Shooting Airguns at Home
Transcription
Shooting Airguns at Home
Shooting Airguns at Home By Tony Bruce – Muzzle Loading Section Director Let me start this article by saying that if you really want to improve your shooting you really need to invest in a good air pistol and practice lots with it. (This applies to all of the pistol disciplines). So, a quick quiz for all you keen readers out there….Is it legal to shoot an air pistol at home? What’s your answer? (Yes or No?) In actual fact the answer is YES - it is quite legal to shoot air pistols and air rifles in your section or house; PROVIDING: - You are over 18, or have a gun licence, or someone over 18 supervises the shooting - You have a safe area to shoot in. (you have a safety zone and no-one can be potentially injured by ricochets, and nor can anyone walk into the shooting zone while you are shooting) - The pellets are contained within your property (my summary) ie: you have a suitable impact area or bullet trap - The neighbours do not feel threatened. (my summary) You need to make sure that airguns do not get pointed in the neighbour’s direction, and that any noise is kept to a minimum. There is a very good pamphlet available from the police arms officers called ’Beginning with Airguns’, describing the police requirements around airguns. (See below) I would add here a personal note about the issue of noise. There is a definite ‘thunk’ as each shot is fired. I shoot in my garage which is under my house. I am quite safe in my shooting, but the noise of the pellet hitting a bullet trap can travel up through the floorboards and annoy my family - so I have to use a bullet trap that does not clang or reverberate. ( just something to consider for good family relationships.) See below for the instructions on how to make a quieter bullet trap. **************************** The Target Holder and Bullet trap. When shooting at home you will need a target holder and bullet trap. The trap can be as simple as an earth bank, to a tree to a cardboard box to a fancy metal catcher (available from many sporting and gun shops). Again, the things to always remember is to be safety orientated. Avoid ricochets; consider what’s behind the target, and having the target at a height that matches your normal shooting position. An Easy to Make Bullet Catcher. So, today I will pass on the system I use, which is free, and which will last for years. I made my bullet catcher from a cardboard box (It is basically just a carton filled with cardboard). I have made it in 3 sections. The benefit of this design is that it is easily portable, minimises the noise and I can salvage the lead to be reused later. The carton can be any size, but mine is 300x400x300. You will need two 8 to 10mm diameter pieces of doweling, old hard wearing material (eg old jean legs), some sheets of cardboard, and lastly an old oven tray or piece of tin. (The tin is not essential but is insurance in case the pellets ever shoot a hole all the way through the inner cardboard layers). I have put the 2 dowels across the inside top of the box. On the front dowel I have draped the denim legs, then stood 6-8 layers of cardboard, and angled the tin against the back doweling rod. (See the pictures below) The pellet basses through the target, through the front cardboard, hits the cloth which moves backwards and absorbs the energy of the pellet, and the cardboard behind the cloth acts as a weight to slow the pellet right down. As a hint, you can use clothes pegs to hold the targets on the end of the box. And if you get really fancy you can build in holders to slide in the targets. I have also used an old shallow steel tray on the floor of the box to collect the pellets, ready for melting down. Targets: Depending on what distance you shoot, the options for targets are massive. In my previous garage I shot over a distance of 5m. I used 25mm black dots on a piece of A4 paper. I now shoot at PNZ Airgun targets at 10m with the air pistol, or use 15mm black dots on an A4 page for my rifle practice. So that’s it….easy and cheap. It cost me nothing, and if the target catcher is well made it can last forever. My current one is 6 years old and has had 10,000 pellets into it. All I’ve had to do is regularly replace the end where the targets sit. Good luck in making your one. Any questions or suggestions, please contact me at [email protected]. Penalties You will have to be responsible about how you use your airgun, otherwise you could face stiff penalties. • If you carry an airgun or even possess it without a lawful purpose, you could be fined $4000 and/or imprisoned for up to 3 years. Beginning with Airguns • Careless use of an airgun may bring a fine of $4000 and /or up to 3 years in prison. • Firing an airgun in a way that may endanger, annoy or frighten anyone or harm property could mean you are fined $3000 and/or are imprisoned for up to 3 months. • For unlawfully pointing an airgun at someone, you could be fined $1000 and/or spend up to 3 years in prison. • If you sell or supply an airgun to an