Airgun target shooting.

[MartynK]

Does anyone remember the days when there used to be .22 ranges at fairs and on amusement piers like Hastings. The ones I remember, used to be five shot repeaters a bit like Winchesters.

Yip. The ones I remember were pump (trombone) action and were loaded with .22 Shorts. I started target shooting with .22 LR at prep school, and our instructor let us shoot his .22 revolver at the end of term. Good days...

There have been several other firearms over the years, but this was in another country where the law is rather more accommodating.

 

[Garry Edwards]

Does anyone remember the days when there used to be .22 ranges at fairs and on amusement piers like Hastings. The ones I remember, used to be five shot repeaters a bit like Winchesters.

Yes, I remember them well. .22 shorts, very low powered with zero propellent, just the primer, but plenty of power for the purpose.

My dad used to take me to fairgrounds where they had them 60+ years ago. I couldn't hit the targets and he couldn't miss them. He used to let the stallholders talk him into having a go, he always pretended not to have a clue and always forgot to mention that he was an army sniper - and always won the best prize they had available. Strangely though, every time he held out the money for a second go the stallholders would ignore him

I don't know whether they still exist today but they definitely did back in 2010. The House of Commons Home Affairs Committee drew attention to them in their 2010-2011 report into the Derick Bird shootings and pointed out that they were not covered by any firearms legislation. In effect, no records were kept, no certificates were needed and people who would never be granted a certificate could have these guns and basically do what they liked with them. They recommended that it should be stopped, maybe it was.

 

[MartynK]

Are you sure about this, Garry? Most of the gallery rifles were chambered in .22 Short, and I'm pretty sure this was loaded with a small charge of propellant. The CB Cap relied on the primer though.

 

[Tori_T]

My dad used to take me to fairgrounds where they had them 60+ years ago. I couldn't hit the targets and he couldn't miss them. He used to let the stallholders talk him into having a go, he always pretended not to have a clue and always forgot to mention that he was an army sniper - and always won the best prize they had available. Strangely though, every time he held out the money for a second go the stallholders would ignore him

Kudos to your Dad. I could never hit anything on the fairground prize galleries either. (I think those guns had bent barrels and buggered sights; if I went down the row to the recreational shooting stall, I could suddenly hit things again.)

 

[Garry Edwards]

Are you sure about this, Garry? Most of the gallery rifles were chambered in .22 Short, and I'm pretty sure this was loaded with a small charge of propellant. The CB Cap relied on the primer though.

No, I'm not certain, but this is what I was told on my S.O. course, someone was surprised when told how little propellent the .22 LR subsonic has and the instructor then told us about the primer-only charge in the .22 short.

Kudos to your Dad. I could never hit anything on the fairground prize galleries either. (I think those guns had bent barrels and buggered sights; if I went down the row to the recreational shooting stall, I could suddenly hit things again.)

He was a natural. I asked him about the sights, his response was along the lines of "You don't need them when you can hit the target with your spit". He once went with me to my rifle club, fired 10 shots at 25 yards with my rifle, which he had never fired before, and scored 94 (4 perfect bulls, 6 bulls that cut the line). That equalled my personal best at that time. Personally I'm a competent shot, I've won a few competitions, but I have no natural ability.

 

[Hadge]

I used to shoot 10M air rifle and pistol in the 80’s along with lots of small bore and full bore rifles and pistols. Even achieved international success too and loved the sport. Sadly the days of lots of gun clubs have gone but there’s still a small number thankfully still running. Here’s my Steyr PCP pistol.

 

[Smadga]

Got a few rifles myself, do mainly pest control mostly rats tbh, got a old HW80 a Theoben Taunus but my weapons of choice are my AAS410 in .177 and in .22

 

[BADGER.BRAD]

Our Pink Pump Master ( I've heard all the jokes !) Brought locally second hand at a cheap price. I only shoot BB's with this although it will take .177 pellets. Me and My 5 year old grandson have plenty of cheap fun with this. I'm in the process of making a shorter stock for it as My grandson has to tuck it under his armpit or over his shoulder to use it. The amusing bit is I found the ad on gun trade,r the address was a multistory flat in a fairly rough area and me the idiot wrote down the wrong flat number. I buzzed the door and said I'm here for the gun , the person on the other end said what so I repeated myself then he cut me off ( Probably so he could ring the police !) I half expected a swatt team when I left the flats !. I have quite a few guns including shotguns but this makes an ideal garden plinker. The scope is mounted a bit odd as if mounted correctly it closes the slot that feeds the BB's