What got you started with airguns in the first place?

[triggertreat]

For me it was squirrels stealing tomatoes from my small 12x20 garden spot.  I was loosing one or two green ones a day and had enough.  To much work for thieves to rob.

I started with a NP2 and didn't like it to much as it was just wounding the squirrels many times (I didn't have a clue about pellet sizes and such then).  I upped my game after returning it for a refund and got the .22 Marauder I dubbed the Synrod being it had a synthetic stock.  The rest is history.  I designed the DIY internal SSG and invented the F.A.M.E mod for it to make it better with more shots and a much lower ES.  Eventually I installed a WAR hammer forged barrel which took the gun to a whole new level of accuracy and then on to the TSS and MDS mods from JSAR where it sits today with my signature tune.  I have a LW air tube waiting to be installed from JSAR and that should do it for mods.  A long ways from garden pesting, but that's how it all started for me.  I did have a Crosman pump as a young boy, but that was many moons ago and short lived.

I upped my game even more with a .25 caliber Synrod later on for more range and bigger pest, and did tons of mods to it as well.  Recently, I replace my .270 deer gun with a .357 Slayer.  Now we're talking a real quality PCP here averaging 275 FPE which should do fine and will be much quieter to shoot like my other two PCPs are.  Now I'm all air and like that.  I think that should do it for me, but I said that when I got the .22 cal Synrod, lol.

What's your story on how you got started with airguns?

[Bob Pratl]

I started three years ago with a cheap .22 break barrel that I purchased  to entertain my then 7 and 9 year old grand sons in my backyard.
I very quickly got addicted to tinkering, casting and shooting.

[redtrucker610]

I got my first adult air gun about 5 years ago. Wanted something that I could shoot in the back yard. Didn't want to have to pack stuff up and go to the range just to shoot. Started off with a cheap break barrel from Walmart. Then found the forum and the hobby just got more expensive from there.

[Wayne52]

What really got me going in my retirement years is finding an airsoft pistol in the woods with my metal detector and I was off to the races once I discovered pcp's doing researching for an exploded view of my P30 airsoft gun.  I have been using air guns since I was very young starting out with a Red Ryder.

[lefteyeshot]

Right eye messed up. Bought a Beeman RS2 dual cal at Walmart to learn to shoot left hand. After I did that I was hooked.

[Jacob_M]

So bought 3 acres about 6 years ago. I always was interested in guns but never had one of my own. I didn’t like the idea of going to the range and having enough land to be able to shoot at home was just too expensive. Got me thinking about my childhood daisy pellet gun.

Found my daisy pellet gun right where I left it 15 years prior! Lol. Pumped it 5 times and it still worked. Bought a 10 dollar scope from wal mart and plinked a few cans.

So, I had a lot of doves and squirrels running around my property. For some stupid reason I wondered what they tasted like.

Googled air rifle hunting, found Tedsholdover. Bought a Trail NP from Walmart. It sucked.

Returned and found pyramydair. WOW didn’t know airguns go so expensive!!

Bought a hatsan 125 sniper .22(loved this gun)

Discovered PCP and bought a Marauder .25

Then a P-ROD.

Modified the heck out of both.

Fought with the wife and pleaded could I get more.

Modified them some more.

3000$+ and 25,000 pellets later.

I love air rifles.

[avator]

Walking thru Walmart about 5 or so years ago I spotted a Daisy 880. Memories flashed back to my youth so I picked it up. Shortly after we thought it may be cool to adorn our vintage home with vintage airguns. From there I found the GTA and it just blew up. I sometimes wonder if I should have just left that 880 on the shelf.

[maraudinglizard]

The ammo shortage and a suppressed childhood pushed me over the edge. When I was growing up little girls didn't play with bb guns, they were a no no in my parent's house. Fast forward, I now have amassed a large collection and enjoying every one of them to the fullest extent. That's my story and I am sticking with it. Oh, the GTA helped a little(a lot) with the selection.

[Mod90]

Well speaking only for myself it was quite a few things.
1-cheap ammo
2- can shoot them in places where using a rimfire would get you in hot water for fear of hitting something or someone down range
3-exceptional precision can be had from a properly tuned pcp
4-pcps are a whole lot easier to maintain and repair that firearms
5- they're a lot quieter than firearms, and with a good ldc that's an invaluable benefit particularly in hunting situations with multiple targets.

