Noon Air

So, it's like this: I have a life outside of airguns. I know. Sacrilege, but I have to do something to pay the bills. However once in a while the two overlap. This is one such case. Here is the thing: I can't tell you what it is! hmmmmm... So it comes down to this do you trust me?rnrnHere is what I need. I some new software that lets me create small desktop "widgets" such as RSS readers and things like that. I have created one such program that gathers some RSS feeds from a couple of sources and put together a widget that you can install on the desktop and play. I would like a couple of people to email me and I will send them the Widget. I would like those people to try it, and let me know what they think, and what needs improvement. This is definitely airgun related, It is something I created for myself to enjoy, and I would ask you not to send it to other people. There is no charge for this and it is for my own educational and review purposes only. You can email me at Noonproductions@me.com.rnrnThanksrnTony Noon

I have had an unfortunate lack of time for airguns and this blog as of late. I have been busy with my career trying to get my video production business up and running. As I am working a full day at my day job, then coming home and installing software for another eight hours, I find I am just not having enough time to get out and shoot. I have been keeping an eye out for a woodchuck or two though. When They come crawling, I think I will have to make some time to go shooting! That is one thing I love about my Benjamin Discovery. When I am ready to go shooting, it is ready to go with me. I have never had a problem with it and I trust it. If I have to shoot something, that is the gun I will grab.

Finally starting to feel like spring here. Recently I had time to test my new CO2 pistol, the Crosman T4 OPTS. I bought some of the Crosman 12 gram CO2 cartridges. (Previously I had used the Copperhead CO2 cartridges.) Unfortunately neither cartridge worked well in the gun. I used the standard operating procedure, including placing a couple drops of pelgun oil on the cartridge, but the piercing lever just would not press the cartridge firmly enough against the piercing nozzle in the gun. Eventually after several attempts I was able to get a slight pierce of the cartridge causing a slow release of the CO2 from the cartridge. As a result I have not had great luck shooting this gun. At this point I can't recommend this gun.

It is a sad day in Mudville. My girlfriend and I just went out to shoot some plastic bottles. (We like to do this to kill time when we have nothing else to do and no money to do it with.) while we where out with the Disco we saw a hawk and about a dozen squirrels. The rodents where chattering like crazy with the two of us there and the large predator over head. In fact there were so many squirrels it became necessary to cut our session short so that we would not hit one. If it was only squirrel season!

I am poor right now. I have had major truck issues involving thousands of dollars in repairs. The net result is less money for my hobbies. Fortunately I have my airguns. The great thing about airguns is there are nice guns in almost all price points. I have guns that are very nice that I paid less than a hundred dollars for. (My 2250, and my 760 come to mind.) For less than $200 you can get a Benjamin 392 or 397. From there on the skies the limit. When you do have a gun, for a few dollars you can shoot all day. This makes it a very inexpensive hobby. I love it.

I am cheating a little today. I am going to direct my readers (Both of you! :) to Tom Gaylord's blog. My goal is to get myself to a point where I can write in a clear, distinct style that educates and entertains. Tom is an expert at this. Plus, his report makes me want this gun even more. rnhttp://www.pyramydair.com/blog/

I am a Fanboy. In day to day life, I read sci-fi and watch Star Trek. I have even been known to go to a convention or two. Basically that translates to NERD. In the Nerd world there is a sort of uber nerd called a "fanboy" that is over zealous in his appreciation of a certain show or comic. I feel that way about Crosman. I was looking at my collection of guns and the vast majority are Crosman. The three guns that I would like to buy this year, The Nitro Trail with the composite stock, The Marauder Pistol and the .25 cal Marauder are all Crosman. (technically Benjamin, but...) Even my preferred optics are Crosman. I have three Centerpoint scopes: 2-7 x 32, 3-10x32, and 4-16 x 40(?)AO. (I like the 2-7 the best and have it on my Disco.) I even have a Crosman hat. (By the way, I would love a nice natural fiber tan hat with the Benjamin Discovery Logo embroidered on the front if someone from Crosman ever reads this!) Yeah, I am a Crosman Fanboy.

So today the weather broke 50 degrees for the first time. And with the increase of the temperature came the fluttering of the wings of the house swallows that live on my air conditioner. That would not be a problem except that they start fluttering at 5 am, and I work second shift. When the babies come along, there is a constant tweet tweet tweet. I have decided that enough is enough and I am looking at how the best way to get rid of them will be. I have a viper express shot gun, but I have not had very good luck with it as a shot gun. Twice I have shot at swallows and watched as the leaves around the birds flutter with shot and the birds don't move since they did not realize I had shot at them. So I looked at my gun rack and saw the 2260b. Yup, low enough power to shoot safely in my back yard, quiet enough not to upset the neighbors and still has enough power to kill a sparrow even in this lower temperature. I spent the afternoon getting it sighted in. Today I practiced, tomorrow I shoot.

I am looking forward to the middle of April. That is when I start to see my favorite air rifle prey, Woodchucks. Last year I was able to get several of these creatures around the property I live on at my land lords request. (They where tunneling under our driveway and had to be removed.) This year I want to expand and try to hunt them on some of the farms around here. I have heard rumors that they had been a problem on a farm less than 5 minutes from my house. My family is pretty good friends with the people that own the farm so I think I am going to approach them. Of course this also means I need to make sure my Benjamin Discovery is sighted and ready to go. I guess I know what I am doing this weekend!

I admit it, I like to break stuff. When I was a kid, there was nothing better than shooting glass bottles with my Crosman 760 pumped up to ten. I am older now, and have stepped on my share of broken glass. I know that smashing bottles is not as cool as it was when I was 14. However, I still like seeing things explode when I hit them. That is why I like the Daisy Shatter Blast disks. They shatter quite nicely when hit with a low power airgun, such as the 760. When using a high power gun like the Disco, it is actually possible to punch a hole through them like some kind of orange doughnut! This is actually even more fun because you can continue to shoot the same disk. My first shooting experience was using a Daisy 25 shooting at clay pigeons with my Dad. That little gun would ping off the clay without breaking them. It kind of seems appropriate that now as an adult I am shooting clay disks made by Daisy. Plus they are biodegradable so that after I cleanup the pieces any I missed will disappear and not get stuck in my foot if I walk through the area barefoot in a year.