Does your way of airgunning make sense? – Brutally honest chronicle of NONsense

[the fuse]

Great post on this one. I have found, for me, there is no right or particularly sane way to airgun. I'm all impulse.....held in check only by my extreme frugality. Soooooo I ended up with over 100 airguns mostly from tag sales and flea markets. Did I mention I'm cheap. I'm into vintage guns. Pumpers/Co2 are my favorites. So I had to get into resealing. Some of them guns came out of damp basements so I got into restoring. Next thing you know you get knowlegdeable. More knowledgeable than other sellers. So I start buying more expensive guns online that I know I can resell for double or more to help feed the beast. At it's height, I was hitting multiple tag sales and flea markets each week and surfing multiple sites for a couple hours a night. Buying and selling but all the while managing to maintain that magic number of over 100 guns in various states of repair. Some of you folk know that that stage of airgunning is over for me. I'll still pick up the odd nice Cr 157 I run across. Just posted about that one on another thread. But I'm down to about a dozen keepers that Karen and I actually enjoy shooting. It's amazing how much more space there is in my man cave now. 

[Bryan Heimann]

Great post.  Don't feel bad.  You figured it out faster than I did, for sure! 

I started out with a Stoeger X10, for squirrel hunting amd so I could hone my marksmanship in the yard.  Somehow, it has evolved into something I can't even recognize.  Attached are a few pictures- first, our spare bedroom loaded down with all the &^^& I am sorting through.  This is pretty much what I am selling, with regards to fishing and hunting equipment. 

My spare rings and mounts fill three ziplock storage bags, representing maybe $300 spent on rings that mostly don't match!  I don't own a single decent scope to go with these rings!  I do have 4 or 5 crappy ones though.

With regards to airguns, I have spent as much on my cheapest rifles as I have on my best ones!  I probably have $500 or more in cheap chinese rifles, not including the guns I've already sold, that i probably won't get $150 back on them! Save your money, buy quality, and never buy new.

I probably have 3x as much money invested in airguns that I still have right now, as I do in firearms.  Of course the firearms were all bought used and refinished by yours truly, and probably worth a whole lot more.  What was I thinking???

The God's Honest Truth- my airgun habit is mild in comparison to most of the enthusiasts that regularly post in the GTA, and so is yours!  Best advice I can give you- buy quality, buy once, and be satisfied.  Try to limit yourself to a gun per year or less, but go for the best quality you can afford.  They all told me the same thing but I learned the hard way!  You'll buy 2 or 3 lesser quality rifles for every satisfactory gun you recieve.

Regards to optics- for springers I wouldn't even use a scope unless for HFT or if you just don't have good vision.  I probably will invest in some quality glass... one day...  i am hard headed you know!

So here's the images:

1.  The spare bedroom full of stuff I have to package and sell somehow.  I can barely freaking walk... will figure it out!

2. The "keepers' corner".  I will have to trim that down too.

3.  Most of the rest of the stuff I am keeping.

4.  Ammo-  pellets on the left.  How do my airgun pellets take up more space than the shotshells?

5.  I have more .22 ammo than .177, but I don't own a .22 rifle.  WHERE ARE THE PREMIUM .177 PELLETS?? WTH!!!  Got to do something different!

[lefteyeshot]

Told the wife how much I'd spent on this hobby. She said, "That's not to bad, less than your bar tab use to be." And she likes the mood I'm in after a few hour on punching paper out back.

[Bryan Heimann]

Told the wife how much I'd spent on this hobby. She said, "That's not to bad, less than your bar tab use to be." And she likes the mood I'm in after a few hour on punching paper out back.

So, the trick is, i need to go on a bender for a couple years! 

[elh0102]

The way I figure, I don't gamble, don't chase women, don't often drink to excess, so the wife should have no issue with my air gun hobby. But, I'm not so confident of that to ever tell her how much I've spent!

[Bryan Heimann]

My problem isn't my wife, it's me.  I have probably spent at least a couple thousand dollars on airguns and sold most of them at a loss of at least 50%.  That is absurd.  You buy used, buy quality, they hold their value if you take care of them.

And I am a springer guy.  All the best spring rifles have been around for a long time.  I work on my own guns as well, not about to ship a rifle for somebody that doesn't care about it to booger it up.  I can get any parts I will ever need for less than the cost to ship a rifle.  I have nothing to gain buying new, not even warranty.

It is my own voice of reason, that is letting me know, I'm screwing up!  If I'd purchased more wisely, and could recover more of my investment, it would be different.  But I am coming around.

About to unload a bunch of guns for less than half what I spent, one last time.  At least the next guy will be able to recover his investment!  Going to invest that money better in guns that bring me a lot more satisfaction.

[Wolverineshooter]

We all make some sacrifice to keep the industry going, right?

I am cheap so I do not have expensive guns (most expensive one is less than $400). But I spent quite a bit on accessories, accumulating more than 30 scopes. Hundreds of $ on pellets. 20 or so guns mostly really cheap (bargain gate problem), totaling thousands of $ as well. Have not sold anything yet which I should do as I could not possibly shoot them all.

There are always new things on horizon to make you drool. I see a big bore and a semi-auto in the future. But first I need to unload some of them for space.

[Bryan Heimann]

We all make some sacrifice to keep the industry going, right?

I am cheap so I do not have expensive guns (most expensive one is less than $400). But I spent quite a bit on accessories, accumulating more than 30 scopes. Hundreds of $ on pellets. 20 or so guns mostly really cheap (bargain gate problem), totaling thousands of $ as well. Have not sold anything yet which I should do as I could not possibly shoot them all.

There are always new things on horizon to make you drool. I see a big bore and a semi-auto in the future. But first I need to unload some of them for space.

