Your Air gun Journey...

[JCNiest5]

Okay, newbie here. Didn't see a thread relating to what I'm about to post, so here it is.

How did you start your air gun journey? What was your first airgun? What did you do to it?

Since I start this thread, let me start.

I'm 54 years old, considered "old" to some, so here's how I started my air gun journey.

I think in the late 80s was when I started my air gun journey. Back then, I was poor and couldn't afford anything expensive, and didn't think they existed at that time either. My first air gun, if my memory serves me correctly, was a Crossman 760 (or something close to it), which cost me my leg, $79.99 (again, if my memory serves me correctly). It was a multi-pumps air gun. You gave it like 8-10 pumps and it gave you something like 795 feet/sec. each shot. Manual fed, if you shoot it non-stop, you finger would hurt. I had it for awhile, then I don't remember what happened to it. In the early 90s, I went away from air gun for awhile. Didn't come back to air gun until 2005. Bought an off-brand one at a flea market for $25. It was a single pump, manual fed, .177. It shot horrible. Still in my garage now. It does the job at very close range, but don't trust it for anything farther than 10 yards.

Until May or June this year, I finally jumped to a better one. I bought a Gamo Swarm Whisper Gen2 .22 cal. That thing shoots horrible as well. Shots scattered everywhere. Got it to zero in, in a few days, you take it out to the field, it's way off again. It could just be the kind of pellets I was using. I've tried Ruger SuperPoint andGamo RedFire. The RedFire seemed to do better, but still could never trust it.

Finally, had enough courage to buy something better. I've always dreamed of FX AirGuns, especially the Impact line, but my dream airgun is the Crown Continuum. But to drop a few thousand bucks on an airgun, I probably wouldn't have a place to sleep if the wife finds out. So, I came down in price, looking at something cheaper. One day, at PA, I added a Hatsan Nova QE to a cart, but didn't check out. It was priced at $799.99 at that time. During the night, PA's website sent an email saying I left something behind in a cart. And they were willing to give me 40% off if I would buy it. I bit their bait and pulled the trigger. I also bought a Benjamin Traveler 4500 PSI Compressor along with the Hatsan.

A week later, they arrived. Pretty happy with my purchase, but was somewhat disappointed how heavy the Hatsan Nova is! After putting a scope on, it weighs in a hefty 11 pounds! Not satisfied, but I don't want to return the gun because of the 40% saving. I thought I'd try to see if I reduce the weight a little (and plus being a small man myself), I trimmed off about 1.25 in. off the stock. Now, it's a little easier to shoot, but the weigh never comes down.

So, when I got an email from PA saying the Air Venturi Avenger came IN STOCK, I ordered a .22 cal version mainly because of how light it is. Hope it arrives soon, but I can't/won't do much with it since it's winter here. So now, I'm waiting excitingly for it to arrive. I also ordered some .22 cal pellets, two boxes of H&N Baracuda Hunter Extreme and two boxes of JSB Diabolo King Heavy 18.13 gr.

Maybe I will give the Gamo Swarm Whisper a try again using the H&N and JSB pellets and see if it would shoot better. 

Like I said above, my "now" dream airgun is the FX Crown Continuum, but after seeing how ridiculous accurate the new FX Maverick is, I think I may have to switch, but that isn't going to be too soon since I now have to deal with the Nova and Avenger first if I decide to pursue the Maverick or Crown in the future.

So, tell us your air gun journy, will ya?

 

[mobilemail]

I've been interested in airguns since I was a kid in the '70s looking at Beeman airgun catalogs. 

My first "adult" airgun was a chinese clone of a Diana 48 that I bought on the internet around 2007. I liked the idea of it, but it was rough and heavy, and I couldn't hit much with it. I traded it for an RC truck.

The airgun that really got me into this sport/hobby/bottomless money pit was a Diana 350 .177 I bought on sale from AoA about eight years ago. Nothing like starting with one of the hardest springers available to shoot, right? But it screamed quality when I took it out of the box! I didn't know it was supposed to be hard to shoot, and started practicing off-hand, open sights shooting in my 12y basement range and got fairly decent. 

After that I got my first PCP, a Crosman Challenger, and hand pump. Then a scuba tank. Then more PCPs. Then a carbon tank. Then more PCPs. Then more springers. Sold some....bought some...got a compressor...

Everyone has their own journey based on their needs and likes. I've decided I like both PCPs and springers. Most of my guns are scoped, but I don't mind using open sights either. At this time I don't need anything over .25, and I don't have a particular interest in slugs. I do work on my airguns occasionally but really only as necessary. I don't particularly enjoy tuning or modding, so if I buy an airgun I look for something I don't have to do more work on when I get it. I have no problem buying used airguns. In fact, almost all of my airguns were purchased used, it's the only way I can afford the nice ones. 

How many do I have? More than I need, but less than I want. 

next....

 

[intenseaty22]

Welcome! Here’s  a previous thread already filled with some comments on the topic for ya. You can always check out the search function there when looking for something in particular.

I had the same experience with Gamo and FX. The Gamo (Springer) couldn’t ever shoot straight no matter what, the FX (Wildcat) can at least group, but the Point of Impact is anyone’s guess from day to day.

