Airgun Pellet Traps

Now that Christmas is upon us, it might be a good idea to wonder just where you are going to shoot that new airgun. It's winter in North America, and unless you are in some of the more agreeable latitudes that offer warmer winter weather, your shooting just might be confined to indoor pursuits. And if you have a young person in the house who just got their first airgun, you are going to have to find some place for them to shoot safely.

In the past, I've set up airgun ranges in the basement of my house. In one instance, I even cut a hole in the wall to allow for a longer range! Thankfully, my basement wasn't finished and no one, especially the wife, cared that I extended my range a little. She just shakes her head at me sometimes.....

Shooting indoors requires you to think of safety first. In other words, where is that pellet or BB going to go once it hits the target, or in an accidental moment, misses the target completely? To help with this issue, manufacturers have designed pellet traps to contain your spent projectiles.

Take a look at this link to view Compasseco's selection of pellet traps:

pellet traps

Daisy and Gamo offer two well-made pellet traps that contain spent lead rounds from low-to-medium powered airguns. The majority of airguns you find fall in this category, and almost all of them are designed for lead pellet use. Lead deforms upon impact and is much less likely to ricochet than steel BB's. However, it is still a good idea to wear safety goggles when shooting at targets, especially indoors where the range is limited.

The Daisy and Gamo pellet traps hold the standard 10-meter target inserts and will last a long time. They allow the shooter to reclaim much of the lead spent and use it for future casting endeavors for larger caliber slugs or fishing weights.

The Tech Force cone and flat pellet traps you see at the bottom of the above page offer an economical answer to your problem as well. Also designed to hold the 10-meter target, they do a good job of stopping pellets from penetrating any further than you want them to from the low-to-medium powered airguns. And the prices on these Tech Force products allow you to spend your money on other airgun related items such as ammo and targets!

Now, if you are shooting BB's inside, please take note. Steel is notorious for ricocheting, and I hesitate to use steel BB's inside. When I do, I shoot at cardboard boxes filled with packing material to absorb the BB. A hard surface underneath your target is inviting an accident, and it is best to avoid those at all costs. So please plan appropriately and err on the side of caution.

With these products listed above, your shooting pleasure is enhanced even when you are stuck inside during lousy weather periods. And once you get back outside, your indoor practice sessions will help you in your outdoor airgun pursuits as well.

As 2008 comes to a close, remember those less fortunate than yourself. Make time to share the joys of shooting with someone who can't manage it on their own. Take a child outside with you and help bring up the next generation of shooters.

Merry Christmas from Compasseco!

Long Range Shooting: With an Airgun?

This post will be short, but have two interesting links in it that will aid in you, the shooter, understanding just what your airgun is capable of, as well as introduce you to a fun event that is just getting started in the airgun world.

First, an interesting post from a gentleman named Harry who lives in Australia. Harry is an excellent shot, and if you read through all the posts he has made in the past on some of the airgun forums, you'll quickly find out how knowledgeable he is in understanding how ballistics work, and how to most effectively use your smallbore airgun at extreme ranges. Harry is known for his research into just what you can accomplish with a smallbore airgun at ranges of 100+ yards. He has taken small game such as rabbits and starlings at extreme ranges of 100+ yards with regularity, because he has shot, and shot, and shot, and studied how his gun works at such ranges.

Let me link you to an interesting post he made concerning leveling the playing field between a .22 caliber PCP and a 10m match rifle like the FWB 300S in .177 caliber. Read over the post and notice how Harry takes into consideration the apogee of each caliber rifle's pellet flight. With such information at his command, Harry is able to produce amazing shot patterns at 71 yards with a 10m match rifle!

Here's the link:

http://www.network54.com/Forum/414006/message/1229390317/Comparing+apples+and+bananas+...+with+a+touch+of+mini+sniping+hunting++tagged+on.......

Inside this link, you'll find two additional links to further discussion on the subject. Increase your fun factor in shooting airguns by extending the ranges you shoot at, trying to master them in such a way that what seems impossible to the average shooter falls well within your ability.



Now, on to the bigbore airguns. Just how far is it feasible to use a bigbore? If you are into silhouette shooting, then there is a new organization that has just held its second match of long range bigbore airgun competition. L.A.S.S.O. (Longrange Airgun Silhouette Shooting Organization) is the brainchild of Eric Henderson, an airgun hunter who wanted to extend the use-able range of his airguns and to challenge airgun shooters the world over. Eric has set up a shooting event that has steel rams with pie-plate sized kill zones at extreme ranges of 100-350 yards, with the intent of allowing the shooter 2 shots within a 30 second time period. The intent is to simulate hunting conditions, and the competition is fierce.

