The old pellet gun you used as a kid has evolved into a modern (perhaps even futuristic) hunting rifle that’s capable of taking down large animals. The SHOT Show offers journalists a chance to fire many guns that are new to the market. I was fortunate enough to sit next to Tom Gaylord on the way to the range. Known to many as the Godfather of Airguns, he spoke to the evolvement of this new shooting and hunting format.
“Benjamin has some big bore guns, AirForce has some and I’m going to be shooting some Crosmans today,” he said. “I’ll use a .458 that has taken bison and other big game. Big bores have really exploded this year (no pun intended). Actually, we have had big bore airguns for the last 500 years, but no one knows about it. Lewis and Clark carried a repeater on their trip across the United States. What I’m doing is trying to bring the word to the people. I’m interested in adult airguns that cost thousands of dollars, but I’m also interested in guns that are more affordable and I write about them on my daily blog at Pyramydair.com.”
I followed Gaylord’s advice and shot Benjamin’s large caliber rifle. As you’d expect, it was quiet and surprisingly accurate with a large lead bullet, similar to the ones used by traditional muzzleloaders.
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