What caused you to get into airguns?

[Dbez1]

I was wondering what initiated some of you to begin shooting airguns and what was your first PCP?  I don’t mean the kid type BB guns, but rather the more accurate pellet guns (of any price range).  I’ll start it off by saying I got a Disco for the safety factor. Although we live in the country, I still had to be careful what direction I shot my .22 and .17HMR. With my  PCP’s I can safely shoot in almost any direction without worrying about hurting someone.
Now it’s your turn...🤔

[FuzzyGrub]

When the price of 22 LR went sky high and availability was scarce, took a harder look at pellet guns.  Started with a break-barrel, went to pumper, and then first pcp, a used gen 1 22 Mrod.  Outside of a CO2 pistol, it has been nothing but pcp since.   

Even though I live rural enough to shoot the PB's, I've grown accustomed to the quiet.  The 10/22's and HMR have not been shot in quite some time. 

[grand-galop]

I get into airgun back when I started playing paintball... What get me SERIOUSLY INVOLVED was the skyrocketing of pb ammo.. ONLY WHEN I FIRST SHOOT it that I fell in love with the precision and quietness of this new world..
If only considering the LOW COST TRIGGER TIME to practice the fundamentals of shooting, IT'S WORTH EVERY SECOND..

[Rat Sniper (AKA: PaulT58)]

Laziness!  I got tired of packing everything up, dragging it to the range, dragging it back home again and then cleaning everything afterwards.  Air guns I shoot in my own backyard, no packing anything and they don't need to be cleaned after every use.  My first PCP was the Benjamin Maximus in .22.  It's been downhill ever since! 

[Sky777]

Backyard friendly..  ability to test myself how far I can shoot my target.. my goal is 100 yards.   Power of the PCP.  I also like to mount quality scope on the air guns.  Fun!!

[Back_Roads]

 My parents playing fictional chartiers bought me a few, yes I blame it on my upbringing 
 I did go for a few years w/o when I lost my old springer, but that changed when I bought a Beeman dual cal. and then googled air gun. 

[YEMX]

Depending on the gun, I can shoot indoor, backyard or longer range.  I can suppress all easily, cheaply and w/o the gov't "getting theirs".  Airguns can take anything I currently intend on shooting, even at long range.  They're never going to replace PB's for me, but they sure are fun!  As I get older, the engineering/tinkering/building aspect is appealing to me more and more.  So many other hobbies revolve around airguns!

[Wayne52]

What got me started into my retirement airgun rage was finding a airsoft pistol in the woods with my metal detector, it had really been years since I had any clue what was in the market these days and my newest airgun at the time was a 1977 Bluestreak I bought new.  When looking for information about that airsoft pistol that I had found I also found out about new airguns and they're really amazing these days.  The rest is history, now I am deep deep in the rabbit hole and still descending but having extraordinary fun.

[BackStop]

I can't pest where I live with a PB.   So, air guns were the next best option.   Even AGs are not legal due to city ordinances, but I WILL protect MY property.   I had already tried live traps, dead traps and did not use poison because I love cats and there are several that roam the area here.

Not to mention, shooting a really quiet AG is a joy!

Yeah, not a fan of springers or NP AGs.   Too much noise from the mechanism, let alone the sound of the pellet and too much "finesse" needed to make accurate shots consistently.

Nova Freedom in .177 with DIY LDC and looking at adding baffles for the shroud.  (smile)

[Nomadic Pirate]

I wanted precision for hunting so i could make brain shots and drop the critter on the spot rather then tracking it into thick vegetation after a bow shot.


1st PCP was a Shin Sung Career Ultra .357

[KnifeMaker]

It's all my three Uncles fault. They passed down a Crosman .22 pumper from year of our lord who knows when. I was 6 or 7 at the time. It had no real sights so I leaned to hunt by point shooting. Now at 65, (Todays my B'Day) I still love a good handgun. but being medically retired, It's hard to afford to shoot my very high quality Les Baer .45 anywhere as near as much like.


Well, I ordered a Artemis SA700 for my B'day. honed the trigger, put a halo that Wes Bob graciously included with it, and Man,is it a shooter. Already put over a1000 pellets down the spout since it arrived on the ninth. I added a black light under the air tube, an it is killing scorpions at an unreal pace. Once again, I'm in love with my childhood beginnings. Wow-Just WOW!!!


They say that as you age, you relive your childhood. Sure am glad they were right. 

[BackStop]

I wanted precision for hunting so i could make brain shots and drop the critter on the spot rather then tracking it into thick vegetation after a bow shot.

+1

[G-man]

Well, to paraphrase one of my all time fav. movie's (Oh Brother Where Art Thou) "Rats, I hate rats worse than coppers." That sums it up for me. I had a sudden invasion of rats at my bird feeders from surrounding yards. They were quite challenging, refusing to fall victim to the time honored rat trap. So, resorting to a childhood remembrance of the "trusty" Crosman multi-pump airgun, I picked one up (Hey this isn't how I remembered it!) and with it's cheap open sights, began (at night) to slowly thin the rat population. Then one fine sunny day, the rats were romping in my backyard having a great ol'time. I reached for my Crosman and pumped away only to hear "Pssssssshhhhh" with each pump, I knew the rats had me.  So I rushed off to the closest Cabelas and bought a .22 NP Gamo Hornet. "Wow, this makes my Crosman look like a pea shooter." So, the thinner the rat population became the more I wanted to shoot, rats or targets. That's when I knew I was hooked (2017) and now I haven't seen a rat in 6 weeks. My garage set up is just not cutting it and I see no way of safely setting up an outdoor range.  I have a gun range nearby but even with two levels of hearing protection, it's not enough to protect what's left of my well trained (audiophile) ears.   Now,  I'm retired and looking for a way to keep my newly found addiction alive.

