I have a hypothetical question for you.
If one lived in a suburban community, under the iron-fisted rule of a neighborhood association, and said person had an interest in installing a portable, ballistic support and targeting system capable of enabling precise airgun shots against backyard targets, would that person be at risk of fines and banishment from the block? Again, this is all hypothetical…
I ask because I live in the Lowcountry of South Carolina, which at 357 feet below sea level, is prone to flooding. I tell you this because houses near the coast here are built one level up, with open-air garages underneath. If you’re paying attention, that means that the back deck off the kitchen is also perched up high — a perfect vantage point for airgun sniping, especially if one’s backyard blends into woods as does mine.
Without admitting to any previous wrongdoing, it would be a great place to sit and enjoy periodic airgunning at inanimate targets of opportunity tossed from the deck. Normally, one would stand and shoot off the shoulder for such endeavors. That’s always fun, and a great way to improve freehand rifle skills, but accuracy does suffer after a while.
All of this hypothetical standing around and shooting may have just changed with the arrival of a package from the folks at FX Airguns. Over the past year, they’ve ventured into the “interesting accessories? arena with the launch of products like the Doppler radar Pocket Chronograph. Now, they’ve come up with a solution for comfortable plinking and much, much more.
The EZ Shot shooting chair is exactly what the name says: a chair designed for shooting. We’re talking about air here, but there’s no reason at all it won’t work just fine with any other type of firearm. In fact, it would make a peachy turkey hunting accessory. We’ll explain why in just a moment.
The EZ Shot is a fold-up affair that’s insanely portable and weighs just about 10 pounds. Looking something like the love child of an enlarged folding stadium chair and a giant Praying Mantis, the EZ Shot folds flat until you’re ready to use it. To minimize required parts and weight, the monopod up front folds back and is used to hold the chair in the and closed position during transport. There’s a shoulder strap on the chair backrest for transport. I think this also might come in handy for that turkey hunting scenario if you wanted to back the rig up against a tree and stabilize it even more.
To set it up, just depress the rapid adjustment trigger on the monopod grip, shorten the post, and unfold the chair. It sits a couple of inches off the ground, and the cushion is held airborne in that position by a crossbar rear frame. The front of the chair is actually supported by the base of the monopod itself. What’s nifty about that design is that the Monopod bar locks at any height you like, and this allows angular adjustment of the seat. Want it horizontal with the ground? Lower the front seat support on the monopod. Want to recline a bit for casual napping between shot strings? Extend the monopod farther below the support and the seat is set in a reclined position. It’s an efficient design that keeps the entire assembly minimalistic, and I mean that in a good way.
The built-in shooting rest is dead simple to use and adjust. The top of the monopod features an adjustment grip. Just squeeze the trigger and the layered monopod tube unlock so you can lower the “U-shaped” rifle support. You can raise the support at any time — the lock just prevents the weight of the rifle from allowing the shooting rest to fall. For windage, the support notch is on a swivel, so you can swing freely from side to side. If you have a stable position you want to keep for a bit, just rotate the locking levers to prevent inadvertent activation of the adjustment grip. You can still raise the rest with the levers locked.
To find your perfect shooting position with a specific rifle and its eye relief distance, you simply balance adjustments between the monopod length under the front chair support, the angle of the monopod (it hinges back and forth), and the height of the rifle support. It’s a lot easier and more intuitive than it sounds. And you can make all the adjustments while seated.
The easy configuration of this shooting chair allows for all sorts of applications. It’s easy to set up level for target shooting or turkey hunting. Or, if you’re chasing squirrels, just crank the gun rest up high, adjust your chair seat back, and you have a field recliner that supports your rifle at an upward angle.
This is a cool product that warrants some garage space because it has so many applications. While light and portable, it provides a solid shooting platform in part because it uses your own body weight to stabilize the unit and therefore your rifle. Clever stuff.