Innholdsfortegnelse for September 2019 i Airgun Shooter

British shooters have fared well in the latest international Target Sprint event in Ora, competing against individuals and teams from host nation Italy as well as Germany, Hungary and Serbia. In the Junior Men’s Singles Open race, 14-year-old Jonathan Williams won Gold, also smashing the existing GB record with a time of four minutes 26.34 seconds, knocking a massive 11 seconds off the previous record. Isaac Steele won the Silver medal, with James Davis in seventh place, while the Team placed ninth. Team Sedgemoor’s Ariminta Stubbs took Gold in the Junior Women’s Open race, while Emily Treacher took Bronze and Zarah Duigan came fourth, all using the Air Arms TS400 rifle. Together, they came sixth in the Team race. Emily Shawyer, running in the World Series, also set a new…

Competitors in the 2019-2020 season of the Schools Pistol Championships will be taking part in seven qualifying events to try to secure themselves a place in the National Final in January. The Championships has been growing since it began in 2015, and qualifiers this season cover areas across England, Scotland and Wales. The new season of the Championships improves inclusivity to disabled participants. Athletes with physical disabilities had been able to compete, excepting visual impairment and intellectual disability. But this season welcomes all disabled athletes to compete. If needed, they will be able to shoot with a support for their wrist, but not the gun itself. In previous years this had been applicable to just the Junior age group, but now also applies to Intermediate and Senior athletes. British Shooting…

RIFLEMAN FIREARMS Rifleman Firearms also held a sponsored shoot called the Air Rifle Sharpshooter 2019 Competition, but this time being comprised of three very different disciplines. Twenty contestants took part overall, with the highest five from each stage being scored. First up was the 25-yard precision contest, with Sam Piper coming first with 104 points, closely followed by Tom Jacobs on 103, then Glen Cooper, Nick Ivey and Shaun Merrifield joint third with 102 points. Then there was a 25-yard speed shoot, with nine targets to destroy in as short a time as possible, using wooden bottles supplied by Custom Targets. Sam Piper came first again in a brisk 25 seconds, followed by Glen Cooper in 40 seconds, and Nick Ivey in third place with 45 seconds. The final event…

Rats are a constant cause of irritation on most farms. Attracted by an abundance of easy food and plenty of snug places to nest, populations quickly establish and can soon get out of hand. Problems posed by rats are numerous, and the worst one is their potential to spread some very nasty infections, including Weil’s disease. Infection is usually passed on through contact with rats’ urine or faeces, and bacteria can survive out of their body for some time. Rats can be a danger to farm workers and livestock as their droppings inevitably find their way onto tools and machinery, and into animal feed and water troughs. They also pose a health risk to the wider food chain as most farms grow and store produce that’s destined for human consumption.…

S o how much is too much power for an airgun? Do you need 50 foot pounds and upwards? Why not just 12 foot pounds and be done with it? And what about both perhaps? Well I’m lucky. I have the new Daystate Red Wolf HP (High Power) in .22, and boy does that pack a punch. But running that much power does have its downsides – do you ever get through some air. More hot air than listening to me talking about my HFT skills! I can get a healthy 60 shots running 50 foot pounds using JSB 33.95 grain pellets, and that’s good. I could of course turn it down to one of its lower settings, but who would ever do that? It’s like having a Ferrari and…

Much has been written by both myself and many others over the years regarding how best to prepare ourselves for that most dreaded of outdoor airgunning shots, the ‘positional’. Positional shots require the shooter to forgo the normal HFT prone shot – which offers a stable shooting position for the shooter to concentrate on positioning their crosshairs, and not worry about the gun moving, as it might be minus the support offered by the shooting peg. This is why some shooters consider the normal supported stance of HFT offered by the peg as ‘outdoor benchrest’. Fair enough, if the day is completely without any wind (unlikely) or the shooter knows exactly how far away each and every target is (also highly unlikely, unless allowed to use a rangefinding device), and…

Some shooters I know who like to think of themselves as ‘serious airgunners’ dismiss plinking as a childish pastime. But they’re missing the point. To my mind, airgunning is 99% fun, and what can be more fun than a couple of hours tin can bashing in the back garden? Dismissing plinking as a trivial pursuit also displays a lack of understanding of the art. Tin cans will always be up there when it comes to favourite targets, but today’s plinker wants to be challenged every bit as much as a hunter stalking live quarry or an HFT shooter looking for the perfect score. As a result, targets have become smaller and more rewarding to hit, and the challenges plinkers set themselves and each other are increasingly innovative. It stands to…

