Airgunner Tempted by Shotgun

I recently spent a day with a shooting party made up of a mix of shotgunners and airgunners and was surprised - as an airgun-only shooter - just how many of them regularly used both types of gun. And after handling some really luxurious shotgun kit, I'm beginning to think a 12-bore is a perfect complement to an airgunner's gun cabinet!

Owning a quality airgun is as important to me as shooting it - and I've got some really beautiful custom specials in my gun room. I'm also a bit of a horologist - I love the intricacies of watches... so when I recently spent some time with the Webley & Scott commemorative '220' sidelock (celebrating the famous gunmaker's 220-year heritage), I found myself getting the urge to 'go cartridge'!

Now, I'm not saying that I'm going to convert from airguns... but I've already applied for a shotgun certificate. And my first shotgun - as was the case with my first 'adult' airgun - will most probably be a Webley. After all, I've got such a lovely collection of their vintage air rifles and pistols, it would be silly not to keep a theme going.

As my blog was born out of a request from the editor of Sporting Shooter magazine, I'm sure airgunners won't mind me showing a couple of images of the sidelock version of Webley's beautiful 220 model (in 28-inch 20g side-by-side format) for the benefit of shotgunning readers of my blog. For a watch collector who's into quality airgun kit and a big fan of the early Webley years, it's most definitely hardware to get quite moist over!

If there are any airgunners out there who also shoot shotguns (or vice versa), I'd appreciate any pointers. I've only really busted a few clays at corporate events - on which I've recorded a 65-70% hit-rate - but I've never done any rough shooting. Is it easier or harder than hunting with an airgun?