The airgun bonus

Shooting Industry, July, 1997 by Chuck Karwan

"At least 50 percent of the air rifles we sell are for hunting either small game or pests," said Brian Angelmyer, of Welcher's Gun Shop in Tacoma, Wash.

To cater to this market, Welcher's carries a good selection of high-powered air rifles including the Beeman .25 caliber rifles.

Since they're not firearms, airguns are not subject to ordinances that prohibit the discharge of firearms within certain jurisdictional limits or within so many feet of a road or building. Certain small game can be legally hunted with airguns that cannot be hunted with firearms. Airguns are relatively quiet and unobtrusive, and don't attract a lot of negative attention.

Because of their relatively small energy, pellets fired from airguns are easily stopped with such basic backstops as a large phone book, a large block of clay, or small lightweight bullet traps. Thus, the customer can shoot in his backyard, basement, hallway or garage with minimal preparation.

Some dealers set up a small bullet trap in their shop so potential customers can try out their purchase on the spot. Even if there isn't room for such a setup in a shop, Randy Reynolds suggests keeping some quick-clean pellets handy so customers can safely try the trigger pull of the airgun he is thinking about buying. These are non-metallic pellets that are designed to be fired through the bore of an airgun to clean it. The reason for using the quick-clean pellet is that dry firing a spring-piston airgun can damage it, and the quick clean pellet can be fired into a waste basket.

Can you sell airguns in your shop? Yes. They may not be the big ticket items that will drive your sales through the roof, but airguns are steady profit builders. In today's market, that's a bonus.