Airgun Depot's Airsenal News

If you've ever read any books on African hunting and safaris in general, then you've probably run across the name of Peter Hathaway Capstick. Mr. Capstick has left this world now, and we do miss him and the stories he told in his many books about big game hunting and living life on the African continent in the pursuit of game. However, as avid airgunners, we can enjoy one of his gifts to the shooting world.....specifically the airgunning world.....minisniping!

Now, just what is minisniping? Basically, it is a game he invented to play against his friends, fellow hunting guides, and guests as they relaxed after a day of hunting, or whenever they had some down time to kill....or in this case, to shoot.

It was in October of 1984 when Peter H. Capstick, as "Guns & Ammo's" African correspondent, published an article detailing the game of minisniping. It is a deceptively simple game....all you need are spent 9mm brass casings, and a pellet gun....that's it! But the trick is to hit the 9mm casings at 35 yards! That's where the challenge is! The guns that Capstick used were some of the most accurate guns of their day.....the FWB 300 series, the FWB Running Boar, and Anschutz LG match rifles were what he had on hand. Combined with the correct pellet, they were the cat's meow in the 1980's.

Now, many might think that hitting a 9mm case at 35 yards isn't all that big a deal. But consider that it is the equivalent of hitting a man's torso at 1,336 yards, and all of a sudden, the significance of hitting that 9mm casing takes on new meaning. With a little imagination, you can start your own war.....and reign supreme over the battlefield as you search out your enemy and take them out, one at a time, with supremely accurate shots from your cold steel beauty of a weapon!

It is truly an addictive shooting discipline, and you simply have to read the original article that appeared in "Guns & Ammo", written by Capstick himself, to get some more perspective on it. Here is a link to an authorized reprint of the article for your enjoyment:

http://www.minisniping.org/ 

A wonderful side-issue to minisniping is that you can use whatever target you wish. Crackers, popsicle sticks, mints....whatever your heart desires. It is a game that the entire family can enjoy, and though you won't find new FWB300's anymore, you can scale back your investment by trying out an HW-30 from Beeman. If pistols are more your style, consider the IZH-46M competition pistol. 

As addictive as the game of minisniping can be, you are sure to enjoy many hours of fun pursuing whatever target your imagination comes up with when sighting downrange at the 9mm cases....or another similar-sized target. And to help you out with the game, here is a link to the official organization tasked with spreading the word about this fun, airgun-based shooting discipline. 

 www.minisniping.org

Check out Airgun Depot for the gear you'll need for this style of shooting. Great prices and selection are yours for the taking. 

Posted by Randy Mitchell at 06:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

In my previous blog entry last week, I alluded to the many forms of competition that are available to the avid airgunner. Perhaps one of the best known competitions available to the individual airgunner who enjoys hunting is the sport of Field Target.

Field Target competition began in England, near Sussex, in 1980, according to the information I gleaned from the AAFTA's website. It quickly became popular and was imported to the United States. The sport simulates hunting in that you shoot at life-sized representations of small game animals. Originally, the sport just placed a paper target on the fake animal, but today, specially designed targets come complete with a killzone that, when hit, causes the entire target to fall over. As shooters improved, the size of the killzone shrank from around 2" to as little as 3/8" in some venues. With the targets placed from 10 yards to 50 yards, you can see that there is a real challenge to it! A good example of an FT-style target would be the Gamo-rat that Airgun Depot carries.

Today's contests are often placed in the habitat of the animal, with bird targets resting up in a tree, ground-dwellers drinking from streams, sitting on logs....very realistic positioning of the targets. The shooters progress through the shooting locations, or lanes, and can shoot from a choice of positions. And the greatest challenge for most shooters is the ability to estimate the range to the target. Good scopes can be of great assistance in estimating your range and planting the pellet on target. For each target you hit, you gain a point. Misses give you nothing. The targets are designed so that a partial hit does not knock the target down, so you must be very accurate with your shooting.

The rifle matches seem to be the most popular, though there is a pistol category. In the rifle category, there are spring-piston categories and open categories, the latter letting you use any gun you wish, with all the bells and whistles you want to use. Many shooters start out in the spring-piston class since it affords the shooter a lower cost of entering the contest. Today, there are several spring-piston rifles that are up to the challenge of FT right out of the box.

If you wish, you can enter the open category, and you will likely be shooting against some of the most accurate guns ever designed. The competition is fierce, fun, and great fun. AAFTA was born in 1987 to manage the American version of this sport, and they are responsible for administering the rules and hosting the national championships each year.

So when the hunting season is over, move on to the FT trials in your area. It keeps you sharp, allows you to "hunt" all year long, and improves your shooting for when the hunting season comes around again. And you're sure to meet some new friends when shooting FT.....it's a fun sport! 

Posted by Randy Mitchell at 12:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I must apologize for not responding to what appears to be several posts, some several months old. It seems the comments made by our readers were being shunted into hiding in cyberspace, and we just found out where they were hiding.

I try and check the comments section daily, and respond as best I can to the comments, questions, and concerns of the readership. So keep posting, and we'll respond with as much info as we can give you.

Thanks for taking the time to share with us by posting your responses. We're glad you're here. 

Posted by Randy Mitchell at 07:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Airguns are fun. That is something we can all agree on, I think. But if you are willing, and have a competitive streak in you, you can also enjoy competition with an air gun.

If you do a search on just about any search engine, you will find enough links to browse through concerning this topic to keep you busy for quite awhile. The most famous competitions are, of course, the Olympics, which has a category for airguns. And you will find competitions in almost every state and regional area across the nation. If you go overseas, you will find other countries have their own set up, and there are internationally recognized contests that pit the best of each country against each other.

