What can I shoot with an air rifle?

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What can I shoot with an air rifle?
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Shane

Joined: 31 Oct 2005
Posts: 3467
Location: Doha. Is hot.

Posted: Wed Jun 16, 10 7:02 am Post subject:
In your original opener, you state that you'll be taking the rifle to the shooting range. If there's any doubt at all about the legality of using it in the garden, why not just satisfy yourself with the range? Better forking out a couple of quid a session at the range than potentially ending up with a firearms conviction on your record, I would have thought.

vegplot

Joined: 19 Apr 2007
Posts: 21301
Location: Bethesda, Gwynedd

Posted: Wed Jun 16, 10 7:51 am Post subject:
Fit a moderator, if you can, to minimise noise is one less way of annoying the neighbours. Ensure you have a really good backstop and practice safe shooting.

RichardW

Joined: 24 Aug 2006
Posts: 8443
Location: Llyn Peninsular North Wales

Posted: Wed Jun 16, 10 8:30 am Post subject:
As well as a moderator a good idea is to sound deaden the back stop. Thick rubber or even better a straw bale. Pellets hitting solid steel make a racket.

sako

Joined: 11 Oct 2009
Posts: 37

Posted: Wed Jun 16, 10 9:39 am Post subject:

Brownbear wrote:

I saw a video the other day of someone shooting himself in the head with a .50 sniper rifle via a ricochet. Bet that made his ears ring.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ABGIJwiGBc
Slightly more powerful than an air rifle but will cope with a muntjac!
Cheers
Richard

Sovvolf

Joined: 15 Jun 2010
Posts: 7

Posted: Wed Jun 16, 10 2:10 pm Post subject:

Shane wrote:

In your original opener, you state that you'll be taking the rifle to the shooting range. If there's any doubt at all about the legality of using it in the garden, why not just satisfy yourself with the range? Better forking out a couple of quid a session at the range than potentially ending up with a firearms conviction on your record, I would have thought.

The problem there is that I don't drive or have a car. So trips up to the shooting range would be infrequent. I will be going to shooting ranges... However I'll probably only be able to make it up to one once every month. Would be nice to be able to take my gun out to the yard an be able to shoot when I feel in the mood for it.

Though your right it's better just going to a shooting range and not risking it than gettting a firearms conviction on my record... Which is the main reason why I'm trying to get as much informations as I possibly can on whether or not I can shoot before I go out there and start shooting.

Brownbear wrote:

If you're concerned, why not find out the number of your local police firearms enquiry officer and give him or her a bell? Or join one of the shooting organisations and ask their legal department.

I did contact the my local police station about all this and they told me that I'd be doing nothing illegal as long as my pellets stay within my Garden. However given that it's a council garden, it's up to them whether or not I can shoot on their premises. I already contacted them about a fortnight ago and I'm waiting for a reply from them about the situation. Maybe I shouldn't have contacted them and fired until they either stopped me, instead didn't mind me shooting... However I'd rather do this by the book... Then I can't get in trouble and I'm not breaking any law.

vegplot wrote:

Fit a moderator, if you can, to minimise noise is one less way of annoying the neighbours. Ensure you have a really good backstop and practice safe shooting.

I think you can purchase suppressors at the local gun store (the same store I'll be getting my gun from) so I'll pick one up when I get the gun. I've got a decent backstop for pellets. Well I think it is anyway... I have rows upon rows of thick wood which I'll be building the back stop with. I also have a few old sofa cushions which I could use in order to help break the nose down... for the neighbours sake.

RichardW

Joined: 24 Aug 2006
Posts: 8443
Location: Llyn Peninsular North Wales

Posted: Wed Jun 16, 10 7:30 pm Post subject:
Wood is not a good back stop. It can rebound the pellet & will over time have holes in it.

Sovvolf

Joined: 15 Jun 2010
Posts: 7

Posted: Wed Jun 16, 10 7:42 pm Post subject:

RichardW wrote:

Wood is not a good back stop. It can rebound the pellet & will over time have holes in it.

