Must-Have Air Accessories
Shoot better, stronger, faster
One of my COVID projects was reorganizing the man cave. The process gave me a great opportunity to reminisce, tinker and appreciate the airgun gear I turn to most frequently. You know how it is — once in a while when you stop to ponder, you realize, “Hey, I use this thing all the time. It’s a great piece of gear!”
With this said, here are some of the most frequently used — and just plain valuable — airgun accessories in my world.
This Benjamin “pony” cylinder is perfectly sized for a shooting outing
while still being reasonably portable. A must-have for PCP shooters!
Benjamin Charging System Cylinder
Anyone have a shameful past involving pony kegs? Benjamin has a similar concept, although the consequences are fun and don’t involve bad behavior and hangovers.
The Benjamin “pony” cylinder is just 15″ long but holds 90 cubic inches (14.72 cubic feet) of 4,500 psi compressed air. All of these translate to an overall weight of just about 5 lbs., so it’s backpack portable.
This mini cylinder will handle a good shooting session for rifle refills, however. An air-eating beast like an Airbow or Bulldog will get about eight fills, while a more choosy diner like the Marauder pistol or Challenger rifle will get about 30 fills.
A tube of Pellgun oil is the best couple of dollars you can spend if you shoot CO2 handguns and rifles.
Crosman Pellgun Oil
If you have CO2 or pneumatic pump airguns, Crosman Pellgun Oil is a must-have accessory. Period, paragraph, end of story. The good news is a tube will cost you less than five bucks. The other good news is a tube will last you a long time. The best news is it’ll keep your airguns running at peak performance for years and years.
Proper usage couldn’t be easier. Just apply a drop to the tip of each CO2 cylinder you’re about to load. As the gun’s internal stabber pierces the cylinder, right through your newly applied drop of oil, the lubricant and preservative will get blasted through the action with each subsequent shot. It’ll keep parts moving freely and apply preservative additives to keep the seals soft and leak-free.
Pellgun Oil is a petroleum product, so do not use it for high-pressure airguns, especially PCP models as petroleum lubes can combust under high pressure. There are silicone-based lubricants for safe application in high-pressure situations.
SIG’s self-contained shooting gallery!
SIG Airgun Quad Shooting Gallery
Voila! Instant range and bullet trap in one easy-to-transport package. This self-contained, all-metal target system is designed for lead shot and pellets. You get four knockdown mini-silhouette targets in the box. In the center is a SIG SAUER logo target serving as a reset for the system, so you can camp out in your shooting chair and skip getting up to reset your targets.
The box serves as a safe backstop and also catches all the stray BBs and pellets, so you won’t get in trouble with your significant other for leaving a mess.
The folks at Hunters Supply are certified airgun geeks. If you’ve got a rifle .25
caliber or above, check them out for a broad array of pellets and slugs.
Hunters Supply Lead Projectile Extravaganza
Here’s a little secret — the folks at Hunters Supply make a veritable plethora of airgun-specific projectiles. As you might have noticed, serious-caliber airguns from .25 on up to .50 are all the rage. This opens up a new world of pellet options. Actually, within this range think “slugs” rather than pellets, although you can get traditionally-shaped pellets in ginormous sizes too.
Wanna launch a .45 caliber, 520-grain hunk of lead downrange?
Tom has several hand pumps but finds the Gamo model the most useful.
It’s well built and features a built-in manometer.
Gamo Hand Pump
I’ve got a few miscellaneous hand pumps floating around the man cave, but the one I reach for first is the Gamo model. If you’re new to airgunning, be aware these are nothing like bicycle tire pumps. This one outputs 4,500 psi of compressed air to fill even the most air-hungry rifle, pistol or airbow.
The built-in manometer (air pressure gauge) is easy to read and precise for safe and accurate fills. The foot stabilizers are generous and fold up for easy storage. This is a solid piece of gear.
Tom shoots the frangible Dust Devils at standard steel plates, in his garage.
Dust Devil BBs
We’re blessed with an abundance of realistic and affordable BB pistol options great for training. With precisely matched dimensions and operation to centerfire equivalent pistols and revolvers, we can now train safely in the garage, basement, or if your neighbors don’t mind, backyard.
You can shoot steel BBs through paper and into a trap or other safe backstop, but if you want to experience the feedback of shooting more reactive targets, check out frangible BBs.
As the name implies, the Dust Devil BBs shatter into … dust when they strike a hard target like a steel plate. No ricochets mean improved safety and less mess when you’re finished. These are a little rougher on the surface than traditional BBs, so they may not feed quite as reliably in all actions. I’ll take this tradeoff for an improved shooting experience.
This FX Pocket Doppler Radar chronograph isn’t much larger than a deck of cards.
FX Pocket Chronograph
This little device, not much larger than a deck of cards, is the cat’s meow. It’s a Doppler Radar chronograph powered by three AAA batteries. It’s so small you can either set it on the bench or hang it below the muzzle. The device pairs with a companion smartphone app that captures the shot string data and does all the fancy math to output energy levels, standard deviations and all that.
This model is airgun specific and works up to about 1,200 fps or so. Word is the company is working on a centerfire-compatible version too. Stay tuned.
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