Q I’m thinking of getting into re-enacting. Some people seem to use either a regular gun on an FAC, or a deactivated gun, but both these options are really expensive. Can CO2 replicas be used at either private events or public displays? The level of realism keeps getting better, and they would seem to be an easy way to get into the hobby. A We can’t see any reason why they can’t be used for re-enactment. Section 19 of the 1968 Firearms Act makes it an offence to have an air weapon in a public place without lawful authority or reasonable excuse, the proof of which lies on the accused. However, taking part in a re-enactment would be a reasonable excuse. But what guns can be used at the club…

Bullpups have been around for a good many years, and while some airgun shooters initially branded them a fad that would never last, these stubby little rifles are resolutely here to stay. Most manufacturers have at least one bullpup in their inventory, with the Boxer being the latest model from Gamo to join the pup parade. While Gamo is a Spanish company, this particular gun is made in England, and uses the same magazine as Gamo’s sister company, BSA, as well as the company’s legendary cold hammer-forged barrels. It’s available in .177 calibre, as seen here, as well as .22. With a recommended retail price of £569, the Boxer is one of the least pricey pups around, but how does it handle and how does it shoot? STOCK “THE BOXER…

Qiang Yuan Sports made a big impact on the airgun scene in the UK last year with its Domed pellets, and has now released a new design called the Streamlined. But what’s different about them – and more importantly, are they any good? While these two .177 pellets seem very alike – both are standard pinched-waist domehead diabolos that appear to be made of the same lead alloy – there are enough differences to make them a viable alternative to each other. In terms of overall size and shape, both types are similar in length, but the skirt is more sharply angled and the head slightly more pointed on the Streamlined. The differences don’t end there though, because the Streamlined is available in two head sizes, 4.49 and 4.50, and…

Umarex’s 850 Air Magnum is a CO2 multi-shot rifle that offers full power (sub-12 ft-lb) and is big on quality and performance, making it a hit in the garden, on the range and when shooting vermin at close quarters. The Air Magnum has now received a 2019 upgrade in the shape of the 850 M2. It’s available in .177 or .22 as a multi-shot and is powered by an 88g CO2 canister, although an adapter is available for shooters preferring to use two 12g CO2 capsules instead. This updated rifle features a new and improved synthetic stock, with an adjustable cheekpiece, a metal eight-round magazine (as opposed to plastic) and a brand new oversized bolt handle. The 850 M2 is available as the Empire Kit, with a recommended retail price…

A leading UK pest control supply company is opening its training courses to a wider audience after many professionals were left confused following the changes to the general licences surrounding the control of pest birds. The training courses offered by Killgerm Chemicals – which have been running for a number of years – had previously been aimed at professional pest control companies, but are now being made available to people outside of the industry. The main interest to Airgun Shooter readers will be the Safe Use of Air Weapons for Pest Control course. This one-day course teaches shooters pest control management, how to identify different bird species, and most importantly, covers the new bird licences and how to apply for them. The safe handling and shooting of air rifles is…

BSA owners are being urged to use only genuine magazines in their rifles, rather than 3D-printed versions which can break apart and cause a jam. The Birmingham gunmaker said: “It has been brought to our attention that 3D-printed copies of BSA magazines are available to purchase online. We have obtained a quantity of these for testing purposes, and conclude they are inferior to the legitimate version as they often break, causing a blockage inside the gun’s action, sometimes after only a few shots have been discharged. “BSA recommend that all magazines are purchased directly from a reputable BSA gun and accessories retailer. Any use of 3D magazines and the associated faults in BSA guns will invalidate your gun’s warranty.” A genuine BSA magazine - as seen in the photo above…

MY FIRST STEPS I got my first air rifle when I was 15. It was a wonderful package deal consisting of a Theoben Rapid 7 with a skeleton stock, Simmons Whitetail Classic scope and stirrup pump. I still remember the anticipation of unpacking it and the excitement of filling it for the first time and zeroing on the upstairs landing! Sadly, I managed to almost immediately break one of the magazines. MY CURRENT GUN My time is now spent shooting mostly Daystate air rifles, and I’ve been spending time in Eccleshall with the team. I think the knowledge, enthusiasm and helpfulness which they possess is outstanding. I’m lucky enough to be part of the Daystate Accuracy Research Team so I get the chance to try out pre-production equipment, which is…

