What caused you to get into airguns?

[bark123]

Two words:  Ted’s HoldOver.

When I saw him on YouTube, I knew I wanted to do what he was doing.  Of course, I can’t hang with Ted, but it sure is fun trying!

[sslcm56]

 We moved to the country on 6 acres in 2015. Walking through Wal Mart one day and saw the Gamo Bone Collector in .177 and it called to me!
 I bought it on the spot bought a bunch of pellets and ordered a bunch of pellets. Came home got online and found GTA and I'm learning so much.
 I do love my Gamo. It's a lot of fun. I'm going to hunt this year for the first time since I was a teen.

[Arch_E]

We moved to the country on 6 acres in 2015. Walking through Wal Mart one day and saw the Gamo Bone Collector in .177 and it called to me!
 I bought it on the spot bought a bunch of pellets and ordered a bunch of pellets. Came home got online and found GTA and I'm learning so much.
 I do love my Gamo. It's a lot of fun. I'm going to hunt this year for the first time since I was a teen.

That sounds outstanding!

Have fun and be safe,

Archie

[sslcm56]

We moved to the country on 6 acres in 2015. Walking through Wal Mart one day and saw the Gamo Bone Collector in .177 and it called to me!
 I bought it on the spot bought a bunch of pellets and ordered a bunch of pellets. Came home got online and found GTA and I'm learning so much.
 I do love my Gamo. It's a lot of fun. I'm going to hunt this year for the first time since I was a teen.

That sounds outstanding!

Have fun and be safe,

Archie

Thanks!

Safety First, Last, and Always.

[cpool]

22 rimfire got hard to buy and I love squirrel hunting and shooting in the back yard

[Big Rick]

The thing that persuaded me to use air rifles was living in a developing suburb where discharging a firearm would bring the cops out looking for you. I was able to use my Sheridan for years and never draw unwanted attention. Add to that the safety factor, my age and the effectiveness of my guns. Nowadays I live in a semi wilderness area where I can shoot whatever when ever, I am back to using air rifles almost exclusively.

I have had my Great nephew shooting air rifles for several years now. He just got his hunter`s safety certificate so he can go hunting small game with me. I had him shoot some of my rimfire guns. After shooting several guns he asked if he could just use one of my air rifles? I grinned like a possum and said "of course!".

[Bryan Heimann]

At the time I owned only one firearm- a Hammerli .22 LR.  I had that rifle for a good year or so and never had a chance to fire it.  I was too busy, with the Army and a brand new young family.  A baby in the house and a baby in the oven   So I got a gamo big cat to practice marksmanship in the yard and the basement. 

From there I started lurking on GTA Archives, I couldn't inderstand why I couldn't join.  I sucked at internet.  Joined airgun1, found a stoeger x10 at a pawn shop.  Eventually figured out GTA too. Broke the spring and did my first debur and lube tune, from there on I was addicted.

[PG in San Diego]

Well, it started like this. I got my 11-year-old nephew a Daisy 880 for Christmas 2016. I wanted to be responsible and teach him how to load the pellets, hold the rifle correctly, and aim and shoot, so I did it all the first time around. Then I showed him a second time how to do it all. By the third shot, I was hooked shooting at a can and watching the 880 put holes in it. Within 15 minutes, my nephew and I were fighting over who's turn it was next to shoot. I had so much fun that the very next day I went back to Walmart and found the biggest pellet gun I could find. I ended up with a Beeman Break barrel. Like Ralphy, I couldn't wait to get it outside and shoot. It was all wood stock, heavy, and manly, A Tim the Tool man Taylor kinda rifle. So I took it outside and shot it. But when I did,

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

It cracked a sound like a real rifle. Now mind you, I live in a crowded neighborhood with my neighbors just 10 yards away. Meh, so what, And I continued to fire at the cans I had lined up..... until the neighbors came knocking at the door. Well, that kinda put things to a screeching halt. So I took the rifle back and said it was not shooting straight, and went online to find a more quiet gun. Then I went on Craigslist. Low and behold there was a QB2078 for sale with an LDC among other rifles for sale. Problem solved. 20 pistols and rifles have crossed my path since then, and I am still hooked.

