General Shooting Tips

[Supermick]

Tip Numbers 1 to 10
Tip Detail
1 Join the Airgun BBS
http://www.airgunbbs.com
2 Always treat rifle as if its loaded
3 Always keep your hand on the barrel or underlever of a springer when cocking.
4 Join the BASC and/or BASA and join an airgun club
5 Squeeze, don't pull or jerk the trigger
6 check charging equipment before use for tightness.
7 Never point a weapon in jest.
8 Always try a gun before you buy
9 Never leave a loaded gun unattended....even for a second
10 if its got a safety catch....use it


Bullbarrell and many others

[daveylaa]

Supermick is right.

Tip no. 3. Allways keep your hand on the barrel when loading.

One week after receiveing my lovely used, spotless BSA Lightning .22 I 'brushed' the trigger whilst the gun was cocked. Apart from almost taking my eye out as is shot back up with an incredible force it cracked the stock in half (hair line) and damaged the barrel. This is no joke as a replacement barrel alone is £60 + from BSA. Never mind replacing an almost new stock with a brand new stock. It doesnt take Stephan Hawkins to work out that around £100+ is what a used (unscoped) Lightning goes for on here.

I was only lucky that BSA informed me the barrel only needed realigning i.e. re-positioning in the mechanism, and not straightening, that i saved my self the £60 for a new barrel.

Listen to Supermick.................

[danche]

As above, But, also remember never have your gun loaded unless you intend to shoot it at something, sometimes it's easy to forget you might have left a pellet in the breech or magazine

[bullbarrel]

For the full list we put together go to...

http://www.airguntips.co.uk/

[luddite]

The most imprtant tips are:-

Never ever point a gun at anyone or anything that you don't intend to shoot.

Always treat a gun as if it was loaded even when you know that it is not.

[Sharpshoot1995]

I had the same problem and hadn't used tip No.3 by Supermick , my first rifle was an SMK B3-f, crap gun for most things apart from for a first gun and even then I would suggest spending an extra £30-£50 and getting something like a Cometa 300. I had been using the gun for plinking for abot a week for plinking and was out shooting pigeons for the first time, I got 20 in half an hour and then I slipped and pulled the trigger whilst the underlever was still down, the barrel shot up and I thought I'd broken the gun, I smashed the clasp for the underlever, chewed up the underlever itself and cracked the stock, although this can't comparewith breaking a BSA Lightning it was my first gun and I was distraught. I used that gun for a couple of years and then brought a second-hand Weihrauch HW80 Carbine (great gun for anybody who's thinking of buying one)

[Utopian]

I dont have a safety on my new S&W 586 so I keep the barrel plug in it even when its not loaded and right up to the point that I have chosen my target and am safe to fire.

[Stoogey]

treat a gun like a child...never leave it unatended..

just like kids yu realy dont know what it'll get up to..!!

[Orangeherald]

Habits can be bad for you, but this is one that can save your life, or someone elses. You know that on a range you prove your gun is empty before you leave the firing point. Do it to your shooting companions every time you move position, or get in a vehicle, or put your gun down. Even if you are alone, do it for yourself. It becomes second nature and you won't even notice it after a while, but it can save a lot of pain, trust me! The other thing that pays is always, but always being aware of the direction your muzzle is pointing when walking round with the gun. Treat all safety devices as defective however well they work, and you will not go too far wrong. There are no excuses and no reasons to justify the claim it was an accident, so make sure it can never happen. Its down to you!!

[fire bunnys]

a great tip:

If in any doubt at all, DO NOT take the shot.

[danny_p]

when you are shooting at something look in the background, you may miss and its best to know where the shot will go if you do

confidence is good but dont underestimate it :)

[jbug]

never rush anything. i was shooting with a mate a few weeks ago and as im new i tend to get a little excited. So i cocked the hammer on my single barrel 12 and waited for the shot that never came. time to move to another location and i went to uncock but being in a rush i got the timing wrong and it went off. fortunately i had the muzzle up as it should be but no matter what the gun rushin isnt fun.:eek:

[Russ63]

Sounds good to me.

