Do you want to learn shooting techniques, but don't know where to start? Then air rifles will suit you perfectly. Indeed, compared to firearms, pneumatics have a number of undeniable advantages that play a decisive role in training. Firstly, the chance of getting a dislocated shoulder is much less. Secondly, due to the almost imperceptible recoil, the aiming process in an air gun is much simpler. Thirdly, and not least, the price ratio of consumables: the prices of cartridges vary greatly, it will be very expensive to shoot bottles with a firearm.
Required accessories
The best option before starting your studies is to try going to a shooting gallery, with minimal investment, to feel how much you need it. If you understand that yes, this is the case for you, you can head to the gun store.
First you need to buy the air rifle itself. For training, you shouldn’t buy expensive weapons right away; you should also wait a while with heavy-duty models. The technical characteristics of the Mosin rifle are perfect for beginners. You can also purchase a Gama rifle, an Ataman M2 air rifle, a Zbroia RSR Kozak compact rifle, or an SVD air rifle.
The ideal models would be PPP or PCP - they do not have recoil and their prices are reasonable. The main thing when choosing is to pay attention to the coupling: it must be metal. If you buy one with a plastic coupling, be prepared for quick failure. See photo.
PPP rifle model
The second important point is the bullets. In this case, these will be lead bullets.
As a target, you can use a self-printed target or bottles and other stationary targets. You can also use the help of a friend who will throw plastic bottles - this will be training with moving targets.
Shooting bottles
And lastly, you need to decide on a place where you can shoot with an air rifle. Here everyone will answer according to their capabilities. Choose places where there are no unnecessary people. If you shoot with a telescopic sight, you may not notice people passing nearby. The optical sight needs to be adjusted. It is necessary to observe safety measures when conducting training shooting. It is necessary to determine in advance the place where you can shoot with an air rifle.
Always try to control the situation around you. The best places: a forest outside the city, the basement of a house, an attic, and the most common are special shooting ranges for training.
Watch the video of shooting at the shooting range:
Checking the sight mount
In order for the shooter to aim correctly with an air rifle, he needs to adjust the optical sight. The accuracy of shooting from an air gun depends on its correct fastening.
- It is worth using high-quality fasteners. Make sure they have rings of the exact diameter to fit the scope tube and the correct height for easy scope alignment.
- It is extremely important that the distance between the rear lens and the eye is correct. You need to attach the scope, tighten the screws loosely, and check whether you need to move it back or forward to get a better view.
- Before tightening the screws, make sure that the vertical crosshair is locked in the desired position. This is critical to ensuring that the pellet's trajectory remains in line with the reticle.
The telescopic sight on an airgun must be securely mounted at the correct distance from the eye, and the reticle must be in an upright position.
Safety precautions
Before leaving or going to the shooting range, never forget about safety precautions. Watch the video:
All training in the rules of shooting from an air gun begins with TB:
- Always assume your air gun is loaded and handle it accordingly.
- Check the operation of the fuse. If it does not work, we postpone shooting until the problem is fixed.
- Never point a weapon at people or animals (“once a year, and the stick shoots”). Always point the barrel only towards the target, and when carrying the rifle, point it upward.
- Whenever manipulating a weapon, try not to block the muzzle with your palm or other parts of your body.
- Load the gun only at the firing line.
- Never leave a weapon unattended on a shooting range, especially if it is loaded.
- If you are not shooting alone, it is prohibited to pass a loaded or cocked rifle to another shooter.
- If the distance to the target is less than 10 meters, use goggles to protect your eyes.
- Do not pull the trigger or keep your finger on it until you are ready to fire.
- Use only bullets specifically designed for air rifle use.
There are many TB rules, follow the basic rules and listen to the advice of more experienced shooters.
Remember: it’s easier to learn from other people’s mistakes, but learning from your own is more dangerous and painful.
Shooting techniques and rules
Long guns are notable because they are more predictable than pistols and are typically used when the target is far away. Because of this, the shooter has time to take a comfortable position, take good aim and calmly shoot without undue haste.
