Would you mind posting his tips so we can take the piss out them please Chris?
That's exactly what happens. It's very sad.
All I can suggest is, call it out when you see it and don't be part of the problem by doing it yourself.
There was a very interesting article in one of the (centrefire) shooting mags recently - if you count shooters as one unit i.e airgunners, shotgunners, rifleshooters, we outnumber golfers by a considerable margin. The perception seems to be that it's a rare and exotic pastime. We may be niche, but we aren't that niche.
But golfers wouldn't tolerate the shit we do. Golfers wouldn't let themselves be marginalised. Golfers aren't afraid to tell people about their hobby at dinner parties.
The community as a whole needs to buck its ideas up, or it will deserve everything it gets.
Good deals with these members
Would you mind posting his tips so we can take the piss out them please Chris?
"An infinite number of monkeys banging away at type writers for an infinite period of time will eventually reproduce Hamlet" Thanks to discussion forums we now know this to be untrue.
I know a few people who think if it goes bang that makes them superior types
If you point out the lower the energy the harder it is to shoot they come back with "yeah but if you tried firing a real rifle"
They tend to shut up when I point out I'm ex military competition shooter who has fired a wide variety of weapons from 9mm Hi Power pistols to SLR, SA80, GPMG, Envoys and Rem 700's to Carl Gustav 84mm and 105mm L118 Light gun!
Air rifles are no different to Centerfire or rimfire, the ranges and target sizes are just scaled down, principles are the same!
Yep, we're nothing more than babies taking our first tentative steps as far as they're concerned, as has been said already a 'few' are ok and I know one or two that actually rely on airguns as part of their arsenal but for the most they view us as something to be amused at !...
.22 S410...
.22 Webley Xocet...
.22 HW95k...
Very interesting.
I do feel almost like I have to hide my passion for shooting air rifles and all things gun related for fear of being labelled as a 'nut' but I am doing nothing wrong, dangerous or illegal.
I wonder what it is like in the US with the NRA? Obviously they are super powerful with a huge membership so my guess is it must be very tight community and not as disjointed as it is here in the UK??
"Who's the only one here that knows illegal ninja moves from the government?"
Many of us feel like this bud.
Friends, family, work colleagues anyone that is brainwashed that guns are all bad period simply don't understand our passion for our sport.
The few people that actually listen do genuinely seem interested when you explain it to them but it can be damn hard work to those that simply won't listen or have superglued blinkers.
The really weird thing is I've actually listed target sports shooting on my CV down as a hobby and pastime etc and in the past it's been quite a good talking point to those non gun types even at interview stage it also shows huge responsibility and I've used it to my advantage when negotiating working hours especialy around my gun clubs opening time
My opinion for what it's worth..
Airgunning makes me a better shooter.
I remember being on one of my permissions - some stables. I was in the yard chatting to the owner. We were sat at a picnic bench. The nearest field is steep uphill and no more than 150yds at its furthest point. I had the hmr with me and as we were chatting, every now and then I'd see a rabbit/crow or whatever and say "Hang on", point my bang stick, press the trigger then "Sorry, where were we". This went on for a while.
It struck me there was no skill involved other than sticking the crosshairs on the target.
I started with airgunning and still use them as much as my CF stuff. It has taught me:
Fieldcraft
Range finding
Shot placement
Judgement of wind speed/direction
To an extent, unless you are shooting at long range, this doesn't matter so much with CF.
Shotgunning is a different animal but my fieldcraft still benefits from my airgunning.
Daystate Air Ranger FAC - Kral Bullpup & NP03 - CZ 452 .22lr - Lithgow 17hmr - Remington 783 .223 - Franchi 612vs 12G - Renato Gamba 12G O/U - Hatsan Escort 12G
Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.....
In answer to the Op's fundamental question, yes they do, always have and always will.
This isn't so much about the gun itself it's all about class and class pretty much determines your attitude towards most things and that includes your choice of gun.
Welcome to England, class central. Very complex but also very interesting.
The shotgun is a social statement in and of itself as is the airgun. The former was and is a badge of status and rank, the airgun the plaything of the working classes.
Just take a look at the magazines devoted to each type of shooting. Everything between the pages of each is worlds apart, from the ads to the photography, from the clothes to houses and locations to say nothing of the varieties of quarry.
in short it's a wonderful example of the longstanding and far from dead social history of this sceptred isle.
Just accept it for what it is - you aren't going to change it anytime soon!
Hombre
I'm not stuck in the past, I just prefer it.
I used to shoot airguns at Broomhills. A fair few of the clay pigeon boys thought the air rifles were toys. Made it clear too. Most were ok though
Pete
Pete
you will get them everywhere.even on here.
don't let it stop you doing what you are doing unless its not safe .
Without being too evangelical about it, I do like to take the time to talk about my shooting hobbies when the opportunity presents itself. Unless you are talking to total bellends then quite often you can talk people round.
A friend-of-a-friend posted something on FB a few weeks ago, a petition from the Cats Protection League calling for the banning of airguns, and was asking all of her friends to sign it.
I said I would not be signing it, and in the least patronising/angry way possible explained to her why - that it would not stop idiots shooting cats, that those idiots were not representative of the shooting community, and then used that as a good time to drop the number of shooters and guns in the UK, which is a huge amount: Millions of airguns, hundreds of thousand of shotguns and fullbore rifles. And yet incidents are still rare. I also talked about the livelihoods reliant on airgunning, from clubs and ranges, to gunshops and factories.
In the end, she came around to my point of view (!) and deleted the petition from her page.
I'm not saying that's always going to happen, but most Antis are coming from a position of ignorance, and as long as they are not also Arrogant with it, they can be educated.
They will never learn anything if we all just 'keep our heads down' and allow their prejudices to fester though.
Good deals with these members
"corners should be round" Theo Evo .22/.177 - Meopta 6x42, DS huntsman classic .20 vortex razor LH 3-15x42 under supervised boingrati tuning by Tony L & Tinbum, HW77 forest green - Nikon prostaff 2-7x32 plex.
All firearms do is extend your effective range. I would think most shooters in this country have cut their teeth on an airgun of one description or another. Personally I think most people who have a permission to shoot on wouldn't have much of a problem getting an FAC, they just can't be arsed with the paperwork. Now I'm a bit older, and lazier I don't do with all that stalking nonsense & ping em from 100 yards plus with the HMR. I still enjoy shooting my airguns just as much though.
John
Law of any kind only affects those willing to abide by it.
"corners should be round" Theo Evo .22/.177 - Meopta 6x42, DS huntsman classic .20 vortex razor LH 3-15x42 under supervised boingrati tuning by Tony L & Tinbum, HW77 forest green - Nikon prostaff 2-7x32 plex.
I got the same when I posted the petition for the airgun license up here. even people that used shotguns and rifles said " we have to buy a license for our rifles and shotguns, what makes airguns exempt? " and they would not sign it.
and anti shooters said " why do people need airguns anyway"
I did expect the anti shooters to come out with that but not the shooters.