What got you started with airguns in the first place?

[moorepower]

My Daisy 99 Original from 1965. I sold 15 bushels of hand picked (by me) peaches  to get the money to buy this one.

I quickly got accurate with it but it lacked power. Christmas 1966 my Granddad got me a Benjamin 342.
I still have it but unfortunately I misplaced most the internals in a move across the country several times.
If I ever find the parts (I know I have them somewhere) I will be completing a rebuild on it.

How many times did you get your finger smacked with the spring loaded magazine?

[Volvonium]

An abundance of rats eating my citrus, causing problems for my dog.   Amazon had the CO2 powered .177 Crosman 1077 with cheapie Centerpoint 4x32 scope for under $100 and shipped by Pyramyd, so I figured shooting the rats would be an enjoyable and inexpensive thing to do. 

I could never get the cheap scope to zero and wound up shelving it. While I killed a couple rats offhand using iron sights, one rat wound up taking 4 shots to the body due to bad off hand shot placement. This prompted me to get a Bug Buster scope so I could take better shots and have something with working adjustments. The better optics revealed a lot of inconsistency shot to shot due to how CO2 operated. I started reading about modifications to the 1077 and CO2 rifle operation. I needed more consistency.  I had a spare paintball CO2 tank sitting in a modified sodastream, so i bought an adapter to run the 1077 from the bottle. While studying up on 1077 mods, I noticed a lot of mentions about the limitations of CO2 and HPA being the name of the game.

While waiting for the adapter, I started reading the Pyramyd catalog and drooling over the fancy, more expensive PCPs.  After watching a few youtube videos on PCPs, I decided I needed to get a .177 Marauder...

...I've put in a little over $3K into "shooting rats" at this point.  I've gone from rats, to squirrels, to possums, to hoping for some game next year. I now have a modified .177 Synrod, .25 ARmrod, .25 Artemis P15 bullpup, glass for each rifle, DonnyFL Shogun LDC, and I don't even have a tank yet, which I hope my wife will remedy this Christmas. 

[JungleShooter]

I've put in a little over $3K into "shooting rats" at this point.

Michael, that seems like a real responsible use of your financial resources:
3000 dollars to kills some roaming rats – REALLY?!? 


I surely have the moral high ground here. 

NOT....

Just read this:
https://www.gatewaytoairguns.org/GTA/index.php?topic=148453

             

[Back_Roads]

About the same or less than hiring a full time exterminator 

[jackssmirkingrevenge]

A fascination with launching projectiles while being too young to own firearms, or indeed commercially made airguns, which lead me to "rolling my own" for a few years before I bought my first, a HW45.

One of my first builds was an 6mm exhaust valve design using a cut down syringe as a piston and balsa wood endcaps epoxied in place, not the smartest construction for a pressure bearing vessel but how was a misguided adolescent to know it worked pretty well to about 100 psi.



That grew into a fairly decent collection that I stupidly sold before moving half way across the world:



An excuse to start again, though now it's mostly older and unusual models.

[DRAGON64]

As a young lad, I was a dead-eye shot with an old "Buck" spring air rifle.  When my son came along, and became of age, I bought him his first Buck rifle, and the following year he got his first Red Ryder.  Our favorite Christmas movie of course was Christmas Story... His interest in the air guns, coupled with his enthusiasm spurned my interest in air guns again.  Instead of a spring air rifle though, I went head long into PCP's (circa 2010).  Unfortunately, as my son matured, he let his interest in air guns wane, as he considered them "kids toys"     I told him that is the joy of having a second childhood... all new and improved toys to play with.

[DameSp]

Childhood hobby.  Then my divorce gave my the free time and life crises to get back into it 😂

[triggertreat]

Childhood hobby.  Then my divorce gave my the free time and life crises to get back into it 😂

Looks like you came back hard looking at your list.  Nice collection!

[Raider03]

The mad run on 22 lr ammo combined with Crosman's introduction of the Benjamin Discovery.
Haven't shot the 22 lr since then and the airgun collection just keeps growing

[aslanshow]

9 years old got a 495 fps break barrel with a wooden stock.
Busted it up trying to figure out how to get at the spring many years later.
About 8 yrs ago I decided I need to get a co2 pistol cos I'd never had one, always wanted one. I grabbed the desert eagle first and soon added a 1377 for more power and accuracy and because of the mod scene, finally got myself a metal breech. Needed a break barrel so I got a phantom.
Now I need a rifle and pistol in each power plant. So addictive.
I've just enjoyed plinking for a long time. Love figuring out how they work and how they can be improved.
Haven't gotten PB yet, some day maybe but AG are a lot cheaper to shoot.

[SpeedStar]

11 years old, 7 acres of land with lots of trees, Crosman 10 pump, grandpas scope taken of his .22, lots of birds paid the price.

