"What IS it with you old guys "?

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Gerry52

Gerry52

Member
Oct 13, 2017
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Oceanside,California, United States
My wife asked me this morning. She's really surprised at the number 65+ year olds who've gotten into airguns. She spoke with a friend that she'd not been in contact with for a long while. Friend happens to mention that her husband is off on a new obsession with air powered guns! For me, a big part of it was the evolution from guns like the old Crosman 760 pumpers that were never much better than "hit & miss" to guns we have today that can stack pellets at previously unheard of distances. I got into it 5 or 6 years ago & have been obsessed & addicted ever since. One thing, I too have noticed, is the inordinate number of older guys who comprise the forums I've been on. Yeah, it's kind of like a second childhood for sure but there are MANY other reasons & dimensions to the equation. Being 95% retired leaves a lot of idle hours to be filled but that's a very small part for me. Mostly, the deeper I get into this the MORE there is to learn & enjoy. I could probably fill a page here with all the GOOD I've gained by becoming involved but still ask myself "why at this age? Why not when I was younger?" It's a valid question but I can't seem to be able to answer it myself. How 'bout you other old farts?
BTW, I turned 70 this past February but I still move & have the eyesight of a younger man. Thank God for good genes & playing drums for 60 years. (Counteracted all the crap I did to myself when younger & stupider)
 
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i have always been a low power " long distance " (for what it was ) kind of guy , 8 foot distance dart board at 15 or 20 feet is close in for me .
lower power air rifles , 3 pumps on a Sheridan blue streak @ 20 yards , YES i have Daystate Pulsar .177 but have never yet taken off low power 19 FPE
 
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We’ve grown up and so have our childhood toys. Think about things like War of the Worlds, Star Trek, Buck Rogers and the Jetsons. We now have drones, smart phones/camera phones, and tablets with video calling capabilities. We can scan QR codes and connect our phones to electronic watches to monitor specific vital signs. Reminds me of the scanners from these shows or the video communications from Sci-Fi shows. What kid didn’t wish he could listen to the music he wanted when he wanted (instead of radio station playlists that repeated the same songs all day) or to have a portable tv that he could travel with? These were childhood fantasies for many of us.

I read some of you guys’ posts about childhood experiences with airguns and some of y’all were tinkerers. A few of you are into machining, modifications, and tuning. Others have tested airgun prototypes. Some may have even gotten involved in the production process. Well just as we have grown up, so have some of our childhood toys. We’ve come a long way since Diana, Red Ryders, Daisy, Beeman, and Crosman pumpers, CO2, and spring powered airguns. We’ve gotten to the point where he have serious competition guns, plinking machines, hunting/pesting tools, and long-range airguns. Who’d have thunk it as a kid? Or maybe some of you did and here we are….
 
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I'm 78 and came into this sport from powder burners where I was constantly chasing small groups. Shot F/TR mid range (600 yards) for a while, but my passion has been ever smaller groups out to 200 yards with 223 cal. I shot NRA small bore (22 cal) 50 feet prone indoors in winter as well as NRA bullseye (pistol) 50 feet offhand. I have been aware of precharged pneumatics for a while and suddenly tried the sport with a weihrauch HW44 pistol - shooting NRA Bullseye style. One thing led to another and here I am. I've settled on 25 meter benchrest (25 yards indoors in winter) as it satisfies my urge to perfect my shooting technique. I'm not a hunter (have nothing against those that are) but benchrest suites me fine at my age.
 
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Is it a Second childhood... With Big Boy Toys??????
At least for me, I can't Honestly say that...
I have been into shooting since my childhood.....
As I got older.. then came Reloading for Long Range...
But I still took my Airgun with me when I was out hunting!!
So as time went on, my Airguns started to "Grow UP" too!!

This inevitably lead me done the path of the Darkside of Airguns.... PCP's.
Then came the compressor...
So the rest is History!!!

