BB-guns: Toys or tell me more?

And as it happened, I didn't have a target.

Oh, what's that empty pizza-box there?

And the holes came out both sides!

Yip, I remain very much against single-use cardboard.

Next thing it goes up a whale's bottom.

Ok as a last resort as a prepper I keep 4 x of these in the basket room x x x and they are the last resort if the pair of EK Cobra's go down and the Husky 455 fails to start......................................... These are cheap as chips and made of Swedish good as it goes stainless steel...................... www.thebathbushcraftshop.com... Keep an orange pair underneath my pillow being a Wolves FC fan and a pink pair underneath her indoors pillow

a reply to: halfoldman

Not all that sure that it is better than nothing...

You'd be better off, IMHO, with something like a spear, or club. A BB gun isn't going to stop a human, which is what I'm guessing the purpose is??

Have you considered a crossbow?? Are they even legal where you are...?? If they are, you should consider one--with a broadheaded arrow, you're looking at causing serious damage to your target.

a reply to: seagull

It all costs so much money.

For the moment, I'm quite happy with my pistol.

OK, it's not the "real thing".
I mean the worst you can do is take out an eye.

But I mean life comes with an amount of risk.

a reply to: halfoldman

But I mean life comes with an amount of risk.

It surely does. It surely does.

However, I like to minimize risks, if I can. I completely understand the concept of "so much money"!! I run into it all the time...

I have a friend who built a crossbow using PVC, and other ordinary household items--and it's pretty darn powerful for all of that.

There are several you-tube videos out there that show how to build bows with PVC pipes. I keep meaning to try building one, but have not done it yet.

Anyway, hope it works out, and you never, ever have to find out.

Regarding arrows, I've still got original Kalahari Bushman (San) bows and quivers in the cupboard.

a reply to: halfoldman

Is there still poison on it?
Not sure, are you really that curious?

originally posted by: daskakik
a reply to: vonclod
That is right, 6 ft.lbs.

You might even get hauled in for a paintball gun.
SANPA Clarifies: Krugersdorp residents confused about paintball gun possession

However, the South African National Paintball Association (SANPA) advises:

“if you are going to stand in your yard in a suburb shooting at tin targets, for example, this would be illegal, as the discharge of any air rifle or paintball marker is prohibited by local statutes and you could face a fine or even confiscation of your marker. In fact, if somehow you were to shoot over the target and hit a passing person, you could be charged with a whole bunch of things, ranging from assault with a dangerous weapon, contravening the Dangerous Weapons Act and even a charge as serious as pointing of a firearm.”

I wonder if an airbow slides under that rule, it is shaped like a rifle, but fires arrows. At about 180 ft lbs muzzle energy..if classified as archery..maybe. I came close to picking one up today..I want to before they change the rules.
www.umarexusa.com...

Paintball to me is a bit of a different kettle of fish.

Don't really know much about it.

Although people have used paint-ball guns in self-defense.

originally posted by: cmdrkeenkid

originally posted by: halfoldman
A toy, or could it help for protecting me and my family?

No. Ballistics and mass are not in your favor.

First, ballistics. BBs often do not fly straight, lacking rifling or dimpling (such as on a golf ball). Secondly, they have very little mass. A 4.5mm BB has about 5-5.5 grains in it. A low-end 9mm round will have about 155 grains, for comparison. Even a .22 SR round has about 30 grains, if I recall correctly.

they can shoot metal darts, dipped in curare ideally.

yeah we are regulated to plastic pellet guns. my boss had his converted to shoot bb's. had the plastic guts replaced with metal so it would hold the pressure. for about a 100 each.

i got mine to shoot the big palmetto bugs that show up once in a while.

a reply to: vonclod
I know Joerg Sprave mentions on his channel, IIRC, that in Germany the loophole is that the projectile/arrow in those arrow guns isn't launched from inside the barrel but fits over it.

Loading arrows into those airbow type guns seems really slow. I would still go for a paintball gun. Multiple shots and with the self defense balls that are made of solid nylon or even pepper balls you might have a better chance of dissuading someone from advancing.

There does seem to be a silver lining in that article I posted. The case mentioned was thrown out. Guess the court didn't see the farmer taking warning shots at the intruder as something serious.

originally posted by: halfoldman
a reply to: seagull

It all costs so much money.

For the moment, I'm quite happy with my pistol.

OK, it's not the "real thing".
I mean the worst you can do is take out an eye.

