Thread: Air Rifles ("You'll shoot your eye out, kid!")

Several years back, I had a woodpecker trying to build a home in my hotel building. I thought the best way to get rid of him would be an air rifle so I walked down to the hardware store and picked up one of these. It's the Crossman breakbarrel.

I got it home and was both impressed and disappointed by the thing. On the up side, it was a pretty sound rifle. It had a solid walnut stock and a nice feel to it, and it seems to shoot pretty straight. On the down side, the sights were all plastic, and it was far too powerful for what I wanted to do. The pellet went completely through a 1" pine board, which means that it would go through my outer wall if I shot any bird pecking on my hotel.

Well, I got rid of the woodpecker by throwing things at it whenever I saw it again, but I kept the air rifle and have had a blast with it over the years. Whenever I'm feeling a little bored, I set up a target and crank off a few rounds in my back yard. But the years have taken their toll on both the rifle and on my eyesight. The plastic sights, though very good, have developed a couple of cracks and require careful handling. the other problem is that my eyesight isn't what it used to be. I wanted to find a rear aperture sight for this thing, but they don't make one. Daisy has one, but it looks like I'd need a gunsmith to put it on.

Yesterday I bought the Crossman 4X scope. I have never used a scope on any type of gun, so this was an entirely new experience for me. It's still fun to shoot, and I think that now I need to start seriously working on my marksmanship. I can shoot a palm sized group at 20 yds if I use a rest for the rifle,. Not nearly as tight as I'd like. Shooting offhand is worse. I hit the paper every time, but there seems to be no pattern or group. I am very shaky and my trigger pull is not nearly as smooth as I want it to be. It always feels as if my finger is rusted and my pull is "creaky". Does anyone else ever have that feeling? The other thing is my breathing. Maybe this is related to my pull being so unsteady but it seems like I end up holding my breath for too long waiting for the trigger to break.

Now I've always been a pretty good pistol shot. I could always get tight groups with my S&W .357, but I've not ever shot a rifle except in summer camp when I was 12 years old. Is there a really great difference between the two types of marksmanship? Anyone have a good resource for rifle fundamentals? And how much of my trouble is just the limits of the gun? How is the best way to figure that out?

Any help would be appreciated, and I know I'm in the right group to ask.

I am by no means an expert but just a couple of things to consider:
1. Ammo - just like any shooting activity you may find improvement from a better source of ammo. The soft lead is very dificult to keep in perfect shape without the brass cartridge to keep its shape. make sure to have a look at the pellet before you load it. make sure when you press the pellet into the chamber that you don't use the top of your thumb where you might indent the skirt of the pellet with your nail. be sure the skirt of the pellet is seated fully and evenly in such a way that the action of closing the chamber dosent deform the pellet.

If you expect to be a good shooter you need a few fundamentals. You need a good smooth trigger pull and I wouldn't be holding my breath. Just normal steady breaths. Of course the sight picture is the other one. With a rifle a good solid hold is important too.Also your shooting position standing,kneeling, sitting, prone etc makes a big difference. Whichever you use you have to get it right. Once you got those down you can be a real marksman

I've been collecting air guns for about fifty years,and still have the first one I got from my father at 6,and most are Crosmans. A good pellet rifle will tear one ragged hole if shot from a solid rest,and the skirt of the pellet can get deformed,so they sell a pellet seat-er which works well in a break open gun like that one,it also smoothes out any deformities as it pushes it into the barrel,and makes for much better accuracy.In other kinds of guns,just use the best pellets you can find,as these guns are just like .22s,they are partial to certain weights and shapes,so different pellets will give different results,but most Crosmans are capable of 1inch groups if you do your part. If you really like shooting pellet guns check out the FX line of airguns at Arizona arms.com,these charge up with scuba tanks and spit out .22 pellets at 1100fps,and scare the hell out of you as you are charging them up to 3000psi,but they are a blast to shoot and can easily put one pellet after another through the same hole if you do your part. I use it to keep the squirrels under control here in suburbia as they are also supressed. Enjoy !!

Pellet rifles are also more prone to errors in technique than cartridge firearms, partly due to the way they recoil and partly due to the length of time it takes for the pellet to exit the barrel. Much slower than a cartridge rifle so errors in holding are magnified. But that makes it an excellent training tool. Best advice would be to put as little pressure on the stock and trigger as possible with a pellet gun. Let it recoil freely and you will be amazed at the accuracy it is capable of once you find the right pellets as Grizz pointed out.

Really, I'd really like to get an air rifle with actual iron sights. A spring piston gun with something better than the plastic sight that comes standard on all the Crossman rifles would be nice. Does anyone know of one?

Originally Posted by joesixpack

Really, I'd really like to get an air rifle with actual iron sights. A spring piston gun with something better than the plastic sight that comes standard on all the Crossman rifles would be nice. Does anyone know of one?

Better find an antique.

Originally Posted by nun2sharp

Better find an antique.

He's right on that one,some of my old crosmans have 3way adjustable triggers and REALLY nice iron sights,however,the spring piston rifles are more prone to flinching as the violent recoil they have,pump-up are much more accurate but much more work. The new PCP (pre charged pneumatic) ones are charged with a separate tank and have much more power and more shots per charge,also the range they give you are better suited to a low power scope for quick target acquisition and follow-up shots that are out of range for your average airgun

Do a Google search for "artillery hold". With a spring piston pellet rifle, you don't want to fight the recoil. A slow, steady trigger squeeze will help as well. The shot should surprise you every time.

Originally Posted by joesixpack

............................

Now I've always been a pretty good pistol shot. I could always get tight groups with my S&W .357, but I've not ever shot a rifle except in summer camp when I was 12 years old. Is there a really great difference between the two types of marksmanship? Anyone have a good resource for rifle fundamentals? And how much of my trouble is just the limits of the gun? How is the best way to figure that out?

Any help would be appreciated, and I know I'm in the right group to ask.

Joe,
These guys won't charge you a dime and the rifle fundamentals are not bad.
But,,,, they might want you to stay a little while.