Compasseco's Video and Book Resources

Hopefully by now you've noticed the re-vamped and updated website that Compasseco has put together. The new look and navigation is eye-pleasing and easy to use. Compasseco is constantly striving to make your purchase a pleasant and rewarding experience, one that you will tell your friends about.

If your friends ever ask you about airgun hunting, a certain airgun for plinking, or for reviews of airguns, you can point them to Compasseco's video resource. There you will find videos in YouTube format from American Rifleman and Airgunweb.com. One of the biggest names in airguns, Gamo, has several spots as well on the site.

It is all well and good to give personal experience about an airgun that you like and have used, but seeing it in a well-produced video adds to the potential buyer's experience like no other. Your experience added to the informational videos can help sway a friend in the right direction when purchasing their airgun.

In addition to the informational nature of the YouTube-style videos, Compasseco also carries one of the first airgun hunting videos ever produced, Bigbore Airgun Hunting by Eric Henderson. I actually got to help in this video, and was able to bag my first wild hog with a .50 caliber airgun.....all on film! It was fun to make, and I think you'll enjoy the video. Eric has been at the forefront of bigbore airgun hunting for many years now, having hunted with myself and Jim Chapman of American Airgun Hunter, both here in the USA and in South Africa as well.

As you get more and more into airguns, it isn't long before you start collecting hard-to-find airguns. When that happens, you'll want to know the approximate value of the item you are purchasing, and the research for this kind of collecting begins with the Bluebook of Airgun Values, now in its 7th Edition. This useful tool gives the collector and interested parties a good idea of what to expect when purchasing or selling an airgun that is no longer manufactured, hard to find, or highly sought after. There are some folks who make a living at buying and re-selling old airguns, and they all have this book in their reference library. You'll also find informational articles on historic pieces in the pages of this book.

Compasseco strives to meet as many of your airgun needs as possible. Great airguns, ammunition, reference works, enjoyable and entertaining videos, targets, backstops....and the list goes on. With a re-vamped website and a renewed commitment to the airgun enthusiast, Compasseco is now an even better place to shop for you supplies and arsenal. So take another close look at the offerings here....you'll be glad you did.

IZH-61: A Rush of Russian Fun

IZH-61 with two clips, cleaning rod, extra spring, and owner's manual.

The Baikal IZH-61 came to my house to live for a few weeks, and to be played with off the front porch during the downtime in my schedule. And I had a great time with this little Russian import.....so much I may have to actually buy one for my own arsenal.

Imported by EAA, (European American Armory), this little side-lever spring piston gun is just plain fun. That's the best way I can describe it. It is a light, easy-to-cock rifle with a nicely adjustable trigger, as well as an adjustable stock for increasing the length of pull for larger shooters. It is sized for a child, but I had no difficulty enjoying it, especially after I lengthened the stock with the turn of a screw.

The accuracy was impressive, and mangling cans with it became almost boring as I rarely missed. The 7.3 grain pellets I acquired from Compasseco proved accurate and consistent in shot placement and velocity. The 5-shot clip was easy to load, easy to insert into the gun, and cycled flawlessly. The gun comes with two 5-shot clips, so you can load both and shoot ten shots before needing to stop to reload the mags.



The trigger was very nice right out of the box, and if you want to adjust it further, it allows you to adjust the trigger pull, the trigger position, and the trigger travel. It is a very nice trigger for such an inexpensive gun.



The sights are all-metal, with a tunnel sight for the front sight, and an all-metal rear sight that is adjustable for windage, elevation, and aperture.





The magazine and loading procedure took a little getting used to. I eventually realized I could load the gun without cocking it. There is a bolt-release located on the right side of the breech area, and when depressed, the bolt slides out backwards, allowing you to load the magazine into place, pushing it in from left to right until it is flush with the left side of the breech. Then you cock the gun, and upon closing the cocking lever, the first round is pushed into the barrel. Each successive cocking action indexes the magazine, and loads the pellet into place. I had absolutely no problems with the magazine on this test gun.


Here is the bolt-release. Press it and the bolt pops out backwards to allow the magazine to be loaded.


See the bolt in the open position?


Here the magazine is fully loaded and inserted.


Here the magazine has been fired a few times and has indexed out.

The 7.3 grain pellets from Tech Force traveled down-range at over 450 fps. A five shot string averaged 463, and this is great for accurate target shooting. It will also suffice to take care of the occasional pest such as a sparrow or starling at short ranges. However, it lacks the punch needed for small game hunting of a serious nature.


For just over $100, this little gun delivers quite a lot of features to the shooter. There are guns out there that cost much more and still don't deliver the features this one does. I consider it a "best-buy" in the plinking and fun category, and the low-recoil and low spring-twang make this a pleasant behaving little rifle. Get one!

Fall Hunting Season is Here

This time of year is one of my favorites. The reason, of course, is that small game season opens in so many places. But there are challenges that one must overcome to hunt this time of year.

The first one is, quite simply, the heat! Man, is it hot! Overnight temperatures of 85 degrees make for a sweltering day ahead. To avoid the extreme heat, I hunt early and late, preferring the early session since the end of the day is usually still hot. And to keep my comfort level at a maximum, I walk a lot less during hot hunting sessions. I'm quite happy to sit still and sweat just a little, rather than walk around and sweat a lot!

Another issue are ticks. In my part of the country, and in many others, ticks are a real problem that pose a health risk if not managed properly. Use bug repellent that is made for ticks. The animals you are hunting in early small game season aren't that aware of your presence due to the scent of your repellent. Save hunting the wind for deer season, and go protected with some serious repellent. Spray it on your shoes and lower legs to keep the ticks from climbing up your pants. If you sit on a log or on the ground, spray the portion of your clothes that come in contact with the ground. And be aware that if you crawl through thick vegetation, it is almost a given that you will pick up one of the little blood suckers for sure....so inspect yourself when you get home! Lyme disease is a real ailment, and avoiding it is something you definitely want to do.

A third issue is my gun and its finish. When I use repellents of any kind, I try and avoid getting it on my hands. Often, the repellent will mar the finish of your gun, as will the oils and sweat from your body. After a hunt, I wipe down my guns with a good film of preservative oil. You can also opt to use a silicon cloth or other cleaning rag that is impregnated with cleaning particles to preserve the finish on your gun.

Now, before you pick up your airgun to go hunting, have you practiced lately? Compasseco has an excellent selection of pellets, and you need to practice with what you are going to hunt with. Shooting one kind of pellet during practice, then switching to another pellet for hunting without re-checking your aim is a recipe for failure. To increase your emjoyment of the hunt, and to be fair to the prey you are hunting, practice and use the proper equipment for the job.

A quick list of favorite hunting guns that I would consider for early season hunting would be the following:

Benjamin Discovery

Tech Force 78

Tech Force Contender 89

Gamo CFX

Sumatra 2500

The above guns provide you with 3 different powerplants....CO2, spring-piston, and pre-charged. They are by no means the only guns you can use, but this blog entry isn't about listing all the kinds of airguns you could use.....that would be a long list!

Check out Compasseco's selection of products for your early season hunting. Stock up on ammo and accessories, then enjoy the great outdoors with an airgun!