New Beginnings … An Intro of Sorts …

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jcalvert

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Dec 24, 2024
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Columbus, GA, USA
Hi. I wanted to post a brief introduction. I didn’t see a dedicated “new member intro” section and thought that the general discussion area would do nicely, thank you.

I’m a Texas native, living in exile in Georgia. It isn’t that bad, but sounds sort dramatic (and it is a tribute of sorts to my dad). I live in South West GA, maybe 90 mins from ATL.

I think the airgun bug bit me around 2008’ish (maybe a couple of years earlier, but I can find some posts and emails to safely say 2008). I was a longtime member of the old Straight Shooters forum (I see they are no longer around), probably another site or two, and I wrote a fair bit on my own website as well. If you remember other boards and sites - jcalvert (that is probably me) or Calvertgames (for sure that is me).

I have been in and out of the hobby for a while. Life has a way of throwing curve balls, but I digress. I would hazard a guess that I more or less stopped posting to various boards and whatnot around 2018; although my love for the hobby and has never really died. And here I am again …

My inventory, all purchased from (the old) Straight Shooters:

-Beeman R1 .20 Carbine
-Beeman R1 .22
-Beeman R7 .177
-Benjamin Marauder .22

The R1 .22 was my first purchase, followed by the R7 and then the Carbine, which is probably my favorite airgun. I plunged into the PCP world with the Marauder, which is a brilliant entry into PCPs.

All this is to say that I was looking to rekindle the fire and find a likeminded community. I plink, I hunt (backyard, vermin style) and just enjoy shooting my airguns for the fun of it.
 
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Welcome back. AGN is a great resource where people will help you spend your money 😀

PCP's and compressors have really taken over the market. Youtube is chock full of review videos on sub $1000 rifles putting out great groups with randomly picked rifles. Compressors that go to 4500 PSI for less than a hand pump.

Weihrauch had some QC issues recently and Air Arms is now charging $1000 for a springer.

The great news is once you get established here, there is a great members only classified section. Lots of good results and very few if any scammers. They get weeded out very quickly.

IMG_2086.jpeg
 
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Thanks to everyone for the warm welcome and the ‘warning’ about how quickly this hobby can empty your proverbial pockets.

I was really looking for a nice landing spot, found several sites / forums, including this one and decided to take the plunge here after spending some time checking out some posts. TBH the number of msgs here is impressive: >100K msgs in Hunting, >122K in Traditional Airguns and >500K in PCPs (which is an insane amount of content and community interaction, but I digress).

The response to my initial post back up my decision to join AGN and I do appreciate it.
 
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Rob_in_NC said:
Welcome back, sir. When I saw the name jcalvert, I thought I had seen it before. Did you use the same name on the old SS forum? I used to lurk there back in the day, though rarely posted.
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Yep, that is me. Thanks for noticing and responding. I have always used jcalvert (sometimes Calvertgames, if jcalvert was taken). It is sort of an identity I guess. I was surprised it was available. So yep, if you were on the old SS forum, that was me. LOL

I don’t remember participating on any other forum/site, but I probably did. I did write a bit on my site (content is still archived and available) and used SS for all my purchases. At the time, they may not have had the best prices, but their service (Craig / Kevin) was top notch, their willingness to help was always appreciated and they were great at getting my feet wet in the hobby.

The community here looks to be equally as friendly, welcoming and knowledgeable. As @maxtrouble alluded, it looks like much may have changed from my last purchase (Benjamin Marauder .22 using a Hill Pump for fills) and what is available today. I should have a lot of fun catching up, as my schedule allows!
 
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WorriedMan said:
A fellow backyard target plinker and vermin pester greets you from Florida. WM
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Thanks! I find plinking is a great way to relax and spend some time to de-stress from the day’s troubles. Living in a city, I ran into a spot of bother with some neighbors that didn’t appreciate the ping, ding of whatever it was I was shooting scaring their dog. My Beeman R1s look super realistic (not to mention the Marauder), which also caused some issues.

At one point I had to pull out the city ordinance that showed plinking (maybe not shooting pests) was actually allowed as long as the pellet stayed on my property.

This bit of ‘fun’ sort of resulted in a decrease in plinking sessions over the weeks, which turned into months and into only a handful of sessions a year. I had a new privacy fence installed a few months ago and plan to be back in action as soon as the weather corporates. Setting up here and getting established is sort of my marker to get started - an enjoyable part of the hobby for me is writing about my trials and tribulations, purchases, etc. Let’s see if that takes off or not …
 
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jcalvert said:
Thanks! I find plinking is a great way to relax and spend some time to de-stress from the day’s troubles. Living in a city, I ran into a spot of bother with some neighbors that didn’t appreciate the ping, ding of whatever it was I was shooting scaring their dog. My Beeman R1s look super realistic (not to mention the Marauder), which also caused some issues.

