For The Fun Of It

Mat manning takes a trip down memory lane with his old break-barrel spring-powered weihrauch.

- Mat Manning

The constant pursuit of accuracy and technical advantages that might put more quarry in the bag can sometimes overshadow just what it is that makes airgun shooting such fun. If you ever need reminding of the basic pleasure that first drew you to the sport, picking up a spring-powered airgun is a great way to jog your memory.

Many of us cut our teeth on “springers” and I can still recall the ritual of jamming my old hand-me-down Webley Vulcan between my knees so I could use both hands to heave the barrel down and cock its coiled spring ready for the next shot.

Pre-charged air rifles, with their recoilless firing cycle, make it relatively easy to shoot accurately, and are capable of producing power levels more than 10 times that of my old Webley but I learned more with that battered Webley Vulcan than I have with any of the fancy airguns that have followed it — the biggest lesson being the importance of fieldcraft.

It wasn’t very accurate, and I was only good enough to achieve decent groups with it out to a range of about 15m. So when I was eventually allowed to set my sights on live quarry, I had to get extremely close to take telling shots. Consequently I would build hides, use decoys, and even belly-crawl over long distances to get rabbits and pigeon in my crosshairs. And this undoubtedly put my fieldcraft apprenticeship on fast-track. It is an apprenticeship that I am sad to say now seems to be bypassed by many airgunners.