over 40

[villaman]

It seems to me that most who shoot airguns are over 40 . Most up our club i would say the average age would be late 40's early 50's.
Does not seem to be many youngster coming into our sport . what are your findings ?

[Turnup]

It seems to me that pretty much all shooting sports have an aging population. It's so difficult now to get the youngsters along to have a go. I am sure that many would take to it but the opportunities to recruit them are just not there.

[Zomboid]

I agree to a point. Though I think more youngsters turn up for competition shooting because that's when "Dad" goes... or lines along that. It might also be that airgunning is something people return too later in life when chasing girls has become pointless (they are faster and use apps).

I usually go late in the afternoon so on reflection the sport is dead with only 2 other people on the planet choosing to plink.

[gunsnlandies]

I was brought up on farm, so were two of my mates. Shooting air guns went with the territory. Some of the lads at school had airguns, but only a few. This was in the sixties. Moving forward to today, those farms we lived on have all been sold. The land to the larger neighbour, the houses and barns sold to none farmers. Our dads job long gone along with there sons right to shoot it. How many time can this be multiplied across the country.
Today’s lads from school have been preconditioned to play computer games, not use real guns. The general public mostly programmed to find guns of any sort a threat. The police programmed to see the same way as the general public. Not a good recipe for promoting airgun use, is it?
While at school, I made a gun rack in woodworking class. I took the rifle on the school bus to use for measurement. Can you imagine the panic that would ensue from that scenario today. Mind you, all the woodworking classes have been turned into media teaching classes, so it wouldn't happen in the first place. Never mind, at least they can sing and dance, even if they can't mend a hole in the shed.
Governments play the long game. You gradually take away various rights in the shooting world and make ever tougher rules on what remains. You make sure the public doesn't know the difference between SMK B2 and AK47, so everyone with a gun is dangerous.
Yes, there will always be the kid who wants to shoot, and the more the merrier, but as I see it, the writing is on the wall for the demise of airgunning in the coming years. So I'm not surprised you notice that shooters are getting older on the whole. As for coming back to it later, I doubt they will be able too in few years.
Sorry for doom and gloom outlook.

[nimrod177]

The problem as i see it is that:
playstation/xbox two to three hundred quid.
a shoot em up game thirty ish quid
arm chair provided by mum and dad free and only five yards from the tv screen.
the game never runs out of bullets.
they never get wet playing it.
they never get cold playing it.
they never get dirty after a long crawl to the games console.
they never have to walk miles across a field to get to their quarry.
they can even shoot their mates without doing any real harm.
refreshment is only a few yards to the fridge door.
they don't have to practice breathing to take a shot.
practice hold over/under.
don't have to learn to squeeze the trigger instead just press a button.
they don't have to have an adult present to get more ammo or even shoot it.
they don't have to spend considerable amounts of money to change from one gun to another they just scroll down a choice of five million available laser guns, pistols, rocket launchers etc.
Their barrels aren't pellet fussy.
In other words they have become lazy to effort. If god forbid the planet went electric free and the supermarkets stopped providing nicely wrapped ready made meals etc and they had to fend for themselves then there would be an awful lot of hungry and thirsty children out there. And not just some children an awful lot of adults as well. Most of the air rifles i sell are to the plus thirty something generation or fathers/mothers that had an old air rifle when they were kids and want their children to learn how to shoot. It doesn't always mean that said child standing next to them wants the same thing. I have bought back many air rifles/pistols that were bought on a fad and have ended up unwanted/unused. Such a shame these days that the younger generation don't know how or want to know how their food is provided to them in those handy shrink wrapped bags.

[TonyL]

Sadly, all very valid posts up above.

Of all my kids, only the youngest is remotely interested. He's 11 now. About three years ago, I spent my birthday prezzie money on a mint little Diana 24D, with the ulterior motive of getting him into the sport. He's had a couple of shots with it and was positively beaming when he did. I'm desperate to get him to a Boinger Bash; I know he'd love it, but The Fun Prevention Officer (mum) doesn't want him to have anything to do with guns, despite my sound reasonings and protestations. So, resistance, even in my own household!!!

I know that there are various initiatives out there, however, encouraging youngsters into the sport, like the BSA backed ATEO scheme (think I got that right???).

Does the Scout movement still use / encourage airgun marksmanship?

Getting more and more youngsters into the sport is paramount for its survival, as we all know.

[Rossi2k]

I agree with the above posts but have recently seen a small glimmer of hope. Over the last few weeks there has been a young girl (about 10-12) who has been coming to the range with her father (in his 30's) and has been shooting a springer.

She is learning to shoot as part of her Duke of Edinburgh qualification. As she is enjoying it so much, she is letting other children know about it as well. Children can also do clay shooting as part of the qualification.

Maybe be this should be promoted a little more in clubs and/or where they carry out activities and learn about the qualification. It may allow children to learn about shooting and the fun, dicipline etc.

