Obscure, unloved BB guns rediscovery.

[lillysdad621]

This gate has allowed me to share with you folk a weird spot in this hobby of ours, that i don't think many actually want to talk about, yet is very enjoyable. Growing up i had various BB guns (cheap ones mainly) that were not that good (at the time) but fill my days with endless hours of joy. Then as i grew and became more specialized, they kinda fell by the wayside and were indignantly forgotten. Well, i have been finding them and giving them a new lease in life and with today's experience i can say that they are fun, good guns in their own merit.

My first rediscovery is the Daisy 188; this sleek pistol follow the lines of older target rim fire guns, but is a under lever BB (or both, if you are lucky to have a metal, early model). i own a second variant (plastic) that i was able to open and polish and lube everything inside. the gun shoots BBs at a now blazing 173 fps (up from 161), and has a really pleasant trigger and firing cycle. polishing the bore also helped in the accuracy department, as it shot 8 in. groups at 10 yards, and now the groups vary from 1.5 to 2.25 in at that distance. finding the BB it prefer helped a ton, and now, used at a measure 20 ft i can do groups under 1 in consistently. The 188 has non adjustable sight but a little filling and some white paint have made a little plinker that is a pleasure to shoot. at 10 yards it will knock down any soda can you place there, and it has become quite the entertainer at family gatherings. is quiet, inexpensive and as improved as it is, now, a great display of what we love about this sport to the uninitiated. I, now, highly recommend it

what little plinker have you dismissed, and maybe deserves a second chance?

[avator]

Betty Lou and I have just as much fun shooting BB guns together as we do with any of the many airguns we own... maybe even more. Yesterday the plan was to shoot several guns together, but as it turned out, the BB guns were the only ones we shot. Popping balloons and knocking down cans were just as fun as putting little holes in paper.
It just made sense that this gate was added. BB guns are where many of us began this journey all those years ago.

[lillysdad621]

I am working on a second rediscovery, which to be honest, should have happened ages ago, as most of us had this pistol, and we probably did not appreciate it at all from the first shot. I will give my Marksman 1010 a new, unbiased look. so much time has this airgun being in production, yet we know very little and most of us used it wrong from the get go. I even found that there is a new version of it, thathas evolved with the times, as the older model followed the pattern of the Colt 1911, and the new one (Marksman 1018) has features more recognizable in modern handguns (walther, FN, etc).  Next i will run some chrony numbers and then some accuracy (gasp!) results.

To be continued...

[dcorvino]

Hi
I have two 188s fun gun to shoot
Mine can shoot either 177 pellets or BBs
Thank you for posting

Dave

[lillysdad621]

Hey Dave: those gotta be the early models, probably metal body. mine are both plastic, BB only. the pellet one must be a fun plinker... find some silly light pellets and let her rip!. I see you got a 747 also... love them guns. I have a 717 and is nuts accurate. just adjusted the power and it flings 7.0 wadcutters at 390 fps. lovely pistol to shoot silhouette with. Sorry for the rant. Back to BBs...

[Iguana15]

I had a daisy 1894 and other cheap BB guns… lots of fun

[lillysdad621]

I had a daisy 1894...

have you seen what those are going for today? some of the rare special editions command a pretty penny.

[avator]

Unloved BB guns?  What are those?

[lillysdad621]

Unloved BB guns?  What are those?
seriously... I have been cutting back for the past 4 years and im still over 80 left. So many of them, so little of me. Im lucky that i really can develop a caring interest for anything airgun.

[avator]

I hear ya... I went through a spell several years back. I picked up anything airgun related I came across at yard sales, second hand shops and pawn shops. Now I got all these guns that aren't even worth the cost of shipping.

[unionrdr]

I now have a collection of 40-some examples going back to 1950. I have 2 Healthways Plainsman 175 pistols and the very rare rifle with real walnut stock. Some old Daisy's too, including 6 1894's. Mostly vintage & limited-edition Crosman's.