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submitted 4 months ago by fossilesque@mander.xyz to c/science_memes@mander.xyz

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[-] stoy@lemmy.zip 17 points 4 months ago

This is partly why I haven't got into air rifles, I have wanted to for a long time, but there is no good place to shoot it nearby.

Some may say that I should just go out in the woods and shoot there, but I don't want to spread lead in nature.

I know there are lead free pellets, but I have heard mixed opinions about them.

Why an air rifle specifically?

Because I can get a low power one (10J muzzle energy) without a license, and I can't be arsed to get a license for a proper firearm as it requires a fair commitment here.

[-] SillyDude@lemmy.zip 8 points 4 months ago

If you just want to plink in your backyard then just get a BB gun that shoots steel BBs. And only use iron sights which will teach you instinctive aiming. I'd say that's actually way more fun than a scoped air rifle. If you're not going to be head shorting squirrels then you don't really need the accuracy of a dialed in air rifle. Looking in a scope at a piece of paper and shooting the same hole looses its appeal pretty quickly.

[-] zxqwas@lemmy.world 7 points 4 months ago

For Air rifles you can have a bullet catcher that is basically a funny shaped tin can you put your paper target in front of. It will collect the lead if you hit the target.

[-] stoy@lemmy.zip 7 points 4 months ago

Yeah, I just know I am bound to miss and don't want to contaminate anything.

[-] southsamurai@sh.itjust.works 3 points 4 months ago

You can get pellets and ball ammo in other materials. Might have to special order them, not sure how available they are over there, but they do make them. I have steel ammo for my air pistol, it's my back yard pleasure shooting gun, so lead isn't acceptable to me.

[-] stoy@lemmy.zip 2 points 4 months ago

I live in an apartment, so I need to find a good place to shoot before I get a rifle, I'll also checkout what other kinds of pellets I can get.

[-] Not_mikey@lemmy.dbzer0.com 0 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

I can't be asked to get a license for a proper firearm

My god, what tyranny you live under, please tell me what authoritarian country you live in so uncle sam can come free you after we're finished with Iran.

[-] stoy@lemmy.zip 6 points 4 months ago

Hehe, I'd be happy to tell you my general understanding of the laws, I am not a gun nut, and there are probably a few details I get wrong.

Anyway.

In Sweden you can only get a gun for two reasons, hunting or competition, getting a gun for self defense is illegal.

To get a gun for either reason, you need to pass tests and for competition licenses, display an active need for the gun in competitions.

Wikipedia has a better summary of the laws on this page:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overview_of_gun_laws_by_nation#Sweden

this post was submitted on 21 Feb 2026

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