Woo hoo! First shoot with my new pistol. ?

The local gun range is still mostly closed but they were happy to let me fill my pistol with air. Having a place to shoot is just one of the factors we must consider when shooting air guns. My own home only has a tiny garden and I managed to find about 6 metres of clear space for my range. The fence at the end of the garden backs on to a public footpath so stray pellets going through the fence is a distinct possibility.

i looked at ways of preventing stray pellets from penetrating the not very substantial wooden fence and decided upon a metal backstop. I found that checker plate (used as a grippy area on industrial type floors) was plentiful and I ordered some. It turns out that it was made from sheet aluminium of 2mm in thickness. I decided to double the thickness so that a sub 6ft pound pellet would not penetrate it or the wooden fence behind it.

I set it up and covered the metal with a packing case so that cardboard might deaden the sound of pellets hitting metal and possibly not annoy the neighbours quite as much. I put up some targets and started to practice. The gun is really nice to handle although I was shooting a little high. Once I have my grip sorted and my eye gets accustomed to the open sight, I should be able to improve on my current group. My makeshift range permits me to practice pistol shooting while keeping passing members of the pubic safe.

Images that show where I am currently shooting...