Other Sad stats for springers

[853_OKG]

I don't disagree with this...
at the same time, some (maybe most?) boys/young men just lack attention span. In my limited experience (with my nephew, godson and eventually my own son) they want to shoot for a bit but then get bored or distracted quickly. Girls/young women tend to have somewhat longer attention spans, and while they generally have less enthusiasm about shooting, they tend take to instruction better... Just an observation, might not be the case in all situations. Not trying to make this about genders, Lol. Youths in general tend to have other things on their minds. For me, it wasn't until my mid to late 20's to take serious interest in recreational shooting, although I had gone through the basics at a much younger age.

I guess this is a long winded way of saying the age stats posted by the OP and others make sense, although I wouldn't say it's not looking good for springers or any other type of airguns, just it takes people time to gain interest in recreational airgun shooting.

I agree with the lack of attention span, in the youth of today. I think they just have too many avenues of entertainment. I recognize there are regional differences, for example country kids are usually more likely to spend time outside than city kids. But I couldn't imagine growing up today, I feel bad for them they don't know what there missing out. Some of my favorite memories were shooting with my dad and uncle.

 

[Sammy25]

Kids like reactive targets. My grandkids never seem to tire of balloons, cans, water bottles, ringing gongs or some of the new devices which will launch a can into the air when the bullseye is hit, etc.. I'm not sure they would stay in the game if I only provided paper targets. Obviously, a walk in the woods provides many opportunities, not appropriate for firearms. I suspect this has always been the case, however. I don't know that this generation is much different than my own when it comes to the fun of air gunning.

 

[beerthief]

I don't disagree with this...
at the same time, some (maybe most?) boys/young men just lack attention span. In my limited experience (with my nephew, godson and eventually my own son) they want to shoot for a bit but then get bored or distracted quickly. Girls/young women tend to have somewhat longer attention spans, and while they generally have less enthusiasm about shooting, they tend take to instruction better... Just an observation, might not be the case in all situations. Not trying to make this about genders, Lol. Youths in general tend to have other things on their minds. For me, it wasn't until my mid to late 20's to take serious interest in recreational shooting, although I had gone through the basics at a much younger age.

I guess this is a long winded way of saying the age stats posted by the OP and others make sense, although I wouldn't say it's not looking good for springers or any other type of airguns, just it takes people time to gain interest in recreational airgun shooting.

I would like to think mostly it is having a place to shoot not a range , but fields like when i was a kid . My life long best friend now pays $1200 a year to belong to a range and $20 an hour to shoot , so with his son that's $40 an hour , they still go every other week .
As kids we lived in the shadow of O'Hare Airport . 40 acre tracks of old farms for play , kids heaven .

 

[Sammy25]

Unfortunately, places to shoot, even airguns, are becoming hard to find. I am spoiled living in a rural setting but my wife would give it up for the conveniences of suburban living. This is our hot button debate. She is not a shooter but I maintain two ranges on my property and I'm not ready to give them up. The grandkids come out to shoot and enjoy adventures they cannot have at their own homes.

 

[beerthief]

Unfortunately, places to shoot, even airguns, are becoming hard to find. I am spoiled living in a rural setting but my wife would give it up for the conveniences of suburban living. This is our hot button debate. She is not a shooter but I maintain two ranges on my property and I'm not ready to give them up. The grandkids come out to shoot and enjoy adventures they cannot have at their own homes.

IF i would have known now ................................................

 

[Sawney Bean]

I would like to think mostly it is having a place to shoot not a range , but fields like when i was a kid . My life long best friend now pays $1200 a year to belong to a range and $20 an hour to shoot , so with his son that's $40 an hour , they still go every other week .
As kids we lived in the shadow of O'Hare Airport . 40 acre tracks of old farms for play , kids heaven .

This is it almost entirely. Kids still love to shoot. They've grown up playing video games and they know all the different rifles and love having the chance to experience the real thing. Unfortunately, there just aren't many places to shoot and there are way too many uptight people that will make it difficult for kids to play with airsoft or bb guns.