Air rifle shooting
The rifle shooting technique itself consists of the main stages: taking a ready position, aiming and pulling the trigger. The main difference from a pistol is that when ready, the gun is held with two hands. Usually the gun is applied to the right shoulder.
At first, it is better to observe a more experienced shooter - study his movements, what he does and in what sequence, analyze his actions. Particular attention should be paid to how he performs the throw and leash - easily and accurately, without turning the body 180 degrees.
The first thing you need to learn is to raise the rifle, and not keep its butt pressed to your shoulder.
When aiming, your hand should be kept on the handle to avoid an accidental descent. Do not forget to control this, this also applies to safety precautions. The descent is carried out slowly, smoothly - it is important to concentrate well, so many even advise holding your breath immediately before the shot.
It is better to start learning to shoot at distant targets - this will teach you how to make adjustments for the distance to the target; working with moving targets at a distance will teach you to anticipate their actions, which is also important.
Once you learn how to properly raise a rifle and bring this process to automaticity, the remaining actions will also be performed just as easily. It is advisable to practice with 150-200 targets during one training session.
Shooting instructions
How to learn to shoot correctly from an air rifle? To begin training, we will consider the simplest position - the “sitting at the table” position.
Sitting at the table
Shooting while sitting at a table
This is a position in which you are in a position familiar to your body, your muscles are relaxed. Alternatively, you can also stand at the counter, leaning your chest on the edge.
We take the rifle itself with our right hand in the area of the trigger, so that the thumb clasps the pneumatic gun on the right, and the rest of the fingers are on the left. With our left hand we take it in the muzzle area, the thumb is on the left, the rest on the right, but the rifle must be placed in the palm of your hand, and not held with your fingers.
We place the body to the left of the air gun, bring the left elbow and shoulder forward, and place the right elbow at body level. We rest the rifle butt against the void on the right shoulder so that we can lean our face against the butt when aiming.
Remember: the body must be in a comfortable position, no matter what position you are in, you must stand steadily and calmly.
When approaching the aiming stage, you need to determine which eye is the dominant one. Most people have the dominant eye on the right, but to clarify the information, we will conduct a test. Take a sheet of paper and make a two-centimeter hole in it. Let's approach the target and point the sheet at arm's length so that the center of the target is in the hole. We close our eyes one by one and see with which eye open the target remains in the center of the hole. The eye that will see the target in the hole is your dominant eye.
Shooting from a sniper rifle requires patience and adherence to certain rules from a beginner.
It is worth observing safety measures when handling PM weapons, more on them later.
For information on how to provide first aid for gunshot wounds, see:
Previously, it was customary to close the non-dominant eye when shooting, but recent research by scientists has proven that it is correct to keep both eyes open when shooting, and not to cover the dominant eye with a bandage or stand. This way you don't lose concentration on the target.
When aiming, the dominant eye should look through the slot of the sighting bar at the top edge of the front sight, so that the front sight is in the center of the slot, and also flush with the side edges. Next, in this position, we aim the sight at the lower part of the target bull's eye. A very big mistake of many novice shooters is the desire to aim at the very middle.
At the moment of shooting, you need to hold your breath, try to “catch” the moment between the heartbeat and smoothly pull the trigger. This concentration will allow you to make a well-aimed shot.
The basics of shooting have been learned. Now let's look at other provisions.
Lying down
Prone shooting
The prone position is the most stable position, convenient if the target is motionless. If you intend to shoot at moving targets, certain difficulties may arise: quickly changing the sight will be quite difficult, since this will require either a complete change in body position (if the target is moving horizontally), or the need to rely on your elbows (if the target is moving vertically).
You should also take into account the surface on which the shooter is located: if it is land with tall grass or there are bushes on it, this can greatly limit the view.
Acceptance of position:
- Lying on your stomach, lean on your elbows and bring the gun in front of you. Alternatively, you can lean only on your left elbow, and on your right, rest the toe of the rifle butt on the ground, but in this case, in order not to damage the rifle, it is important to hold it closer to the butt plate, and not in the neck area.