[Sonora Rebel]

Treat any air rifle 'same as somethin' that could take yer head off... 'Can't 'eject' a round... so point it somewhere safe (preferably the ground) 'n discharge it. Never leave it loaded (Chambered). Never leave it unattended 'n never let anyone handle it who is not familiar with weapons... even airguns. In the case of autofeed BB guns that are not magazine fed... Discharge the C02. Discharge the last round chambered (it'll roll out). With lever/pump actions, make sure they're discharged. Put the safety on 'n put 'em AWAY.

[beachcaster]

Supermick is right.

Tip no. 3. Allways keep your hand on the barrel when loading.

One week after receiveing my lovely used, spotless BSA Lightning .22 I 'brushed' the trigger whilst the gun was cocked. Apart from almost taking my eye out as is shot back up with an incredible force it cracked the stock in half (hair line) and damaged the barrel. This is no joke as a replacement barrel alone is £60 + from BSA. Never mind replacing an almost new stock with a brand new stock. It doesnt take Stephan Hawkins to work out that around £100+ is what a used (unscoped) Lightning goes for on here.

I was only lucky that BSA informed me the barrel only needed realigning i.e. re-positioning in the mechanism, and not straightening, that i saved my self the £60 for a new barrel.

Listen to Supermick.................

Good advice ....quite aggree

barry

[queens_own]

Hi All, I have to agree with what you all say, but why oh why do gun makers advertise the advantage of having a resettable safety or a de-cocking system, it may lead you to leaving the gun loaded and perhaps forgetting that it still has a pellet in the breach, if your not taking the shot then disharge the gun into the ground safely.
Ken

[Beeza]

In total agreement with all comments on here tonight, after you have done all you pre-shot checks, check the nut on the but

[Phantom Sniper]

Was at the range in Roos today along with a number of other people.
Had such a good time:cool:
Before we left the club secratary got the Chronograph to I could see how well the Rifles I purchased via this board were performing:cool:
Well, I fired the ASI Sniper (seller claimed it was doing around 10.5 ft/lbs) it was doing approximately 3.5 ft/lbs:mad:

I then put my project Gammo .22 through. Came out at a reasonable 8ish (given its age).

Well a few other members decided to do the same with there guns.
All was going well until another member of the club (also a member of this bbs so wont name him:p, let himself confess:D).
Well..... The pellet flew out the muzzle and gave a silly fps reading:eek: Did it again and still a silly reading!!
Tried again, did the math and yet another silly reading.
The club secretary said something along the lines of "Cant understand this for a .177!"
The member said "its a .22".
Club Sec said "are you sure?"
member "Yeah its a .22!"
Club sec "Your putting .177 pellets in it!"
member "No I'm not! Im using these" he said picking up a hand full of my .177 pellets sat next to his 22's":D:D:p

Tony.

[RiffRaff]

All was going well until another member of the club (also a member of this bbs so wont name him:p, let himself confess:D).
Well..... The pellet flew out the muzzle and gave a silly fps reading:eek: Did it again and still a silly reading!!
Tried again, did the math and yet another silly reading.
The club secretary said something along the lines of "Cant understand this for a .177!"
The member said "its a .22".
Club Sec said "are you sure?"
member "Yeah its a .22!"
Club sec "Your putting .177 pellets in it!"
member "No I'm not! Im using these" he said picking up a hand full of my .177 pellets sat next to his 22's":D:D:p

Tony.

hey what can i say i was the guy mistake anyone could have made as the darlek said getting off the dustbin. they all look the same to me. knew i should have gone to specsavers cheers tony :) :):p i was laffing all the way home

[dinoboy]

Hi all,new here and finding some very good reading,great site great info:)
lee.