[avator]

Well, it started like this. I got my 11-year-old nephew a Daisy 880 for Christmas 2016. I wanted to be responsible and teach him how to load the pellets, hold the rifle correctly, and aim and shoot, so I did it all the first time around. Then I showed him a second time how to do it all. By the third shot, I was hooked shooting at a can and watching the 880 put holes in it. Within 15 minutes, my nephew and I were fighting over who's turn it was next to shoot. I had so much fun that the very next day I went back to Walmart and found the biggest pellet gun I could find. I ended up with a Beeman Break barrel. Like Ralphy, I couldn't wait to get it outside and shoot. It was all wood stock, heavy, and manly, A Tim the Tool man Taylor kinda rifle. So I took it outside and shot it. But when I did,

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

It cracked a sound like a real rifle. Now mind you, I live in a crowded neighborhood with my neighbors just 10 yards away. Meh, so what, And I continued to fire at the cans I had lined up..... until the neighbors came knocking at the door. Well, that kinda put things to a screeching halt. So I took the rifle back and said it was not shooting straight, and went online to find a more quiet gun. Then I went on Craigslist. Low and behold there was a QB2078 for sale with an LDC among other rifles for sale. Problem solved. 20 pistols and rifles have crossed my path since then, and I am still hooked.

Strap in, my friend, you're just getting warmed up.

[chukhntr]

I became involved with the Jaycee/Daisy Shooting Education Program in the early 90’s.  Daisy model 499 BB guns were used.  We really liked working with the kids.  Short story:  I really liked shooting air guns, and soon became involved with the American Legion Air Rifle program.  No longer involved with the 2 programs, but still shooting air guns.

[HunterWhite]

🐿🐿🐿🐿🐿🐿🐿🐿🐿🐿🐿🐿🐿🐿🐿🐿🐿🐿🐿🐿🐿🐿🐿🐿🐿🐿🐿🐿🐿🐿🐿🐿🐿🐿

[Blowpipe Sam]

I was in my late Twenties.  Living in Hollywood Ca.  Getting to the range to shoot my PBs was a pain.  One night I walked into a novelty shop on Hollywood Blvd. and there was  rack of B-3s marked $25.  I didn't know what a B-3 was worth back then but it looked like a good deal to me.  I thought it would be perfect for target practice in my tiny yard.  Turns out I got one of those B-3s that you always hear about.  You know, the ones that actually shoot pretty good.  Thirty years, three mainsprings, a half dozen breech seals and maybe 10,000 pellets later I've still got it, plus about ten more airguns now.  That B-3 got me through some tough times!  The stories it could tell.

[MagnumPI45]

Kind of a long story but it goes way back to being a child.  I was living overseas in Central America and saw a Johnny Carson episode where a guy with a slingshot was able to hit anything, even shot something Carson was holding.  I became intrigued by slingshots and my dad made me a slingshot out of a old bicycle tread and I got into it.  I also always wanted a bb gun after watching "A Christmas Story". 

A few years later I was back in the states and we had a huge field in our back yard, I got a slingshot and loved it, then for a Birthday present my dad got me a nickel plated Marksman 1010, I liked it but it had no real power, just very close range, got a Powerline 880 later and loved it, loved shooting cans with it, loved hunting birds with it in the field/woods after school or on weekends.  I got a few CO2 pistols too.  My dad got a Diana 52 for himself, huge upgrade, he got me a Daisy 130A break barrel a few months later for my birthday and we would go hunting on the weekends, never got anything but I did shoot a few rabbits with them and learned how to clean game mainly from books I got at the library.  I would experiment with different pellets and wished there was a pistol that was powerful enough to hunt with so I didn't have to lug around a rifle. 

I got more into firearms when I was teen, got a 20 gauge 870 pump when I was 13 or 14, we then moved overseas again to S Korea and I didn't get to do much with air guns, mainly got to do a little pheasant hunting with shotguns and went to the shooting range to shoot 9mm, 22lr, 38's.

For a while I was mainly into firearms but I did get a Crossman 2240 which I liked and looked into modding it for more power.  Over the past summer I started looking around and researching air rifles more to see what new technology was out, anything really interesting, came to some channels with PCP's and they looked interesting, saw where some can be had for under $300 and you can get ebay pumps for around $40 so I decided to give a Nova Liberty a shot for Christmas, it along with the pumps had some issues, hopefully the exchange will work out.  My dad wants to restore his model 52 and asked me to do some research on re bluing it, he has been shooting his more too.

