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While most of my reasons for hating January and February are based on the obvious- daylight savings enhanced short days, bitter wet-cold temperatures, and Murphy’s Law events that tend to happen outside on the coldest, most miserable days. There is one rather selfish reason to pine for the warmer temps, and that is shooting CO2 powered pistols and airguns. To be sure, it can be done! You just have to be strategic about it.

You don’t want to be the parent, aunt or uncle or grandparent that gives lame-o gifts. This is one thing that is nearly unforgivable. You can make lousy stuffing, you can have poor taste in your own wardrobe, but do not give bad gifts. What makes this list HOT is that there’s not a bummer on it. In fact we’ve left out tons of great stuff in this list. What we’ve concentrated on here is a best-of-the-best list guaranteed to please and curry favor with the gift recipients.

If you shoot PCP rifles or have been wanting to go beyond your break barrels and enter the world of PCPs there’s no doubt you’ve asked yourself how you’re going to get enough air to push that airgun pellet or slug to your airgun target. Making a trip to the local scuba shop is a hassle and shelling out a lot of money for a dependable air compressor that’s not easy to travel with isn’t attractive, especially for airgun hunters.

Maybe rock and roll isn’t everyone’s cup of tea in music, but surely the alternative meaning, i.e. select fire is. Come on, man, everyone loves full auto! So without further ado, let’s take a look at some of the coolest full-auto and burst mode airguns Umarex has in the warehouse.

There are a few secular holidays that we hold here in the US that really matter. July 4th comes to mind as well as Memorial Day. The rest are really just glorified days off for federal employees and bankers with the exception of Veterans Day. Veterans Day is, in my mind, at least, a humbling day. It is a day where we can reflect on those who, voluntary or not, put on a uniform to serve their country.

You can always tell when you see something that is a notch or two better than most everything else. It looks different. It feels different. It performs differently, too. That is exactly what an encounter with the new USA assembled RWS Model 3400 and Model 3500 is like. Eye appeal is nothing to scoff at. Eye appeal made the Chevrolet Chevelle a hit and the Nova, not so much of a hit. Beautifully crafted stuff just appeals to people on a whole ‘nother level. While an old Nova can still be had for worker’s wages, a decent Chevelle will command a wheelbarrow load of clams.

Hitting what you are aiming at is a chief concern with any shooting device. Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades—ok that is a slight exaggeration, but you get the point. Rifle accuracy is something that really matters. You do need to understand that the biggest factor in accuracy is the dummy behind the trigger, but there are some simple steps you can take to make sure your air rifle is in tip-top shape for hunting or knocking the X-ring out of a target.

Bob Dylan wrote a song, alluded to in the title, in the midst of a decade of radical change. Funny thing is, that decade has come back to haunt us in ways that the sleepy majority did not foresee. Be that as it may, where we stand now is at a crossroads. If, God forbid, the wheels come off the wagon...

It really doesn’t need to be said, but I’ll go ahead and say it, this year has been more than just weird. The mood in the outdoors industry was that 2020 was looking to be a ho-hum year. There were challenges popping up in the market mixed with some good news, but overall, we and many others in the industry were ready to buckle down for a long, hard year of working towards our goals. Then, like a wheel weight getting knocked off of a tire, the whole world was out of balance.

After spending nine years mostly within the marketing realm of the fishing industry I was astounded that there was such a big marketplace for airguns. I mean, an air gun to me 14 years ago was a Marksman pistol that shot BBs and darts and maybe pellets and what my memory assumes was a Daisy pump gun. Childhood memories. Then I met some people running a legit airgun company.