What was an absolute game changer for you in this sport?

[Mickshooter]

like so many others it took me too long to learn to buy with quality vs price in mind. Now I have stuff to sell lol

Your normal like the rest of us. Sure was fun buying and learning.

 

[otis1016]

For me the eye opener was getting my old Crosmans from the 70’s rebuilt. Actually finding someone close by that could work on such old rifles started it but I discovered how how air guns had improved and become much more sophisticated. It got me back to competitive shooting and now my biggest problem is finding a place to put all the rifles I keep buying.

Rick H.

 

[silvershooter589]

Relatively inexpensive, high power, ammo diverse & accurate .30 caliber rifles with big air bottles.

 

[Mg616]

Best thing for my shooting last 10 years was going back to the 10 meter rifle & pistol game. Picked up club quality gear, read a few books - Pistol Shooting by MEC, Air Rifle Steps to Success by Meili. Watched a few vids, shot several tins.

 

[nomojo65]

Knowing I could feed my competitive spirit with an airgun vs. centerfire. The accuracy is there for up to 50yd (sort of!) cost, time, and ability to shoot and practice on my own property sealed the deal.

 

[Firewalker]

Looking online for a new air rifle 3 years ago and discovering airgun forums and PCP air rifles.

Gave away my springers and nitro piston guns and have not thought about those torture devices since!

I shot PB's up until March 2020 then went 100% PCP air rifles. I am enjoying shooting more now than any time in the past 45 years!

 

[ChRiSiS]

For me, it was getting my 1st QUALITY airgun. I was using Hatsan BT65's (22 & 25) for almost 2 years. I learned a lot about shooting & tuning & actually got quite good with them. When my Mom passed & unexpectedly left us some money I got a Royale 500. Oh my God, the difference in fit,feel, function & accuracy was on a whole different dimension. NOW I understood why guys were willing to spend so much on higher tier equipment. I COULD NOT believe the difference. Really had an IMPACT (pardon the pun) on me. Bought a used Boss (.30) after that, same reaction! We DO get what we pay for. Sold ALL my other guns after getting those. Now, I only own a Bobcat .22, Royale .25 & my Boss .30. Not the MOST expensive but check every single box for me!

100% on this one for me as well. Getting my first FX Crown (a .22 Continuum) after shooting my two Marauders (.22 & .25) and my Airforce Condor SS (.25) was absolutely jaw dropping! The Impact MKII that followed this just pushed me over the top. I’ve been done with “Cheap & Cheerful” since that day.

 

[Firewalker]

I'm working up to an Impact, I'm enjoying the journey through the lower cost PCP's and learning the valving, pressures and tuning right now. There is still time to get the "lifetime" gun.

 

[BackStop]

For me, PCP changed everything. Now I just need to find a way to afford a quality PCP and decide which one suits me best as I will probably only be able to afford ONE.

 

[Franklink]

As someone else already mentioned, for me it was field target.

I really enjoyed airguns before, but getting involved in ft took it up another level. In its simplest form, the matches and my competitive nature gave me something to practice for every month, or rather it gave me a reason to shoot, a purpose.

But bigger than that was that it put me into contact with others that are as nuts about airguns as I am. Many of those airgun nuts have become good friends and almost daily texts and/or phone calls fly amongst all of us as we share in the love of airguns through the discussion of them. Having people to share it with makes it much more enjoyable. And generally, the airgun hobby seems to attract a pretty decent crowd for some reason.

The field target involvement also resulted in monthly camping/field target trips, at least in the summer months. For one weekend a month, May through Oct, a bunch of us get together and camp and SHOOT A TON OF PELLETS plinking and ultimately have a formal field target match. That break from real life is awesome. I'm perpetually looking forward to those airgun shooting weekends.