Airgun cure for cabin fever

One of the things I really like about airguns, is the ability to shoot them just about anywhere. My office is built in the large finished basement in my house. From my desk to the target cabinet at the other end is 10 meters. This requires shooting across the office and through the exercise room, but all the gym equipment is positioned so it won’t interfere.

The terminal end of this little indoor range is a 3’ x 4’ cabinet that is 16” deep. A lower and upper shelf has been left for storage of targets, pellets, and other odds and ends. The middle section is roughly 2’x3’, and is backed by a 1/4” sheet of steel plate. I purchased a number of cardboard boxes that fits the space perfectly, and when filled with plumbers putty is good for a few hundred shots, occasionally patching it up with duct tape. When the box starts to get torn up too badly, I dump the putty into a new box and start over again. The clip from a clipboard is taped at the top and bottom of the box and used to attach targets. Under shelf lighting is built in, and really makes the targets pop.

My desk is large, and stored underneath in a chest is a rest with a sandbag that sets up quickly and unobtrusively when needed. I’ve also got a chronograph with a light source on a cart that rolls into the utility room when not in use. This little mini range is typically used for initial sighting in of new rifles, measuring pellet velocities, more or less the preparatory work before moving outdoors and shooting at longer range. But on weekends like this, with snow storms blowing it has been a lot of fun going downstairs with a box of reactive targets (animal crackers) to shoot at off hand. OK, 10 meter plinking isn’t that challenging, but my feeling is any shooting is fun and that the more you shoot the better you are when it’s time to hunt. After a day and a half of shooting several guns while the storms continued to blow, I’ve finally run out of air. I either need to go to the garage and grab the spare tank or switch to springers for awhile!

Like to hear how you guys have set up your indoor ranges, always looking for new ideas!

The Prairie Falcon: One of my all time favorite hunting guns!

I’ve been shooting the PF25 for a couple of years now, and have used the gun for everything from starlings to groundhogs with great success. My rifle is a.22 caliber, and when I head out to the squirrel woods with four of the rotary magazines loaded up with eight shots each, I’m geared up for a days outing. If I’m going to go out after prairie dogs in a very target rich environment I’ll carry a Pigmee bottle and a tin of pellets I’m then good for as long as I want to shoot, never running out of air or ammo!

The PF25 is my go to rifle, it is as accurate as any hunting rifle I’ve ever shot and more accurate than most. The rifle is perfectly balanced and the ergonomics are great. The walnut stock with its adjustable butt pad fits like it was built for me. The right handed stock has a well shaped cheekpeice, which along with the perfectly shaped checkered pistol grip gives a consistent hold on the rifle from any shooting position. This is a key aspect of a great hunting gun in my opinion; you never know what position you’ll have to shoot from in the field. The gun is highly reliable and cycles flawlessly.

I’ve recently mounted a Nikko Stirling Platnum series 6-24x52 scope with AO, in BKL medium profile two piece mounts. This turned out to be a great gun/scope combo! I took it to my back yard range and sighted in at 40 yards (where I sight in all my pcps) using JSB Exacts, and stacked pellet on top of pellet.

Last week I took the gun out to a local farm, and was doing some long distant sniping at pigeons. I was set up about 50 yards from a feed bin where the birds would drift in and eat then fly away. Until I got there! Was able to consistently drop birds from 50 to 80 yards away, and put 11 on the ground before the end of the session.

Airhog carries the complete line of Falcons, both the Classic and Prairie Falcons, and if you’re in search of a pcp for hunting I’d suggest you consider this gun. I have been a customer here for several years, back when Van had the company based in Texas. My first contact was to buy a carbon fiber tank (which is another must have), but man oh man when I got to shoot the PF25 I fell in love with it. Due to the soft dollar and ever more restrictive laws in the UK, these guns will get more expensive and less available, if you want a superb hunting rifle now is the time