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The can

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can

This report covers:

  • Why the quotes?
  • But tin?
  • Cans to measure potential penetration
  • When I was a kid
  • Doesn’t stop there
  • Aluminum cans
  • First action target
  • Summary

I received a letter yesterday that talked about using a “tin” can as an ad hoc chronograph and pellet tester. I smiled as I read it, remembering how I had done similar things in the 1950s to test penetration of various airguns. And as I remembered, suddenly my mind opened and a flood of things I had forgotten came rushing back. It seems that the “tin” can was an important penetration medium throughout my childhood.

Why the quotes?

I put quotes around the word tin because, of course, it was nothing of the sort. The cans we call tin are made of steel. Their joints are soldered with tin but that’s as far as it goes. I used to make them at National Can Corp. in Sunnyvale, California, on my summer breaks from college. Believe me — they are steel! I have lifted tons of steel while making cans in an 8-hour shift. 

But tin?

If they aren’t tin, why do we call them that? For a good reason, I think. Tinplated iron was first used for food storage in England in 1810. Peter Durand of England received a patent from King George III. The patent includes pottery, glass and tinplated iron for use in food containers. The tin protected the food from touching iron and corroding. And unlike lead, tin is safe for touching food.

The tin-plated iron can became popular in England and then Europe the early 1800s and was introduced to the USA in 1818 by Peter Durand. Soon people began to talk about “tinned” food, meaning food that was packaged in tin-plated iron cans. That changed soon after Henry Bessemer of England and William Kelley of the USA separately discovered the process of converting cast iron to steel around 1856.

Years later other less expensive internal can coatings were discovered and tin remained only as the solder for the joints. There is a huge history of the can that I won’t go into because today’s discussion isn’t about how cans are made, but rather about how they are destroyed! And I have already made the principal point I needed to make — that the tin cans we know are actually made from steel. They resist the penetration of BBs and pellets quite well. Now let’s consider what was in the letter I received that triggered this report.

Cans to measure potential penetration

I will now pull information from the letter just mentioned. I edited it to make more sense in this report.  Here we go.”For example, a pellet* that penetrates both sides of a Carnation milk can will dispose of a squirrel, rabbit, crow, skunk or any animal that size. If it penetrates both sides of a Hawaiian Punch can it will dispose of a raccoon or groundhog. The maximum distance at which such penetration occurs is the distance at which these animals may be dispatched.”
*domed pellets

When I was a kid

I used tin cans this way back in the 1950s. The airguns I shot were in no way powerful enough to penetrate  both sides of a can or even one side! What we looked at was the depth of the dent the shot made on the first side. If it was deep, the gun was powerful. If there was a crack in the bottom of the dent the gun was very powerful. I never had anything that went farther than that. But I was not alone in my fascination with denting cans. The Benjamin Air Rifle Company (this was before Crosman acquired them) knew what little boys were doing, and they used it! They marketed their 3030 CO2-powered BB gun with the promise that it would shoot through both sides of a five-gallon pail made from 26-gauge steel!

3030 ad

Build a Custom Airgun


Doesn’t stop there

Shooting at cans doesn’t stop with airguns, either. I remember the first .410 shotgun I ever shot was at a large can placed in the branches of a small tree. The distance was about 15-20 yards and can was blown out of the tree. But when we retrieved it the shot hadn’t penetrated the first side of the can! There were numerous dents from the shot and some cracks in the steel and the can was bashed in on the side that was hit, but the shots had not penetrated. I remember someone saying there was nothing to stop the can when it was hit and that was why it hadn’t penetrated. I also remember being surprised that it had not penetrated.

Aluminum cans

Aluminum cans came along when I was in college and I didn’t have any shooting experience with them. I went into the Army soon after that and all my shooting was done with firearms. I didn’t get back to airguns until I was stationed in Germany and purchased a Diana model 10 pistol.

I do know aluminum cans are far easier to penetrate than steel cans Even lower-velocity BB guns can do it if they are close enough. But not always both sides.

I tested a pre-1920 Daisy model 25 against an aluminum soda can at 5 feet for this report. The lead BB penetrated the front easily. It almost made it all the way through the can, but stopped after splitting open the rear.

I had just oiled the gun, so it should have been shooting at its best.

can front
The lead BB went through the front of the aluminum can with no problem.

can rear
It didn’t quite make it out the back. The BB is still rattling around inside the can.

