Airguns offer a great route into the world of fieldsports, and their development has come a very long way since they provided me with my introduction to shooting almost four decades ago.
Back in the 1980s, our standard test for air rifle performance was whether we could hit, and preferably punch through, a tin can at 20 paces. Nowadays, even entry-level airguns are capable of grouping pellets inside a 1in circle at 25m, and most models produce power very close to the 12ft/lb legal limit. That level of performance means they can confidently be used for the humane despatch of small pests over sensible ranges.
Modern air rifles can cost several thousands of pounds, but you don’t have to spend a fortune to buy one that’s powerful and accurate enough to tackle
