Are airguns really all they are pumped up to be? The answer is that they can be a much bigger factor for retailers than one might imagine at first glance. It really just depends on how individual retailers handle them.
From recreational airsoft guns that look like the real thing to classic BB guns and pellet guns to pre-charged pneumatics that can dispatch big-game animals, airguns are a factor in the marketplace, and their presence is growing because of their affordability and ease of use in a wide range of settings.
It takes trigger time for anyone to be proficient with anything that shoots. It’s a matter of hand/eye coordination and a lot more. In that sense, airguns represent tremendous value and can be important for many customers who might not realize it if they are not educated on the subject. Hence, airguns represent repeated opportunities to upsell and cross-sell during day-to-day business.
Although most of the focus in the shooting sports industry is on firearms, there are, and have been for a long time, choices beyond powder-burning projectile launching pads. Certainly, archery falls into the alternative category, but it is a subject in its own right. The other major alternative is airguns, whether they shoot bullets or bolts.
Like many modern products, airguns have evolved tremendously in recent times. Once relegated to the BB or pellet gun worlds, airguns now have become valid for everything from plinking and small-game hunting to big-game hunting and serious international competition.
Some states now allow airguns for use in deer hunting and the hunting of other game species. Airguns have been used successfully on African hunting safaris and have always been prevalent in the varmint/pest arena, especially in densely populated areas because they can be used safely and effectively in places that are not suitable for the use of regular firearms.
On the big-game hunting front, airguns now are recognized by Safari Club International in that organization’s Record Book and World Hunting Awards programs. They have come a long, long way from the days of the original Red Ryder BB gun that youngsters used to engage targets ranging from bottles and cans to small birds and rodents.
And airguns have been factors in serious competitions around the world since the late 19th Century. They are currently used in Olympic competitions. Heck, the air rifle was a factor in the Lewis and Clark expedition way back in the very early 1800s. I personally competed with airguns in the 1960s and fully appreciate their precision and performance. And Roy Weatherby told me some of the details of a nitrogen gun he developed for the government that achieved more than 10,000 fps muzzle velocity with what amounted to a narrow needle-like projectile. He explained that the penetration it realized was phenomenal.
With such a long history, why is it that airguns have not enjoyed wider use until recent years? The answers are many, but the short retort is because of firearms. In other countries where firearms are not available as readily as they are in the United States, airguns have enjoyed a much wider following. And, as this country becomes more populated, airguns are at last coming into their own. They are destined to be a much bigger factor in the future than they have been in the past.
Airguns range generally from .17 to .72 caliber, and they shoot bullets like powder-burning rifles and handguns, or they can shoot bolts like crossbows. Some of the more powerful airguns deliver performance similar to that of the .44 Remington Magnum cartridge as a comparison to firearms.
Like any product line, the basic question for retailers is: should airguns be stocked at all? If so, to what level? And, as usual, the answer hinges largely on local clientele combined with potential local clientele. It’s possible that there is a local market for airguns that has yet to be tapped. It’s worth considering the shop’s presence on the airgun front because airguns promise to be around for a long, long time. Longterm, they promise to be a significant factor.
Given the nature of traditional airgun shooters, these guns have been entry level items worth at least passive attention. This is because they are a way to create future customers for all of the other product categories in the store. And, given recent development in the airgun industry, they will be a bigger factor in the future than they ever could have been in the past.
For example, the airgun industry, with an annual impact of more than $4 billion globally, has been growing at slightly more than 8% per year. That’s not setting the world on fire, but it is positive growth and that growth has been steady.
Some of this growth is the result of the value airguns have when it comes to practice shooting. For example, there are air handguns that are the same size as their firearm counterparts. This means they are perfect for practice shooting outdoors or indoors. In fact, they can provide valuable shooting practice right in the home, condo or apartment.
This is significant in that, as the population continues to expand, there are fewer and fewer places to shoot firearms in or around major population centers. Yet airguns afford daily practice at home for those who want to keep their proficiency at top levels, even when they can’t get to a live fire shooting range with their firearms.
So, we’re back to the original questions: Are airguns really all they are pumped up to be? The answer is that they can be a factor way beyond anything one might imagine at first glance. It depends on how individual retailers want to play the airgun card. Maybe now is the time to get pumped.