The BB I shot was a 4.4mm lead BB because the Daisy 25 I shot was set up for lead. Use steel BBs in guns like this and you ruin their shot tubes. That BB weighed about 7 grains and went out at around 210 f.p.s. I won’t shoot steel BBs in this gun, but in similar 25s that have shot tubes set up for lighter weight steel BBs I get about 325 f.p.s.

can velocity
The 7-grain lead BB went out at around 210 f.p.s.

First action target

Cans were the first action targets for BB guns. And, from the comments to this blog I can tell that a lot of you still shoot them.

Summary

Today we looked a simple airgun target that many of you use — the common can. Tin or aluminum, it has captivated airgun shooters for many years.

author avatar
Tom Gaylord (B.B. Pelletier)
Tom Gaylord, also known as B.B. Pelletier, provides expert insights to airgunners all over the world on behalf of Pyramyd AIR. He has earned the title The Godfather of Airguns™ for his contributions to the industry, spending many years with AirForce Airguns and starting magazines dedicated to the sport such as Airgun Illustrated.
See Full Bio

120 thoughts on “The can”

  1. Yes, I grew up shooting real metal cans hanging on a string at 20 yards.
    We would shoot them until there was nothing left but the top rolled ring hanging on the string.

    The challenge was to shoot the can, load a pellet, pump the gun 10 times and fire again before the can stopped swinging.

    The cans were hung inside an old empty metal military surplus radio rack cabinet to stop all of the bbs and pellets.

    My parents were both “Ham” radio operators, and were members of ARMY MARS so they had access to surplus vintage equipment.

    When aluminum soda cans were introduced they didn’t swing as much as the older metal cans.
    The .22 caliber pellets from the Benjamin 312 just passed through them with minimal transfer of energy.

    And yes 52 years later, I still enjoy poking holes in feral soda cans and making steel targets swing and ring.

    Ian

  2. Tom,

    I wonder if tin cans are made to an international standard? Is the steel used in tin can manufacturing determined by somebody? Hope it is otherwise there is no comparing tin cans from all over the world in regards to stopping a pellet.

    Siraniko

    • Siraniko,

      sorry, I don’t know.

      ——–
      For your interest: I have heard that the cans are designed to be able to just about bear, I don’t know how many times their own filled weight, as they’re stacked high on palettes. Also, the metal is coated by some film that has to remain food safe for a pre-determined minimum time.

      So, the can makers, typically make a small percentage purely for in-house testing. These cans are printed differently and look neutral, stamped with a code to identify whatever they’re filled with, and set aside for however long. Finally a small sample are randomly picked for close examination. The rest of these, non-sellable cans, either are free to staff or get destroyed.

      So, for example, long before they were for sale in the shops, can maker’s employess were enjoying the new cherry coke flavour… 🙂

      ——–
      Oh, by the way, a minority of cans are not just for foods but non-food items too, including novelty gifts, eg cuddly toy in a tin…

  3. Steel Cans, aluminum cans, now plastic vessels, and some of those barely plastic bags with a straw. A dumbing-down of targets? Probably not intentionally. And there is always the giant gummy-gelatin-gopher. But it is important to specify what the test target is, and I especially appreciated testing at the distance a pest would be dispatched.

  4. Remember an article about muzzle loading shotguns. Author said if a load could drive the pellets through a steel can that meant you could use it for small game.

  5. I seem to recall Airgun World magazine back in the eighties writing that an 11 ft-lb air rifle in .22 would put a pellet through both sides of two empty baked bean tins and through three in .177.

  6. My Wife will not stand a can that is one day out of date so I cull the pantry and set aside full cans of “expired” food for shooting. We try to eat everything in the pantry before the best by date but life happens. I can tell you a can of Mustard Greens shot off a stump from 60′ with a Umarex Origin in .25 will jump straight up into the air. I guess hydraulic pressure pops out the bottom of the can and makes it jump, lots of fun.

    • SSC,

      Mrs. RR is almost that bad. It took some time, but I have managed to persuade her that the expiration date is a good reference, but not ironclad. Yes, she is CDO. The letters are in alphabetical order.

