when you were a kid...

[tweedking]

(yes you were, a long time ago, and a destructive little-bugger too)

what did you shoot that you got in the most trouble?

i was 8 once, shot the back glass out of a camper shell, thought it would not break with my AIR-117, spider-webbed  .....at least dad blamed it on the neighbor kid when he found it a week later....still cost me 175 when i turned 16 and got the truck....yea he waited, took it off and wouldn't let me drive the truck till i replaced the glass, still had to buy it from him. 8-10 year lesson....

looking for some stories from your youth where you had an airgun mishap. you know, the type that starts with someone saying, "watch this," and ending somewhat destructive/painfully.

for some stories of what not to do for those kids out there.......(like ralphy and "you'll shoot your eye out, but he did break his glasses....)

[DavidS]

I was 8 years old and had just been given my first Air Rifle (A Crosman 760 if I remember correctly) with a tin of pellets, and I was shooting at a hand drawn target on an old half rotten piece of plywood just plinking away.  We had a number of outside cats, and one named Boots (my cat) was running around in the area behind the target board.   After probably 100 shots into the target (over pumping to 13 pumps every shot) I sent another pellet through the target and heard a MEEEEOOOOWWW scream out from behind the board, I dropped my Riffle and ran to investigate, boots died in less than a minute (a heart shot).     The hardest loss of a pet ever.   It was made worse as my grandpa (my custodian at the time) made me clean, cook and eat Boots (as a lesson to only kill what you are going to eat).   He made a big point of it as when he gave me the gun he lectured me about safety, and making sure of the back drop, etc.

It was a hard lesson.  Though I am glad that after that fatal error, he took the time to make sure that I kept shooting.  Immediately after that worse supper of my life he took me outside had me make a better back stop and made me shoot at a paper target until I was out of pellets.  The next morning before dawn he woke me and handed me 20 tins of pellets, and told me that he expected me to use every one of them before Saturday, this was a Wednesday morning.  So I got a lot of practice that week, as they were 500 count tins (the old square tins), still to this day I do not know how I managed to shoot that many in only three days.

That Saturday we did the good kind of hunting (hunting Rabbit with one of his more powerful pump Air Riffles.  So while it was a bad initial experience it taught me a lot.  And because he made me keep shooting, and took me on a good hunt, I learned to love shooting, and respect safety.

And now 23 years latter I still enjoy shooting my Multi Pump Air Rifles.

[amb5500c]

I plead the 5th.
Richard

[45Bravo]

Christmas Day, 9 or 10 years old, I got a daisy spitting image peace maker.

I was playing with it in my front yard, the neighborhood bully (a judges son) showed up on his new Christmas present a new horse, my brother and I was minding our own business.

He came up and tried to start some stuff as usual.

He tried to make his horse kick me, he missed, I put the daisy to the horses butt and pulled the trigger, he started bucking, (not that 175fps hurts much) I proceeded to dump the rest of the bbs in the horses direction as he exited the yard.

Naturally the story he told his dad was different than mine and my older brothers account of what happened.

I lost that bb pistol until the next Christmas..

It just didn't seem to have the magic it had the year before..

[Minuteman]

I nearly shot my best friend's eye out with my Crosman 760. Another inch to the right and he'd be wearing a patch these days. The BB creased the side of his head at eye level. It stands to this day as my one and only firearm accident. While I am thankful that the BB missed his eye, and so far it is my one and only incident, I never let myself forget that it only takes a moment of inattentiveness to create a disaster.

Let's see, what else...shooting the neighbor's cat, shooting out the shed windows.....fun times!

[wimpanzee]

I shot my sister's glasses off her face once - got a bb right in between her eyes. I was 8 and she was 10, it was almost a year before I got that daisy 840 back.

[Jim_R]

When I was about 12, a friend and I found some of his mother's china dolls in the basement one day...it was an elimination...we didn't realize how much they were worth...UGH!

[ericnel]

 A age 8 - a friend and I were walking thru our tiny town (pop. 40) when I saw an HOSP on an eavetrough and as kids do I snapped off a shot and wonder of wonders scored. Don't tell me a Red Ryder won't kill a HOSP at 20 feet. Turned out the old lady in the house was feeding them (go figure) and I caught heck. Happened 65 years ago and still one of the best shots I ever made.

[TooJung2Die]

I'll have to check and make sure the Statute of Limitations has expired. 

[oldnamvet]

I had my pumped up Sheridan 20 cal on the kitchen counter and the window was open waiting for some squirrels.  A friend came over and before I could stop him he reached over and pulled the trigger.  It had the safety that you pressed down with your thumb so he hit that as well.  We looked for where the pellet hit and could not find a hole.  Finally I moved my mother's coffee pot (held 10 cups and she would drain it daily) and heard a rattle.  the pellet had gone in at the seam between the plastic base and the steel pot.  You had to look close to see it.  It also clipped the heating element.  So we hustled down to an appliance store and got a new heating element.  Not exactly the same but close, and we installed it before anyone got home from work.  that night my mother made coffee as usual but claimed that there was something wrong with the coffee, stale or something since it seemed weak.  So she increased the time for the percolator and eveything was fine.  About 10 years later the pot quit and she got a new one.  Never did tell her what had happened.  From then on I also always left the bolt open on that rifle when it was laying on the counter waiting for squirrels or rabbits.

