Shh, Fifi!
March 11th, 2010“She Won’t Come Out From Under the Porch”
I cannot control myself. I decided I had to start working on my point-shooting, but I did not want to spend money. So I’m getting a Umarex Makarov CO2 pistol.The plan is to sit out back working on my moves. Once I get it down using cheap BBs, it’s time to try it at the range.
And I finally have a way to fix my neighbor’s barking dogs.
If this kind of thing interests you, you may find my conclusions useful. I wanted a semi-auto repeating pistol, because you learn faster when you don’t have to fiddle with the gun between shots. I got something that is more than accurate enough for this kind of practice, but it’s not great for long distances. People who have used this gun say it’s fun to shoot, it’s reasonably accurate, and it feels like a real pistol. Plus it’s very cheap. SOLD.
March 12th, 2010 at 12:52 AM
Is this what they call an Airsoft? That seems to be what people who do combat simulations use. Anyway, your idea to practice point shooting seems like a good one. Let us know how it works out.
March 12th, 2010 at 3:19 AM
I’ve got tree rats, ‘possums, raccoons, feral cats, and loose dogs in my yard. I’m waiting with bated breath to find out how that air pistol works out for ya. I want something fun to plink with and just powerful enough to accelerate the above listed critters without the necessity of digging holes for the carcasses. You know, an educating sting, not a hole in the hide. Pain, not injury.
When I first got married I had a Benjamin pump .22 air pistol. With 2 pumps, I could watch the pellet gracefully arc across the yard, smacking the neighbor’s hound in the butt as he rooted around in my garbage can. The second time I hit him it was in the nutsack. I still laugh when I remember it, the outraged howl, the ears pushed back by the slipstream, the dog himself clearing the garbage can in one jump, then running in a perfectly straight line until he came to the levee of the drainage canal, and not quite making it over the stagnant water. Then moping home a few hours later still draped with grunge, algae and seaweed. His owners took him to the vet ’cause he had a great big red welt where the pellet hit him on the scrotum. No permanent damage, but the sound of pumping that pistol would send that dog into a yelping frenzy after that. Very effective. I hit another dog in the rump just as he began to squeeze out a turd a few days later. That one was a falling down and rolling on the floor howler. He squatted on my lawn, and just as the turd showed, the pellet hit just between the base of his tail and the poop chute, 4 pumps worth. That dog drove that turd 10 full feet across the yard, while starting a howling, kiyiyi-ing run that went a full five blocks. What was really funny was for several months that poor critter couldn’t take a dump without whining, crying and shaking like he was passing carpet tacks. It was hilarious. As soon as he felt like he had to go he’d begin trembling, whining and crying. This would go on for three quarters of an hour, crying and whining louder and louder, shaking harder and harder, before he finally dumped. All this was forty two years ago and I can see both incidents as clearly as the day they happened. The laughs are as good too. Neither dog ever messed with anything in my yard again. I often wonder what happened to that air pistol. Oh, well.
Gerry N.
March 12th, 2010 at 9:31 AM
I think Airsoft is a brand. There are all sorts of great air weapons out there these days. I think gun control is part of the reason. For some people, this is as good as it will ever get.
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I don’t really plan to shoot the dogs. Someone should take a switch to the owners, however.
March 12th, 2010 at 9:46 AM
Steve, good move. That is the one most effective way to improve your quickfire skills. Distance to target is not that important as what you are training for is to deliver a round rapidly, accuratly, at close range without having to conciously aim or spend undue time in situational analysis.
One suggestion though is to rig up targets you can use as you do a walk through. With BBs this is fairly simple. A five gallon bucket with a few layers of newspapers on the bottom, turned on its side with the mouth of the bucket covered with a couple of layers of paper to prevent the BB from ricocheting out and the target marked on the bucket mouth. Set several up so that as you move from one point to another you can pass by and plug away.
Not a bad idea to do this somewhat secluded though because it is one of those activities which just looks kinda weird.