 

[Bedrock Bob]

I don't disagree with this...
at the same time, some (maybe most?) boys/young men just lack attention span. In my limited experience (with my nephew, godson and eventually my own son) they want to shoot for a bit but then get bored or distracted quickly. Girls/young women tend to have somewhat longer attention spans, and while they generally have less enthusiasm about shooting, they tend take to instruction better... Just an observation, might not be the case in all situations. Not trying to make this about genders, Lol. Youths in general tend to have other things on their minds. For me, it wasn't until my mid to late 20's to take serious interest in recreational shooting, although I had gone through the basics at a much younger age.

I guess this is a long winded way of saying the age stats posted by the OP and others make sense, although I wouldn't say it's not looking good for springers or any other type of airguns, just it takes people time to gain interest in recreational airgun shooting.

I agree. I worked at the University here for a couple years in 2016.

The ladies were sharp. They were dressed to succeed, had books under their arms and did well in class.

Most of the young men were goofy looking sh!theads with their caps on sideways looking for a party.

The foreign students were the only males that attended class to learn. Every one of them had their act together and will have no problem succeeding. Sadly most of the American male students simply did not.

The contrast was embarrassing. It was obvious to everyone in the class. Even the underachievers. They seemed to be perfectly happy being the lowest common denominator.

The odd chromosome is only an advantage in a hunter/gatherer situation. When frozen sperm is available on the internet the ladies are going to phase us out. The American male is going to render themselves obsolete unless they can figure out how to become productive members of society.

I'm not holding out much hope for that. We seem to be raising girls to go to school and boys to go to prison. It might not be our intention but it is exactly what we are doing in our society today.

I have a great son and he has a whole bunch of smart and successful friends just like him. They all have beautiful, educated and successful wives. They are raising incredible kids. Most people in our community fit that mold. So despite the cynical outlook on society at large I have a lot of hope for the future.

 

[Moe M.]

I like my springers, but also enjoy my gas piston air rifles as well, I'm a life long hunter and recreational/competitive shooter, until about six years ago all of my shooting was Rimfire, Centerfire, and muzzle loading arms, but when the prices began to soar on guns and ammo, and both were in short supply I began looking at air guns, then Covid 19 forced many businesses to shut down including my club ranges, I turned to air rifles, they were affordable, reliable, accurate, and best of all I could shoot them in my backyard.
One of my adult sons is well invested in air guns and especially in PCP rifles, we shoot together quite often in my backyard range, he likes the power, long range performance, and multi shot capabilities of his PCP rifles, I on the other hand like the slow pace and challenge of my break barrel rifles, like much of the hunting and shooting sports participation seems to be on the down hill slide, young people are drawn more to social media and video games than the older generations, perhaps in time the pendulum will swing back to the art of the rifleman and a love of fine guns.
But until then those of us who enjoy the shooting sports and the challenges associated with them can continue to enjoy them as much as age, the economy, and weather will allow.

 

[Moe M.]

I have a friend that only owns a Gamo "high Power 1200 FPS " and he only uses "Gamo made pellets cause they make pellets special for their guns " . "If i am using Gamo pellets i know they are going 1200 FPS cause thay are made by Gamo for their guns ."


really ! P.S. he is 84 and shoots in his garage or basement .

It's good to hear that your friend is still enjoying his retirement years doing what he likes, I too am up there in age, at 82 I have a modest collection of break barrel air rifles which I shoot in my back yard range or at my sportsman's club ranges, one of my first new air rifle purchases was a GAMO wood stocked Swarm Bone Collector in .22 cal., when I ordered it I also ordered a half a dozen tins of various GAMO pellets, I still have most of them, they are by far the worst shooting pellets I have ever sent down range, the Swarm Bone Collector is not pellet picky, it actually shoots many other brands and designs of pellets quite accurately, but it doesn't like GAMO pellets at all.
I shoot normally at 40 yds. and under, my GAMO Bone Collector shoots inside of one inch at 40yds, with H&N FTT, Bengamin Discovery, and Crossman Premiers among other brands that I've tried, most of the GAMO pellets that I've tried in that rifle don't even get on the paper from that distance shooting from the bench.

