Air guns have changed since I was a kid! I have recently become interested again in air guns because of my children’s interest, especially my 7 year old. She (yep she’s a girl) has wanted one ever since I showed her my old Daisy Red Ryder bb gun. Of course the first thing I told her was “you’ll shoot your eye out kid” but that didn’t change her mind, I think it encouraged her more! So after getting the OK from Mom we decided to look for the least harmful air gun on the market. So I jumped on the internet and searched for air guns, and that’s when the little kid in me got all excited.

    Holy cow! Over 1000 feet per second! Adult air guns? Small game hunting! I was amazed! The greedy little voice in my head was yelling “I want that!”, “I’m over 18!”, and “that’s not a lot of money!”. However, it didn’t take long for the adult voice in my head to stop all those thoughts and remind me that I was shopping for my 7 year old, not myself.



Offering 1200 fps with PBA or 1000 fps with standard lead, you'll be ready to hunt small and medium-sized game and vermin. Plus, the non-removable noise dampener reduces the noise up to 52%, which means you won't spook game while hunting. And, just because the Whisper is modestly priced doesn't mean you give up anything in the accuracy department! You'll be hitting your targets and making one-shot kills time after time. This just might be the ideal spring gun!We measured the cocking effort with the metal spring, and it was 35 lbs. (Gamo lists it at 30 lbs.).
Gamo Whisper
Gamo Whisper


    It didn’t take long to find a type of air gun called airsoft. These guns shoot light weight plastic bbs at lower velocities. I soon found a pistol that had a rated velocity of 175 feet per second and was made of clear plastic with a orange tip. It was the lowest projectile velocity air gun that I could find, and was small enough for my 7 year old to get her little hands around. I figured that sounded harmless enough, so I bought it, 5000 bbs, and some cool looking shooter glasses.
Mauser HSC

Mauser HSC

Mauser HSC airpistol. Realistic look and feel. Spin up system puts a back spin on the bb increasing the range.

Crosman 10,000 Count Soft Air Camo Ammo Plastic BB's

Crosman 10,000 Count Soft Air Camo Ammo Plastic BB's

Crosman's Soft Air plastic BBs are sold in an easy-pour plastic container with a dispensing cap.

Smith & Wesson Magnum 3G? Shooting Glasses for Youth

Smith & Wesson Magnum 3G? Shooting Glasses for Youth

Ergonomically dimensioned for 3 point fit, 7 base cut-to-shape spherical lens with nose pad posts, no retention screws, maximum UV protection.
   Once she got her new air gun in her hot little hands her first question was “What can I shoot?!”. Of course I had to give her a few little rules about how to handle her air gun and what NOT to shoot including her other sisters! Then I quickly made a target box with some paper targets, to satisfy her itchy trigger finger. To avoid the neighbor kids and any air gun conflict that might happen outside, we started shooting in our unfinished basement. We soon found out that if you miss the target and hit the concrete wall those little plastic bbs will bounce right back at you! Those cool shooter glasses were a good idea and she knows that she has to wear them when shooting her air gun. I noticed that the bbs that bounced back and hit us were not painful, just startling. Of course, I then wondered what a direct shot felt like? Yep, I did it. Shot myself in the leg! Stings pretty good, at about a foot away wearing blue jeans. Would not want to get hit on bare skin.
    My daughter now has a somewhat harmless air gun that she knows how to handle and shoot. Now that the shooter in her has been satisfied, maybe I can find an air gun to satisfy the little kid in me!