HIGH SCOPE MAGNIFICATION can help with precision when you’re tackling long-range targets, but that doesn’t mean you always have to crank the zoom right up. In fact, there are several scenarios when lower magnification can be an advantage, and close-range ratting is one of them. Because rats are often fidgety, it can be hard to find them when you look through the scope, and the tunnel vision caused by high magnification will only make the problem worse. Wind down the zoom to something around 4x or 5x, and you’ll have a wider field of view and a longer depth of field, which makes it much easier to pick up on small, fidgety targets. And it doesn’t just help when hunting by day. Turning down the magnification also improves light transmission,…

Every time I open my gun cabinet to go hunting, I gaze nostalgically at my 1983 Weihrauch HW 80 Mk1 and then reach for one of my PCP rifles. It sits there like an old favourite at the bottom of a kid’s toy box, forever ignored and unable to compete with the latest, shiniest offerings. As a teenager my first proper rifle was a beautiful BSA Airsporter S, but I soon coveted my friend’s HW 80 which punched holes through thicker bits of wood and sent tin cans spinning higher. Before long. the BSA was sold, and I had one of Germany’s finest as my own. Back then it was paired with a Tasco 4x40 scope, and together they accounted for scores of rabbits, pigeons and squirrels. I’m sure I…

Limited edition airguns from British gunmaker Daystate always cause a lot of excitement, and many are snaffled up through pre-orders before they’re even made. Coming up with innovative and eye-catching specials to keep the collectors happy can’t be easy, and the task must have been harder than ever with the Genus. This commemorative airgun was designed and manufactured to mark the business’s 40th anniversary. Given the gravitas of the occasion, combined with Daystate’s reputation for creating some amazing limited edition airguns, the burden of expectation must have been enormous. But yet again, the team have come up with something that really does stand out from the crowd, despite being based on a recognised and proven performer. And the Genus doesn’t just look exceptional, it also cuts it in the performance…

FOR SALE: Weihrauch HW 100 carbine bullpup and Air Arms S510 carbine bullpup. Both the above guns are .22. The Air Arms has a night sight on it. Both have Blackpool Air Rifles stocks on them. Air Arms £1,000 ono. HW 100 £800 ono. Or swap for an FX Impact .22 MKII. Tony Wells (Kent). Tel: 07931 857604 FOR SALE: Daisy Model 25 Centennial Collectors Edition. Made in 1986 as a special edition to commemorate 100 years of Daisy production. Walnut stock. Colour case-hardened cocking levers. This actual rifle was featured in Airgun Shooter issue 113. Mint condition £275. Ray Garner (Whitley). Tel: 01977 661671. Email: garnermuriel@gmail.com FOR SALE: BSA SuperTEN Mk II Carbine .22 cal action only to include Volumetric Silencer, 3 mags, 2 buddy bottles, BSA one-piece adjustable…

Johnstone and Fearn are names that are not exactly in the news these days. Swallowed whole by history, but in a way still with us, these two Birmingham men endure through Patent Number 219872. Their cleverness ensured that today we have one of the most significant developments in the long history of airgun enterprise. The Webley Junior is one of a line of air pistols following Johnstone and Fearn’s patented design which placed the barrel over and parallel to the spring/air chamber, allowing a construct of remarkable compactness. Setting the barrel pivot at the front end of the pistol delivers a cocking system by which the barrel is used to draw the piston forwards against spring pressure, to engage the trigger sear. Firing the pistol therefore causes a backwards motion…

There are times when shooting from a hide or setting up an ambush off a bipod are the perfect way to bag your quarry – but there are plenty of other occasions when you’ll need to stay mobile and go on a roving hunt. And it’s at times like these that carrying a rifle that’s a little shorter and a lot lighter than the norm really is a bonus. Rifles like the GunPower HellCat. GunPower is probably best known for the Stealth – a single-shot, takedown PCP that has a rear-mounted buddy bottle acting as both butt and cheekpiece. But there are no fewer than eight iterations of the base rifle, even including a target gun. The HellCat is one of these variants, and this is very much a lightweight…

Spartan is best known for its Javelin bipods that can be attached to a rifle with a magnetic coupling, but the company has now given shooters the ability to use the same quick attach/ detach system for a whole range of shooting sticks or tripods. The Davros Head creates a secure anchor point between the rifle and the sticks, and offers a large range of articulation from its friction-adjustable ball joint, making it suitable for shooting over uneven terrain. It’s a straightforward retro-fit to the existing 3/8” UNC threads that are found on many tripod systems, but there’s also an adapter that converts it from a 3/8” to a 1/4” fitting, as used on the Primos Trigger Stick seen here. It simply screws onto the tripod, immediately converting it for…