Money spent on pellets is never wasted!

[JungleShooter]

I am so far down the rabbit hole in less than 3 years I can only see the entrance as a dim star  . Perpetual deep twilight at this depth. 
My wife and I only have one child ..... ME!

Oh, did I roll on the floor when I read this post, over and over again!!!!         
(I couldn't put enough exclamation marks and laughing faces behind my comment to express the giddy feeling that I get every time when I read T3PRanch's statement.)


Bryan H., you have HOW MUCH money in that bag of scope rings?!   

I know it when I see it: There is some true humbleness involved when I read lines like yours:  "My airgun habit is mild in comparison to most of the enthusiasts that regularly post in the GTA."   

And Bryan, thanks for the photos.  I will maintain a minimum of dignity and not post pics of my own store-room, errr, ex-bedroom (or pseudo-office).

Ahm, good luck with that desire to sell stuff,...  I've boxes full of good and valuable stuff, I just don't seem to get around to take the photos and write the ads.... (Oh, you mean I should stop posting on GTA and instead post the WTS ads...? You think so?)




Lefteyeshot, you have a point there.
Your technique has been used on all of those who have ventured to talk to a car salesperson about a new ride. Instead of shocking the car shopper on the lot with the $20,000 price of a 2019 Ford Fusion, the smart car salesperson raises the psychological bar by first presenting the higher priced Mustang at $25,000. Because then the 20,000 Fusion does not seem so expensive anymore.
So, yeah, expensive bar tabs, Bryan's 2-year bender, or other expensive ventures make airgunning expenses pale in comparison.



Wolverinshooter, I appreciate that you do not just think of yourself, but of others and their wellbeing. In this case, your concern for the wellbeing of the airgun industry it truly touching. Yes, we all have to make some sacrifices to support it and keep it going.
Oh, what a sentiment!!   
Now I see the obvious and rational reason why you own 30 scopes, keep going and you've got a different scope for each week of shooting. Because the show must go on.
One last time: Is there a law against buying one scope each week, just 1 (one!) scope, one itzibitzi little scope, with a moderate 56mm or 60mm objective? (I mean, look at them telescopes with 3,000mm objectives, and I only want 1/50 of that....!)

[Bryan Heimann]

If you shoot magnum springers often enough, and cheap out on the glass, you may need a scope a week.

Come to think of it, if you are a magnum breakbarrel guy, maybe you ought to have about 30 scopes in reserve?  Why not...

[avator]

A two bedroom, 2 bath home and a 100' x 60' barn and several out buildings on 8 acres and you literally cannot find one spot on this place where you cannot spot something airgun related. Be it guns, targets, tools or support equipment.... it's everywhere. Wouldn't have it any other way.

[Wolverineshooter]

If you shoot magnum springers often enough, and cheap out on the glass, you may need a scope a week.

Come to think of it, if you are a magnum breakbarrel guy, maybe you ought to have about 30 scopes in reserve?  Why not...

Haha, my RWS 34 is a scope eater. The scope that came with the gun have its reticle turned in less than a week. I put on a center point 3-9x40 with AO, after several hundred shots, the windgate adjuster no longer click. At least the recicle is still intact so I can still shoot, but could not adjust the POI easily.

My Gamo Swarm Magnum is the most powerful break barrel but the scope has been fine so far, after may be 200 shots. Also with a center point 3-9x40 scope.

[Bryan Heimann]

If you shoot magnum springers often enough, and cheap out on the glass, you may need a scope a week.

Come to think of it, if you are a magnum breakbarrel guy, maybe you ought to have about 30 scopes in reserve?  Why not...

Haha, my RWS 34 is a scope eater. The scope that came with the gun have its reticle turned in less than a week. I put on a center point 3-9x40 with AO, after several hundred shots, the windgate adjuster no longer click. At least the recicle is still intact so I can still shoot, but could not adjust the POI easily.

My Gamo Swarm Magnum is the most powerful break barrel but the scope has been fine so far, after may be 200 shots. Also with a center point 3-9x40 scope.

So you own 30 broken scopes because you just can't stand to toss em?  I am the same way...

[EdinGa]

Many of the things I use in my airgun h̶o̶b̶b̶y̶ obsession slide seemlessly back and forth between airguns and their powder fueled cousins. This double duty status creates efficiency and cost savings. Trust me on this, because I've spent many hours perfecting this argument for the inevitable wifely confrontations. Justification is a wonderful thing. 😂

[Habanero69er]

Way to CYA Eddie!

[Bryan Heimann]

The cost savings over cartridges for sure justifies owning a few nice airguns.

[sk73]

I think all of us have bought some experience.  Airgunning has been a flowing river for me - a Springer stage, a pistol stage, pumper stage, back to springers, vintage pumpers, and finally a pcp.  But I now know the guns I want to keep, the special ones.  That's The experience i paid for.    The rest I'll eventually, or sooner, sell. No need for me to keep them if I don't shoot them much any more.

[bandg]

Great point of view-until you repeat a stage or two and think why did I sell that back then.

[mobilemail]

Ironically, I find that I now use my airguns primarily for fun shooting and hunting, and my PBs just make it to the range occasionally for a little target practice.

[anti-squirrel]

Looking over ll the posts, one thing is clear: we're all afflicted with this hobby/passion/illness.

I don't shoot as much as I like and don't have any of the guns I really want, but that's perfectly fine.  There was a song that said "If you can't be with the one you want, love the one you're with".  This is certainly true with airguns- even my 760 pumper without any sights or optics is fun just plinking cans across the yard...

... Though I admit a certain perverse joy being able to hit a spinner at 19 yards with it, too