Category: Air Rifles

Intro To Shooting Accessories: Air Rifle Targets

If you’re a passionate airgunner for hunting, pest control, sport, or hobbying, then you’ll know that you can’t just stop at your chosen weapon. Shooting accessories are essential, for a whole variety of reasons.

To get the most out of your airgun shooting, getting yourself some air rifle targets is vital, whether you’re tracking down pests, or competing with others. By drilling yourself to hit the target, over and over, you can ensure that you will be ready when time comes, whether it’s for competition or catching the varmint that’s chewing up your vegetable patch.

Paper Shooting Targets & Holders

Practice Targets 17×17

Today’s targets come in a range of designs, and include simple paper targets like these practice targets.

These Practice Targets come in packs of 100, and are are inexpensive. The concentric circles help you clearly see where you’ve hit the target, and the smaller targets all over the shooting target area allow for longevity and a greater variety of targets to aim for.

These items are purchased in large volumes, a minimum of 50, but it is essential to have a place on which to rest the paper target. This can be something as simple as an old pillow, but these can be unreliable and messy. To be practical, it’s better if you can invest in target holders and pellets catchers such as this one:

Trumpet Target Holder

This is great for backyard hobby plinking, but also helps to improve your aim, to keep you sharp for competitions, pest control and hunting.

Note the manner in which your many hundreds of shots will be caught, allowing you to keep things tidy, even as you fire at the target again and again. The material that these are constructed from is robust and will ensure that they give many years of service.

 

Refresh Your Target Shooting With Furry Pests Pictures!

One way of keeping things fresh and interesting is to mount images of pests and hunting animals on your pellet holder. This can stimulate the imagination and keep you focussed as you fire shot after shot, as well as preparing you for the real thing. Rats and squirrels are some of the main reasons people purchase airguns, from amateur pest control all the way up to professional usage. So it’s something that makes perfect sense. To do this, you can also head on over to the BASC to download some realistic looking airgun targets like these:

Knockdown Targets, Zombie Targets & Snooker Targets

These are a good halfway house to some of the field targets that are set out in woodlands to mock up a representation of pests and small live targets normally faced by airgunners. You can also find metal knockdown targets that resemble pests, for example, this knock and reset rat target (below), which allows you to get some of the realism of your quarry while practicing and zeroing in on the rats that might be chewing on your vegetable patch!

SMK Knock And Reset Rat Target

In order to keep things interesting, shooters may wish to train their rifle on something a bit different, and this is why a fun trend for things like snooker targets has allowed airgun enthusiasts to keep interesting. Target shooting should always be done on private land, or with the full permission of the owner or tenant. If you’re headed off to a range, be aware that airguns should always be transported in a secure case which does not allow the gun to be fired. As is always the case with firearms, keep yourself familiar with UK gun law to be safe.

Pellpax has a huge range airguns and related equipment. Check out our range of air rifle targets and accessories today.

Rabbit Hunting With An Air Rifle

If you’re interested in getting into rabbit hunting, there are a few basic tips you’ll need to know before your grab that hunting rifle and go on a mission.

1) it is legal to hunt rabbits without any kind of weapons licence, as long as you’re using a .177 or .22 air rifle, with an impact power of less than 12lb per cubic foot. Check out the Gov.UK site for legalities on the animals and weapons that can be used here in the UK.

rabbit
A rabbit as photographed by Ed Schipul. Image subject to Creative Commons Licence.

If you’re interested in getting into rabbit hunting, there are a few basic tips you’ll need to know before your grab that hunting rifle and go on a mission.

1) it is legal to hunt rabbits without any kind of weapons licence, as long as you’re using a .177 or .22 air rifle, with an impact power of less than 12lb per cubic foot. Check out the Gov.UK site for legalities on the animals and weapons that can be used here in the UK.

Pellpax Rabbit Sniper Kit – Top Seller! £199.99

2) You’re gonna need some rabbits to hunt. This may involve getting the permission of a landowner, and, if required, enticing him by offering some of what you successfully catch.

3) In order to get a sense of where your airgun finds its centre, you’ll need to practice with target. A printed paper target is fine for this, along with a target holder / pellet catcher. There’s no replacement for understanding how your specific gun, and the pellets you have, perform in your hands, than to fire out a few practice shots like this, to get a ‘feel’ for it.

4) In order to be legally compliant with your target practice, you need to be at least 50 feet (15.2 m) away from the centre of roads or public areas. Any close than that, and you’re breaking the law here in the UK.  Place your target and holder 30 metres or yards away.

5) Lay down on the floor, and use a bipod (check out our cool range!) to help you aim your weapon.

670px-Hunt-Rabbits-With-an-Air-Rifle-Step-116) If you’d rather stand upright, that’s fine, but in either case, don’t hold the rifle too tightly, let it sit on your shoulder, and support the weight of it with your forward hand. This is because holding your rifle tightly can affect your aim.

7) Aim at the target for five seconds, breathe in, relax all muscles besides those which you’re using to holding the gun. While exhaling, stop for  a couple of seconds, and hold your breath, and go ahead and squeeze the trigger. Count to five before moving the gun away from the target.

8) Adjust your sights, and repeat the process. Keep repeating the process until you feel you have the optimal setup, and are comfortable with your airgun. You must practice again and again. This is so that you don’t injure or wound an animal, and instead are able to kill it with one, accurate shot to the head.

9) Position yourself 20-30 metres from a rabbit hole, with warm clothing., etc, and wait.

10) Load your gun, and aim at the rabbit as it comes out of the hole. Wait for a minute to get a good angle on your shot. Stay perfectly still at this point. Aim for the back of the head, between the ears, as opposed to the body, as this may cause the rabbit unnecessary pain. If you’re aiming from the front, then shooting behind the eyes, and beneath the ears is best, as this is the most effective way to get an instant kill.

11) Use the process described earlier of breathing in, and then out, etc. to gradually adjust to your target, before firing. Ensure the bunny is further than two yards from the nearest rabbit hole, otherwise the rabbit may disappear before you can hit it.

12) Once you have hit the target, get the rabbit, and hold it in your hands for five seconds. If there is any movement in the body of the animal, fire once to the brain. Be careful not to shoot yourself! Alternately, hold the animal by its legs and hit it with a fast strike with a blunt object to the back of the neck.

If you want to take the plunge and purchase yourself a 22 air rifle and try out some rabbit hunting, then you can try our hugely popular Rabbit Sniper Kit, one of the best hunting rifles in the uk.