All the basics you need to know about air guns and the hobby itself can be separated into 3 categories. Just three, that’s it! Each category is important and if you want to get better at shooting air rifles, you should do your best to follow these air gun tips for beginners here!
There are a number of reasons why air gun shooting is a great hobby, but we aren’t here to discuss that. We are talking to those that have decided it’s time to get a riffle and start shooting. These are our tips and basics that all first-time shooters should consider.
Before We Get Started
Before we dive into our official air gun tips for beginners, we want to clarify who will benefit most from the guide bellow. And that means you have to begin by choosing what powers your rifle:
- Pneumatic
- CO2 Powered
- Spring Piston
- Gas Piston
Each will have its own challenges. If you are thinking of getting into air guns as a long-term hobby, we highly recommend option for he CO2 powered rifles. You’ll find most of these air gun tips are meant for gas powered rifles.
Get the Right Gear – Without Braking the Bank
It’s important to get the right air gun equipment from the beginning. We don’t mean that you should buy the most expensive air rifle you can! It’s not about price, but you should do your research to ensure that you are purchasing quality gear.
Our top recommended air rifles of 2019 are:
- FX Crown
- FX Dream Lite
- FX Wildcats
- Brocock Bantam Sniper
The most important thing is to make sure that your gun fits you. That means it’s not to long, not too wide, and not to heavy. Your rifle should feel as comfortable as possible. Our tip for beginners is to go to a gun store and hold these weapons in your hands before you make any decisions. You can return to purchase an air rifle online if you choose.
- The air gun you choose
- The air gun scope you mount
- The guns air pressure
- The ammo you use
- Overall gun maintenance (remember to fix barrel droop where necessary)
Diving into some of the points about is outside the scope of air gun tips for beginners and are more suited for intermediate shooters. But keep those points in mind.
Set Goals – Seek Challenges – Get Out There
The absolutely best way to ensure that you stick with any hobby is to ensure that it is always fun and always challenging. Air gun shooting is no different.
- Set Goals
If you are aiming for something (pun completely intended), then you are more likely to dedicate time to achieve it. Each goal you set should have some fun injected into it. Try to create a cross or circle on your target with pellet holes. Try to make a smiley face. In the end this is just once exercise to improve your accuracy.
Set a goal that you won’t get up until you have purposefully shot 4 rounds within a 2 inches diameter from 50 yards.
- Seek Challenges
There are lots of championship long range shooting competitions that will keep you engaged in this hobby. There is something completely satisfying about entering in a competition with some of the best shooters in your niche. It’s a whole day of fun and at the end you could walk home with a trophy for your hobby.
- Get Out There
This is now your community so go out there and meet others. Check out some of the best air gun ranges near you and take your rifle. Meet people who are interested in air guns as well and get involved with people like you. Hell, they will have some really great air gun tips for beginners that you can learn from too!
Practice!
Practice often! Discover the best air rifle shooting positions, the right way to pull the trigger, and how to set your scope to be as accurate as possible.
We ask that you remember: practice does not make perfect – perfect practice makes perfect. You should be following the correct methods to practice air gun shooting to ensure that you don’t develop bad habits. Check out our air gun blog for more tips and tricks!
