will want are domed lead pellets like the Crosmans sold in the tins.  Any gun claiming to shoot 1200 fps will do about 900 with pure lead which is plenty fast enough for most hunting.  Almost all pellet guns shoot poorly over 1000 fps anyway - pellets become unstable as they near the speed of sound.  Whatever you get, be sure to check your local laws.  Some places classify them as firearms and I've known one kid who was charged with felony firearms brandishing for simply holding one in public.  That's felony, not misdemeanor.  Wear eye protection while practicing.  Adult air guns are not BB guns (which can be dangerous, too.)

I wish you luck and do check out that website.  Air gunning is a great hobby.


Don't know if he took it to heart or not, since I never got a reply.  (Probably a good thing, too.)  Sometimes you just gotta speak up about these things.

[Mark 611]

 I agree!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 100% with all these statements form Richard and RF!

[lizzie]

Same here Mark- both are very well-stated.

[BenjiHunter]

Very well said.

[pappa]

RedFeather,

Thanks for the additional boost, it was much needed. Perhaps we could get together someday and co-write a how-to book on Basic Air Gunning, LOL.

Seriously, this is serious business and I wish I knew of a way to get this knowledge out into the hands of "Babes". I own 2 very clean, very powerful ARs that were refurbs and I have determined that they were not used enough to even start breaking them in and I am convinced that the vast majority of refurbs (and bad reviews) are in this category. I had one of them super tuned by Mike Melick and he agrees that an overwhelming number of returns are for no other reason than the folks who bought them were ignorant newbies that didn't have a clue as to what to expect. What really breaks my heart is that I see so much of this apparent on our own web site and it just keeps on and on.

On a lighter note, I just ordered a Remington Summit in .22 that has everything with it (at 45% of Pyramyd's price) and the seller swears and guarantees that it is like new with everything included. How can I tell him what a dunce he is???

[amb5500c]

Don't tell him until you have the gun. LOL.
Richard