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When you’re reading about air rifles, sometimes you’ll be asking yourself “what the heck are they saying?” The jargon and terminology you come across will probably be new to you, so it’s important to understand some common terms, such as:
- FPS: This is the feet per second that the pellet travels through the air.
- Caliber: The size of the pellet. These sizes are as small as .177 or as higher as .58.
- Muzzle Energy: When shooting, this is the amount of energy a pellet will have once it leaves the barrel.
- P.E: The amount of foot-pounds of energy. In essence, this would have a higher amount of force or energy upon impact. It’s important to note that a high FPS often leads to a lower F.P.E.
- Pellets: These are the bullets that you will be shooting when using an air rifle.
- Plinking: Shooting at inanimate objects, such as a beer can.
- Recoil: The impact felt from the shooter once a shot has been taken.
- Sight (Front): This is the sight, used to help with aiming, closest to the muzzle of the rifle.
- Sight (Rear): The rear sight is at the end near the breech and is in the form of dots in most cases.
- Grouping: How close multiple shots will hit in a group.
- Cocking Effort: The amount of effort, in pounds, needed to cock the rifle.
- Scope: The scope allows you to magnify a target to increase accuracy upon shooting.
- Zeroed: The ability of the scope to remain properly adjusted after a shot. Zeroed will depend on the range as well, so you must remain at the same range for a zeroed shot.
- Eye relief: The distance from your actual eye and the scope. Higher-powered rifles will require a longer eye relief to ensure that the gun doesn’t hit you in the eye due to recoil.
These few terms will help you talk about air rifles and sound like a pro when doing it.
