Wish this Forum had this for "Newbs" (the un or newly initiated).......

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Gerry52

Gerry52

Member
Oct 13, 2017
5,195
5,125
Oceanside,California, United States
I've always wished that aside from the Forum rules there was a chart or guide that brand new people with tons of questions could refer to to help with the BASICS we all needed to learn. Something on the order of what I've compiled below. I'm sure you get the idea. It's in no way a complete list obviously but thought I'd post what I started & INVITE YOU ALL TO ADD TO. Keep it simple & basic please. Not trying to list all peripherals that COULD be bought by an airgunner, only the basics that every airgunner NEEDS from day one. Please add stuff that is essential when starting out. I figured, to start off, TOOLS & NOMENCLATURE were the most important. I'm curious to see where this goes :unsure: Have at it guys/gals & have fun.


ESSENTIAL TOOLS:
1) Metric Hex (Allen) Wrenches
2) Caliper
3) Cleaning Kit;
A) Pull-through type (i.e. Patchwork or DIY made with weed whacker line)
B) Caliber specific cleaning rod & assorted tips
C) Non petroleum liquid or spray cleaner (i.e. Ballistol)
D) Cleaning Patches
4) Strap Wrench
5) Non-metal rod (Wood Dowel, rigid plastic/fiberglass for clearing barrel pellet jam)
6) Rubber Mallet
7) Gun Vise/Clamp/Stand (to securely hold gun while working on it)


NOMENCLATURE:
Tank - High Pressure vessel used for filling gun's air reservoir
Bottle/Air Tube - Air reservoir attached & integral to airgun
Gauge - Meter, either analog, digital or other that displays pressure in tank, bottle, air tube, internal regulator of gun or compressor.
Tank Valve - Device with knob on air tank that allows airflow out from tank to gun or airflow in from compressor/hand pump to tank.
Regulator - Device that may be internally mounted inside gun, externally on gun's air reservoir or externally attached to tank which allows only a set & precise amount of air pressure to flow.
 
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That’s a great start. For nomenclature:
Foster fitting, coupling or fill probe. An air fitting for filling your air reservoir.
Wind flags, visual indicators of the wind direction and approximate speed. Used to determine the amount of hold off to allow your projectile to reach its intended target.
POA, Point of aim.
POI, Point of impact.
 
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And order a chronograph with your first tin of pellets. Always amazed at the new guy who spends more on his first order of pellets or slugs than what a chronograph costs. Then acts like a chronograph is a major or inconvenient purchase. It’s mandatory. Even if it’s a junker, it gives you baselines and diagnostic data.
 
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Vetmx said:
And order a chronograph with your first tin of pellets. Always amazed at the new guy who spends more on his first order of pellets or slugs than what a chronograph costs. Then acts like a chronograph is a major or inconvenient purchase. It’s mandatory. Even if it’s a junker, it gives you baselines and diagnostic data.
Click to expand...
I'm undecided on this one... a chrono and a rangefinder has gotten many a folk butt hurt. Finding out that their '1000fps airgun shooting one inch groups at 50 yards' is actually a 750fps gun shooting one inch 5 shot groups at 20 yards :ROFLMAO:
 
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This is not only for newbies. Just because your iPhone says winds are 10-15mph on some weather app, it does not mean that you actually shot that group in a true 10-15mph wind. Just leave the wind part out when posting pictures of groups. If you are doping for wind like a madman with every shot and you manage to print a good one, different story. But disclose you were holding for wind.
 
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My advice to newbies is don't think about it too hard and put a couple thousand pellets in the dirt before asking any questions. Most of it will figure itself out on its own.

Everything you need to operate, maintain and repair a springer is on this table. The press and barrel bending jig is home made. Total cost about $200.

20241210_214022.jpg
 
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I would really like to see a sticky for what information to include if you are new, have limited knowledge of the gun you own or air guns in general.

Make & model
caliber
projectile
reg pressure if regulated. Fill pressure if using an unregulated gun
hammer setting if available
Velocity
What is the problem being dealt with
what is your objective
How much experience you have with air guns

Having this information would make the sorting out process much quicker and easier to help with
 
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There should be required reading and a questionnaire filled out before posting questions. Experience level should be indicated and verified by a witness.

Newbies should be required to submit to aggressive hazing before help is given. Replies should be purposely misleading and/or confusing.

If a helpful reply is posted someone else should immediately cast doubt on it. The only answer to basic newby questions should be "try a different pellet" or "the skirts load to the front".
 
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Maybe I am different, but I think the learning and research is half the fun.

I am more of a.... 'just throw the kid in the pool". He will learn to swim... or sink.

