Good question, and I say no. Back in the day you could blaze away with readily affordable ammo, but not so much today. And, let the reader understand, you want to arrive at a backyard plinking solution. OK, subsonic .22 is a way forward. But maybe air's better?
Maybe so. My brother, who lives in "ban all guns because commie" Wales shoots merrily away with .177/.22 canister air guns and's fixing to upgrade to a Kral Empire. Nice, at around $700 (!). And especially nice in the UK, where you're not allowed to shoot real guns but you can shoot these. OK, good for my brother, the Kral looks great, if pricey. But here in the States?
We don't need to rely on air guns to shoot because we have a constitutional right to own and bear arms, much as the Left wants to take that away from us in their drive towards a corporate sponsored neo-Maoist dictatorship. Granted, but what if you live in a vaguely built up area, where you can't shoot that AR for practice?
Again, good question, and I don't see anything wrong with going down a backyard plinker air gun solution. Some people go further and get air compressor hunting rigs marching up to something like .50 Cal. Far out. Me? I'd settle for a Walmart Special, twice as powerful as the attractive Kral and way cheaper, seemingly.
Shoot on,
LSP
18 comments:
Amazing bang for the buck out there, 1200 fps complete with built in suppressor and a scope. Funny you should mention.
Back during my competition days in the 1980's, I bought a Daisy 853 .177 caliber air rifle to practice with in our back yard. It is in a class they call "10-meter guns" for indoor competition. Still have it. IIRC, it runs about 450 fps. It has a Lothar rifled barrel and will shoot a ragged hole at 10 meters. I also mounted an air gun scope on it.
My interest was recently piqued after our youngest bought his mother one of those clear plastic bird feeders. I rigged up a couple of wooden slats and mounted it outside our kitchen bay window. The birds were happy and life was good, right up until the local squirrel population discovered it. Snappy salute, "Yes dear, war it is!". At first there was an escalating battle as I added plastic shields to the feeder to keep the little buggers out. Turned out what worked best was salad oil on the top shield that made things so slippery they couldn't hang on. There one male that was particularly aggresive, leaving teeth marks in the plastic, and at one point gnawing at the wooden slats like a beaver. Daisy time. I wasn't really sure if it would be enough gun, but sure enough, a heart shot behind the shoulder at about 35 feet took the little varmint out.
Do some homework on spring piston vs. gas piston guns.
They're great fun to shoot, and will help keep your skills up.
You can buy some serious target air rifles from the Civilian Marksmanship Program, both precision Walther air rifles and Crossman 'Sportster' style air rifles.
Or you could go old school and get yourself a working Girardoni air rifle, you know, like one carried on the Lewis and Clark Expedition. 30+ rounds of .46 caliber lead loveliness.
Air rifles are a thing here in Florida. You can find whole Youstubs channels devoted to using them in Miami and other places down south to shoot iguana and other invasive pests.
As to doing it in Texas, Land of the Gun, I'm sure other People of the Gun won't hold anything against you for shooting with some high-quality air gun (heck, even a Daisy Powerline pumped up to 10 pumps firing a pellet is pretty darned powerful and reasonably accurate enough to snipe Morning Doves on powerlines or in trees, places that normally one would have issues using a snotgun firing bird shot.) Well, except in Austin, so is Austin really part of Texas?
Interesting perspective! I never thought of air guns as a viable backyard plinking solution, but it makes a lot of sense in built-up areas.
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Are airguns homosexual (gay)? I can't draw a cause and effect relationship. Are they fun? Sure. Lewis & Clark carried one west on their expedition for silent operation against game. They've been around for a long time. I prefer a "pellet gun" to a BB gun more before mine has the power of a .22 short. When I lived in the big city, I used it to cause mischief to people I didn't like at times.
The Kral Empire sounds fantastic! At $700, though, I wonder if there are equally good but more budget-friendly alternatives out there?
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Air compressor hunting rigs going up to .50 Cal? That's insane — I’d love to see the performance of those in action.
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"Ban all guns because commie Wales" made me chuckle, but you're right — different rules create different solutions.
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I think air guns are underrated. They're quiet, affordable, and still allow for marksmanship practice.
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For plinking in a backyard setup, an air rifle is perfect. It eliminates safety concerns and noise complaints.
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I respect your point about the constitutional right to bear arms, but it's practical to adapt, especially in suburban areas.
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Subsonic .22 ammo is great, but availability and pricing these days can still be a challenge. Air guns might win that battle.
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I’ve been eyeing the Kral Empire myself, but for $700, you’d expect it to outperform most entry-level air rifles.
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When I am needing to be doing the plinking, or perhaps the assassination of the squirrels, I am always asking myself, “What would Arjuna do?”
Even worse than Wales is Ireland. Air guns = real guns as far as they're concerned. So no Red Ryder's for the kids under the Christmas tree - ever.
I would suggest avoiding BB guns, because BBs Bounce Badly, leading to the inevitable result.
Great memories of pumping the Crossman 10 times and shooting .177 - that was 50 years ago. Just had a memory of shooting the "darts" - don't know if they are still available. I do know with a large enough basement - or any inside are - you can set up a nice range with no nosy neighbors. I have one that is 20' long and I use a super small bullseye area. Hearing protection is needed for the rifle as it has a supersonic crack. I used to be able to light up 60 rounds of milsurp .303 through my Enfields for $20. No more... but much less cleaning and no corrosive ammo. Still take them out bur rarely now.
Typos :) inside area and but rarely... for some reason I don't proof my comments until I post them.
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