Air rifle being used for squirrel hunting
The first air guns/rifles appear in history during the 1580’s. They were mainly used by wealthy sportsmen for hunting, but due to their unique functioning characteristics, were sometimes used in warfare. Napoleon, for example, didn’t much appreciate opposing special snipers armed with air rifles which caused morale issues in the French ranks. The fact there was no telltale smoke or loud report caused the French to wonder at first if some “magic” was entailed during a time of flintlock muskets as being the primary arm. Lewis and Clark took a Girardoni air rifle on their famed exploration, which was a .46 caliber, 22-shot repeater (like those used against Napoleon’s troops) no doubt due to the distinct influence of President Thomas Jefferson who appreciated what would be considered as being high-tech gadgets in that day. Native Americans who witnessed a demonstration of this air rifle certainly believed it possessed some sort of magic, which gave the 36-man Lewis and Clark Expedition an obvious edge when it came to negotiations with the various tribes which way outnumbered them during their epic 3-year journey (there are no records of this air rifle being used other than for special demonstrations – which in my opinion were a very necessary intimidation factor).
Air rifles were never very prevalent back then because they were quite expensive to produce. However, examination of old, original examples show they were very well made quite ingeniously by craftsmen using natural materials such as horn for gaskets. A pneumatic valve thought to be invented much later, was employed because air guns/rifles of that time required containers of compressed air painstakingly charged beforehand with special hand-pumps. Sometimes this compressed air storage was in the form of a metal bladder affixed just forward of the trigger guard, or in the case of the example taken on the Lewis and Clark Expedition, it was the buttstock (the snipers engaging the French carried extra pre-charged buttstocks – which obviously were regularly charged behind the front lines by a “pit-crew” hand-pumping up to 1500 pumps per flask to reach 800 psi, while offering up to 40 shots).
Like a lot of American shooters, my first experience was with a lever-action Daisy “Red Ryder” BB gun. I bought each of my three sons Red Ryders when they were old enough, and I tutored them through the fundamentals of firearm safety and marksmanship. It is a good way to start kids out (under adult supervision because BB guns, although considered toys, truly require safety eyewear which should be worn because the steel BB’s can bounce back at the shooter if a hard surface is struck).
The first truly powerful pneumatic I ever saw as a kid and had a chance to shoot was when a city cousin came to visit our farm and brought along his pump-up .17 caliber Benjamin. It featured a shiny chrome-plated barrel and a dainty Tootsie Roll-shaped wooden forearm which also served as a handle for giving the handy little single-shot rifle several pumps to charge it with compressed air. My Daisy only put slight dimple-like dents in the cans when and if it knocked them over, while the pump-up Benjamin literally blew holes through the cans and bounced them around. Yep, folks, I was really impressed and wanted one!
I eventually purchased my own pellet rifle, a pump-up .20 (5mm) caliber Sheridan “Blue Streak” (a chromed-barrel version is the “Silver Streak”). Using different hollow-based pellets makes it quite versatile and I’ve bagged a nice quantity of small game with it, especially squirrels.
One of my favorite air rifles is a .17 caliber single-stroke (single-shot) Gamo that I’ve topped with a 3-9 X Bushnell scope (remember to use optics designed specifically for air rifles). This requires only breaking the rifle open (known as a “spring” gun which employs a spring-operated piston system), slipping in a pellet and closing it, which has the gun fully charged, loaded and ready to shoot. Like the Blue Streak, the Gamo has efficiently accounted for a nice quantity of small game critters up to as large as robust and plump raccoons and even tenacious woodchucks, with well-placed pellets. The key is to use pellets designed specifically for hunting, and due to the growing popularity of air rifles today, there is quite an array to select from.
Several years ago, I discovered and purchased a vintage (1940) .22 caliber Crosman air rifle which can take up to 10 pumps, features peep-sights and is a dream to use in the squirrel woods. My collection of air rifles are my favorite hunting and target arms for me, and I’m quite satisfied with the fact I can manually charge each of them right on the spot in the field before each shot and all I need is a small pouch filled with hunting pellets. However, the modern air rifle has been evolving in recent years in leaps and bounds. There are even large caliber models which can handle everything from coyotes to black bears, wild boar and deer (some truly big bores are even being used these days to hunt dangerous big game in Africa). These of course use pre-charged air cylinders like the air rifles of yesteryear. When the Limited Firearms Zone was established in southern Michigan in 2014, air rifles in .35 caliber or larger, were also allowed for deer hunting, because they have been proven to work. I test fired a .45 caliber air rifle using heavyweight lead bullets which had no problem accurately hitting the mark with distinct authority at 100 yards. Nope, folks, I wouldn’t hesitate to use that air rifle for deer hunting!
Big bore air rifle
Although air rifles aren’t as expensive as they once were way back when, some modern models can be a bit pricey. It is whatever floats your boat. The pump-up, single-shot Benjamin (available in .17 and .22 calibers) and the pump up, single-shot Sheridan (in .20 caliber Blue or Silver Streak) are USA-made (both brands are now owned by Crosman) and can be had at a moderate price. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend either for someone starting out. I know that I have never tired of my Blue Streak, the vintage Crosman or my Gamo, because they are my most fired hunting arms due to their economical cost of shooting and moderate noise level (while it is usually recommended by the manufacturers, I’ve never felt the need to wear hearing protection when firing my air rifles, which while not silent, offer a very mellow report).
Yep, folks, when it comes to my favorite passion for squirrel hunting (which presently has an ongoing winter season), the dependable hunting arm I frequently use these days is often an air rifle, which certainly works for me!
than 40 years and has had his weekly radio show, “Tom Lounsbury
Outdoors” for more than 20 years. Tom grew up on a farm in
Michigan’s Thumb, and it is where his first outdoor adventures began
as a kid accompanying visiting pheasant hunters into the field during
the “pheasant hunting heyday” of the 1950’s and 1960’s. It is a passion
he still has to this day and being the 4 th generation to own the family
farm, he has put most of it into conservation programs with a focus on
wild pheasants, which in turn helps all wildlife.
Being an outdoor communicator, Tom appreciates all the outdoor
adventures he experiences in different places, and especially the
people he meets in which to share them.
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