 

[Pellets&Pistons-(Razor62)]

I'd like to steer this conversation back a little in order share a wonderful experience that I had a few weeks back when I asked my 8 year old granddaughter if she'd like to try out shooting an air rifle. She was enthusiastically interested so I grabbed my R7 off the rack along with a tin of pellets that I know the R7 does quite well with. I have an 8" diameter gong (tile saw blade) hanging from a branch out in front of my shooting bench, I use it for offhand air pistol practice, and boy do I need some. I started her shooting at that. I'd given her some basic instructions on form and how to position her eye with relation to the scope and to my delight, she connected on her list try. As it turned out, she proved to me quite quickly that an 8" diameter target at 25 yards was no challenge whatsoever for her, so we began to concentrate on a 2" diameter spinner at the same distance. After a couple of misses, I gave her a few more pointers and damn if she didn't begin to hit the that 2" spinner with nearly every shot. Within the course of only 1/2 an hour, she was spinning a 1/2 inch spinner consistently at twenty five yards. She was proud of herself and her grandfather, (yours truly) was ecstatic. The experience has awakened an interest in shooting in her that I fully intend on nurturing. Just a wonderful day that I wanted to share with all of my fellow members. Enjoy 'em when they're young. Those years fly by at supersonic speed. Love 'em, teach 'em, and watch them evolve into beautiful, happy and well adjusted adults. Life is good. Children make it wonderous.

 

[Sammy25]

Very well said!
The time I spend with my grandkids on the range is sacred. All of them are learning safety rules and developing marksmanship skills. Their parents are mostly indifferent about this-- they haven't the time and live in communities where backyard air gunning is prohibited. Fortunately, they allow me the opportunity to share my hobby with their children. It is my honor to do so.

 

[.20calguy]

It's a learning curve that these guys don't feel like dealing with.

Springer shooting is basically a niche.
With regard to powder burners, I prefer cartridges.
I'm too old to shove powder down a barrel with a stick.
No, Black Powder is also a niche.

 

[.20calguy]

40 or 50 ? might need a pump up hydraulic cocking system, 6 pumps to cock the spring ?

Or like the old Craftsman mowers with a wind up handle, and a push button.

 

[.20calguy]

Life is good. Children make it wonderous.

Hello again, Razor62.
Grandkids can be quite talented. Don't overlook your siblings, kids, and grandkids either.
Unfortunately, I got separated from my oldest granddaughter by divorce. She's in her twenties now, and I was told that when visited, she didn't answer the door, and was found out back shooting cans with a spring pistol that I gave her.
I'm looking for her to pull in my driveway at some point.

 

[Pellets&Pistons-(Razor62)]

Hello again, Razor62.
Grandkids can be quite talented. Don't overlook your siblings, kids, and grandkids either.
Unfortunately, I got separated from my oldest granddaughter by divorce. She's in her twenties now, and I was told that when visited, she didn't answer the door, and was found out back shooting cans with a spring pistol that I gave her.
I'm looking for her to pull in my driveway at some point.

Love it!!!!!

 

[spikey]

I'm fifty and prefer springers. It's not just nostalgia, though: here in New Zealand only PCP air rifles (but not pistols) are licensed. Let's hope that doesn't change, by the way. Second, springers are self-contained, don't need dive bottles, and won't run out of air. Third, I like the sensation of firing them. I have fired PCPs and they leave me cold. In fact, if all I were allowed to shoot were PCPs, I'd give up shooting.

 

[eeler1]

Demographics and springers, or airguns in general. I wonder what the age statistics of viewership/participation are here on this site?

 

[eeler1]

Oh, and I was going to say that on my channel, less than 10% of viewers are under 35 years old. YouTube changed the stats a while back to where a view doesn't count as a view unless it is viewed most (or all?) the way through the video. In other words, if someone watches the first minute or so, then clicks off to something else, it doesn't count as a view. And as best I can determine, the younger, internet aged viewers have the shortest duration for views, i.e., they are surfing as much as viewing. Gotta grab them hard in the first few scenes or they won't stick around. Either that or I am just another boring geezer, something I can't accept as true.