This powderburner isn't missing out. My first airgun was a .20 Beeman R-1, which I no longer have and really don't miss, having replaced with the lighter, more compact .20 Beeman R-9.
I can shoot rimfire cheaper than my R-9, comparing the cost of 500 Winchester Wildcats, which both my Ruger 10/22 and 22/45 shoot very well, to the same number of .20 Beeman FTS pellets, cost of having pellets shipped to me, and replacing mainsprings and piston seals every couple or three years. My R-9 is tuned, not particulalry twangy or hold sensitive for what it is, but it is far from silent on discharge. As far as accuracy goes, on a windless day (rare where I shoot), my R-9 will group a little tighter than my 10/22 will at 50 yards.
I don't have a backyard to shoot in, and even if I did, I'd get popped for unlawful discharge inside city limits in the town I live in if I shot my R-9 within them. But the upside is that I live fifteen minutes away from a public hunting area with a very nice shooting range that I use three days a week.
I still shoot that R-9 A LOT. Not because it is the cheapest thing I have to shoot, because it isn't. Not because it's quiet, because it isn't compared to shooting .22 shorts out of my son's bolt action .22. I shoot it alot because it forces a disciplined technique -consistant hold and follow-through and so on. If I'm on top of my game and doing all of the little things right, the rifle rewards me with nice little clusters in the X ring of a target. If I'm not on top of my game, that rifle isn't shy about pointing that out, either. If I can shoot that R-9 well, shooting my nearly equally hold sensitive Ruger No. 1 well falls under the heading of "no problem."
I also like it simply because I consider it an heirloom quality piece of equipment, and I enjoy using nice, well-made things. And I guess I haven't gotten over the fascination of a spring-piston power source driving a projectile fast enough to reach a 50 yard target, kill it very dead right now if it is a rabbit or squirrel, while being accurate enough to hit what I am aiming at.
Lastly, I like shooting it a lot because I like to use it squirrel hunting. I shoot squrriels on a little 500 acre public hunting ground on the highest mountain -the only one, actually- in the county, and it is surrounded by private property. My R-9 has a maximum range under 500 yards, but an effective range on small game out to 50 or a tick over. I've got the killing power I need, but nothin' I don't under the circumstances that I use it while hunting. It's certainly safer than a .22 would be under the same conditions, and it is quieter than my shotgun.
That is really the biggest advantage to me -the useful effective small game taking range, coupled with limited maximum range. This lets me hunt and take game safely and discretely, right up to the suburban / wilderness interface, opening up more small game hunting opportunities in an increasingly crowded world.
JP