[BackStop]

Well, to paraphrase one of my all time fav. movie's (Oh Brother Where Art Thou) "Rats, I hate rats worse than coppers." That sums it up for me. I had a sudden invasion of rats at my bird feeders from surrounding yards. They were quite challenging, refusing to fall victim to the time honored rat trap. So, resorting to a childhood remembrance of the "trusty" Crosman multi-pump airgun, I picked one up (Hey this isn't how I remembered it!) and with it's cheap open sights, began (at night) to slowly thin the rat population. Then one fine sunny day, the rats were romping in my backyard having a great ol'time. I reached for my Crosman and pumped away only to hear "Pssssssshhhhh" with each pump, I knew the rats had me.  So I rushed off to the closest Cabelas and bought a .22 NP Gamo Hornet. "Wow, this makes my Crosman look like a pea shooter." So, the thinner the rat population became the more I wanted to shoot, rats or targets. That's when I knew I was hooked (2017) and now I haven't seen a rat in 6 weeks. My garage set up is just not cutting it and I see no way of safely setting up an outdoor range.  I have a gun range nearby but even with two levels of hearing protection, it's not enough to protect what's left of my well trained (audiophile) ears.   Now,  I'm retired and looking for a way to keep my newly found addiction alive.

Fortunately/unfortunately, "targets" will return.   I DO hate having varmints/pests that damage my property.   However, I do miss having "targets", when there are none to shoot at.   And I almost only shoot for pesting or sighting in, tuning my AG.   Yes, singular... for now.  Muhuhuhahaha!  chuckle...

[avator]

I entered into my second childhood about 6 years ago with an impulse buy of an 880 Daisy while walking through Walmart.
My first PCP was the FD-PCP SX60-C  Gen 1 from Flying Dragon. The $100 tinker's dream gun. I bought 2 more and extra barrels/bolts to make all 3 caliber swappers. I still own one of them. It wears a refinished stock (old school jailhouse coffee stain) and a Stalwart massaged trigger group. In .22 and with a Bstaley o-ring mod it makes 20 for 20 with a ES of 2%. With a max fill of 1800 psi it's probably one of those guns that will be with me forever.

[Dbez1]

It's all my three Uncles fault. They passed down a Crosman .22 pumper from year of our lord who knows when. I was 6 or 7 at the time. It had no real sights so I leaned to hunt by point shooting. Now at 65, (Todays my B'Day) I still love a good handgun. but being medically retired, It's hard to afford to shoot my very high quality Les Baer .45 anywhere as near as much like.


Well, I ordered a Artemis SA700 for my B'day. honed the trigger, put a halo that Wes Bob graciously included with it, and Man,is it a shooter. Already put over a1000 pellets down the spout since it arrived on the ninth. I added a black light under the air tube, an it is killing scorpions at an unreal pace. Once again, I'm in love with my childhood beginnings. Wow-Just WOW!!!


They say that as you age, you relive your childhood. Sure am glad they were right. 

Happy birthday!  A scorpion gun; what great targets! Enjoy your birthday and shoot a few scorpions for us scorpion deprived northerners. 🎂

[Johnsairmadness]

Curiosity mainly. Bought a NRA Gamo Black Shadow and did my own lube tune on it. Man, it was a shooter. 1st pcp was a FX Super Swift, it was accurate. Then the air/lead plaque took over and have been hooked ever since.

[Arch_E]

Curiosity mainly. Bought a NRA Gamo Black Shadow and did my own lube tune on it. Man, it was a shooter. 1st pcp was a FX Super Swift, it was accurate. Then the air/lead plaque took over and have been hooked ever since.

Like many, I had a childhood BB gun. Fast forward through 5 decades...my wife and had squirrels eat into our soffits and chimney chase area. After trapping failed, I bought my first air gun and am so glad that I did.

Archie

[cherokeesteve]

I blame my son. He did his research first then came to me about purchasing his first pellet gun. I grew up with a Crosman Pumpmaster and was not familiar with any significant jumps in air gun technology. Looked at what he wanted, a Crosman Phantom, and I was like “Whoa! This is what pellet guns are capable of?” Got me a Nitro Venom to go with his Phantom. More pumpers, CO2’s, 1 more break barrel, and 4 PCP’s later is where I’m at now. Really takes me back to waking up super early on Sunday’s and hunting rabbits and squirrels with my buddies. And I don’t blame my son, really... I thank him. Love tinkering with and upgrading my guns, as well.

[avator]

I entered into my second childhood about 6 years ago with an impulse buy of an 880 Daisy while walking through Walmart.
My first PCP was the FD-PCP SX60-C  Gen 1 from Flying Dragon. The $100 tinker's dream gun. I bought 2 more and extra barrels/bolts to make all 3 caliber swappers. I still own one of them. It wears a refinished stock (old school jailhouse coffee stain) and a Stalwart massaged trigger group. In .22 and with a Bstaley o-ring mod it makes 20 for 20 with a ES of 2%. With a max fill of 1800 psi it's probably one of those guns that will be with me forever.

Just wanted to update to include the string on the FD-PCP. Shots 1 - 20 show the nice bell curve.