[tomiboy]

For me it was the late 70s and I was in a gun shop. The sales guy, who knew me, said check this out. It was a Webley Vulcan break barrel in 177. I had, of course, shot pellet rifles before but I was now into "real" guns. We started shooting it in the gun shop and it went home with me. No pumping and very accurate. Then came an FWB 124, then an R1, etc, etc, and now, 38 years later, I am shooting a 30 cal FX Crown.

[triggertreat]

For me it was the late 70s and I was in a gun shop. The sales guy, who knew me, said check this out. It was a Webley Vulcan break barrel in 177. I had, of course, shot pellet rifles before but I was now into "real" guns. We started shooting it in the gun shop and it went home with me. No pumping and very accurate. Then came an FWB 124, then an R1, etc, etc, and now, 38 years later, I am shooting a 30 cal FX Crown.

How do you like the FX 30 cal?  Any issues with the gun so far or its accuracy?

[A.K.A. Tommy Boy]

WOW....Interesting read folks !

Here is my story.

In the mid 1950's I had a model 25 Daisy pump BB gun.  In 1958 I was given a Sheridan Blue Streak for my 10th birthday.  That was my first really powerful air rifle.  It was my pride & joy.  In 1967 I went into the Army.  My folks moved to a retirement community while I was in the Army.  When I returned home, 6 years later, my Sheridan Bluestreak had gone missing. ( Along with some of my other things.) In the 1970's, a couple of boys were shooting pellet guns at a street light. They were chased by the police and stashed their two guns in the bushes around my house. (The house I was living in at that time but not the one I am living in now).  They never came back to get those guns and I retrieved them and kept them myself.  One was possibly a 760 and the other was possibly a 2100. I am not sure exactly what they were and I can no longer remember.   I shot those two multi-pump guns well into the 1980's.  In the mid 1980's I helped a friend move and he gave me his Chinese B-3 Underlever spring rifle.  Somewhere along the line the multi-pumps failed and I tossed them. (I am regretting that now).  I still had the B-3, which I shot and still do.  In 1998 I was severely injured in an industrial accident and had to have reconstructive knee surgery. That put a big damper on my big game hunting for a while and I took up small game hunting with the B-3.  I began lurking on the air gun forums around 2000, to see what other air gun hunters were doing.  I also began wishing I had more power output than what the B-3 offered.  Around 2010, I read an article in one of the air gun forums about the brand new 117 cal. Vantage Nitro Piston air rifle that Crosman had just came out with. (It may have been here in the GTA, but I am not sure.) I waited until PA offered one as a refurb and bought one. So now I had the B-3 and the Crosman Vantage NP, both in 117 Cal. When Gamo first came out with the Whisper I bought a 117 cal. Gamo Whisper Deluxe with a spring driven piston, but after a while, I sold it to a friend who lived in the city and needed a quiet rifle for pesting.  Later I bought a Hatsan 85 Sniper with a spring piston in 117 cal.   I quit lurking and joined the GTA on Sept 23rd 2016.  I don't read the other forums now. All the rest of my air guns I have accquired since joining the GTA.  The most I have ever paid for any rifle was $220 and that was for the rebuilt 1979 Sheridan Silver Streak that I bought from Yng@hrt (Marty).  The rest were bought on sale or were used.  The two 1377's  I got Very Cheap. One was $13 at Walmart and was new.  The other was used but never fired for $15. 
I have pretty much given up on big game hunting with PB's.   
I am now an avid small game hunter with my airguns. 


My Best Wishes to All - Tom

Here is a list of the air guns that I currently own. 
As yet, none are PCP but I have given serious thought about acquiring an ATI Freedom in 22 Cal.

My Primary Hunting Guns
.25cal Hatsan 125 Magnum with a Camo Thumbhole Stock & Spring Piston (HATSAN'S MOST POWERFUL BREAK BARREL RIFLE IN 25 CAL.)
.25cal Hatsan Edge Vortex.  (Good Snap-Shooter on Winter or Windy Days)
.22cal Benjamin Trail NP XL 1100 Magnum W/CDT GRT III Trigger (*A POWERFUL BREAK BARREL RIFLE & MY BEST "RESTED-SHOT" HUNTER*)
.22cal Crosman Summit Ranger NP2 (***MY BEST ALL-ROUND HUNTER & WINTER GUN***)
.20cal Vintage 1979 Sheridan Silver Streak  (NicelyResealed&Rebuilt By Rob112o)(*My MOST ACCURATE HUNTER & SNAP SHOOTER*)
.117cal Hatsan 85 Sniper Spring Piston W/Camo Stock & Extra 25 Cal Sniper Barrel (Good Winter & Windy Day Gun)
.117cal Hatsan Striker Vortex W/Edge Stock (*EXCELLENT SNAP SHOOTER & GOOD WINTER GUN*)
.117cal Crosman Vantage NP1 W/Titan Stock (My Old Trusty Standby Rifle)
.117cal Crosman 2100 (My Lightest Weight Hunter)
Occasional Hunters
.117cal Custom Older X-3 Stoeger W/B-3 Spring (NicelyRefinished&Rebuilt By SteveP-52)
.117cal Chinese B-3 (My Mean Mongrel Junkyard Dog)
.117cal 2 Crosman 1377 Pistols (Mouse Zappers)
.117cal Umarex NXG APX (Chipmunk Hunter)
.117cal Red Ridder BB Gun (Pop Can Hunter)
.012cal (3mm) Bug-A-Salt 2.0 (Black Fly, Deer Fly & Mosquito Hunter)