[AlanMcD]

Similar to many . . .

I had friends will BB/pellet guns as as a kid, and loved shooting them, but my mom would never allow me to have one.  You know, "you'll shoot your eye out" and other such things . . .

I bought a 1322 pump pistol with the stock once I was on my own in the late 80s, and that was fine for decades - no internet, so no exposure to anything beyond that.  Along comes kids and a need to teach them basic gun safety, so I get a Crosman 2100B from a local sporting goods store (one of the top models back when I was a kid) and I was happy with the addition for occasional plinking.

Then a groundhog problem developed about ten years ago, and I looked on the internet for something that could do the job better, thinking about maybe a break barrel, and was blown away by the choices.  Bought a cheap Crosman Quest as a starting point, and after messing around with it, moved onto a Marauder.  And it has grown from there . . . . and won't stop!

[Hoosier Daddy]

in the first place?

Would have been about 1970 and I was too young to own a firearm. The neighbor boy had a Crosman 760 and I begged Mom and Dad until they caved. 

Fast forward 45 years... my 4 daughters were all grown and when they came home for family functions, their husbands / boyfriends and I would sit out on the deck while the women chatted inside.
 I came up with this hair-brained idea us men-folk should all get an air pistol we could each start with the same. Then customize to our liking, and have competitions shooting off the deck. Did the research, found GTA, and decided on the 1377.
 Gave each one $50 to get their own to get started....
 I am the only one who followed through with it. 

[keech1642]

 1948, Me and Red Ryder walking from the house to the barn, not hitting any thing, and darn hard to cock for a six year old, that was Ma's idea of a safety. What a great way for any young person to start, and just about any back yard will do set up properly.

[dmeguy]

I've basically had a bb or pellet gun of some kind my whole life. But it was the 22lr shortage that pushed me to take a more serious look. Then like many newer shooters, I found the Ted's Holdover YouTube channel. Then the research into these crazy pcp guns began.

[MJP]

Had always liked to shoot but my ex didn't like guns, I respected that.
Well as she turned to be ex I wanted to shoot and was a cnc machinist...
made one co2 .177 out of crossman grip and some tubing.


It got a bit sideways from there, as I figured you can build bigger pcp guns.
.177 turned in to .25, then that in to .357 then wanted bigger and more powerful. Well I can't see the end of this any time soon.

Marko

[jarmstrong]

STARLINGS

[HunterWhite]

Squirrels.
I bought a Crosman 760 just to see if I liked it.
Marauder 25.
Condor 25 SS.
Crosman 2240.
Thank you GTA!

Scott
" I am the only one who followed through with it.  "
Their loss, and yours.

[bavaria55n]

My grandfather borrowed Daisy #25 from someone and let me use it to thin out the english sparrows around the horse barns when I was 5. Had to get on my knees and use both hands to pump it with the butt stock on the ground.
Gary

[Back_Roads]

 Guessing I was basically born into airguns 
Born under a BB Gun Sign 

[ezman604]

I bought a Revelation 760 Pumpmaster in 1966/67. It was a very powerful airgun, especially compared to everything else available at the time. I still have that airgun and shoot it occasionally.
I have always had a love of shooting.....ANYTHING. I went the route of powder burners for decades. And I have quite a few. But not having a range near by and convenient, I longed to just be able to shoot any time I got the itch. I live in a rural area but have neighbors fairly close. I COULD shoot pb in my back yard but did not deem it safe enough, not having a proper back stop.
Walking through Walmart one year some time ago, the printing on a Powerline 1000 box stopped me in my tracks. 1000fps!!!!! Wow...from a BB gun? LOL
It was late November and Teresa was all eyes and ears. Come Christmas, guess what I surprisingly unwrapped? So I can blame her for my renewed love of shooting and sending me down the rabbit hole of airgunning. Looking to smooth out this Turkish diamond in the rough is what brought me here in 2009. I haven't been able to leave since. And now have 90-100 airguns in my collection that I shoot any time I can find a few minutes to scratch that itch. Plus bench time tinkering with these is fantastic therapy for me.
Whatever brought you here and to airguns....
SAFE & Happy Shooting!!!!
Dave
 

[Hoosier Daddy]

Scott
" I am the only one who followed through with it.  "
Their loss, and yours.

I keep casting the bait,
One S.I.L. is nibbling....but haven't hooked one yet.