HOW TO START AIR GUN SHOOTING

Air Gunning is probably the most accessible of all the shooting sports. It’s often the place where most people start their shooting sports hobby and often a good way to lead into the shotgun and rifle sports. Below is some helpful information on getting into airgun shooting and details on our friendly airgun range. Should you have any information we welcome questions, come on into the shop, give us a call on 01173009956 or email us on info@bracesofbristol.com

THE LAW

Air guns under 12 Ftlbs are not currently not licensed. To purchase an airgun an individual must be over 18. Airguns must only be used on land owned by the shooter, or with land owners permission. Under 18s must be accompanied by an adult.

TYPES OF AIRGUN

Airguns fall into two main categories, spring/gas ram rifles (springers) and Pre Charged Pneumatic (PCP).
Spring/ Gas Ram air rifles tend to be a little cheaper than the PCP airguns. This doesn’t necessarily mean they are not as good as the PCPs the power and accuracy of a good spring gun and a PCP are similar. Some top Springers we stock are Air Arms, Stoeger and the German made Weihrauch.

PCP airguns are often referred to as “Gas Guns”, they have an air reservoir attached to the gun which is filled with compressed breathing air. Every time you pull the trigger an amount of the air is released pushing the pellet forward and out of the gun. This means most PCPS can take a magazine and have multi shot capability. PCPs tend to be quieter than springers. One consideration when buying a PCP is the capability to fill the air reservoir up, this can be done with a pump or an air cylinder. We sell both in the shop and we can also fill the gun up for customers if a pump or cylinder is not desired. We stock all the main PCP airguns at Braces, some to look out for are Daystate, Weihrauch, BSA and Air Arms

CALIBRE

There are 4 main calibres for airguns, although .177 and .22 are by far the most common. .177 is slightly flatter shooting and .22 tends to drop more at further distances. You can fire a pellet twice the weight of a .177 if you are using a .22 calibre. .20 is in between the two size wise and gaining in popularity and .25 is bigger again and can be effective especially at shorter ranges.
Ultimately .177 .20 and .22 actually shoot quite similarly, if you want to win target shooting competitions you will need a .177 but for general fun target shooting or small game hunting any of the three calibres will perform well.

AIR GUN RANGE

Braces has a fully equipped airgun range just ten minutes from Bristol. When the range is open we have friendly and helpful staff on hand to help new shooters and we have club guns (a Daystate wolverine and a Weihrauch HW100) available to rent so you don’t need a gun to come along and try it out! It is open every Saturday and assorted other days and times throughout the week.

Please click the link below for the location of the range, its opening times and more information.