N/A Why Airguns ? Why is the hook so deep in many of us ?

[Spartan]

I think the reasons for my love of airguns is threefold:

1. It harkens back to my days as a boy spending countless hours wielding my Pumpmaster 760 in the woods/fields/yards around the neighborhood with my buddies. We had not a single care about hunting laws or property rights back then, and presumably nobody else did either, at least concerning kids just out having fun. Many many birds and squirrels fell victim.

2. I used to enjoy a lot of range time with the powder burners. Maybe back in the 2007-2009 time frame, the skyrocketing cost of ammo began to really ruin that for me, and airguns proved to be a much cheaper alternative but still providing the satisfaction of slinging lead. This is what caused me to get back into airguns as an adult.

3. Airguns are much quieter than PBs out in the field. The difference in bag numbers goes way up when using ultra quiet airguns...at least in my experience. And that is of tremendous benefit to me.

 

[Perle]

Inner child, ease of use both legally and financially, disbelief ( amazed at what air can do ), and a healthy liking for technical hobbies.

Yep !

And a great way to keep your PB skills sharp in the interim

 

[pcp_perry]

Because registered felons can still buy one

 

[longdog]

For me it’s the challenge.
I am obsessed with wringing every bit of efficiency and accuracy out of every Airgun that I own.
I literally spend hours tinkering, testing, and shooting every gun and then taking it to the field to use as a means of bagging game, which is the ultimate purpose for owning these guns to begin with….for me anyway.
Spent many years with PBs but they lost out to the challenge of the airgun.

 

[RM100GUY]

No need for powder, primers, cartridge cases, hours of time at the loading bench, no recoil, no muzzle blast, vastly easier barrel cleaning, infinite barrel life, cheaper per shot, superb accuracy to 100 yards...for me anyway...wonderful build quality, no FFL to buy and sell (that's a big one) different power plants, pride of ownership....relaxing easy and fun to shoot accurately. Firearms bore me to death these days after "seeing the light of airguns." Yes I did my share of airgunning as a kid and the fun aspect of it wasn't forgotten.

 

[HogKiller]

Because in every man, a little boy is lurking.

Lurking?? Mine is up front and personal after 7.6 decades on this rock.

 

[Offhand]

So many great answers.
There is something enchanting about airguns.

 

[NorCal David]

Practical way to control pests in a relatively quiet manner. And really fun.

 

[hdstroker]

Love shooting and hunting my own property without having the villagers becoming restless

 

[Sawney Bean]

I spent many hours shooting airguns as a boy, from age six right up into my teens and twenties. I guess I just got hooked on them back then. I got into the powder burners too and still like them, but airguns are what I really love.

 

[NorthernBallistics]

I do both, Airguns around the farm, and the rest for the range and ranch.

 

[Motorhead]

It is shooting !!
Quiet/er than any powder gun
Accurate at realistic range
Can make small groups on targets or drop small game at will
Generally entertaining
It is how we were raised .. shooting and skill required to hit the target
BECAUSE we can

 

[Chukar60]

I do not make the connection between my boyhood BB gun shooting. What air guns I shoot these days bear zero resemblance to y old Daisy BB gun.
I don’t/won’t shoot in my backyard. I live in a neighborhood with smaller lots and am just not comfortable with that arrangement.
I do have access to tons of public ground to hunt and shoot on and a very large ranch my wife and I manage about an hour from our house where there are always critters that need thinned out and managed..
Aside from that, I have always been a shooter. First it archery, then powder burners of many varieties now PCP’s.
I am financially able to afford a lot of the trappings. PCP’s running from a 25 cal pellet shooter, 22 slug shooters, 25 slug shooter, 45 big bore, 357 big bore and a 20 ga PCP shotgun. I have the air tanks, bipods etc.
The nice thing about air is how convenient it is. Is it simpler than loading one of my 22 LR’s and shooting away? No it is not. But with the air guns I can shoot closer to home safely and quietly. I can tinker and tune in a fashion similar to reloading for a center fire PB and seek all the precision I care to chase.
More importantly, the lower power makes hunting a challenge. I am not being critical of folks who use things like Strelock, dial their range etc., it just ain’t for me. I tried it and found it too cumbersome in a hunting situation. I will occasionally use a range finder but usually, I estimate the distance, read the wind as best I can and employ some Kentucky windage.
The air guns get everything back to basics for me.
Had someone told me ten years ago, that at age 63 I would be drawing around the sagebrush with a pellet gun sneaking up on ground squirrels I would have thought them insane. Well, the last two ground squirrel seasons have found me alternating between my slug shooters from a prone position reaching out distance and stalking the little buggers to within 35 yards or so and feeling like a kid again.
Better than a trophy girl friend any day of the week and this doesn’t get me in trouble with Mrs. Chukar either.

 

[NRPy]

I think for me it’s basically chasing precision. Something deeply satisfying about that.

 

[Bud-sc]

I get asked this all the time at the gun range....why??? Why?? Airguns?? I tell them because it's cheaper...no worries about a ammo shortage...I can use any airgun silencers I want....no paperwork to fill out. No worries from a knock on a door from the government....
Then I tell them all the calibers available there eyes get so big....lol . Especially I tell them about the 72cal Zeus....lol

 

[Perle]

So many great answers.
There is something enchanting about airguns.

Exactly. Almost magical ….

 

[Trucker3573]

I like airguns because I can shoot in my backyard without hearing protection as they are quiet. It only requires a simple backstop to contain the ammo. Even for pesting I don’t have to worry about the projectile carrying as far as with a PB. The biggest thing I like is being in control by being able to adjust and set up the gun exactly as I like. I suppose if I got into reloading I could have more control over the PB. However if reloading we are no longer talking about rimfire so the costs go up big time over air. I guess I just feel more responsible for my guns accuracy or lack there of. With a rimfire it is nothing more than finding a load your gun likes. Minimal input.

 

[Stone02]

Quiet precision.

 

[peebrainz]

I think guns and shooting is one of those hobbies that gets into your blood, and once it seeps in then it'll always be there. I started out with BB guns, then to paintball guns, then to centerfire (mostly AKs, AR15s, pistols), then to rim fire, now to air guns. They're so quiet, clean and convenient.. 30 yard challenge from my deck while grilling dinner is the best. Using 5.56 (with >1k FPE) to put holes in paper seems totally crazy at this point lol.

 

[Sawney Bean]

I think guns and shooting is one of those hobbies that gets into your blood, and once it seeps in then it'll always be there. I started out with BB guns, then to paintball guns, then to centerfire (mostly AKs, AR15s, pistols), then to rim fire, now to air guns. They're so quiet, clean and convenient.. 30 yard challenge from my deck while grilling dinner is the best. Using 5.56 (with >1k FPE) to put holes in paper seems totally crazy at this point lol.

AR's, bolt actions and milsurps are what I prefer when it comes to powder burners these days. Just like with airguns I like precision, plus I bought an insane amount of surplus ammo back in the 90's when eastern Europe was liquidating its arsenals.

They could have made a really boring sequel to Lord of War by showing them selling thousands of cases of ammo to guys like me who just knew that 8mm Mauser for 5 cents a round was a steal so we may as well buy a lifetime supply of it.