 Hey folks, welcome to another video today. We're gonna be talking to Tom Gaylord the godfather of airguns himself I had an opportunity to catch up with Tom on a visit to Air Force air guns down in Texas It was great to see him always a pleasure and we wanted to sit down and capture some of his thoughts Get the opportunity to get a little back-and-forth banter going so we did that and it's gonna be a six-part series today part one We're talking advice and tips for the new air gunner Hopefully you guys can glean something from it if you do give us a like if you don't let us know What we missed in the comments down below and as always we appreciate it a ton if you subscribe let's get to the video Well, there's two kinds of new air gunners. There's some that are new to shooting and Those guys got to start a little further back than the other kind Which are guys that are coming over from firearms sure they're coming over because ammo is short or ammo is expensive either way and When they looked into your guns, they found oh my gosh things have changed these air guns are quite different So what tips do I have for them? I? Say don't get that best gun that you want for the first gun because you don't know what you don't know That's a fair point. I always go by the like by the best you can afford mentality You know agree with that when you know what you know But if these guys they think they're going to get one inch ten shot groups at a hundred yards And they start going on the forums and these guys will jolly them up I think they ought to learn something about the guns however comma Those guys are probably going to stay in the pre-charged pneumatic field sure because they want accurate guns So they've already eliminated two power plants co2 and spring piston Right, and so it's a it's a little quicker for them if they will spend the time To get the features they really really want Some of them read about air gun silencers, and they think oh boy Well, they're going silencers relate to the power of the air gun and you can't silence of 60 70 pound air gun like you can one that's doing 20 30, but sure absolutely So I would look at that And those guys are shooters already so they know about breathing and trigger control they probably don't know about follow-through because Their firearm bullets are so much faster than pellets, and that's another thing they need to learn So with PCPs though, they're jumping over that right like like the lock time Considerations you have with the spring piston or gas piston gun are completely different than with a PCP They are but they have to remember that the pellet still takes time to get out of the PCP barrel Where they might be putting out a pellet at 900 to 1100 feet per second with an accurate PCP They're used to 3,000 feet per second with their AR 15 right and there's a big difference They could make a lot of mistakes with the AR 15 that they can't make with a pre-charged gun You know that because in field target That's the name of the game. Yeah, it's very true You know you get away with a lot of things with the PCP that you don't with the spring I actually just started shooting more spring piston stuff this year because I've kind of gotten bored with the Just how easy the PCP thing is and that's not to say I'm cleaning courses because I'm not but but you know a lot of People like that's something we talked to new members and everything about all the time where it's you know These are folks that that are just getting into it. Maybe they show up with a 20-foot pound springer 20-foot pound springer is tough to shoot anything but pests with in my opinion Like if you're using it for field target, that is a tall ask for any gun Where it may be better to get you into a you know starter PCP I would agree, you know even a gauntlet Avenger whatever, you know You want to go with or something as expensive as a marauder, you know into that five hundred six hundred dollar territory They're all great options and much easier to learn on you know And yes, there are some quirks and then the extra cost of filling the gun is another consideration that these people have to make But in my opinion it's like bite the bullet and do it because if you know you're gonna end up there If you're not addicted to spring guns Then just like bite the bullet by a tank by a personal compressor Whatever and get into PCPs now and you can always upgrade the gun later. Well, that's my recommendation for the shooter He doesn't have any problem spending sixteen hundred dollars on an AR-15 Take that same sixteen hundred dollars and buy a carbon fiber tank a personal compressor and a nice Precharged gun. He won't even spend sixteen hundred dollars. Yeah So but what about the guy that doesn't know how to shoot he's got a longer Road a hoe. Yeah Personally, I think those people should start with the spring or a gas piston gun because if you don't know how to shoot That will teach you how to shoot and shoot anything. It will force you to learn how to shoot Yeah, because that's where the follow-through really comes in I wouldn't go to the box store and buy the one you can afford for a hundred and fifty nine ninety five. I Would spend time again, and I would spend at the minimum think about 250 to 350 dollars and get something that's got quality get something that's got a nice trigger or at least people say it has Something that's decently accurate and what's gonna happen with about I don't know 50% of these guys who are not shooters They're gonna find out. Yes, everybody says it's decently accurate. I can't get it to shoot They're gonna have to learn how to follow through as you know. Yeah, it's certainly something you have to You have to take your time with as we all know and then it's more than just finding the right pellet It's more than you know figuring out the right hold I mean their scope considerations mounting them and making sure that they're lasting a long time You know the problem I have with especially now recommending a lot of spring piston or gas piston guns Is the cost the price ranges are so much different than they were when I got into it Like used to be able to get a Diana 34 for 300 bucks or under 300 bucks right in the case of synthetic And that was a great option and now, you know because of inflation and you know the kind of All the madness that the pandemics brought with shipping and all those things and costs going up everywhere Those guns are four hundred dollars plus, right, you know And if you're gonna spend that kind of money, you can get a R9 or you know something That's truly top of the line that'll last your lifetime. Yes. Yes, and that's something they need to research Even though they don't know how to shoot they do need to look into which guns are gonna last and be heirloom type guns and Which guns are guys constantly selling so they can buy something else? Yeah, and we're only talking about rifles so far the point We could talk about pistols, too But air pistols are so different than air rifles When you compare them to