In the link below, you'll see a pictorial of the Second Annual L.A.S.S.O. shoot, with Brian Cook winning for the second year in a row. You'll also see some very interesting airguns, most made by Dennis Quackenbush, with others of homemade design competing right along with them. The categories are .25 caliber and under for the smallbore long range shooting, and .308 and larger for the bigbore long range shooting.

http://www.bigboreairguns.com/lasso08.htm

And last but not least, if you have broadband, here is a 9 meg video of a shootoff between the winner, Brian Cook, with his homemade rifle, and Johnny Magness who is using a Korean bigbore. In the above link, look near the bottom of the page and you'll find a link to this video that will amaze you at how well these bigbore rifles perform in long range silhouette shooting.

So, what is your airgun capable of? You'll never know until you get out there and try it! Be safe and considerate of others in your efforts to increase your airgun knowledge, but do stretch your shooting muscles a bit and reach out further for more fun from your airguns. And don't forget to get the best of your gear here at Compasseco, from guns to ammo.

Tech Force 58 Contender

Compasseco's Tech Force Line of airguns seeks to provide economical options for the budget-minded shooter while delivering quality performance. The airgun we are looking at today is the Contender Model 58 in .177 caliber, a new side-lever that has just come on the scene here at Compasseco.



Many of you reading this blog will remember the TF-88, a nice little side-lever that won the hearts of many a plinking enthusiast. If that gun impressed you, I believe that the Model 58 Contender will continue that tradition by delivering one of the nicest little budget plinking combinations I've had the pleasure of shooting.

Once you look at the pics, you'll have a TF-21 or RWS-48 in mind. It is indeed a side-lever, but scaled down in size. Only 41.5" in length, it is short and handy to carry around with you. I can readily see myself stalking around the barn and culling sparrows and starlings with it already. And bird-feeder patrol at limited ranges on raiding squirrels should also suit this little airgun just fine.



The stock on the TF-58 is among the best yet to date from the Chinese manufacturer in Shanghai. A uniform reddish-stain gives an excellent finish, and the pressed checkering on the forearm and grip of the gun are set off nicely by this finish.



The safety is located directly in front of the trigger, and both are made of metal. The trigger guard is plastic, but nice and thick and should stand up well against wear and tear.

The sights feature fiber optic style dots, yellowish-green on the rear sight, and a red bead on the front sight, which is hooded to protect the front post. The front sight is mounted on a nice looking muzzlebrake that accents the business end of the gun quite nicely.







Shooting the TF-58 Contender is as close to shooting an R-7 that I have come in a Chinese offering. The behavior of this little gun is VERY polite. Sedate in velocity and soft in recoil, you can literally shoot this little gem all day long and not wear yourself out.

To shoot, just cock the side-lever all the way back until it latches in place. Carefully load the pellet through the loading port, keeping in mind that safety calls for you to control the cocking lever in the event of a mechanical failure. Once loaded, you will need to depress the orange button located under the forearm of the stock, and keep it depressed until you fully close the action.



During the shooting evaluation, I tested Crosman Premier, Chinese domes, Gamo Hunter, and Gamo Match. The Crosman Premier pellets traveled downrange at 560 fps, while the Chinese domes clocked in at 621 fps. With lighter pellets, this gun should shoot in the 700 fps range. However, in all things airgun, it is accuracy that counts rather than velocity, and this gun is amazingly fun to shoot!

If I had a complaint about this gun, it would be that the rear sight is mounted far enough back that it overhangs the breech opening slightly. Depending on what scope you mount on this gun, you will find it a bit cramped to load unless you remove the rear sight. Also, the scope rail on this gun only has about 3.5"-4" of useful gripping area, so one-piece mounts will be hard to accomodate, forcing you to use a two-piece mount. There is an included scope-stop, so this shouldn't be much of a problem, especially with the low recoil this gun delivers.



I tested this gun on a very windy day, with a crosswind of nearly 15 mph. I kept the range down to about 18-20 yards, and found the Chinese domes to be the best-performing pellets this session. Here's a pic of a 3-shot group with my fingernail in the pic for reference.



I'm going to keep this little test gun for myself. I need a little gun that behaves nice, shoots politely, makes very little noise, and is accurate enough to take an English sparrow off the bird feeder. And the Tech Force Model 58 Contender will do all those things, and at a price that I can afford with the present economy! At the time of this blog entry, the Model 58 is just getting listed, and should be up for sale within a few days.