Upcoming Airgun Show: Little Rock, AR area

Each year airgun enthusiasts gather at a number of airgun shows to enjoy seeing new guns, old guns, new friends, old friends, and generally having a good time together. One of those shows is coming up soon in Benton, AR....just outside Little Rock.

An information page can be found here:

http://www.airgunexpo.com/

Now, why is this important to you, a ready of Compasseco's Air-Blog? Well, I'm coming to the show, and if you want something from Compasseco, I will be happy to deliver it to you. I will setting up a table with some of my hunting items, as well as some selected air guns from Compasseco, and would enjoy the opportunity to meet any of you who can make the show.

The show is laid back, and folks spend a lot of time talking with each other and shooting the breeze.....and sometimes the airguns. Some of the smallbore airguns are taken outside and tested when someone has the desire. I'm not sure if that is possible this year or not, but in the past we have had a limited shooting venue.

You will see many items that are hard to find, some creations from airgun tuners and builders, and get to talk to folks who share a passion about airguns that almost knows no end. I love to talk hunting, and will have some videos playing on my laptop, and will also be displaying a one-of-a-kind muzzleloading airgun that my friend Dennis Quackenbush made for me. I hunt deer in KY with it, and really treasure this gun. I hope to also bring some of my African Safari mounts and hides to the show as well.

I hope that all of you will get the chance at one time or another to go to one of the shows. It's all great fun, and you'll meet some of the nicest people you would ever want to hang out with.

May 2-3 at the Saline County Fairgrounds will see a gathering of airgun enthusiasts. So come on out and join us for the fun. And don't forget to ask Compasseco if I can bring you an item or two that you found interesting!

New .22 Caliber Pellets from Tech Force

Over the years, Tech Force and Compasseco have worked hard at offering affordable, yet well-made products for today's airgun shooters. One of the best products have been the Chinese-made .177 caliber pellets that rival many of the European brands in quality and consistency. Now, Tech Force is bringing a line of .22 caliber pellets that are both affordable and well-made.

I have been shooting this pellet for a couple of days now, and have been favorably impressed with the consistency and performance they provide. Sealed in tins with foam padding, the pellets show a minimum of deformation from the shipping process, and provide consistent accuracy with the test gun I've been shooting them from.

I broke out a .22 caliber TF-78 for this test, and went to work in my backyard. I have an old metal bathtub that has a rust-covered exterior. When you shoot it, the lead makes a wonderfully visible lead splash that is easy to use as a quick test of accuracy and grouping. Shooting at this old tub allows me to quickly evaluate and sight in a gun or pellet combination with a minimum of fuss.

It took me a few tries to get the pellets homing in together on a recognizable pattern. First, I forgot to reload my CO2, and ran out of gas about 10 shots into the session. I had also transferred a scope from another gun to this one a week or so ago, but had zeroed it for another brand of pellet. So I had to re-zero for this pellet.....but it didn't take long.

This particular tin of pellets (there are 3 offerings from Tech Force in the .22 caliber) was the dome-shaped pellet. The dome is less pronounced than other brands, but it is a dome none-the-less. Tech Force has also brought in a wadcutter and a pointed field pellet, which I will talk about in subsequent blog entries at a later date.

I did not do any chrony testing on this pellet, opting to compare the three against each other in another report. But these pellets are going plenty fast enough for pest control and small game hunting at reasonable distances. In fact, just at dusk one evening a pesky starling came a little too close to the house looking for a nesting sight. I reserve all the hollow trees on my property for my woodpeckers and bluebirds, so this starling had to go. I eased out onto the porch with the TF-78 and a Tech Force .22 pellet in the bore, and sighted in on the hollow I had seen the starling disappear into. That bird must have checked everything, including the plumbling/disposal/climate control system....the works! He took nearly two full minutes to inspect the inside before he popped back out on a neighboring limb.

Once back out on the limb, I administered a lead sleeping pill, and he dropped to the grass below. That particular hollow is safe for a few more days until some other starling decides to make an issue of it. And when they do, I have a great combination answer for them....the .22 caliber Tech Force from Compasseco, sent their way via the TF-78 CO2 rifle.....I sometimes call it my Starling Buster!



Give the pellets a try. They are economical, made well, and work just fine for plinking and light pest control/small game hunting.

What is a "tuned" airgun?

Once you jump into the world of airgunning, you'll probably try at least a half-dozen different airguns within a short period of time. The "need" for a new airgun sort of takes over, and the hobby becomes a collector's delight as you see the "need" for a new airgun, or an airgun that runs off a different powerplant.