The woods mostly to stop the pelet going through and hitting the neighbours fence or going through it. I'm going to cushin it out on the front to try and prevent a rebound along with soaking up the noise. I think this wood is way too thick for the pelets to get through. A good couple inches thick... Though I'm not too sure on how powerful Airguns are... I don't mean to underestimate them... I just don't want to destroy the neighbours fence in the process.

RichardW

Joined: 24 Aug 2006
Posts: 8443
Location: Llyn Peninsular North Wales

Posted: Wed Jun 16, 10 8:16 pm Post subject:
I dint mean they will go through on each shot. But after you have been shooting for a while the impacts will make a hole. My current PCP air rifle (set at under the 12ftlb limit with all pellet weights available) will go about 1/2" into a plank on its face or end grain at 30m.

Sovvolf

Joined: 15 Jun 2010
Posts: 7

Posted: Wed Jun 16, 10 9:05 pm Post subject:

RichardW wrote:

I dint mean they will go through on each shot. But after you have been shooting for a while the impacts will make a hole.

My current PCP air rifle (set at under the 12ftlb limit with all pellet weights available) will go about 1/2" into a plank on its face or end grain at 30m.

I see... Then constant repairs and maintanance would be needed. Though I think this may be the only way of creating a suitable back stop. I doubt my neighbours fence is more that 1/2" thick... They wouldn't mind me shooting (We're pretty close nit around here) though I think they'd start getting a little inpatient when they have bullet holes in their fence. I haven't done any proper measurements of the wood but I'd estimate that they're at least 4" think.

Do you have any better suggestions for a backstop?.

vegplot

Joined: 19 Apr 2007
Posts: 21301
Location: Bethesda, Gwynedd

Posted: Wed Jun 16, 10 9:16 pm Post subject:
Sand make an excellent back stop. Our range uses nothing but sand and it take a awful lot (unlimited?) of punishment, mind you we do have 1,200 tonnes of the stuff.

jamanda
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 22 Oct 2006
Posts: 35058
Location: Devon

Posted: Wed Jun 16, 10 9:19 pm Post subject:
How would Sovvolf use that in his back garden? A fence wouldn't take the weight of sand bags would it?

vegplot

Joined: 19 Apr 2007
Posts: 21301
Location: Bethesda, Gwynedd

Posted: Wed Jun 16, 10 9:46 pm Post subject:

Jamanda wrote:

How would Sovvolf use that in his back garden? A fence wouldn't take the weight of sand bags would it?

I don't know the layout but if it we me and there wasn't a convenient earth bank I'd buy in a few railway sleepers and bank sand up against them. He wouldn't need anything large, perhaps 3 or 4 edge on sleepers high. They could be re-used for some other garden feature later.

Sovvolf

Joined: 15 Jun 2010
Posts: 7

Posted: Thu Jun 17, 10 5:42 am Post subject:

vegplot wrote:

Jamanda wrote:

How would Sovvolf use that in his back garden? A fence wouldn't take the weight of sand bags would it?

When you say earth bank do you mean a lump of earth sticking up?.

Here's a rough image of a part of my backyard... Sorry for the quality... I accidentally saved it as a JPG not a PNG. The little house isn't my house it's my niece playhouse. Anyway that piece of earth sticking up... would you say that's an earthbank?. I could use that and it sticks up a good few 5 or 6 feet above ground. Though there is the risk of over shooting it... Which means the bullet would land in the next garden. That garden is deserted along with the garden next to it but I'd probably be breaking a law either way.

Sovvolf

Joined: 15 Jun 2010
Posts: 7

Posted: Mon Jun 21, 10 6:08 pm Post subject:

Sorry for the double post and for bumping. I've just got an email back from the council stating that they may grant me shooting permission. However I must create a suitable backstop for the gun and they will send out a police officer to test it and make sure it's safe. So I've been going through ideas in my head and I created a plan of one in Blender 3D.

Here's the pick. I'm wondering if this would be an acceptable backstop for firing at?. if this is not a suitable back stop, would some one kindly give me some advice on what would make a suitable back stop or what improvements I could make to my plan?.

Brownbear

Joined: 28 May 2007
Posts: 14929
Location: South West

Posted: Mon Jun 21, 10 7:24 pm Post subject:
Arrange it so that no houses or windows are in your line of fire, even if you have some sort of fit whilst shooting that means you elevate the rifle.

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