[Qwikrnu]

What got me in the most trouble? That's an easy one. Shooting the light bulbs out in dads barn. Turned it into a game of who could hit the bulb farthest away. My 760 vs big brothers 2100. In the end we were both losers! Ever got spanked while your old man spoke in syllables??.....   IF - YOU - EV - ER - DO - THAT - A - GAIN.......   lol!

[D-RIG]

Christmas Day, 9 or 10 years old, I got a daisy spitting image peace maker.

I was playing with it in my front yard, the neighborhood bully (a judges son) showed up on his new Christmas present a new horse, my brother and I was minding our own business.

He came up and tried to start some stuff as usual.

He tried to make his horse kick me, he missed, I put the daisy to the horses butt and pulled the trigger, he started bucking, (not that 175fps hurts much) I proceeded to dump the rest of the bbs in the horses direction as he exited the yard.

Naturally the story he told his dad was different than mine and my older brothers account of what happened.

I lost that bb pistol until the next Christmas..

It just didn't seem to have the magic it had the year before..

Got a good laugh from this story , Thanks

[daemon2525]

When I was really young, my friend and I had Daisy Red-Ryder type guns and had PERMISSION  to shoot
sparrows out of the neighbors barn so they would not poop on the tractors.

Few years later, he got a Daisy Multipump and I got a Crosman. We must have shot hundreds of holes in that tin
roof before anyone noticed.

[Warren Oates]

As a kid shooting at birds in the garden from the garage. BB bounced of garden tool, sailed through the window on the back door of the house. Oops

One other time I was messing around with some kids, got the idea to show off and shoot real close to another kid with my bb gun.  I missed what I was shooting at and hit the kid in the leg.  BB did not go through his jeans, but really stung.  He was about 3 years older than me, came real close to belting me.

[WNCmotard]

Ever got spanked while your old man spoke in syllables??.....   IF - YOU - EV - ER - DO - THAT - A - GAIN.......   lol!

I pretty much thought that was normal language until I was 10 or so.

Camper shells must be a popular one. When I was 9 I got a Crossman AIR 15 (think that's what they were called, that was a long time ago) for Christmas, and man did I love that thing. Our neighbor had a small trash dump in the woods where him and his family would pile it up, and clean it up like once a year, maybe. All of us neighborhood kids were up there shooting random things one summer day when somebody noticed a camper shell sitting there. Knowing it was the trash dump, we all blasted that thing good, and I mean good, not a window left in it. Turns out he just stored the shell there, and actually used it occasionally. Gun was promptly taken away once the parents found out about it needless to say, for quite a while. And once the gun was given back to me, my Dad spent a lot more time me teaching me the valuable lesson of target identification, rather than being lulled in by your surroundings, or simply following the herd.

[Big Bore Bart]

  Late 1960's, Daisy 111, roll caps, thumb tacks, = black spots on the bedroom wall.   (and stripes on my backside)

[lizzie]

The only thing I ever got in trouble for shooting, was a slingshot, because I randomly shot it across the street, and it hit a little girl in the eye. I felt so bad about it, I never used a slingshot again.

[smack6969]

Growing up (probably 12 yrs old) my best friend had his grand fathers lever action bb gun.  Don't know what kind but it had a wood stock and the barrel had an outer sleeve that would hold a bunch of bb's.

His mom had an amazing green thumb.  One spring she had a gorgeous plot of tulips. 

As I walked from his house to the garage I was holding the bb gun in my right hand.  I waved the bb gun past the flowers and I cut a tulip off with a perfect shot through the stem from about 20'.  It seemed that the tulip fell over in slow motion.  Imagine my surprise when she started chewing me out from the house.

I apologized profusely and told her that I had accidentally fired the bb gun.  Also, I said that there was no way I could have ever intentionally made that shot.

Trust me I never shot at her flowers again!

[Redharris]

I had  the Famous Crosman Red Ryder  BB rifle when I was a kid. Through the Years I have always had SOME sort of pellet gun laying around for Plinking. A couple years back, I tried to (hoped to ) restore a couple 1960 era German air rifles that belonged to my Best Buddys Dad. I had shot these guns as a Kid growing up.  The Dad had passed away and the Mom had stored the guns in a damp garage for 5  years. Alas,,,,there was SO much rust /corrosion damage the the guns were beyond repair. It Bummed me out so much that I went out and bought myself myself a Break Barrel for old times sake......Now, I Relaxe by shooting in my Back Yard. I also find that shooting Pellet guns is a good way to keep in Practice for my Powder Burners. A lot cheaper too. Now, Ive caught the Air Gun Bug and am looking to go Dark Side....LOL...

[Bwalton]

For me it was a seagull that I shot with my 760 pump master that did not take him out but instead sounded a alarm that put on notice the whole neighborhood. I was 10