The true eye opener to me was buying my first PCP (DRS) for $999 and thinking I got into the hobby for cheap. Checking my receipts... I have spent almost $5000 on all the things I "need" in the past year.

I would add a part time job to the list... Coming to this website is expensive.
 
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Excellent idea Gerry but even in your first post I think that you have overwhelmed a newbie.

As a college professor, I taught an accelerated Information Technology (IT) course to a groups of people with widely varying backgrounds. The biggest challenge was to teach without overwhelming the students.

A newbie doesn't know what they don't know. They don't have framework in which they can put the information and have no perspective on how important a bit of information is relative to everything else.

I agree totally with what you are trying to do, it's just a very difficult to take a very complex subject and present it to someone in a manner simple enough that a newbie can understand it without an experienced person there to answer all the questions that come up.


So, before we overwhelm a newbie with all kinds of information, we need to know where they are coming from and where they want to go to.

A casual backyard plinker needs an airgun, pellets and a backstop. A cleaning kit and tools to keep the hardware snug would be good. That's it.

At the other extreme, is someone who wants to mod/tune airguns and compete. That person is facing a huge learning curve and needs to make a serious investment in time/money to get where they want to be.

Who do we want to make this thread for? Not an easy job eh?


Having worked in high tech my whole career, I often had to learn complex processes, heavy duty software and then teach others.

From personal experience, I found that having a good overview and understanding of the flow through the process was the critical. To understand, I'd make myself simple flowcharts to sketch the process and (eventually) detailed flowcharts to address the nitty-gritty stuff.

I've been asked to recommend airguns many times and there's a whole series of questions I ask to determine what the person wants an airgun for. Frequently, I find out that they don't know what they (really) want.

As I said, great idea but very difficult to summarize "airguns" without writing a (big) book. 😉

As experienced users we sometimes forget what it's like to be a newbie. Just as a reminder of how a newbie sees a new totally new subject/process, I've attached one of my work flows (my son called them "spider drawings"). I had simple flowcharts for each facet of the process.

Cheers!

Overview - PCB Design Work Flow.jpg
 
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Gerry52 said:
I've always wished that aside from the Forum rules there was a chart or guide that brand new people with tons of questions could refer to to help with the BASICS we all needed to learn. Something on the order of what I've compiled below. I'm sure you get the idea. It's in no way a complete list obviously but thought I'd post what I started & INVITE YOU ALL TO ADD TO. Keep it simple & basic please. Not trying to list all peripherals that COULD be bought by an airgunner, only the basics that every airgunner NEEDS from day one. Please add stuff that is essential when starting out. I figured to start off TOOLS & NOMENCLATURE were the most important. I'm curious to see where this goes :unsure: Have at it guys/gals & have fun.


ESSENTIAL TOOLS:
1) Metric Hex (Allen) Wrenches
2) Caliper
3) Cleaning Kit;
A) Pull-through type (i.e. Patchwork or DIY made with weed whacker line)
B) Caliber specific cleaning rod & assorted tips
C) Non petroleum liquid or spray cleaner (i.e. Ballistol)
D) Cleaning Patches
4) Strap Wrench
5) Non-metal rod (Wood Dowel, rigid plastic/fiberglass for clearing barrel pellet jam)
6) Rubber Mallet
7) Gun Vise/Clamp/Stand (to securely hold gun while working on it)


NOMENCLATURE:
Tank - High Pressure vessel used for filling gun's air reservoir
Bottle/Air Tube - Air reservoir attached & integral to airgun
Gauge - Meter, either analog, digital or other that displays pressure in tank, bottle, air tube, internal regulator of gun or compressor.
Tank Valve - Device with knob on air tank that allows airflow out from tank to gun or airflow in from compressor/hand pump to tank.
Regulator - Device that may be internally mounted inside gun, externally on gun's air reservoir or externally attached to tank which allows only a set & precise amount of air pressure to flow.
Click to expand...
This would be posted under the Resources tab ( i believe ) so ignored at first and the newbie would be frustrated to be told a dozen times to go read this . A newbie is here to get immediate answers when they ask . But i still like the idea of posting this , maybe with posted links to the products Original manufacture link . ( not Amazon .)
 
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maxtrouble said:
I suggest adding to the cleaning kit some plastic straws to get past the baffles when cleaning with a pull through. I have to insert the straw in the pickle so the Patchworm could be pulled through. Really stumped me the first time I tried to clean my Regal!

Click to expand...
any idea where i would find straws to fit .177 ? the only item i find are Hobby store brass tubing ,so i just remove the pickle .
 
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