Yesterday I was heading out to my shop before work and there was a pile of English House Sparrows taking cover under my old Ford Ranger that I drive back and forth to work. The birds flew to a nearby lilac bush to take cover. I have been thinning these little flying mice down for months and seems like there are more now then ever.
I usually grab my FWB but for some reason grabbed the 392. This is a gun that I got on sale awhile back and really never shoot. I did take the time to get it sighted in with the factory irons, but that was about the extent of my shooting. However, I did a full teardown and gave the whole gun a good debur and polish when I first got it. I pumped it 8 times and loaded a 14.3gr cp and headed back out the shop door planning to take out a sparrow. When I got lined up on the lilac bush I quickly realized the little flying mice had left and headed for safer cover. Since the gun was cocked and ready to rock, I figured I would just walk to the other side of my shop and shoot at one of my spinners to unload the 392. To my surprise a Grey squirrel was sitting right in front of my spinners and backstop just eating away at bird seed that had fallen from the feeders. Haven't had squirrel for awhile and it sounded good, so I took careful aim and made a clean 20 yard kill placing the pellet right thru the throat.
I quickly skinned it and had it soaking before leaving for work. Today I browned it in a pan of oil and it is now in the crock pot with carrots, onions, and brown gravy.
Now that the back story of why I got the 392 out has been told, on to the "suprise". Last night after work, I really wanted to knock out some things on my to do list. That list being my list not the list of things my wife wants done. Of course my list involves mainly cool stuff like guns, hunting, and outdoor related tasks. Since it was blowing and colder than a well diggers rear end, I settled into my shop, cranked up the furnace and started shooting airguns. I had a number of CO2 and pumper guns that needed sighted in as I have been moving around optics and had a few guns I just reassembled that needed the irons zeroed back in. Once I finished zeroing all the other guns, I thought the 392 deserved some time on paper. The next 30 or so minutes rekindled my love for the old Classic Benji pumpers.
Pellet after pellet, I continued to stack CP's in a single hole with the factory irons. At first I was amazed, but amazement soon brought back old memories of just how much I used to shoot a now long since sold 392. This new 392 proved to be just as precise as the much older version I owned years back.
I find myself spending much more time analyzing and pondering my shooting and hunting. A recent read and video series has put me back in the mindset I have typically lived my life by which is that of simplicity for the most part. Airguns and especially the pcp variety have consumed my life for a number of years now and the 392 has again reminded me of things much simpler and why I enjoy simplicity so much!!
In all honesty part of my joy and excitement of my recent 392 experience had alot to do with the fact that the modern benji pumpers still are capable of the precision of those well crafted classics of years past. Yes, they lack the quality and now using cheaper materials than the guns of yesteryear, but the same simple accurate gun still exists. That I like!!
Do I feel as though I am going to sell off all my other airguns and just rely on a trusty benji pumper to fulfill my airgunning pleasures? The answer is definitely NO, but getting reacquainted with a pumper and exposing again what a great tool they really are was just a great feeling. A feeling that I need to regularly exercise!!
I usually grab my FWB but for some reason grabbed the 392. This is a gun that I got on sale awhile back and really never shoot. I did take the time to get it sighted in with the factory irons, but that was about the extent of my shooting. However, I did a full teardown and gave the whole gun a good debur and polish when I first got it. I pumped it 8 times and loaded a 14.3gr cp and headed back out the shop door planning to take out a sparrow. When I got lined up on the lilac bush I quickly realized the little flying mice had left and headed for safer cover. Since the gun was cocked and ready to rock, I figured I would just walk to the other side of my shop and shoot at one of my spinners to unload the 392. To my surprise a Grey squirrel was sitting right in front of my spinners and backstop just eating away at bird seed that had fallen from the feeders. Haven't had squirrel for awhile and it sounded good, so I took careful aim and made a clean 20 yard kill placing the pellet right thru the throat.
I quickly skinned it and had it soaking before leaving for work. Today I browned it in a pan of oil and it is now in the crock pot with carrots, onions, and brown gravy.
Now that the back story of why I got the 392 out has been told, on to the "suprise". Last night after work, I really wanted to knock out some things on my to do list. That list being my list not the list of things my wife wants done. Of course my list involves mainly cool stuff like guns, hunting, and outdoor related tasks. Since it was blowing and colder than a well diggers rear end, I settled into my shop, cranked up the furnace and started shooting airguns. I had a number of CO2 and pumper guns that needed sighted in as I have been moving around optics and had a few guns I just reassembled that needed the irons zeroed back in. Once I finished zeroing all the other guns, I thought the 392 deserved some time on paper. The next 30 or so minutes rekindled my love for the old Classic Benji pumpers.
Pellet after pellet, I continued to stack CP's in a single hole with the factory irons. At first I was amazed, but amazement soon brought back old memories of just how much I used to shoot a now long since sold 392. This new 392 proved to be just as precise as the much older version I owned years back.
I find myself spending much more time analyzing and pondering my shooting and hunting. A recent read and video series has put me back in the mindset I have typically lived my life by which is that of simplicity for the most part. Airguns and especially the pcp variety have consumed my life for a number of years now and the 392 has again reminded me of things much simpler and why I enjoy simplicity so much!!
In all honesty part of my joy and excitement of my recent 392 experience had alot to do with the fact that the modern benji pumpers still are capable of the precision of those well crafted classics of years past. Yes, they lack the quality and now using cheaper materials than the guns of yesteryear, but the same simple accurate gun still exists. That I like!!
Do I feel as though I am going to sell off all my other airguns and just rely on a trusty benji pumper to fulfill my airgunning pleasures? The answer is definitely NO, but getting reacquainted with a pumper and exposing again what a great tool they really are was just a great feeling. A feeling that I need to regularly exercise!!
