‘Tis the season where you can get away with pure, unabashed selfishness. Let’s agree that’s not exactly a virtue, nor is it anywhere close to the reason for the season, but if you’ve been stalling on some gear purchases out of spending guilt (the family probably does want to eat) perhaps this is your chance to drop some hints about some of those nifty airgunning toys you’ve been coveting.
Drop hints at any other time of year and you’ll almost certainly be ignored or laughed off. At this time of year, you’re expected to tell loved ones what you really, really want. So let’s get to it. I’ll start. See how it works?
A month or so back Umarex announced a Glock Paintball Marker pistol. This 12-gram CO2-powered gem launches .43-caliber paint or powder balls at your target. Can you say force-on-force games in the backyard? Do wear eye and face protection, but other than that, these air pistols are designed for combat games. Normally I have to stick with verbal taunts of my 20-ish nephews, but this new technology brings the concept of “bad uncle” to entirely new levels.
Recently I wrote about the joys of building your own silent targets. One of the joys of airgunning is the relative quiet, at least compared to traditional firearms. At airgun levels, the “thwack!” of a pellet hitting a steel trap or even cardboard target can be as loud as the shot itself. Enter duct putty. This dense, industrial-strength Play-Doh stops pellet cold but with an extra helping of silence. I bought enough to make a notebook-sized target, but I want something bigger. Much bigger. Maybe about three feet square. That’s not because I can’t hit the broad side of a barn, but rather because I’d love to practice more rapid-fire shooting with air pistols doing tactical ninja stuff like drawing from holsters. When pushing my personal speed boundaries, there’s a better than even chance I’ll be missing that 8.5×11″ backstop… Anyway, for anyone in my family who feels compelled to gift me, a five-pound block runs about $12 and I’d like to collect maybe a dozen of them. Hint, hint.
Full auto? Yes, please. I’ve been playing with reviewing the Crosman DPMS SBR BB Rifle and it’s turned out to be the ultimate party game. Who can’t stop the giggling (yes, I said ‘giggling’ and I’m proud of it) when releasing a stream of up to 25 BBs per magazine at a rate of (if I did my math right) 1,181 rounds per minute. That’s the definition of joy. Since the rifle is already here, I’ll be hoping for some extra magazines and a pallet or two of CO2 cylinders.
Speaking of full-auto, while the BB versions offer small-caliber fun, the folks at Hatsan are upping their game with the Blitz. Available in .22, .25, and .30 caliber options, it operates in either semi or fully-automatic mode using a 16-round rotary magazine.
Those will get me started. How about you? Let us know on Facebook or Twitter what’s on your list!
Oh, and one more thing. Just a reminder we’ll be shut down around Christmas and New Year, so there will be no Airgun Wires on December 22 and 29.