To start, look in your own backyard area.....the city where you live. If there isn't one there.....START ONE! No reason whatsoever you can't be the one to bring members of your community together in a fun and family-oriented event. Many of your local gun clubs have airgun subsections to them, and you'll find many a marksman with a closet full of airguns that they would love to use in competition against someone.

If you find that there aren't any nearby competitions available, then go on-line and participate with the postal matches. You shoot your target and mail it in to be scored. It's all based on the honor system, and it is a great way to meet others airgun enthusiasts from across the nation and the entire world, as well. 

If you are a hunter and don't care to shoot at paper targets, then try the Field Target discipline of airgun competition, where contestants shoot at metal animals to make them fall down. You usually walk through the woods or field for this contest, and often have a partner to accompany you.

Bigbore airgun shooters have just started a long range shooting contess called L.A.S.S.O., held in Texas and hosted by Eric Henderson of Bigbore Airgun Hunting. They were shooting their large caliber airguns out to 200+ yards.....and hitting the target!

Airgun Depot has a brief explanation of some competition opportunities at this link:

http://www.airgundepot.com/popular-target-airguns.html 

And to get started in the fun of competition, you don't have to have the latest and most expensive gear, either. There is one competition that only allows the Daisy Red Ryder, and the first event I remember reading about was won by a pre-teenage girl who beat all the older adults! So everyone is eligible to have fun with this hobby called airgunning! So join in! 

Posted by Randy Mitchell at 05:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Airgun Hunting is a growing sport that actually has a history that is much further developed than many people think. Of course, small game has always been viable prey for the avid airgunner, but many folks resist the idea of hunting larger game such as coyote, hogs, deer, and even larger animals with the air-powered gun.

Now, the statements that I am going to make in this blog entry are my own opinion, based on personal experience hunting both small game and big game on two different continents with air guns, both small and big bore. I have been lucky enough to enjoy some airgunning experiences that many people will never get the chance to do. So understand that I make my statements based on experience, not just what I think is appropriate. I've actually done the things I will refer to, or personally know the individuals who did some of the hunting that I will bring up in this blog article.

The first unusual animal that I shot with an airgun was a 120-lb wild hog shot at the Lonestar Hunting Reserve in Henrietta, TX. I accompanied Eric Henderson, of Sachse, TX, who has several hogs under his belt and is quite experienced with bigbore airguns. The owner of Lonestar Hunts, Alan, has a nice hunting area that will let you get up-close and personal with the hogs that are in the area. Using a Quackenbush .50 caliber Bandit, I shot a wild hog at 32 yards using a .495 roundball that weighed 180 grains. The shot was right behind the eye, between the eye and ear. The hog went down and twitched for a few moments, but it never took a step after the shot. With an airgun, you want to aim for head shots that provide less muscle to go through than the traditional shot behind the front leg. Hogs have too much natural armor behind the front leg, and they are tough animals. This particular hunt is on video if you want to purchase it. Here is the address where you can get this video:

http://www.bigboreairguns.com/ 

The next big game animal I took with an airgun was a whitetail deer in the state of Kentucky. In Kentucky, you can use an airgun as long as it is a muzzleloader. I called and asked permission to do the hunt, and was assured that it was legal by the head of their law-enforcement division of the Department of Fish and Wildlife. Using a muzzleloading .50 caliber air rifle, I was able to take Kentucky's first legally harvested deer with an airgun. At 50 yards, the roundball hit the spine and came to rest just under the skin on the other side of the deer. The deer dropped in place without taking a step.

I managed to take a deer with an airgun for two more years in Kentucky. I accompanied Jim Chapman on a deer hunt in Kentucky, and watched him take a nice 12-pointed with my .50 caliber Bandit at 50 yards. It was an exciting hunt, one that I wished we had on film.

That sort of hunting experience led Jim Chapman to inquire about hunting in Africa with his airguns from some friends of his. As it turned out, Jim was able to be the first man to hunt South Africa with modern bigbore airguns. He wrote a book about it, and you can see if he still has any copies at his website:

www.americanairgunhunter.com 

The year after Jim made the first trip to Africa, Eric Henderson and I were able to accompany him on another African Airgun Safari. We are, to my knowledge, the only 3 American hunters who have ever been allowed to hunt South Africa with airguns for plains game. While there, we took impala, springbok, duiker, steenbok, kudu, warthog, bushbuck, and several other smaller species. It was an exciting hunt, and the airguns used proved well up to the task.

Now from time to time, folks will ask me what the largest animal ever killed with an airgun might be. To my knowledge, the world record is held by Stephan Boles, another acquaintance of mine, who took a 2000 lb American Bison with a .457 caliber air rifle. It shot a 510 grain slug, and two shots into the area of the heart took this monster down at just over 50 yards if I remember the story right. One or two other individuals have also taken buffalo, and I know two individuals who have taken elk with an airgun. By the way, you can read the story of the buffalo hunt at the following website:

http://sniper99.wordpress.com/ 

Is airgun hunting for big game a new thing? Not really. Lewis and Clark carried an airgun on the Voyage of Discovery in the early 1800's. And if you will download the free online magazine from Jim Chapman's website listed above, you'll find a big game issue (#2 I think) that will clue you in on some of history's examples of big game hunting with air guns. The thing you have to remember is that you need to match your airgun to the animal you are hunting, just like in the firearm world. And accuracy is the main issue. You won't be knocking the animal head over heels with an airgun. You are aiming for vital areas that bring about quick kills. The issue is more about the hunter than the airgun.

There are lots of airguns here at Airgun Depot. Many of them will allow you to hunt animals you would not have dreamed possible in years past. But if you have the desire, Airgun Depot can help you out with the appropriate airgun for the job. And if you have questions, just ask me in the comments section of this blog entry. I'll be glad to help you out with any answers that I have.

Posted by Randy Mitchell at 12:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)