Great point, Stephen

"Of course some air rifles are inherently easier to shoot than others and CO2 guns such as the QB78 family are certainly more "natural" than, say, a high-powered spring gun, particularly for those moving into air rifles from a background with powder burners. "

Such a quiet understatement. A bit of history, the base gun for the QB is of course the CR 160. When Tim M was approached by the Chineese wanting him to help design a springer for them to make and sell here, he told them 'no, this is what you want to build...'. The 160 itself was specifically designed to be a training gun for new shooters (at the request of our Military). That's why it cocks on closing (harder to build, which is why modern Crosman guns cock on opening), it had to match the .22 RF guns then being used for training (which also cock on closing). It was not originally a 'kids gun'. It was intended to teach marksmanship and safe gun handling, even on informal ranges. It came with peep sights for that reason. It was a training gun from the get go.

Such a gun has a great advantage with low noise and no recoil. Flinching and other issues are easy to expose, define and correct. A miss is clearly a technique problem with the shooter, 'there's no place to hideee'. Even for established shooters, it reemains such a tool. Sight picture and trigger control are still the key. Not only can we practice in places and at times when firearms would be out of the question, but the basics are still in play. IMO it has a place in any serious shooters armory.

Doug Owen