[oldskoolzzz]

Based on my own local club and my own experiences:

Whilst the majority of folk down my local club are of similar age to me (42) or older there are a few 20 somethings and also youngsters that do frequent my club.

I think what helps is we do have a lads and dads setup exclusively for Wednesday evenings which helps to reduce the financial costs of bringing a youngster to the club.

I have taken my eldest who is 15 on many occasion to a Wednesday session.

I feel the sport can be quite boring though for the younger generation I think once the novelty has worn off its blooming difficult to keep them entertained.

I have tried to inject all different methods into the mix, springer, pcp and pistol shooting etc.

In all honesty I think quick fire pistol shooting has worked the best in my experience with my lad.

Started on springer rifle shooting which after so long I get the "I'm tired dad you have a go" remarks....

Then the pcp rifle which gets the "it's too easy and boring" remarks going through trigger technique, hold over/under and breathing etc sometimes goes in one ear and out the other or the glazed look of yes I know...

But when on song my son has enjoyed his shooting.

I think pistol shooting has gotten the best grin from him though and I know he would enjoy shooting older style pistols as he is very much into history and ww2 stuff.

I'm yet to try my 11 year old son but I feel he will be even harder to please as he is the ants in the pants type character and never sitting still.

[Clanchief]

Does the Scout movement still use / encourage Airguns .

I thinks so, I'm sure I saw a Bear Grylls air rifle marketed somewhere

[nimrod177]

Sadly, all very valid posts up above.

Of all my kids, only the youngest is remotely interested. He's 11 now. About three years ago, I spent my birthday prezzie money on a mint little Diana 24D, with the ulterior motive of getting him into the sport. He's had a couple of shots with it and was positively beaming when he did. I'm desperate to get him to a Boinger Bash; I know he'd love it, but The Fun Prevention Officer (mum) doesn't want him to have anything to do with guns, despite my sound reasonings and protestations. So, resistance, even in my own household!!!

I know that there are various initiatives out there, however, encouraging youngsters into the sport, like the BSA backed ATEO scheme (think I got that right???).

Does the Scout movement still use / encourage airgun marksmanship?

Getting more and more youngsters into the sport is paramount for its survival, as we all know.

Some of them do. I have provided the gamo junior to quite a few and also the bsa scorpion cadet to the (funnily enough) cadets. They train on and do a basic "weapons handling" test on these guns. They go for the .177 calibre because apparently it is not as powerful! I have tried to point out that 6 or 12 ftlbs is the same in whichever calibre they go for. Hey there is some one that knows better in the end. A lot of the pony clubs buy the gamo pistol until mummy and daddy decide that their girl/boy "needs" the steyr/walther pcp pistol because little Margery down the road has one.

[Rossi2k]

I thinks so, I'm sure I saw a Bear Grylls air rifle marketed somewhere

He has put his name to three models, 2 rifles (The Junior Suvivor and the Adventure sets) and a pistol set (The Survival Pistol set). I've not seen any in my local gun store though.

[Arthur John Smithsplease]

Computer games.

[Edtwozeronine]

I've pretty much found the same thing. As people come along to their club with their children. The kids get bored after initially being interested, then the parents turn up and stay members but the kids never come back.

[ElmerFudd.177]

Im 33 soon (very soon) ive been shooting since i was 12, my mum got me my first air rifle.
We used to go over a waste ground near our house (thats now houses), and shoot an old ford fiesta that was burnt out.
No body cared that we did that in the 90s, but monday i took a empty gun case with a stock in that i needed advice on, out to my mum and dads (10 minute walk)
I got asked 3 times if i had a gun in there, people couldnt believe it, is it me or have things changed that much?
I shoot with one school friend thats been shooting since about he was 16, we have always found it hard to get permissions to shoot, and clubs were quite expensive and far away too,

On a positive note in woods near me ive seen signs of kids shooting stuff, cans bottles and tins, but not legally,
So im going to scare the crap out of them one day and maybe get a new gun out of it... lol

Ill put them on to our local gun club...

Bear grills line is with smk i think???

[PaulR]

I was a child in the 1960s and it was normal to have an airgun at an early age - in my case BSA Merlin and Webley Junior pistol when I was about 12.

As I got older and married with children it just sort of died away.

I moved to a more rural area 7 years ago when I was in my 50s - I am 64 now - and there were rats so I bought a rifle (SMK XS20) to deal with them. It did.

This reawakened my interest - I started buying Webley springers - now have about 40 both pistols and rifles plus a load of CO2 stuff.

MY POINT - I now have grandchildren who have been born since my reawakened interest (as well as a 19 year old one who missed such interest) and I am working on their parents (all anti-gun) to allow me to introduce them to the pleasure of airguns when they are old enough (the eldest is 7). I have an indoor range (my garage) and outdoor area for safe shooting.

It is odd but the parents (my children) think Archery is ok but "guns" suspect. I have urged them to read/watch "We Need To Talk about Kevin"