What got you into Airguns

[whambammy]

Hey Everyone! 

Obviously we all love airguns here but I'm curious what got you into airguns or what it is about airguns that got your attention in the first place. For me, it was the fact that I could practice my aim in my backyard without the cops showing up haha. 

 

[boscoebrea]

same for me;open the back door and shoot..anytime,plus they are so accurate and fun..

 

[2manyAirGunz]

I had pest cottontail rabbits destroying our ornamental sweet potatoes in the flower beds. Living in a subdivision, as I do, precludes safe use of a firearm. One day after work I stopped by Wally World and picked up a Beeman break-barrel air rifle - the duel caliber model (.177 and .22 caliber).

The rifle came with a Centerpoint 3-9x scope, if memory serves...

After 2 unsuccessful and frustrating attempts, both within 15 yards, finally on the 3rd attempt I got lucky a placed a headshot from 10 yards on ole Peter Cottontail. 

I shot that gun for months trying to get consistent groups at 12 yards, to no avail. Next I purchased a Gamo Whisper(?) .177 caliber which was only modestly better than the Beeman. After being embarrassed on a local newspaper forum by an experienced airgunner, who was into PCPs, (the man practically mocked my Beeman, Gamo and Benjamin NP Trail), I decided to step up my game. At that point, I started googling and discovered AGN. And the rest is history.

 

[hawkeye69]

Pest birds got me into it. Considering the 7 PCP guns, compressor, scopes, bi-pods and accessories I now own, it's probably cost me over $100 a bird.
But who cares, I'm having fun.

 

[DonC]

The Beeman catalog from the 90's. Now have 15 rifles and 5 pistols. Some are very high end expensive, some are medium price yet have great reputations. I stay away from cheap stuff and CO2.

 

[dan_house]

the neighbors objecting to the .308 going off in the side yard.....

 

[SDellinger]

My older brother gave me a Crosman 101 when I was 11 years old for starters. I don't remember what happened to that gun. After I got married in 1968 I bought a Benjamin pump that would not hold air then I saw an add from Air Rifle Headquarters and bought a Bravaria 55N for the unheard of price of $56 of which you only had to pay half up front. Before I sent the check for 1/2 payment they sent me the gun. I've been hooked ever since. 

 

[intenseaty22]

In a word, Pests. Mice, rats, chipmunks, squirrels, rabbits & some birds. Got a couple cheap end guns, then I “discoverd” Ted’s Holdover, then AEAC, which led me to join AGN, the rest is Hx. 

 

[survivor45]

Rats ! 
May 16 2019. My first real air rifle. Hatsan Mdl 95 .22. Had the gun for about 12 hours and got this guy. 

I then purchased a used but slightly modified Benjamin Prod. Sept 24 2019

annnd you probably know the rest of the story. Bla bla bigger PCP bla bla better scopes bla bla shopping for air compressors. ......

 

[profsrgary]

I wanted a lower power option for squirrel hunting and pests. I was passing up a lot of shots at squirrels on the side of trees when hunting locally. I now use a 14.35 grain pellet at slightly over 800 fps and feel better about taking shots at squirrels in trees. Caution is still very important but I can usually see what is within 300 yards which is the distance my pellet will travel if shot 45 degrees up but I can seldom see what is a mile and a half away which is the distance my 22 lr hv will travel.

 

[T3PRanch]

Guns (any and all) in Rural Texas (especially in my childhood in the 1960's) were as much a part of life as Chicken Fried Steak and gravy. Every kid I knew had 2 things ... a BB Gun and a pair of roller skates. It was a totally different world without "personal" electronics!

Starting as a young adult I spent a lot of years supporting the manufacturing equipment for all the building blocks of "personal" electronics. It is plain to see now that the electronics own the person in many cases rather than the other way around. I am now kind of sorry for my contribution to this age!

 

[luxurycat]

When I was7 or 8 years old my Dad got me a Red Ryder BB gun for my birthday. Dad liked to hunt Jacks in the california washes with a .22LR. We now had 2 guns. 40 years and several low budget varmint guns later I needed to trade my .380 habit. I found the modern PCP. Rodent hunting is a blast with a PCP with 100 yard plus accuracy.

 

[ALLAIRAFFAIRS]

The backyard friendly idea and the pcp community is what got me into this.