[Hoosier Daddy]

Tom, I honestly believe that is the first time I have seen you list all your air guns.
Very nice.

[Deckard1973]

I bought a Crosman multi-pump for shooting indoors as a method of keeping up with the fundamentals and just the joy of shooting.
Then I saved up for a IZH46M.
WOW!

After I got back from Afghanistan I wanted something in a rifle and backyard friendly.
Did a lot of research, and I figured there was no way I would ever buy a PCP!  Com'on!  These are just air rifles right?
So I got a Gamo Bone Collector break barrel in .22. 
Put a scope on it, had barrel droop issues, got a droop rail.
I would never buy a PCP!

After a year, I was looking at PCPs.
Bought a Benjamin MRod. 
Been pouring money into since and dang happy to do it!

[Tom Tucker]

When I was a teen, I had a Daisy CO2 pistol that I bought used for the price of a sandwich... I shot the heck out of that thing.  Now, I had no idea about FPE or anything back then, and I wouldn't try it today, but I was a pretty good shot, and I used take rabbits out with it from about 20 feet.  Mmmmm.. rabbit.  I always wanted something more powerful and accurate though.  Rabbits don't always let you get close enough, nor do they wait for you to load a fresh CO2.  But, I was living in New Jersey, and you have to jump through a couple of hoops to buy an air gun in NJ.  Can't just walk into a Walmart over there and buy one.  I had enough other hobbies to just let it slip.  Got married, had kids, worked 5 jobs...  you know how it goes.  Daisy pistol went missing at some point and it needed new seals anyway.  But for years, it was in the back of my mind.  Since then, I moved to PA, and I had a hankering for all that plinking fun I used to have.  And I had a hankering for rabbit.  And I needed to do something about the squirrels that were casing my attic.  You get the idea.  So then I bought a Crosman 1322, and I couldn't believe it!  Pellets!  Power!  And adjustable sights!!!  I was hooked.  Now I have 5 guns, all customized to my preferences, and I shoot them every chance I get.

[A.K.A. Tommy Boy]

Tom, I honestly believe that is the first time I have seen you list all your air guns.
Very nice.

Scott :

Thank You !


Best Wishes - Tom

[Madd Hatter]

First rifle was a Daisy BB gun around 1956 and I was 4 years old. I killed so many birds with that rifle. Have no idea what ever happened to it. 10 years later saved up and bought a Sheridan blue streak. Again, lots and lots of birds to the point we didn't have any around for quite awhile. Got into PB and just didn't do that much with the blue streak. I think it was stolen at my father inlaw's desert cabin but bought another one. Now that one I really have no idea what happened to it. Fast forward to the early 90's and bought a RWS model 34 commemorative. Had a much nicer stock and shot the stuffings out of the one killing a bunch of GS. Decided I need a little more power so bought the RWS model 48 used from Beeman in .177. I eventually gave the 34 to my son and when he moved up to fort irwin he left it behind the U-haul's seat and never got it back. Since then I've bought a 1377 for $30 and picked up a Seneca Aspen in .22. And that's my story and I'm sticking to it. lol

[Arch_E]

Like many others, I had two BB guns as a kid--well, one was actually a break barrel pellet gun that had a terrible habbit of spilling the pellet or BB before closing the breach. I remember it like yesterday; but that's been nearly 50 years ago.

Like many others, SQUIRRELS!!!!! Cost me nearly $1,000 in house soffit and porch repairs. Local pest control wouldn't trap them unless I left the soffit holes alone. We were already hearing noises in the eaves and around the chimney chase, so now deal. All that happened last fall. Just after Christmas I bought my first Gamo, then Weihrauch, and the rest is history. I've killed 32 squirrels since 1/1/19 and significantly wounded another 20. Of those 20, there's only been one wounded since I started shooting my Weihrauch (great head shot gun).

Unfortunately, I've also indulged in some pistols; but I'm having fun. 

Best wishes,

Archie