firearm pistols and rifles Both firearm pistols and rifles shoot a very fast bullet Obviously rifles faster, but with air pistols Four or five hundred feet per second might be all you're gonna get. Yeah One of the ones I like is that the one you put together on pyramid air. You can may build it Oh, I built the Godfather's gold gun out of it. Are you talking about that Adam? Yeah, the AP-16 sure Isn't that cool great gun? Yeah, but and you could pick the length of the barrel Which gives you well because of the length of the tube underneath it gives you the number of shots It gives you the velocity a lot of cool things you can do with that but a high price point. It's a thousand dollar gun Yeah, well, I wouldn't start on that if I were starting out shooting for the first time. I Tell you where I would start one gun You heard it from the Godfather folks Beaman P-17. How's he's my gosh? How can you go wrong? You might have to fix it yourself if you have to fix it yourself Go to the pyramid air blog and we describe how to take it apart and fix it right right But the beauty of that gun is it's got a decent trigger is decent accuracy The only thing I would say is don't get one for your wife or your 13 year old daughter Because it's a little hard to pump. Yeah. Yeah, so I think that's true now What about CO2 we haven't talked about that So this is one of the things that I think is actually really simple for folks at home Like if you have a gun you are looking to carry or that you use as a personal defense weapon in the home or outside of the Home, yeah, it's simple. That's what you buy you buy that replica and that's what you practice with right? Like that's a super easy thing to do And and a lot of people I don't want to say overlook the practicality of it But they don't think about it. The the dots don't necessarily connect and that's actually one of the things We've seen you know through the pandemic is a lot of people that are like I want to get a replica on my carry gun Because I can't afford ammo. I can't find ammo. I need to practice Sure, so I can protect myself and potentially my family Tyler. It ain't just putting the pellet through the hole or Making the hole with the pellet It's getting the gun out of your holster when it's tucked under your jeans because you're carrying conceal Sure, I am on the watchmen team at church and I carry a P 365 9 millimeter And the most concern I have is how fast can I get that gun out? Because the guy in white settlement who dropped the shooter after he killed somebody in church He had his gun out really quick. Yeah, but he teaches that So I would say the replica air gun if it is a true replica and some of them are so fine They are so spot-on. Yep, they're gonna teach you not only just how to shoot pellets But also or babies But also how to get the gun out and how to put the gun away and how to be safe with the gun. Yep That's actually in my opinion. I like Using a replica better than dry firing my, you know Carry pistol just because it's it gives you some kind of feedback, right? Sure. Yeah, sure The recoil is never gonna be exactly the same as your 9 millimeter or 380 But you know, it's close enough for government work to make sure that you are you know Maintaining a good solid grip so that you're keeping those sights on target and that you're finding your target past the sights You know making sure everything's lined up, right? And you can do so many things practicing with a co2 pistol in your garage or your basement Even with BBs, you know, you can build yourself some little soft traps that you know are gonna catch all of your BBs for pennies You just wrote about that. Yeah off traps rubber mulch in a cardboard box. Yep. Oh my gosh For $7 you got a trap that'll stop a 22 long rifle if it's 12 inches deep and When you shoot up the front of the box turn it sideways Start over. Yep. Yep, and it'll catch BBs which so many traps won't do these days Yeah, yeah, you don't have bounce backs and ricochets and things like that steel traps are great But those BBs do come back. Yeah, and even for the competition shooter out there You know if you're not carrying concealed and you are working from and outside the waste holster You know, that's great just to get reps in in the basement or the backyard wherever you're gonna do it It's fine and and shoot, you know, even with like your low ricochet No ricochet BBs your dust doubles and your smart shots, you know You can buy some steel targets or use the steel targets you have and get that nice sound, you know that ting ting ting You don't forget to wear the glasses. Absolutely. Yeah, because sometimes even even the dust evils a large piece could come back Sure, I've never been hurt by one But I don't want anybody to be hurt. Yeah. Yeah for sure Well, I would say the last thing I would tell a new shooter to air guns is Don't rush out and buy something just because you got $300 in your pocket Spend some time on the internet and look around because not everybody who's saying things is necessarily saying true things Find out who you can trust and who you can't trust and spend some time reading and The more you do the more Are you gonna make the perfect choice? I never have not first time But you're gonna get closer. Yeah, and that's what it's all about. Yeah, do some research You know, I think that's the easiest way to do it Don't you don't have to feel like the money's burning a hole in your pocket. There's so many options out there Most of the guns are in reliable supply these days Where it's not a huge deal, you know the ammo is gonna be the harder part even on the air gun side right now You know, and that's another consideration too is you got to think about the caliber you're gonna be using if you're doing Small game stuff if that's why you're buying an air gun for pest control. Can I say something by a 22 you just Okay, there are four small bore air gun calibers 177 20 22 and 25 177 Everybody's got up sure everybody. Yeah 22 the next most popular However, the next to 20 and 25 used to be People were going to the 20 well these days the choices in 20 caliber pellets are fewer and fewer But in 25, they're growing. Yep, and that's because of hunting and even long-range shooting so my recommendation I'm not telling you a caliber to buy but but Think about it before you buy like you just said. Yes Yeah, and don't buy a 177 to shoot small game at 80 yards. No, it's not realistic No, you know, think about what you're doing read some blogs watch some videos that people that are actually doing it See what they're using, you know, and and you'll get a real quick idea of what you need Thanks for joining Tom and I hopefully you guys enjoyed it and stay tuned for more content We've got five more parts coming here soon So be on the lookout for part number two coming at you in the near future and please We appreciate it a ton if you guys like comment And if you're not already subscribed keeps us going here keeps the channel growing and gives us more opportunities Put out awesome content