Mat Manning offers five key tips for airgunners to improve their fieldcraft 1. Go on a reconnaissance mission Reconnaissance around your shooting permissions will help you to target the right…
Mat Manning
Follow Mat Manning
What’s best for pest control – a spring-powered or pre-charged airgun?
Q: I’d like to buy an air rifle for controlling rabbits and grey squirrels in our garden but I don’t really want a pre-charged model because I can’t be bothered…
10 top airguns for pest control
Modern airgun shooters are spoilt for choice when it comes to air rifles for pest control. Daystate Red Wolf RRP: From £1,899.99 This British gun is far from cheap…
Which pellet is best for my air rifle?
With the extensive range of airgun pellets now available, how can I find out which would be the most suitable for my air rifle?
How to buy a used air rifle
You can save a fortune by buying a second-hand air rifle. But if you don’t know what to look out for, it can also end up leaving you out of pocket. Here’s…
Five of the best pre-charged airguns for under £500
Although some people have the skill to shoot very precisely with spring-powered airguns, pre-charged (or PCP) models are generally easier to shoot accurately because they don’t recoil. The extra engineering…
10 questions about air rifles – and 10 answers
1. Do I need a licence to own an air rifle? In England and Wales you do not need a licence to own what is regarded as a “legal limit”…
Why do multi-shot airguns cost more?
Paying more for a pre-charged airgun with a magazine-fed firing cycle is probably justified if you intend to use it for hunting. When a fast second shot is required to…
What happens when you use an imitation owl to lure crows and magpies?
Corvid control with an air rifle can be unpredictable. There are days when the quiet stealth of a moderated airgun can be a real asset, enabling you to pick off…
How to improve the accuracy of your air rifle
Most shooters want to be able to shoot more accurately and there are lots of things you can do to improve the precision of the average airgun. Serious geeks take…
Six popular air rifles for under £500
One of the greatest appeals of airgun shooting is its affordability. For a few hundred pounds — and sometimes significantly less — you can pick up an air rifle that…
Will a budget air-rifle really do the job?
Airguns are not only my hobby, they are also my livelihood, and as someone who subscribes to the adage that you should always use the right tool for the job,…
Hawke Sidewinder FFP
It wasn’t very long ago that first focal plane (FFP) scopes were regarded as something of a niche product. There has been a shift over the years as more shooters…
Dealing with rats in the hen house
Having an air rifle in the house often proves handy for impromptu backyard pest control. My airguns are called into action in the garden to deal with marauding grey squirrels,…
Should I buy a spring-powered airgun or a PCP?
Choosing the right airgun can present the newcomer with a minefield of choices, and picking a power source is usually the biggest quandary. For decades, spring-powered airguns were the only…
FAC airgun accuracy – how can you improve it?
Q: I have recently switched from a sub-12ft/lb air rifle to an FAC-rated pre-charged model producing muzzle energy of around 40ft/lb and my results have so far been very disappointing.…
Air rifles – does more power mean greater range?
When set up properly, legal-limit air rifles are extremely accurate tools, and that precision can more than compensate for their modest power when coupled with a sound knowledge of fieldcraft.…
What’s the maximum distance you can hunt with a legal-limit air rifle?
How far is the maximum distance for hunting with a legal-limit air rifle? It is something I get asked all the time but it is a question that has no…
Garden airgunning
If you have a moderate sized garden then you probably have enough room to set up a shooting range for an air rifle. Long warm evenings mean you can enjoy…
What’s the best camo pattern for airgun hunting?
Q: I’m new to airgun hunting and plan to invest in a camouflage suit so I can get closer to my quarry. What’s the best pattern to go for? A:…