Stuart
 
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I’ve always been an airgun guy. I always had Beeman catalogs when I had a Sheridan because that’s who I got my .20 cal pellets from. In 1982 I was at a gun show with my dad and a guy had Beemans, RWS and FWB’s at a table. Found out his shop was 15 miles from my parents. I cut grass like a madman, sold all my cheaper pellet guns and gave that guy every cent I made. I was 14 years old. I never stopped with airguns. When I was in the Air Force I took a couple guns with me. I would sneak them into restricted areas and shoot jackrabbits and ground squirrels. I just turned 54 but for my whole life I always balanced real guns with my airguns. I know and have worked with a crazy amount of guys, I personally don’t know one Johnny come lately when it comes to airguns. The internet is what brings us together in my case. I’m glad because my dad and I have discussed how uncomfortable we would be if every third house where we live had a yahoo with a .30 airgun trying to shoot slugs.
 
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I'll be 70 next month. My first airgun was a Benjamin Model 312 that my Dad bought for me in 1964. My second airgun was an Air Arms S200 that I bought in 2002. My third air gun is now on order with PA, and is a S510 carbine, walnut,.177. Expecting it sometime in 2056! :p

I also enjoy photography, building 3d printers, salt water aquariums, 2 channel audio, traveling and flying RC model airplanes, so I do spread out my hobbies.
 
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dens228 said:
I'm only 58 so I'm still young. LOL
I didn't even know about these fancy new air guns until I saw a YouTube video by Orion. Hooked right away.
Click to expand...
Are we brothers??? LOL, Same age and same way I was indro'd to PCP's Watching iguana's getting shot with and air gun I had never seen before, and the next thing I know, I'm down the rabbit hole, two guns and a Air tank, An Alkin is next on the list.
 
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I must be a youngster, I don't turn 65 till January, I m from the powder side of the game. but now want to be able to shoot mostly at home, unfortunately, I got Covid before Immunization was available and it hit me hard out of work for 6 months on oxygen, kidneys took a bad hit ended up on dialysis and now recovering from a Transplant. So mingling with people is not high on my list and the idea of shooting at home is appealing to me
 
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Yeah, I'm 72, got into air guns after a lifetime of other shooting activities. I grew up in NC, quail hunting and other small game occupied my time. Over the years, game habitat was lost to population growth. I was active in various clay target sports (have a Perazzi clays gun that hasn't been shot in 10 years). I was also active in rimfire and centerfire target disciplines, enjoyed them all. All of a sudden, I'm older, have grandkids, have a few health limitations, and just kind of lost the energy for hunting trips and all the gear and preparation involved in my former shooting sports. So, taking the dog to the range to run, and maybe shooting the air rifles a little, has a lot of appeal to me. Plus, a little shooting is always as close as the back yard. Gettin' older, trying to enjoy it.
Ed
 
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I got my first PCP the FX cyclone in 2011 or something, not from watching any videos or anything just wanted to shoot a little again.
I cant say why break barrels was not even on the agenda, my friend had 2 of those, and we some times shot with them a little after we launched our surf cast fishing rods end tackle into the sea.

I did get a foot pump, have used it 1 time, and this when i was in a better shape, it will not be used again this side of nuclear havoc.

Turned 56 last week, so age wise i am okay, on the physical side i seem to be falling apart, like a Lego kit build and then thrown down a steep hill.
 
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elh0102 said:
Yeah, I'm 72, got into air guns after a lifetime of other shooting activities. I grew up in NC, quail hunting and other small game occupied my time. Over the years, game habitat was lost to population growth. I was active in various clay target sports (have a Perazzi clays gun that hasn't been shot in 10 years). I was also active in rimfire and centerfire target disciplines, enjoyed them all. All of a sudden, I'm older, have grandkids, have a few health limitations, and just kind of lost the energy for hunting trips and all the gear and preparation involved in my former shooting sports. So, taking the dog to the range to run, and maybe shooting the air rifles a little, has a lot of appeal to me. Plus, a little shooting is always as close as the back yard. Gettin' older, trying to enjoy it.
Ed
Click to expand...


Ed. funny you mentioned grandchildren I just had my first a little boy and I kind of hope him watching me will give him the big
 
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