- Particular attention should be paid to the angle between the shooter’s body and the aiming line. His choice is influenced by the individual characteristics of the shooter and is determined by him. The angle varies from 15 to 30 degrees.
- If the angle is smaller, you will have to unnecessarily strain the arm muscles, which will certainly lead to rapid fatigue. If the angle is more than 30 degrees, this will affect the shooting accuracy - it will be more difficult to aim. The most suitable position: the elbow of the left hand is under the rifle and is aimed at the target without tension.
- For greater comfort, you should lie not flat on your stomach, but slightly on your left side - it will be easier to breathe and, as a result, it will be easier to aim. The left leg is straightened, the toe rests on the surface, the right leg is slightly bent at the knee.
standing
Watch the video:
This position is used by experienced shooters. The butt of the rifle rests on the shoulder and is placed on the palm of the left hand. We rest the arm itself on the body. This results in a rigid and balanced structure.
In this position, the most difficult thing is to find a balance between the muscles; when shooting, you need to deal with various vibrations of the weapon.
From the knee
Shooting from the knee
The most uncommon position, rarely used. To achieve any result in this position, you need to accustom the body for a long time until it becomes comfortable. For shooting, it is important to train the body not to experience pain. If you have a muscle imbalance, you will not be able to accurately hit the target.
When shooting from a kneeling position, just like when shooting from a standing position, you need to create a stable structure out of your body.
To do this, you need to rest your left hand on your left knee. All weight is also transferred to the left knee. The rifle rests on the shoulder, the right hand, without having a strong load, can safely fire a shot.
Prone rifle shooting
If shooting from a rifle is carried out at a stationary target, then the prone position is the most comfortable position. However, for moving targets it can cause some difficulties, for example, difficulty in quickly changing the sight. There is a risk of your view being obstructed by tall grass or bushes, so it is important to consider the surface and area where the shooter is located.
To accept this provision you must:
- Leaning on your elbows, lie on your stomach and hold the rifle in front of you. The right leg should be slightly bent at the knee. Place the toe of your left foot on the surface and level it.
- Monitor the angle (15-30°) between the aiming line and the shooter’s body. When the angle decreases below normal, excessive tension in the arm muscles occurs. And its increase will complicate aiming and affect shooting accuracy.
Additional Tips
And now, the basic training has been completed, the technique has been successfully mastered, and in addition you should become familiar with the reasons that may affect shooting accuracy:
- Make sure that the screws on the stock mount are always firmly screwed in - even a slight looseness can lead to quite strong deviations when firing.
- Always make sure the front sight is firmly attached to the barrel. Also, the sighting bar must be securely attached to the weapon.
- Buy several types of bullets at once - some manufacturers are chasing the speed of release and make them too light, and this has a significant impact on accuracy. Also, bullets may not be universal and only fit a certain model of rifle. Therefore, it is better to try several types at once and choose the optimal ones.
- Keep the barrel of the gun clean - free of oil and lead residues.
- During shooting, the rifle's rebound is unacceptable - it must be pressed tightly to the shoulder, but without indentation.
- Remember that you need to stand still for a while after firing and let the bullet leave the barrel (this process is a little longer than with a pistol due to the length of the barrel).
Also familiarize yourself with the various models of rifles; read about the IZH 61 MR 61 air rifle here. For the best air rifles without a license, see here. For information about what Chinese-made air rifles exist, see below.
Reasons affecting shooting accuracy
Below are the most common interferences that affect the quality of aerial shooting.
Screws for attaching the stock. Loss of accuracy in pneumatic shooting is caused by loosening of the fastening screws. This reason is the most common. Most often, many rifles have two screws on the stock and one next to the trigger, with bushings on them. If the screw is untwisted by only 1/4 turn, the deviation will be exactly fifty millimeters by twenty-five meters.
Bad bullets. Many shooters, especially beginners, cannot correctly select the correct caliber bullets. To identify the required type, it is worth buying several types of pellets and, after shooting, choosing which ones are best suited to the usual distance. Do not use oxidized, deformed or old bullets. The best choice would be lead and high-quality specimens from trusted manufacturers.