[Mossonarock]

I saw that same Johnny Carson show. That guy was good with a slingshot. I was so amazed!

I have a 1377 that my grandmother bought me back around 1980. Later on, I inherited my grandfather's .22 Marlin but it got stolen. Its the only pb I've ever owned and rarely got a chance to shoot it- maybe two days at a range. I really enjoy marksmanship sports of any kind and wanted to get back into shooting. So, I peered into the internet to look for parts to repair and upgrade my 1377 and found a world of adult airguns that I had no idea about. I had to dive in. I still haven't gotten a pcp and probably never will. It all depends on if I decide to get out and start hunting hogs. It won't be anytime soon. For now, I get plenty of shooting enjoyment from springers.

[TPostJohn]

Lets just say it had a bushy tail.....

[19Sheridan57]

   I have been shooting air rifles since a kid, back in the 50's.
I graduated from a Daisy to a Sheridan & have stuck with the hobby & the Sheridans.

[Arch_E]

Had a single shot break barrel pellet rifle as a kid (and thought I was cursed since my gun didn't shoot BBs). Multiple decades later, I have squirrels nesting in my chimney chase and eating into my house. So, pesting got me back into this hobby.

Archie

[anti-squirrel]

This time around, pests and managing them.  Right after I got out of the NAvy, I worked for an avian abatement company and a big part of my job was killing pigeons.  Chances are my name is still whispered in terror by momma-pigeons when squabs misbehave.  I used a Blue Streak and my boss had an R-7 in .20 so we took a few here and there.

The lengthier explanation requires some backstory: I sort-of put the "BB guns" away for a few years until recently when I contracted Lyme Disease several years ago, and while going on a lengthy regimen of doxycycline to treat my ailment I read up a lot on deer ticks and what their primary hosts are, so I've made it my life-mission to eradicate tick-bags when they enter my yard.  When neighbors ended up with some Big Money in damage from tree-rats getting into things they shouldn't, said neighbors reached out to me requesting some help.  Never hurts when neighbors are encouraging you

Over these ensuing few years I tempered my shooting from "hit with the biggest hammer " to "perform lethal brain surgery" which of course means that costs increase as you get more precise.  My moniker comes from my experience with learning that deer ticks should actually be called "squirrel ticks"; I've actually taken squirrel and just a few seconds later picked them up and counted 30+ ticks chowing down on one rodent, with a 50/50 split between hard-body and soft-body ticks, AKA dog ticks versus deer ticks.

Anyway, I leveraged my way through a number of free-to-me airguns thanks to a fast accrual of Amazon gift-cards courtesy of my travels for work.  I thought I was sated with my PP700, but now several PCPs later my most recent acquisition is what is arguably the most wildly adjustable PCP made- the EdGun Leshiy- and in a few months there's a strong chance I'm going to be buying a few more higher end PCPs including another EdGun, a Lobo, and Sumthing Korean.  And if the folks at JSAR ever offer a tube-fed Raptor, I'll sign up for one of those, too.

[Paulemar]

   I'm getting to old, at 72, to climb the PA hills hunting anymore. I left my gun club membership because I didn't have time while working. I have a 8.25 acre lot just outside the city limits with no one too close, just woods. A 95 yard backyard shooting range is ideal for pellet guns & I don't have to walk far to enjoy shooting. I first bought a new Benjamin Steel Eagle in .22 & wanted more.  I've had various air guns over the years starting when I was 13 but now they are my go to pesting and small game guns on my own property. Deer are abundant & I hunt with my crossbow.   

[SteveP-52]

Racoon in the backyard 5 1/2 years ago. Live in town so the the .22LR my father owns wasn't an option (although he thinks it is). Bought a Hatsan Model 95 .25 which 3 weeks later solved the problem. Bought a Umarex Fuel .22 just because I liked the pistol grip stock, then a Hatsan Edge Vortex .25 for the same reason and a lousy trigger led me here looking for trigger mods which I've since written a small book on about how to tweak them.

GTA made me buy the rest (bunch of enablers...something I'm completely innocent of btw) which ended up being 35 more rifles and 4 pistols although a healthy chunk have been sold off or given away in the last 7 or 8 months. What's left is in my sig.

Now I just hang out, post lame stuff and be a nuisance to all of you...lol