28 AIRGUN WORLD http://www.airgunshooting.co.uk
SPRING-PISTON RIFLES
As a training device alone, everyone who seeks
improvement in their technique should invest
in a quality springer.
INDEPENDENCE COMES AS
STANDARD
Springers require no divers’ tanks, pumps,
connectors, hoses or gauges to provide their
motivation, and it’s a fine thing to simply grab
your rifle and a tin of pellets and head for your
range. You won’t have to worry about running
out of air, either, and the beautiful simplicity of
spring power is a huge factor in the overall
enjoyment of these guns.
MESSABOUTABILITY
For those of a techie bent, the spring-piston
airgun represents a grail as holy as anything
ever sought by the Crusaders. The efficiency,
or otherwise, of the springer has now morphed
into a subject entirely separate from actually
shooting the rifles. Every aspect of springer
performance is now studied, calibrated,
tweaked and honed to create a technical
collaboration known as a ‘tune’. This provides
countless hours of challenge and reward and
takes place on every conceivable level, from a
re-lube to a re-build. This brand of output
alchemy can become compulsive, even
obsessive, and it’s a major attraction to the
spring-gun ownership deal, no doubt about it.PURE SATISFACTION
The satisfaction of watching pellets from a
springer form cloverleaf clusters on a distant
target has to be experienced to be appreciated.I assure those who have yet to feel such
intensity that it’s an entirely different buzz
compared to doing the same with a PCP. For
me, this intense satisfaction comes from the
‘demands’ I mentioned earlier, and the proof
the groups provide that I’ve got it all right.
Again, it’s like getting a merit from that strict
teacher; it just means more.SPREADING THE LOVE
I’m not a fan of spring-piston air rifles because
of some fanciful, esoteric, ‘if you know, you
know’ reason. I love these guns because of
what they give me in pure shooting pleasure.
That pleasure arrives from all of the directions
I’ve detailed here and more, and the overall
effect of these streams of satisfaction is
absolutely amazing. Try a course of springer
therapy, yourself, and if you apply yourself in
the required manner, I think you’ll soon be
recoiling in amazement at what it brings to your
shooting life. A lovingly
restored
Airsporter is
a thing of
beauty.Tim Finley is one
who appreciates
the many rewards
of shooting a
springer well.Our own ‘Lord Of The
Springs’, Jim Tyler, is a
major part of the spring-
piston technical revolution.Where marksmanship
meets meditation. Yes,
really.There’s no finer
trainer than a
springer - for young
and old alike.“I love these guns because of what they give me
in pure shooting pleasure”