Airgun noise (or lack thereof)

[thejarod]

So for my birthday my friends took me to a shooting range for 4 hours since the past year I've gotten into airguns.  We were 6 people + the instructor and used normal guns and had a fun day. Towards the end I took out my bullboss and took a shot and when I pulled the trigger I thought nothing had happened. Took a few more shots and checked that the magazine rotated and that the safety turned on when reloading. Then I noticed some grass moving while shooting. Turns out having earplugs in and shooting a airgun after firing gunpowdered weapons for quite a while makes for an interesting experience. So little recoil and sound with earplugs that it was hard to tell it was shooting until I shot at an old fryingpan. Then I could hear a slight pling.

Later when we took off the earplugs the gun sounded like a mouse fart. And I hadn't shot the gun outside since I got it tuned down to 20 joule so it's very nice and silent now. The day really reaffirmed that airguns are fun and cheap to shoot. And I can keep my eye on the target and see the hit.

Hope this post doesn't go against not mentioning other types of guns, but I found it an experience I wanted to share. And I'm sure other people have noticed similar things before. So please tell your story if you have one 

[Novagun]

I agree with you completely.
.22 LR is not bad as far as recoil goes but unsuppressed there is still a sharp crack.  Anything bigger and the noise is uncomfortable and I can't be bothered getting walloped with the recoil of a .303 or .308 and others.
Recreation is meant to be pleasant and shooting a nice air rifle is just that. Even a springer. And as you say it is cheap and great fun. Can even do it in the workshop or the yard.
I have a couple of model cannons that I made. One has a 22 mm bore and it goes off with a great boom. It is great fun to set off and the sound echos in the hills. I look at it more than play with it because the noise is really loud and the percussion of the discharge can be distinctly felt.
OK as long as it is not too often.
Loud and hard is good when you are young but age brings an appreciation of a gentle pastime.