    • Not to cause marital discord, but have eaten “expired” chips retired from my friend’s vending machines, some packages being weeks, even months old, yet the contents still were fresh and crispy. Of course, eventually the stuff will get stale. Have found canned goods are still good still a month plus out from the “best by” date; feel free to call FM cheap – he just hates waste. Old sodas, shaken vigorously, do make great reactive targets.

    • singleshotcajun,

      as far as I know, when food goes off, it releases gas. Therefore, if an unopened food container shows signs of internal pressure, ie it bulges, then the contents is unsafe for human consumption.

      Disclaimer: this applies to areas of similar elevation as the packaging plant. For example, the tub of yoghurt you’re served in-flight shows a domed lid because it is now in a lower atmospheric pressure. 🙂

      • Cool. I did not expect these cans to go straight up when shot, happy surprise. Shot these cans with both of my Origins, .22 and .25 set up for power with minute of varmint accuracy both did the same trick. Shot with my DAR rifles set p for accuracy and shot count the cans went backwards off the stump. Don’t y’all just love soup can ballistics ?

  7. Whenever I remember the old “tin” cans, I associate them with the openers required to puncture the tops for drinking. The rounded end of the opener was used for prying the caps off of glass bottles. The pointed end was used to puncture the top of the cans.

    • FM,

      My rememberer is not working properly. Why does BB call you Basil?

      Whatever your reasoning, according to Mrs. RR, the name Basil is used to reference a person who bites the large soap bubbles that surface when that person is taking a bubble bath and flatulates. I do hope that is not the case with you. 😉

      • RR,

        Fawlty Manuel refers to the steward/waiter in the British comedy, “Fawlty Towers”. His name is Manuel. Basil Fawlty is the owner of Fawlty Towers, so when he signs on as Fawlty Manuel I refer to him as “Basil.” A joke between the two of us.

        BB

      • I thought maybe the fellow just likes a good Caprese Salad or Pesto sauce.

        Actually my given name translates to Basil. I’m named after Saint Basil the Great. He is known for his charitable works like building hospitals and orphanages, and a few miracles. Not sure if he made extra bubbles in the bathtub, though. But then again, haven’t we all? ;o)

      • Why does BB call FM “Basil?” BB explained it accurately. As for that bubbly Basil, learned something new thanks to your Missus. FM pleads The Fifth on the subject. Or, as Manuel himself would say –

    • FawltyManuel,

      of course. He must’ve been the most successful artist for openly selling the work of others as his own.

      My personal first thought was of my first wife who was a member of that clan… 🙂

    • WE are on the same channel. If one of us here is talented with photoshop or some such that person should create a copy of Andy’s soup can but this time full of bb gun holes.

  9. Though I am an old geezer, I am not so old as to recall “tinned” cans. I do recall when all cans, including beer cans, were made of steel. I still on occasion find old beer cans that were opened with a “church key”. Then came aluminum cans. Soon they had the “pull tabs”. Now they use the “ring tabs” or whatever they call them nowadays. Berserkeley Mike points out the further “evolution” of containers.

    As with most young’uns and young at heart, I have always enjoyed shooting at reactive targets. I do so enjoy hunting feral soda cans. As they are now thin aluminum, I have to use one of the low powered “old gals” around here though if I expect them to do more than just allow the pellet to just pass on through. I have discovered, I also read/heard/seen it recently, that if I fill them with water they do explode spectacularly when hit with an airgun.

  10. I learn something new everyday on this blog from either BB or readers. Today’s evolution of cans for storing edibles is certainly a good example. Hoping RR will give us some insight on the feral army laying siege to his home for so many years and his choice weapons for defending the fort.

    Deck

    • Deck,

      Most of the feral soda cans I encounter at Fort RRHFWA are of the aluminum “Vintage Seltzer” type as this is very popular here. As for my choice of weapons, that tends to be varied as I have several of these “old gals” hanging around on the walls of my great room. The other day I grabbed down my Webley Service Mark II and fought off almost a dozen of those vermin. Sometimes I will grab down my FLZ Militia or my 1906 BSA.

      There is a new addition hanging on the walls that I have not told you folks about. It still needs a little work done to it, but once I have done such I will tell you all about it, including how well it does at killing off some of the feral soda cans around here.

  11. The official can test is why I believed growing up that my BBs were more powerful than pellets lol. The BB out of my trusty Crosman 760 would go through the side of our metal barn. The pellet would not. So surely the BB had more power, right. Also the bb’s would bust bottles much easier than pellets.