James Miller has gone home with an armful of trophies after winning three events in both the Junior and Senior categories at the recent British Pistol Club Championships. The teenager was victorious in the 10m, 25m Sport and 25m Standard at the event, which was held at the Lord Roberts Centre at Bisley in Surrey. James was awarded eight trophies overall, including Champion of the Meeting, Associate Champion, Junior Champion and the Wilfred Ward Trophy. He also broke four new Welsh shooting records and achieved three new personal bests. James is next off to the World University Games in Naples and then the Junior World Cup in Germany.…

How did you get started and why? The business started in 1978 selling mostly fishing tackle out of a garage, together with a few guns. I started working here 34 years ago. As I used to shoot, I was keen to expand our range of shooting products we sold, and now we have two shops providing fishing and shooting supplies. Did you specialise in a particular area of the market? We specialise in the hunting market, providing rifles, ammo, clothing and accessories. We also provide dog and ferreting products like decoys, traps and nets. We do stock a range of field target rifles, and have seen a rapid rise in the number of customers purchasing guns for target shooting. What trends are you currently seeing? PCP rifles now outsell spring…

We came, we saw, we sadly did not conquer – but what a brilliant time we all had. As ever, the travel to and from Poland was fantastic and easy as pie. Lots of people don’t think it’s easy taking airguns through airports, but I am here to say otherwise. As long as you follow a few rules, you will have an easy transit. Make sure your PCP airgun has little to no air in it. Make sure it’s in a hard case, and make sure the hard case is lockable with a padlock. If you do all that, then I am sure you will have an easy time. Anyway, back to our World Championship endeavours. We left Luton Airport full of the joys and ready for action. Well, most…

Even the heaviest gun can be a pleasure to shoot when it’s being supported by a bipod up front. Just make sure that the legs of the bipod are long enough to give you adequate clearance over any long grass and sloping or uneven ground you encounter If going prone off a bipod isn’t an option, shooting sticks give you the option to support the rifle while taking sitting, kneeling or standing shots. This Primos Trigger Stick can be adjusted for height, and can even self-level over uneven ground with just a squeeze of the trigger A sling can be a godsend when you have to tote your rifle around in the field for any length of time. It can be carried on either shoulder, muzzle up or muzzle down,…

Having finally started my ‘serious’ benchrest shooting campaign, I thought it might be interesting to look at a couple of the rests that some of the experienced shooters at my club use for competition purposes. Why do we need an expensive item of additional equipment that can and often does cost more than a decent PCP target rifle? Well it’s all to do with just how steady the gun is when the trigger is released. The same can, of course, be said for anybody wishing to achieve an accurate shot in any shooting situation, either in an outdoor competition or in the field when hunting. Many of us who have hunted with air rifles will have appreciated just how much our accuracy can be improved when using accessories such as…

I’m willing to bet that for most of us our passion for airguns began in the garden, sending tin cans, bottle tops and all manner of improvised targets flying. That was certainly the case for me. The very first gun I shot was a friend’s Gat gun, firing darts at a dartboard. Before long I’d somehow convinced my parents I was responsible enough for a proper air rifle and my uncle Trev let me have long-term use of his .22 ASI Paratrooper, which he still has. Although it was the business as far as I was concerned, you could see the pellets come out of the end with the naked eye and it barely had enough power to topple a tin can. But that didn’t stop me spending hour after…

What are they? A safety flag, which is sometimes referred to as a breech flag, is a device that lets other shooters know that a particular airgun is in a safe state, meaning the gun is incapable of firing a pellet. What constitutes ‘safe’ is a moot point though, as the presence of a flag is not necessarily a guarantee either that the gun has not been cocked or a pellet has not been chambered. What types are out there? A safety flag may take the form of a rigid or semi-rigid probe that is inserted into the breech of a rifle. Their use is far more common in target clubs that shoot rimfires rather than air rifles, but clubs that allow members to shoot both types of gun together…

Mention the word ‘Luger’, and most people will automatically think of this handgun being brandished by a jackboot and jodhpur-wearing German officer from the Second World War. But the P.08, also known as the Pistole Parabellum, Parabellum-Pistole (Pistol Parabellum) or just plain Luger, was a derivation of Georg Luger’s original model that dates back to 1898. It’s rightly earned itself a place in history, serving in both world wars as well as numerous other conflicts with multiple foreign users. Some models were even built for the Dutch by Vickers! Airgun shooters have been treated to two different CO2-powered BB-firing variants of this iconic handgun from Umarex, both of which appear in the company’s historic Legends series. One of the models is double action, which Umarex refers to as DAO (Double…