[mozzy]

I know it's basic, BUT

If in doubt, DON'T SHOOT

[Biffo1262]

Don't overfill CO2 bulk cylinders, even in cold weather. One of my 7oz bottles went off in the kitchen the other night right behind the wife and it wasn't overfilled! I need to earn some serious brownie points and quick!:rolleyes: NEVER trust the blowout disc - I got a Sodastream bottle off the shelf at Tesco recently and the thing had been filled up with liquid metal; a bomb!!!! :eek: Can't see Sodastream doing that - it has to have been a punter refilling it at some time but it should have been picked up when it was being refilled by Sodastream.

[nightstalker]

i bought a napier airgun pull through recently for my hw100,the first time i used it at the weekend,and after following the directions which stated two patches for 177 i fed the wire with loop down the barrel put on the patches and pulled them through,what i did not expect was that it would pull the o ring out as well is this common or was i just unlucky,i shall be taking it back to the shop for repair this time as it is still under warranty but if it happens again it could cost me money.so could anyone tell me where i could find a workshop manual so that i can carry out general repairs myself,and should i continue using the pull through, i am concerned it will happen again.

[joshmc]

when i was about 15 my uncle lent me his springer airrifle, i dont know what it was but it was cr#p and got me into trouble, i think it was chinese, i was plinking out of my window into the back garden, after a few shots i loaded it without putting it onto safety (stupidely) and as i locked the barrel back into place the gun fired immediately and took a nice chunk of the plaster off the roof and scared the hell out of me, i was 100% sure nothing had pressed the trigger somehow so after calming myself down an thinking of what i was going to tell the parents i took the gun outside to see if it would the same again and it did, then i loaded the gun with safety on and it didnt fire but as soon as i clicked it onto fire it fired immediately, i put the gun away and never went near it again, i told my dad when he got in and i got blamed for breaking it when i had done nothing to it except shoot it and my mum went mad over what happened to the roof :(

[SuffolkRifle]

when i was about 15 my uncle lent me his springer airrifle, i dont know what it was but it was cr#p and got me into trouble, i think it was chinese, i was plinking out of my window into the back garden, after a few shots i loaded it without putting it onto safety (stupidely) and as i locked the barrel back into place the gun fired immediately and took a nice chunk of the plaster off the roof and scared the hell out of me, i was 100% sure nothing had pressed the trigger somehow so after calming myself down an thinking of what i was going to tell the parents i took the gun outside to see if it would the same again and it did, then i loaded the gun with safety on and it didnt fire but as soon as i clicked it onto fire it fired immediately, i put the gun away and never went near it again, i told my dad when he got in and i got blamed for breaking it when i had done nothing to it except shoot it and my mum went mad over what happened to the roof :(

Had that happen with a ASI Sniper when I was 13 -14, the trigger adjustment had adjusted itself, backed it off a half turn and it's not happened since - hell of a scare at the time though!

[Stig]

I know that this is an old thread but I just found it and it made for some good reading.

I'd like to add my own to the list.



There is no such thing as a "safety" on a gun. You are the safety.

[Noonie038]

I used to drive around the Airfield with my Lightning in my lap in my little old Fiesta, it would be loaded as i, as many believe that if your finger isn't on the trigger it cant be shot.....i stopped to shoot at a crow, i raised the rifle and then there was a loud BANG!!:eek:
Not only was the widow not fully down but my finger brushed the trigger as i brought it up......That was a lot of glass and an embarrassing tale to tell the wife:o

[DOIDY1]

Hi all can you help .I have a 75 original recoilless 6 mtr mach .is it possible to increase the power with a deferent spring so could use it for field target

[fozian]

If you have to put your fingers in the breech of any gun such as a 97,77, Pro sport,TX or similar for any other reason than to load..(maintenance etc) insert a piece of wood or similar material to stop the breech removing your fingers in the event of mechanical failure. When cocking any spring gun always keep a firm hold of cocking lever or barrel whilst loading.
Be Safe Shoot safe