    Doc

  12. Aluminium cans just don’t have the same satisfaction factor as a good old steel ‘tin’ can, although they’re great for a challenge by cutting them in half.
    I recently had a competition with my son (14) to see who could cut one with the least amount of shots with a Crosman DPMS. His was hanging by a thread after 5 magazines (125 shots), but I completely cut mine in 88.
    Semi auto only here in the UK though!

  13. This reminds me of B.B.’s writings in the late 1990’s about Splatology.

    Long before tin/steel cans, airgun velocities were “measured” using Splatology. Gary Barnes resurrected this practice which B.B. wrote about. For nerds like me that like airgun history it was fascinating.

      • B.B.,

        Although just like Kevin i have the Airgun Review that covers Splatology as well as your Blog coverage of that Deep Science; there is a major area of deficiency in the Science! That being a TOTAL absence of alloy projectile Splatology…if they even are capable of SPLAT!

        So you, The Godfather of Airguns®, must remedy this significant failure of Airgun Knowledge!

        ;^)

        shootski

          • Don’t shoot your eye out. My first airgun of my airgun Renaissance was a low-powered Umarex Embark. I purchased various pellets, including a variety pack of HN “hunting” pellets that contained a copper plated pointed pellet. That sucker bounced off the 3/4″ plywood backstop and hit me. By luck, it must have hit my leather belt and landed in my lap.

            I would imagine alloy pellets might exhibit a similar tendency to ricochet, rather than splat.

        • Shootski-

          Perhaps an exploration of splatology could be a door pried further open beyond the obvious. What if the target surface, in addition to the requisite x-y dimensions, thickness, mass and mounting to resist movement, could do double duty as a record of the projectile strike through time. Thus, I propose the following: a 36” diameter, 1” thick steel disc that is affixed to a 1-1/2 HP electric with VFD (Variable Frequency Drive). As you all have guessed, of course one shoots a pellet to strike the spinning disc’s edge, measure the length of splat, apply some math voodoo- Pi(D) times rotation speed, and voila you have pellet speed! This could be a new product idea for Pyramyd/Air. Expensive equals more better!

          • pacoinohio,

            what a crazy idea!
            Because of differences between discs and their rotational behaviour, I would ask it’s inventor to suggest a solution for those pellets that do more than just splat on metal, but fuse with it, ie how to re-use the same disc? 🙂

            ——–
            I like your last sentence !

  14. My favorite experience with aluminum cans was not with airguns but with a .22 rimfire, Winchester single shot bolt action rifle. We had a couple of cases of pop (soda) left over from a picnic, and some of the bottoms were popped out, so no one wanted to drink them. I lined up a bunch of them on a flat board laid on the ground and started plinking from about 10 yards. The hypersonic. 22 bullet would instantly explode each can in a fantastic spray of foamy joy. Talk about reactive targets!

    • Roamin,

      Liquid filled targets are spectacular the way they “detonate”. Come to think about it, there’s a case of out-of -date soda pop down stairs that needs to be disposed of. 😉

      (Way back then) we found a bunch of 5-gallon pails at the dump and filled them with water as targets. I stacked two pails and from 20 yards I shot the bottom one with a 12 gauge slug, it burst and launched the top pail (about 50 pounds in weight) right at me. I shot the second pail out of the air but it was close enough that I got soaked with water. …I was a more careful after that!

      Now, on YouTube, I see all kinds of (dumb?) stunts people are doing with Tannerite. Hmmmm, Maybe it was just as well that I didn’t have access to that stuff when I was a kid LOL!

      Cheers!

  15. Since we are talking about tin can targets I have to repeat a trick I learned from Gunfun1 on this blog, in case he can’t get to it: put a small balloon inside the can and sprinkle some flour on top. Penetrating the can will pop the balloon, sending a plume of “smoke” into the air. When it comes to having fun with guns, Gunfun1 is #1!

      • Hihihi,
        I don’t mean to be rude, but here’s a small correction:
        Flour is ground up wheat,
        a flower is pretty and smells nice.
        If I every try to translate something into French, please correct my mistakes. There will be many.

        • Roamin Greco,

          BRILLIANT ! 🙂
          And well done, for spotting what was my mistake.