At one point I had to pull out the city ordinance that showed plinking (maybe not shooting pests) was actually allowed as long as the pellet stayed on my property.

This bit of ‘fun’ sort of resulted in a decrease in plinking sessions over the weeks, which turned into months and into only a handful of sessions a year. I had a new privacy fence installed a few months ago and plan to be back in action as soon as the weather corporates. Setting up here and getting established is sort of my marker to get started - an enjoyable part of the hobby for me is writing about my trials and tribulations, purchases, etc. Let’s see if that takes off or not …
Click to expand...
Agreed, neighbors can make, or break, the enjoyability. Selected woods on three sides when purchasing lot to build my home in 2005, only neighbor obliged with 6' wooden privacy fence. Sixty-six yard range, angling off deck, into the woods works great, backstops @ 50 and 66. No gongs, bells or exploding targets, only ticking of pellet on 2x4, by well moderated, or shrouded, PCPs keeps the peace. WM
 
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jcalvert said:
Hi. I wanted to post a brief introduction. I didn’t see a dedicated “new member intro” section and thought that the general discussion area would do nicely, thank you.

I’m a Texas native, living in exile in Georgia. It isn’t that bad, but sounds sort dramatic (and it is a tribute of sorts to my dad). I live in South West GA, maybe 90 mins from ATL.

I think the airgun bug bit me around 2008’ish (maybe a couple of years earlier, but I can find some posts and emails to safely say 2008). I was a longtime member of the old Straight Shooters forum (I see they are no longer around), probably another site or two, and I wrote a fair bit on my own website as well. If you remember other boards and sites - jcalvert (that is probably me) or Calvertgames (for sure that is me).

I have been in and out of the hobby for a while. Life has a way of throwing curve balls, but I digress. I would hazard a guess that I more or less stopped posting to various boards and whatnot around 2018; although my love for the hobby and has never really died. And here I am again …

My inventory, all purchased from (the old) Straight Shooters:

-Beeman R1 .20 Carbine
-Beeman R1 .22
-Beeman R7 .177
-Benjamin Marauder .22

The R1 .22 was my first purchase, followed by the R7 and then the Carbine, which is probably my favorite airgun. I plunged into the PCP world with the Marauder, which is a brilliant entry into PCPs.

All this is to say that I was looking to rekindle the fire and find a likeminded community. I plink, I hunt (backyard, vermin style) and just enjoy shooting my airguns for the fun of it.
Click to expand...
Welcome home!
 
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jcalvert said:
Hi. I wanted to post a brief introduction. I didn’t see a dedicated “new member intro” section and thought that the general discussion area would do nicely, thank you.

I’m a Texas native, living in exile in Georgia. It isn’t that bad, but sounds sort dramatic (and it is a tribute of sorts to my dad). I live in South West GA, maybe 90 mins from ATL.

I think the airgun bug bit me around 2008’ish (maybe a couple of years earlier, but I can find some posts and emails to safely say 2008). I was a longtime member of the old Straight Shooters forum (I see they are no longer around), probably another site or two, and I wrote a fair bit on my own website as well. If you remember other boards and sites - jcalvert (that is probably me) or Calvertgames (for sure that is me).

I have been in and out of the hobby for a while. Life has a way of throwing curve balls, but I digress. I would hazard a guess that I more or less stopped posting to various boards and whatnot around 2018; although my love for the hobby and has never really died. And here I am again …

My inventory, all purchased from (the old) Straight Shooters:

-Beeman R1 .20 Carbine
-Beeman R1 .22
-Beeman R7 .177
-Benjamin Marauder .22

The R1 .22 was my first purchase, followed by the R7 and then the Carbine, which is probably my favorite airgun. I plunged into the PCP world with the Marauder, which is a brilliant entry into PCPs.

All this is to say that I was looking to rekindle the fire and find a likeminded community. I plink, I hunt (backyard, vermin style) and just enjoy shooting my airguns for the fun of it.
Click to expand...
Welcome back😉,
My HW80 converted from .22 to .20 cal. Is easily my most accurate springer.
With my personal tune and ARH spring, it’s a deadly Beast.

Yes, it was sad to see StraightShooters go out of business. They had a great, informative website. Got my Beeman R9 in .20 caliber for $399 just before they folded.

AGN is a great, civil website.
 
