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Airgun Hobbyist
The filming of the segment lasted for several hours
that morning. The actual film length was about 15 minutes
edited down to 7 to 8 minutes for the customs segment. That
leaves enough material for a future blooper reel as the rifles in
the background were particularly troublesome.
Since our custom airguns were made for shooting and
not just looking at, after our indoor segment was filmed, we
headed outdoors for some trigger time.
Rossi particularly liked the customized Crosman
2240 style airgun with a custom repeating breach and
shoulder stock. He quickly learned how to cycle the custom
prototype repeater and was accurately putting pellets on
target in no time.
Another custom that Rossi found interesting was a
customized Bullpup that started life as a Crosman 1377. What
particularly got Rossi’s attention was the on-board ammo
container. He liked the fact that the airgun was a compact
pumper airgun that had pellets
readily available to load for
another shot.
I believe that there were
a few of our customs that he
would have liked to take back
home to California.
When the filming of the
custom segment was done, Ben
and I could relax and watch the
filming of other segments that
will appear in future episodes.
After a quick wardrobe change, Rossi was now ready
to film a short introduction about the American Airgunner
keyword contest where
the prize is a $500 gift
card from Pyramyd Air, a
sponsor of the TV show.
In the afternoon,Cliff
Eisenbarger and Andy
Green from Elite Force
Airsoft arrived to shoot a
segment on Air Soft guns.
Again, Ben and I got to
observe the filming from
our favorite place, behind
the camera.
I’ve been designing and building customized airguns
for years. It was an honor when Justin Biddle, aka JB, the
executive producer of American Airgunner contacted me and
asked if I’d like to have my customized airguns filmed for a
segment on the American Airgunner TV show.
Upon arrival in Arkansas, Ben (my son) and I were
treated like airgun royalty by JB and Jordan Hughes, digital
media specialist.
As Ben and I began to un-case the part of our
collection that we brought. The airguns instantly began to
attract the attention of JB, Jordan, and Rossi. Even the film
crew stopped to see what was going to be unveiled next. The
scene could be described with the excitement of unwrapping
presents on Christmas morning.
Instantly each person at the shoot seemed to have a
favorite airgun. Members of the film crew really liked what
they called the “James Bond Gold Finger” airgun. Along
with bringing our Crosman customs, we brought a Browning
Leverage and Ruger Air Hawk.
Being the first time that we’ve ever done anything
like this, Ben and I were a bit nervous. But Rossi Morreale
(host), and the 5 Star Production film crew quickly made us
at ease, well mostly. There were times where we flubbed what
we were saying and got a bit flustered. But Rossi and the film
crew were encouraging and got us going again.
Filming of outdoor trigger time.
Compact custom bullpup.
Filming contest spot.
Left to right: Rossi Morreale, the host of American Airgunner. Tim and Ben Smith of
Airgun Hobbyist Magazine.