          Because I can’t correct it, I think of it as pyramydair’s mistake now! 🙂

          PS I appreciate the thought but, don’t bother with French on my behalf – I would only have to translate it back… 🙂

  16. BB,
    Yes we will be shooting feral cans for as long as there are guns and slingshots, etc… to shoot ’em with. This H&N Sport Pellet tin is set up in the same place as I whittled down the ice chunks with BBs last winter, it’s a nice spot right out the door.
    I shoot pistol at the pellet tin, because shooting pistol at paper is about ten times less fun than hitting a can at roughly the same distance. I’m enjoying a recently acquired 70+ year-old Crosman 106 that is probably not shooting at it full potential, but it snaps out the .22 H&N Plinking pellets briskly enough. The dents that the pellets make don’t tear the metal, but the satisfying “thwack” sound that the hit makes and the way the tin jumps (with no need to reset!) keeps the enjoyment factor high.
    Regards,
    Will

  17. Thanks for the flash-back BB!

    For us it was always bottle caps as targets. At the time they were readily available, and closer to the size (of the kill-zone) of the birds, squirrels and rabbits we hunted. A handful of them provided a lot of targets and would fit in a pocket. A small hole punched in the rim provided a tie-point to hang the bottle-cap from a string to spin and move in the breeze.

    I still like small, suspended targets though I’ve replaced the now scarce bottle-caps with Honey Comb cereal which (if not eaten by the local critters) is bio degradable.

    We did shoot tin cans though usually only at the bottoms. A standing tin was considered to be too easy of a target.

    “Tin-Can Races” where you have to shoot/roll a tin across a finish line or a competition to see who can roll a can the farthest with a set number of pellets are fun. Good training for shooting at random distances as well.

    We did use tin dents as a power reference but the test for determining the “most powerful” airgun was done through splatology (shooting between ones feet onto the railway track – it’s not as dangerous as it sounds with low power – sub-500 fps – break-barrels) or by timing how long it took a pellet shot almost vertically to splash-down in the river.

    I still shoot tins and have several scattered in the shooting lane as off-hand targets of opportunity. Fun stuff!
    Cheers!
    Hank

    • Vana2,

      phew !

      Really, “shooting between ones feet onto the railway track – it’s not as dangerous as it sounds…”?
      When I think of what I’ve seen lead splatter do (!), I will gladly ‘chicken out’ and take your word on that one… 🙂

      • hihihi,

        Our “dent one side of a tin can” break barrels (Slavia 618) were barely powerful enough to embed a pellet into softwood. Pellets shot against a steel rail would flatten but not enough to fragment.

        Years later I tested my new FWB 124 by shooting it (from a safe distance) at a steel block placed in a cardboard box. The pellet fragmented with enough energy to perforate the box in multiple places.

        I never repeated that test with more powerful airguns. 🙂

        Cheers!

        • Vana2,

          fair enough. 🙂

          ——–
          My most memorable airgun lead splatter effect incident happens to be somewhat topical: lead splatter managed to puncture a spray paint can.

          It happened while shooting at my boars. This target is all metal and is one of those with four knockdown silhouettes and central resetting paddle inside a pellet catching box.

          I know now that between two sloping rear panels there’s a gap through which some lead splatter escaped and caused a surprising white paint explosion. 🙂

          I have decided to store my can of white paint elsewhere!

          ——–
          pictured below is the gap from the front of the target…

          • And here is a view of the outside back of the target housing and that paint can. My finger points to the slot that the lead splatter cut and which resulted in such a surprising reactive, erm, reaction! 🙂

  18. B.B.

    Best “penetration test” that I have seen, was a UK youth who used a thick phone book(remember those?).
    He and his mates shot at thick books, who’s ever pellet penetrated the most number of pages, was the winner.

    A more accurate test would be to shoot at a 50 yard target with no hold over. Then measure the drop and use online sites to figure the velocity of that weight pellet that would create that amount of drop.

    -Yogi

    • Yogi,

      Your test sounds interesting:
      “A more accurate test would be to shoot at a 50 yard target with no hold over. Then measure the drop and use online sites to figure the velocity of that weight pellet that would create that amount of drop.”

      The test needs some rules to make it have a level playing field.
      Hold Over by itself wouldn’t work but BORE AXIS leveling would do it.
      On the Eternal Ballistics issues you would need to rule out potential differences caused by the Eötvös Effect by specifying the Compass True Bearing from the target to the shooter. Note, this effect has nothing to do with Coriolis!