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jcalvert said:
Yep, that is me. Thanks for noticing and responding. I have always used jcalvert (sometimes Calvertgames, if jcalvert was taken). It is sort of an identity I guess. I was surprised it was available. So yep, if you were on the old SS forum, that was me. LOL

I don’t remember participating on any other forum/site, but I probably did. I did write a bit on my site (content is still archived and available) and used SS for all my purchases. At the time, they may not have had the best prices, but their service (Craig / Kevin) was top notch, their willingness to help was always appreciated and they were great at getting my feet wet in the hobby.

The community here looks to be equally as friendly, welcoming and knowledgeable. As @maxtrouble alluded, it looks like much may have changed from my last purchase (Benjamin Marauder .22 using a Hill Pump for fills) and what is available today. I should have a lot of fun catching up, as my schedule allows!
Click to expand...
I participated in or lurked in a number of the older forums going back to the Airgun Letter and various iterations of the Yellow until it got ridiculous. I still lurk there, but not a lot to see these days. Lots has changed in the AG world. When the Mrod was released, it was well received as a multishot, quiet gun that was affordable to the masses. I was firmly entrenched in PCP at the time but still looking for a reliable way to fill. I had the Hill pump and others but these days, a $40 China pump is just as good, believe it or not. You'll have lots to catch up on and even more to tempt your wallet with for sure. I still use the WayBack machine to look at some of the data that was on the SS site.
 
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Rob_in_NC said:
I participated in or lurked in a number of the older forums going back to the Airgun Letter and various iterations of the Yellow until it got ridiculous. I still lurk there, but not a lot to see these days. Lots has changed in the AG world. When the Mrod was released, it was well received as a multishot, quiet gun that was affordable to the masses. I was firmly entrenched in PCP at the time but still looking for a reliable way to fill. I had the Hill pump and others but these days, a $40 China pump is just as good, believe it or not. You'll have lots to catch up on and even more to tempt your wallet with for sure. I still use the WayBack machine to look at some of the data that was on the SS site.
Click to expand...
Re “Lots has changed in the AG world.” - I am gathering that. Rediscovery is part of the fun; although to be honest, as long as my current inventory holds up, I will be good for a while. I will have to look around and see if there are any “beginner threads” around here …

I really don’t recall how I got into the hobby/sport in the first place. I think for some reason, I purchased some sort of Crosman .177 springer at Walmart and it was crazy powerful and loud. I probably started researching, found the SS site, fell in lover with “quality” Beemans … and now I am here. LOL

PS: After poking around and reading a bit, I promise that I am not trying to high jack my own intro tread to accumulate 10 posts to become more or less official’ish in the Classified section. I am just having a bit of fun reconnecting!
 
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jcalvert said:
Hi. I wanted to post a brief introduction. I didn’t see a dedicated “new member intro” section and thought that the general discussion area would do nicely, thank you.

I’m a Texas native, living in exile in Georgia. It isn’t that bad, but sounds sort dramatic (and it is a tribute of sorts to my dad). I live in South West GA, maybe 90 mins from ATL.

I think the airgun bug bit me around 2008’ish (maybe a couple of years earlier, but I can find some posts and emails to safely say 2008). I was a longtime member of the old Straight Shooters forum (I see they are no longer around), probably another site or two, and I wrote a fair bit on my own website as well. If you remember other boards and sites - jcalvert (that is probably me) or Calvertgames (for sure that is me).

I have been in and out of the hobby for a while. Life has a way of throwing curve balls, but I digress. I would hazard a guess that I more or less stopped posting to various boards and whatnot around 2018; although my love for the hobby and has never really died. And here I am again …

My inventory, all purchased from (the old) Straight Shooters:

-Beeman R1 .20 Carbine
-Beeman R1 .22
-Beeman R7 .177
-Benjamin Marauder .22

The R1 .22 was my first purchase, followed by the R7 and then the Carbine, which is probably my favorite airgun. I plunged into the PCP world with the Marauder, which is a brilliant entry into PCPs.

All this is to say that I was looking to rekindle the fire and find a likeminded community. I plink, I hunt (backyard, vermin style) and just enjoy shooting my airguns for the fun of it.
Click to expand...
Welcome back jcalvert

If you count Daisy's I have been in the hobby relatively serious since the late sixties. I shot them in my youth, collected the different models "for shooting" in my teens, then bought a Sheridan in 72. In the early eighties I decided I wanted a Sheridan pistol and wound up with my first Beeman offering, a Tempest with a Bianci holster. 👍
Never joined anything but lurked and kept up with internet postings. AGN was one of two sites where the answers I searched for were discussed in good detail. I eventually joined both but AGN turned out to have better social interaction. Which to me is what it's all about.
Welcome aboard. 👍
 
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