unlicensed person under 18, you could be fined $1000 and /or imprisoned for up to 3 months. This could happen when an adult buys a child an airgun as a gift. The 7 Basic Rules of Firearm Safety 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Treat every firearm as loaded Always point firearms in a safe direction Load a firearm only when ready to fire Identify your target Check your firing zone Store firearms and ammunition safely Avoid alcohol or drugs when handling firearms Further Information Special Message to Parents For more information concerning airguns and other firearms, please visit the New Zealand Police website: Some parents may be dismayed when their child wants an airgun, but airgun ownership can have a positive role in developing safe practice with firearms. www.police.govt.nz - on the services menu, under firearms. An air rifle is preferable to an air pistol. It is an ideal first gun; a training firearm that a young person can learn to handle responsibly and safely. The New Zealand Mountain Safety Council offers a free firearm safety lecture. You should contact your local Police Arms Officer for further details. PUB0175 What is an Airgun? Care Needed Fully Automatic Airguns Under the Arms Act 1983, “airgun” includes air rifles, air pistols, BB guns, soft air pellet guns and paintball guns. Essentially, any weapon that has a gas or compressed air firing mechanism is classed as an airgun. These are all airguns but look like real firearms. Police have warned people who own fully automatic airguns they are breaking the law unless they have a firearms licence with a Restricted Weapons endorsement. Although the guns are only air powered, their firing mechanism means they are restricted weapons. Use of Airguns They fire hundreds of rounds a minute and some will punch a hole in a piece of gib-board in a few seconds. • Anyone 18 years of age or older can possess and use an airgun. They are definitely not toys. If owners modify their weapons to make them semiautomatic, they would not need to take any further action - but if the weapon remains fully automatic, then it is a Restricted Weapon, which means they have to get a firearms licence with the correct endorsement and have secure storage facilities. • People under 18 years of age may use an airgun if: • They hold a New Zealand firearms licence* OR • They are under the IMMEDIATE SUPERVISION of a firearms licence holder or a person 18 years of age or older. • Anyone under 16 years of age must always be under the IMMEDIATE SUPERVISION of a firearms licence holder or a person 18 years of age or older. Paintball Airguns Police do not advocate shooting at any person with an airgun. However, in the case of paintball marker games where the object may be to shoot your opponents, strict safety guidelines must be adhered to. *Note: You must be 16 years of age or older to apply for a New Zealand firearms licence. “IMMEDIATE SUPERVISION” means that the licensed or older person is within reach and in control of the person using the airgun. The person providing the supervision cannot be in possession or control of another firearm or airgun. Organised games and competitions are available in New Zealand, usually at commercial game fields. The operators of these fields adhere to a voluntary code of practice, including the application of strict safety measures. Young Airgun Owners More information is available from the New Zealand Paintball Players Association Incorporated. E-mail: [email protected] If you are 16 or 17 you can see the Arms Officer at a Police station about getting a licence. The Arms Officer will give you a free copy of the Arms Code, which is a book about firearm safety. Set up a Range You will be asked to give the names of 2 people, one a close relative. The Police will ask these people if you are a suitable person to use and possess firearms. You will also be asked to attend a firearms safety lecture. These lectures are run by instructors from the Mountain Safety Council. Then you sit a written test and, if you pass, the instructor will issue you a certificate. The results of your test will be passed on to the Arms Officer. If the Arms Officer considers you a fit and proper person they will issue you with your firearms licence. They should never be used in situations where they might be mistaken for real firearms. Safe Storage of Airguns IMPORTANT An airgun can cause serious injury if used incorrectly. When you are not using your airgun, it should be locked away in a safe place inaccessible to children. To get the most fun out of your airgun, in a safe and responsible way, set up a properly constructed range in your backyard or basement. Your range must have a backstop like a solid fence or wall and no one should be able to walk between the target and your airgun while you are shooting. There should be a “pellet trap”, such as a cardboard box full of sand, with the target fixed to it. Thought should be given to where the pellet will go if it misses the target or ricochets off paths, walls and other hard surfaces.