Air Rifle

Airguns Fit In With Sportsmen

In the southeastern part of Pennsylvania, the Delaware County Field and Stream Association has been the major organization for the large membership of 3000 plus members for nearly 60 years. Within its ranks are hunters, fishermen, shooters and conservationists. The 65 acres of open woodland and fields that are owned by the club provide shooting ranges for shotguns, handguns, rifles and bows and arrows. Since 1984 the club has sponsored airgun shooting and now can boast of not one but three ranges built especially for air gun shooters.

The first range for airgun shooting was a makeshift affair built within the established 50 yard smallbore rifle range. The backstops installed at the closer distance of ten meters were on hinges and could be dropped down or hung up after use. However crude that it was, it was a great beginning for the enthusiastic airgun shooters who soon became the major participants at the range.

After a few years, the popularity of the airguns and the growing number of shooting contestants who required more space, convinced the club officers that a separate range should be built for air pistol and air rifle shooting. Early in 1992, plans were drawn, and an area selected within the club's borders to build a range especially designed for airgun shooting. It was built at a cost of approximately $25,000.

The range was constructed of modern outdoor paneling and pressure treated wood on an L‑shaped concrete pad with an office on one side and an open firing line with ten shooting stations. The range is 40 feet wide and over 200 feet in depth and is lined on each border with a cedar fence seven feet high. A general contractor was employed to do the major construction. The interior of the office, paneling, insulation and electrical work was accomplished by the willing hands of several club members who donated their services.

One of the finest contributions by a club member was the knock‑over metal silhouette targets built by a mechanical arts schoolteacher. These well‑made cutouts in quarter inch steel plate, were a welcome replacement for the individual metal targets that were difficult to use at the new range. The chore of finding the lost chickens and other silhouettes in high grass was eliminated and the targets could be reset without going down range simply with a tug on an attached string.

As the popularity of shooting increased, the members became interested in the latest version of field target shooting as popularized by air rifle shooters in England. The range for this type of shooting requires a trail through woods or fields and uses animal type targets that indicate a hit with a falling paddle or target face. Resetting the scoring paddle is easy by pulling on a long string attached to it and the target is ready for the next contestant.

Within the club's ample acreage, was a former archery field target trail that had been idle for several years. Using that trail and cutting some of the brush and trees that had taken over, the members gradually made a realistic field target range for airgunners. With its 50 targets spread out through the woods, the airgun field range attracts numerous shooters to its monthly shoots throughout most of the year. All three ranges, air pistol, air rifle and the field target range, conduct shooting contests from March to December each year.

In addition to a regular schedule of competition, the airgun ranges are used for basic marksmanship instruction and other club events such as National Hunting and Fishing Day and a Junior Field Day especially for youngsters. A recent addition to the club's activities named Ladies Day, has become an annual event that introduces many wives, daughters and mothers to the shooting sports. The air gun range with its lighter and easier handled guns along with the absence of loud noise and heavy recoil, has become an ideal starting range for women shooters.

For its foresight in developing the airgun activity, the Delaware County Field and Stream Association deserves much credit. Over the past years of its successful operation it has brought in many new members especially youngsters who find air rifle shooting and competition to be pleasurable and also good training for other disciplines. Airguns have gained much more prestige in recent years and are no longer thought of as just BB guns. At the Delaware County Field and Stream Association they are now considered efficient competitive equipment and as such are in the main stream of the club's activities.