I got into airguns after a long hiatus from my youth because of squirrels in the attic. And once there, I did just what I described above. I tried different airguns, switching from powerplant to powerplant (CO2, pump-ups, PCP's, and spring-piston airguns), and really enjoyed myself as I learned about airguns. I hopped on the internet and began reading and educating myself about what you could do to get the most enjoyment out of an airgun. As I continued to research, the term "tuning" came up, and so I dived in to figure what it was all about.

If you drive a car, you probably are aware of the vast amount of after-market parts and services that "improve" what the factory offers. The same is true of airguns. Airguns are mechanical devices, made to certain specifications with a target market in mind. But as in all things mechanical, there is room for improvement in most cases.

Let's talk about spring-piston airguns today in reference to tuning. Some spring-piston airguns have closer tolerances than others in their moving parts. When you shoot one that has less-exact tolerances, you often experience the "twang" or "buzz" of the firing sequence. Sometimes it is harsh, sometimes it is barely noticeable.

The difference between a "tuned" gun and a stock gun is that someone with the ability and know-how has taken the gun apart and tightened up the tolerances in the moving parts in question. A brief list of things done, but not an inclusive one would be:

*de-burring metal parts
*custom fitting piston seals
*installing guides on the piston
*tarring the spring to reduce buzz/twang
*installing a tighter fitting spring guide
*honing the inside of the compression cylinder
*tweaking the trigger parts so they work smoothly together
*checking the muzzle crown and repairing if needed

And there are other things that good tuners do to make a gun much more pleasant to shoot, more enjoyable to own, and generally create a better all-round gun for your shooting pleasure. It isn't something that I'm very good at, but one of these days I plan on diving into the guts of a gun just to see what I can accomplish on my own.

Until that day arrives, I will continue to enjoy the services of a good tuner who can help an okay gun become a good gun, and a good gun become a great gun!

My Favorite Self-Propagating Target: European Starlings!

Yep, it's that time again. Hunting season for small game is over in my part of the world, big game season has been over for quite awhile, and I'm zeroing in on my favorite target.....the European starling.

I've written a few times about this pest that comes in enormous numbers. Introduced into the United States in the late 19th century/early 20th century, is has become an ecological phenomenon, replacing and/or competing with our native songbirds and cavity dwelling avian species.

Starlings are well-equipped to be called the Vikings of the Bird World. They swamp their competition in numbers, raid nests and take over nesting sites, and quarrel with just about everyone else in the bird world. Like a plague, they descend on food lots, feeding troughs, dog pens with food left out....anything edible they will target. Their droppings leave unsightly and unhealthy spores and bacteria that can cause histoplasmosis and other potentially threatening diseases.

This time of year, the starlings are beginning to look for potential nesting sites. They will spend the early part of a morning cruising tree lines, old buildings, and abandoned houses, as well as inhabited buildings, for the cavity they desire to nest in. Hollow trees, the eaves of a house that has a small entrance, metal telephone poles at intersections....anywhere there is a cavity, they will set up housekeeping.

I spend a little time each morning that I can waiting on my front porch for the starlings to come swooping in. They explore the old-growth trees on my property for places to nest, and I often get a shot or two in if I am patient enough. Each starling that I take out of circulation is one less starling to compete with my beautiful bluebirds, woodpeckers, and other cavity-dwelling species that I try and help in my area of the neighborhood. Is it a losing battle? Perhaps, but the effort still needs to be made. And the incredible number of targets that starlings present gives me some out-of-season pleasure, as well as keeps my targeting skills up-to-date for when game season opens.

At Compasseco, one of my favorite starling guns is the TF-78 and its cousins. CO2 operated, this gun has more potential for pest control than most folks give it credit. It is incredibly accurate, accepts a variety of scopes with its 3/8" dovetail grooves on the breech, and likes a variety of ammo. The trigger group can be tweaked to provide a very nice trigger, and the bolt-action is reminiscent of the classic centerfire rifles that so many hunters grew up with.

If CO2 isn't your favorite type of airgun powerplant, consider the economical line of Tech Force-branded spring-piston guns. They come in different styles of cocking mechanisms, break barrel, side-lever, and underlever, and offer some of the most economical choices for airgun fun from any vendor on the internet.

Whichever type of airgun you choose for pest control, I hope you'll remember to help out the native species in your area and assist the Department of Natural Resources in your area by knocking off a few of my favorite targets....the European Starling!