Airgunner sitting
  • - Features
  • - Features

Moving with the times

Mat Manning looks at recent developments in airgun shooting that could bring a welcome boost to your pest control efforts.

The past few years have seen some massive developments in airgun technology. Recoilless pre-charged air rifles are one example of how these advancements have made it easier to achieve the required standard to carry out humane pest control, but there are countless other innovations that have helped me to gain those vital extra percentages. Here are some of the gadgets that have enhanced my airgun shooting – I hope some of them might prove useful to you in 2026.

Versatile gun support

One of the greatest things about recoilless pre-charged airguns is the fact you can take supported shots without the point of impact shifting as a result of any kick caused by moving parts. I have been using bipods to eliminate my wobbles when shooting prone for decades and always take advantage of the opportunity to use trees and fences for added stability when they’re in the right place.

The obvious next step was to try shooting sticks, which provide a portable platform for standing and kneeling shots. My initial experimentation with them proved frustrating though, because I found the fixed support they provided too restrictive. That problem was quickly solved when I first tried trigger stickgun rests.

These lightweight tripod shooting sticks are perfect for airgun shooting. Apart from being easy to carry, they have a trigger-operated height-adjustment mechanism. Squeeze the trigger and the telescopic legs slide silently in and out. Release it and they lock in position, providing stable gun support for standing, kneeling and even sitting shots. In short, they enable me to cover just about every angle from more or less every stance whether stalking or waiting in a hide.

trigger
Squeeze the trigger on trigger stick shooting sticks and the legs slide up and down to adjust height for different stances.
Airgunner sitting
Trigger stick shooting sticks offer rapid height adjustment to provide versatile support from sitting, kneeling and standing positions.

Digital day and night scopes

Not so long ago, night vision riflescopes were expensive, heavy and difficult to operate. Their image quality wasn’t great either, so it’s not hard to understand why
a lot of shooters stuck to traditional lamping kit for after-dark pest control.

Things have changed a lot since then. Although not cheap, modern digital day and night scopes are more affordable, far lighter and very simple to use. They also boast excellent image quality.

Lamp-free infrared optics offer a huge advantage when targeting wary quarry at night, but most digital sights also produce a full colour image by day. They are also loaded with features that assist with effective pest control.

I have been using the Hikmicro Alpex 4K Lite over the past year and can’t fault it. It delivers a pin-sharp monochrome image at night and super-clear colour viewing by day and in twilight. This excellent digital scope retails for around £650 and is equipped with a ballistic calculator. This works in unison with an integral laser rangefinder to automatically adjust your aimpoint to keep shots on target as they travel downrange. Apart from being very useful for longer shots, this feature is also incredibly handy for close-range ratting when it’s easy to get caught out by the amount of holdover required when tackling very close targets.

digital optics
Digital optics with ballistic calculator function automatically adjust the aimpoint to keep you on target at any range.

Muzzle-mounted chronographs

A chronograph is a very useful piece of kit for airgun shooters. Most importantly, it enables you to check your air rifle’s muzzle energy doesn’t exceed the sub-12ft/lb legal limit when switching between different ammunition. It is also an essential tool when tuning an airgun, as you need to know what effect your adjustments are having on muzzle velocity/energy.

It doesn’t matter what type of chronograph you use, but muzzle-mounted models are comparatively affordable (expect to pay between £100 and £150) and very easy to use.

As the name suggests, a muzzle- mounted chronograph attaches to the muzzle of your airgun. They most commonly fit a half-inch UNF thread – ask the seller about adapters if you need a different attachment.

The big advantage with this means of attachment is that the distance between the chronograph and your airgun’s muzzle can never change, which means readings will be absolutely consistent. Some models can even pair with your smartphone, using its screen as a display to show the muzzle velocity and muzzle energy for every shot, along with shot strings and charts.

performance-data
Some muzzle-mouted chronographs can pair with your phone to display and save your airgun's performance data.
muzzle mounted chronograph
Muzzle-mounted chronographs provide a simple and compact means of checking muzzle velocity.

Effective sound suppression

Airgun shooters have been using sound moderators for a very long time, but older models had limited effectiveness and could adversely affect accuracy.

Modern airgun moderators, or silencers, are far more advanced and can mute the muzzle report of sub-12ft/lb, and even high-power FAC-rated, airguns to a mere whisper.

Apart from enabling you to pick off wary pests without creating a loud bang that will put others on edge or send them to ground, an effective sound moderator also makes for very discreet shooting when controlling pests close to residential areas.

It is worth spending a little more to get a really good sound moderator that will genuinely hush-down your airgun without affecting accuracy. Some models even have interchangeable calibre-specific inserts to optimise their performance. Brands to consider include Huggett, 0dB, Eaglevisioncam, Weihrauch, Air Arms and Donny FL.

Airgun moderator
Airgun moderators have come a long way over recent years and are a real asset for discreet pest control.

Slug ammunition

Along with digital optics, slug ammunition has been one of the biggest airgun shooting revolutions of the past five years. Shaped more like bullets than the ‘shuttlecock’ design of traditional airgun pellets, slugs have a vastly superior ballistic coefficient and have the potential to deliver blistering long-range accuracy and knockdown power.

Airgun slugs do have their drawbacks – the main one being that they usually need to travel at high speeds to deliver optimum performance. This factor, combined with the drag caused by their increased contact with the barrel, means they don’t tend to give their best results when used with sub-12ft/lb airguns. Even when used with high-power FAC-rated airguns, slugs need to be travelling at just the right speed to exploit their full accuracy potential and the best slug shooters spend a lot of time tuning, and retuning, their airguns for optimum results.

Get it right, though, and slug ammunition can deliver groups comfortably within one inch at 100 yards when used in conjunction with a properly set up FAC-rated airgun.

airgun slugs
The improved ballistic coefficient of airgun slugs means they have potential for remarkable long-range performance - but results don't always come easy.

Share

Picture of Matt Manning

Matt Manning

Mat Manning is an author and airgun specialist with a passion for shooting and the countryside.