 

[stoti]

Shooting our bb and pellet guns was what we did after school growing up, no roller skates though. We were lucky to have Beeman USA just down the road in Santa Rosa back then. My friend and I both had Crosman 760’s to start but when my buddy turned 11, he got an R1 and shortly after, when I turned 11, my parents bought me an R1 too. We shot those things every day for years! Great times!! 
Stoti

 

[Kdog]

Chipmunks 

 

[Raden1942]

So my dad bought me a crosman pumper as a boy. I think it was my 8th or 9th Christmas. He set up quarters at 10 yards and all the ones I hit I could keep. As a teenager I got a crosman pump pistol with wood grips. I forget the model but it killed many tree squirrels on camping trips until police took it from me during an unfair stop. No ticket no charges just took my gun for not being 18. Anyway I stopped shooting airguns for over 10 years and my dad once again told me about pcp's. I started watching every video I could about them and really enjoyed. Mountainsport airguns, air velocity sport, airgun evolution, and cyclops videos. I still watch all those guys and I shoot my marauder field and target right beside my 7 year old with her pp700w. Airguns have really been a blessing to me as they inherently bring family and friends together and are always good for a smile. 

 

[FelixS]

Those Dirty, Rotten, Scoundrels known as Squirrels...

 

[biohazardman]

Had a red rider like BB gun when I was ten or twelve don't remember the brand or where it came from, brain damage and memory loss. Shot ants in the dirt and the flowers off of my moms dogwood tree as well as her glass wind chimes, yes I was beat for that evil deed, my bad. Of course she never new about the BB gun tag and the many BB gun wars that we had for several years or I would still be grounded. Bought my own used Sheridan Blue Streak and a Benjamin 342 in my mid twenties/early thirties that was after my purchase of a couple of .22 powder burners. Took the daughters out shooting the airguns at the river often bugs, and the corn curl armies standing tall on the hills of sand were our favorite targets. Bought my first new airgun a Diana 45 break barrel in 1988 so in my mid thirties. But after all this I was not really into airguns that much until the Crosman 2240 came out and I began to modify. Shortly after I found the Crosman Forum. It was then I began my true life of addiction and slavery. Modifying, bulking turning the lowly 2240 into this and that gun and finally into a potent .25 PCP rifle and arrowgun back before the Discovery and Marauder were out. Now I am into it. These modified guns were good enough until the Impact came along and I just had to have one. Then I found this place and it's been down the slippery slope of Impact mods more PCPs, compressors and accessories ever since. ;^)

 

[JadedC]

I discovered Teds holdover when I was 14 and at the time I thought it was the coolest thing being able to shot casually in your yard. Being from SoCal where people practically live on top of one another and having parents that are adamantly against any sort of firearm I thought air guns were pretty cool. Fast forward to sophomore year of hs and my best friend convinced his dad to buy him a Winchester 1000. That summer was awesome. That summer we drove to local state parks and took down many tree and ground squirrels. After that I got a part time job and saved up to buy a hatsan 95. It served me well throughout hs and college. Once I graduated I figured I should gift myself a nice present for graduation, so I bought myself a fx dreamline classic. A few months pass and I figured out I needed a small compact gun so I got a leshiy and that’s where I stand now.

 

[RM100GUY]

I was never allowed to have one as a kid, mom said "you'll shoot your eye out", pop said "your old enough to shoot real guns now", however my friends had lots of BB/pellet guns and I shot with them a LOT, a yellow tube of bb's was a dime or quarter I don't remember but it wasn't much and one of us always had enough for some, this was in the 60's. After the Navy in '77, I had a few pellet guns for a few years, multi-pump Smith&Wesson, went through 2 of them, and one or two crosman multi-pump guns, these were not bad guns for their day but I didn't take care of them and in late 70's moved to a place I couldn't shoot, I guess they ended up at the dump. In 1999 moved to Tennessee in the country and put up blue bird boxes on our property. One day, right in front of my wife and myself an English Sparrow killed an entire brood of blue bird nestlings, I declared war, (just ask my wife!) I got an RWS .177 break barrel don't remember the model but wasn't a bad gun, in fact I liked it (air gunning) so much I sold it to a neighbor and bought the "best" air rifle I could find, pre-google, happened to be a Rapid 12 .20 from Steve at Pomona Air guns, had to order it from across the pond, talk about a long hard wait, Steve was very patient with my questions and I still have that gun, sparrows didn't stand a chance, more than once I took 'em out in the hole or just the head sticking out, beginners luck I guess choosing the Rapid because I didn't know anything about them or PCP's period, first day out a friend of mine shot a 5 shot 7/16CTC group, was in 2004, didn't get another PCP until 2017 FX Wildcat Mk1, now I don't have room for all I have, and I have a Daystate Wolverine r .177 with a Forestor stock in the mail from AOA, should be here Friday, I'll find a place for it.