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eötvös_effect

      Also it doesn’t matter what the range to target is it is ONLY dependent on TOF (Time Of Flight) of the projectile and the Bearing.

      shootski

    • fishoot,

      what an interesting, erm, thing. I don’t understand how it’s supposed to be used. For example, what’s that extra bit of bent tube for and what’s that little spring supposed to do?

      Please help…

          • The spring keeps the flared angled piece from coming off and allows it to spin. I confess that I’ve never used it. Seems like the angled rod would get shot up quickly with a.22, not so much with pellets. Anyhow, marketing at its best.

              • Got it.

                In my basement range, I have two flat boxes standing up on their narrow sides and facing each other in front of a larger box filled with rubber mulch as a backstop. Between the two facing boxes is a piece of coat hanger from which I hang small 7oz mini pop (soda) cans from the tabs. When a pellet hits the thicker metal at the bottom of the can, you have a can spinner.

            • fishoot,

              thank you for those pictures = 2000 words explained it. 🙂

              However, because the Wham-O Can Plinker looks like it’s old enough to be used on / designed for steel cans, I thought it odd that there wasn’t some can piercing tool included.

              Happily I found the answer online: the can is supposed to be skewered by a long bendy nail that is attached to the angled rod. 🙂

              pictured below is what that looks like…

            • fishoot,

              it’s not important, and yet, I wonder how one would pronounce your username: would it sound like
              ‘FISH-hoot’,
              or ‘fish-SHOOT’,
              or something else?

              • hihihi,

                It never occurred to me that something would be needed to pierce what would surely be a steel can. Glad you thought of this. The instructions show the rod going through the can near the rim, which if one were accurate, would not damage the rod. Great stuff! User name would be Fish-shoot, my favorite pastimes.

                • fishoot,

                  thanks for your answer. And for introducing us to your “High Tech reactive target”.
                  I am actually impressed by Wham-O for having managed to market a stick! 🙂

                  ——–
                  I assume you shoot fish before extracting them from the water? Why not drown worms like most hobby anglers do?

  20. B.B.,

    I’ve had two friends who worked at American Can for years. I got the long story on materials and testing of different cans and plastic bottles multiple times. Those make a particular beer can of mine quaint by comparison. It’s an excellent condition Goetz Country Club cone top with the original beer still sealed inside! If that isn’t an endorsement of the “Keg-Lined” inside, I don’t know what is.

    Michael

  22. I take it National Can and American Can were bitter rivals? I wonder if National Can kicked American Can’s can. Also wonder if there was a Federal Can.

    Can anyone think of more can puns? I can!

  23. When I got into airguns in the 1990s a lot of people shot pellets into Neutrogena soap to test penetration and expansion. Neutrogena soap was a transparent yellow block and worked similarly to ballistic jell except I don’t remember anyone recasting the soap.
    This were back when chronographs were not very common among airgunners.
    David Enoch

    • David,

      As expensive as ballistic gel is, Neutrogena soap was likely pricier, by the ounce. Glycerine soaps in general used to be quite expensive, but the price seems to have dropped over the years. Maybe there was a connection between that and the liposuction boom, a la “Fight Club.” ;^)

      Michael

  24. Funnest experience for FM BG – Before Geezerdom – was filling empty 1 gallon plastic jugs with water and blasting them with the heavy centerfire artillery, such as his ’03 Springfield. The shooting venue back then included a large water-filled rockpit; FM and friends would submerge the jugs under water then cap them so there was no air inside and the jugs were nice and “bulgy”. A hit produced an enjoyable, geyser-like burst. Once in a while we’d find a discarded metal pail that could be filled and the .30 rounds would literally rip a vertical seam on the exit side when the target was struck, using military surplus ammunition which even at that time was cheap.

    Splat-tests were conducted on any unfortunate appliances and/or junk vehicles found on site. Small steel cans were filled with water and shot at with our .22 rimfires; the resident Ruger 10/22 is a “can ace” many times over. Those were carefree, though not careless, days. No can-do now – not around here, anyway. Except with airguns, you still can.