But I mean life comes with an amount of risk.

yeah, i worked with a guy that had a glass eye and one day i asked him about it.

he laughed and said, remember how your mom told you not to fool around with a bb gun?

he was sitting on the couch in his living room watching tv and his little brother shot down the hall at the fire place, the bb bounced off something and took out his eye.

i've shot paint ball guns and was surprised at the range they have.

Imagine, in two years time all the guys in the neighborhood are wearing an eye-patch.

"So neighbor how was your ... OK I see it was one of those BBs in the eye days".

originally posted by: daskakik
a reply to: vonclod
I know Joerg Sprave mentions on his channel, IIRC, that in Germany the loophole is that the projectile/arrow in those arrow guns isn't launched from inside the barrel but fits over it.

Loading arrows into those airbow type guns seems really slow. I would still go for a paintball gun. Multiple shots and with the self defense balls that are made of solid nylon or even pepper balls you might have a better chance of dissuading someone from advancing.

There does seem to be a silver lining in that article I posted. The case mentioned was thrown out. Guess the court didn't see the farmer taking warning shots at the intruder as something serious.

Well, strictly in terms of defensively putting an intruder down, the airbow is utterly lethal, maybe even moreso than a firearm..especially with a broadhead. The paintball gun, take a few in the face, and an intruder might jet. I used to buy solid rubber balls, for coyotes, they smarted, in a life or death situation..better than nothing. I would use an air tank vs co2, co2 can freeze up on multiple rapid fire, with air..blast away!!

I'm temped to go get an airbow now..lol, one caveat with the airbow I linked, you need the proper compressor. They do have a version the runs an 88g co2, and a shorter bolt..maybe slightly less unwieldy.
www.umarexusa.com...

ETA..Joerg Sprave does some pretty cool stuff!

a reply to: vonclod
I agree, unless there is more than one or you miss or hit a non vital spot, then you are standing there hoping you can get one thin tube over another thin tube, aim and shoot again before the person or their buddy closes the gap between you and them.

In a scenario like that you would be better off with a regular bow or even a slingbow, a slingshot modded to shoot arrows.

Me, I would have to stick with the paintball gun with a loading mechanism, like those tricked out nerf guns, but instead of foam darts I would load broadhead blowgun darts. Just saw a nerf drum magazine that holds 30 darts.

I know, 5/8 inch, probably as big as you can get away with, is half the width of a typical archery broadhead but I think being able to send half a dozen of them downrange in a couple seconds makes up for that.

Might still end up standing tall before the man for using something like that.

a reply to: daskakik
The slingbow stuff looks wild..lots of fun I bet. I kind of grew up in archery, my dad shot pro, was really good, my childhood summers were going camping out at all the archery tourneys.

This guy is pretty good with a bow..lol

originally posted by: halfoldman
Many years ago, I had this friend with a car and they shot pot-holes in all the traffic-signs in the middle of nowhere.

And they'd be like, don't you want to shoot?
It's non-lethal.

Doesn't matter, a gun is a gun, and no thanks.

I never wanted to shoot or hold a gun again.

But I guess, sometimes there might be a reason.

Blunt: If you're serious about wanting to defend your home, you need to jettison those feelings. They're just in the way at this point.

Reach back into yourself and think like a soldier again.

Identify like avenue of approaches of intruders. Reduce, if possible, the number of approaches to your home. Rig noise makers (beer cans etc.) that intruders will disturb. You'll need all the time you can get and you want warning. Keep a stash of implements that can be used as weapons if needed -- knives, axes, crowbars, and the like.

Your BB gun will likely not stop an intruder -- but it may buy you enough time to close with said implements.

Cheers

originally posted by: halfoldman
Imagine, in two years time all the guys in the neighborhood are wearing an eye-patch.

"So neighbor how was your ... OK I see it was one of those BBs in the eye days".

lol, and mumbling, mom was right.

a reply to: vonclod
Lars is exactly who I was thinking about when I typed the bit about being better off with a regular bow, in regards to follow up shots, but that is definitely a whole other level. This video of him shooting arrows that curve around objects to hit targets behind them is amazing.

When I was a teenager I got lit up by a neighborhood kid who had decided to snipe me with his pellet gun. It didn't kill me, but the depth I had to go to dig the pellets out of my ass was a quite literal pain in the ass and one of them had came pretty close to destroying a vein in my arm.

Felt like being attacked by a swarm of bees. It didn't kill me, but it's still not pleasant, and I'd imagine that it wouod stop most folks if their intentions weren't to kill.