The Daisy 188

[rangerjoel]

The Daisy 188 was a Christmas present form my parents, it really was not the gun I wanted, but it served me well for many many years. I don’t know how, but I was actually able to kill a bird with it when I was a kid. I wound up feeling bad about it and gave the bird a decent burial. The pistol had a total lack of power and I was lucky to penetrate one side of an aluminum can with it, but it still looked cool especially when the cocking handle was lowered. This made it kind of look like a German WWII machinegun!  It could fire BB’s or Pellets, but because of its lack of power, you could probably throw a pellet farther than this gun would shoot one!

This is an earlier variant with the main body made of pot metal. I understand that Daisy later substituted plastic for the body. It’s a shame that they have gone in this direction with a lot of their guns, but this is what the market demands and they still serve their purpose of introducing new customers into the hobby. We can only hope that as shooters mature, they will begin to discover the higher quality air guns.
I don’t know how the 188 survived my childhood when later BB guns were modified and had their stocks cut down etc. Yet here it is in my collection. If I can resist the temptation to “improve” it as I have with other early BB guns, it may wind up in my sons hands in about 8-10 years.

[kcatx]

I too had a 188 when I was a kid growing up in Canada-- my second AG after a Buck. Picked it up at Canadian Tire, IIRC.  I loved that thing and actually killed many frogs with it.  I'd never kill a frog now, given the overall decline of amphibians in North America.   The way I remember it I could basically quickly point that gun and hit bottlecaps very consistently-- this was after untold thousands of BBs shot :-)     I have looked online for them recently and almost bought one a couple of times I saw them on gunbroker.   I had no idea they could shoot pellets though-- I only used BBs.
 

[rangerjoel]

I’m just as guilty of killing frogs and lizards…karma has a way of catching up with you in the end though. I’m now a park ranger!