    • FM,

      We used to go to various rural garbage dumps to shoot rats and crows – that was the funnest and quickest way to go through a brick of .22lr ammo that I knew. Can’t do that now. 🙁

      Plinking at the sandpits was the next best way to burn a brick or two of ammo. Unfortunately, people leaving broken glass, shredded tins, and other perforated crap behind resulted in all possible shooting sites being posted as off limits. Now all you hear is complaints of how far it is to get to a public range and how expensive it is to use the facilities. Self inflicted pain.

      Thank heaven for backyard friendly airguns!

      …guess I sound like an old guy reminiscing about the “good old days”. Yeah, maybe a bit – but I do really enjoy current airgun technology!

      Cheers!

    • FawltyManuel,

      sounds like fun and like you would’ve made a better job of my old oil drum…

      I wonder if the cheese grater was in fact invented by a plinker? 🙂

  25. My best tin can (and yes it was a Campbell’s soup can) goes back nearly 20 years.
    I had taken my two boys (about 5 & 7 at the time) out to our favourite shooting spot.
    I set up my tin can at about 30 yds…I was shooting a Slavian 631. I set up a couple cans for the boys at about 20 feet…they were shooting Red Ryders.
    Everything was going well. At one point my 7 year old said he really wanted to stop at a toy store on the way home and wanted some Lego. I told him we had just bought Lego the week before. A bit of a pout started and I told him…’if you can hit my tin can with your gun we’ll stop at the toy store’…pretty safe bet in mind.
    He took aim…the barrel of his gun was literally shaking and he shot.
    Damn…a full second later there was a little ‘ping’ and my can fell over.
    Cost me $20 worth of Lego…but worth every penny 🙂

  26. “They marketed their 3030 CO2-powered BB gun with the promise that it would shoot through both sides of a five-gallon pail made from 26-gauge steel!”

    BB,
    I remember being mesmerized by that ad the first time I saw it, LOL!
    I was 5-years-old, and my Dad wouldn’t let me get one; but I thought, “WOW!”
    Hundreds of cans get shot here throughout the year.
    Hence, I really appreciated the history lesson of the ‘tin’ can. 🙂
    Blessings to you,
    dave

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    We work hard to get all orders placed by 12 pm EST out the door within 24 hours on weekdays because we know how excited you are to receive your order. Weekends and holiday shipping times will vary.

    During busy holidays, we step our efforts to ship all orders as fast as possible, but you may experience an additional 1-2 day delay before your order ships. This may also happen if you change your order during processing.

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  • Shipping Restrictions

    It's important to know that due to state and local laws, there are certain restrictions for various products. It's up to you to research and comply with the laws in your state, county, and city. If you live in a state or city where air guns are treated as firearms you may be able to take advantage of our FFL special program.

    U.S. federal law requires that all airsoft guns are sold with a 1/4-inch blaze orange muzzle or an orange flash hider to avoid the guns being mistaken for firearms.

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  • Expert Service and Repair

    Get the most out of your equipment when you work with the expert technicians at Pyramyd AIR. With over 25 years of combined experience, we offer a range of comprehensive in-house services tailored to kickstart your next adventure.

    If you're picking up a new air gun, our team can test and tune the equipment before it leaves the warehouse. We can even set up an optic or other equipment so you can get out shooting without the hassle. For bowhunters, our certified master bow technicians provide services such as assembly, optics zeroing, and full equipment setup, which can maximize the potential of your purchase.

    By leveraging our expertise and precision, we ensure that your equipment is finely tuned to meet your specific needs and get you ready for your outdoor pursuits. So look out for our services when shopping for something new, and let our experts help you get the most from your outdoor adventures.

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  • Warranty Info

    Shop and purchase with confidence knowing that all of our air guns (except airsoft) are protected by a minimum 1-year manufacturer's warranty from the date of purchase unless otherwise noted on the product page.

    A warranty is provided by each manufacturer to ensure that your product is free of defect in both materials and workmanship.

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  • Exchanges / Refunds

    Didn't get what you wanted or have a problem? We understand that sometimes things aren't right and our team is serious about resolving these issues quickly. We can often help you fix small to medium issues over the phone or email.

    If you need to return an item please read our return policy.

    Learn About Returns

Get FREE shipping on qualifying orders! Any order $150+ with a shipping address in the contiguous US will receive the option for free ground shipping on items sold & shipped by Pyramyd AIR during checkout. Certain restrictions apply.

Free shipping may not be combined with a coupon unless stated otherwise.

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