“My kids always preferred the spud-canon to BB guns...”
Spud cannons are good—very large caliber round. Maybe about a 90 mm?
My 9 year old has just graduated from BB guns to a pretty powerful .177 air rifle. It falls into the category of way cool—the bottles break real good.
There is still utilitarian value to the .177 pellet rifle. I recently bought one (a ‘you pump it up’ version—to off a pesky woodpecker who pecked a nice 3” diameter hole in my shingled roof, right at the bottom of a roof valley, which allowed water to pour into my entry hall and garage, costing me thousands of dollars for repairs inside and outside. The woodpecker was dispatched with extreme prejudice ... and any relative will be dealt with similarly if they make a single peck on my roof!
You gotta get yourself one of these babies .....
http://www.truveo.com/Air-rifle-hog-hunt-with-a-Gamo-Hunter-Extreme/id/3380369762
WILD BOAR taken with an airgun!