You will hear the phrase, buy once, cry once. This is often true when going cheap only to have to buy the quality gun after anyway.

After doing some of that myself, I bought a Kalibrgun Cricket & never looked back. I can recommend a Taipan Veteran as well. Very robust and reliable. 

 

[oledawg]

I needed a new hobby, sport, addiction in 2017, back when I was a youngster of 63. Retirement was approaching and I knew I would need something to occupy my time, besides all the work around the house I wanted to do. Over the years I had been in and out of various sports but work always got in the way of staying with it. My time spent shooting 10 meter air pistol, brought me to look at air rifles. After months of research I finally placed my order with Airguns of Arizona for an FX Crown in .22 along with an Aztec Emerald 5.5-25 x 50 scope and all the other incidentals and lots of pellets. I ordered the Crown in September of 2017 but it did not arrive until March 2018. As I didn’t retire until October of 2020 even then work got in the way of doing the things I wanted to do with the Crown. 


Now that I’m retired I am shooting more as I can shoot at home even in the middle of Phoenix and I’m preparing for small game hunting and some Benchrest competitions. I recently bought a Daystate 4500 compressor which makes shooting even easier. As for any changes to my Crown, I bought an Air-fective Carbon Fiber Shroud and Python compensator (mouse fart quite) and the FX Arrow kit, besides that nothing else to speak of specifically for the Crown, it’s an awesome rifle and shoots much better than I currently do. I am considering the Saber Tactical stock. Have bought plenty of other stuff, grain scale, digital micrometers, 5 different pellet sizers, other miscellaneous Benchrest and hunting related gear. 

I only plan to own this one air rifle as I can only shoot one at a time and since I can change calibers up to .30, the only reason I could see to buy another rifle would be if Arizona Game and Fish don’t lower the requirement for shooting larger game from .35 to .30. With the arrow kit which I have not worked with much that may negate the need for a .35 cal even if AZG&F don’t change the rules. 

https://youtu.be/-xHxuy3bsVs

https://youtu.be/5S-FnBL_fDo

 

[wyshadow]

You got 40% off your nova? You could sell that gun here and probably make most of your money back.

 

[MOE.LB]

I started using a springer air rifle from china i believe it was called the B2 got it for about 33$, was a horrible thing to shoot but what could a 13 year old ask for more? i used it for about 2 years and it actually shot me some birds even with how wildly inaccurate it was. I sold it after for the same price actually haha, it was in horrible condition since i never oiled it and it rusted a heck ton! then i started fishing and all, now I'm 22 I bought an artemis cr600w which is by no means an amazing gun but it's ok i guess. does the job hopefully. I'm still writing my airgun story as i consider myself to have just actually starting it! 

 

[landshark]

For me my first was a bb gun of some brand I don't remember, then years later getting one of those crossman pump pistols with a few of my friends, that lasted maybe a year or two, sold that pistol and got into PBs instead of air. Then some 15 years ago bought a CO2 RWS .177 pistol for fun and rat pest control. Used that pistol for awhile but at same time decided to reduce the PBs down to just 2 pistols. Then this year saw the Weihrauch HW44 in .22, looked perfect for what I wanted. It has proven to be great for my intended purpose of dual use, fun to shoot and deadly on the rats. That started the main problem with hobbies for me, jumping in hard very quickly, so after a short time I bought a Weihrauch HW100BP rifle in .22, then two scopes, a guppy tank, metal targets, made a back stop, bought lots of pellets, a pelican case for the BP, cases for both the HW44 and tank, a compressor and now on the waiting list for a Daystate Delta Wolf.

 

[Ranchibi]

About 2010 a couple rats got into the garage then the house thru the doggy door! I trapped those with the venerable Victor rat traps. At night, I could see them scurrying across our back brick wall, running back and forth then stopping between our yard and our neighbors hiding near the trees and bushes. Aha..that’s where they are coming from. So, I trapped some of those but the smarter ones wouldn’t bite pardon the pun...and those got into the garage. Well, this meant war and I brainstormed and came up with a pellet gun. So I researched and researched and made my decision to purchase a RWS 34 Pro Meisterschutze package from PA. It was accurate and as I practiced got good enough to shoot the rats baiting them with PB. That was the beginning of a new found luv for the sport of airgunning.

 

[Moog]

I also started out with a Crosman 760. This was back in the 70's. It was bought used at a garage sale and the barrel was slightly bent but I was a little kid and couldn't have been happier. When we would go on vacations to the country I would take it out in the woods and have fantasies about shooting all sorts of big game on an African safari. Once I learned to compensate for the bent barrel I actually got pretty good with it.

When I got older I began to acquire firearms and powder burners were my main interest but usually had a cheap air gun around. When I retired from the military I found myself living in a house on 4 acres of property and had plenty of room to shoot air guns safely. This for me is the main advantage of air guns. I can shoot in my backyard rather than pack up my gear and drive to a shooting range.

I also discovered high end adult airguns. As a result I have acquired a couple over the last several years. I favor the Weihrauch brand spring piston rifles. These have a very high level of quality and fit my needs perfectly for backyard target shooting.

I've never gotten into PCP mainly because I'm already heavily invested in powder burners and my spring guns fit my needs perfectly.

 

[SDellinger]

My brother gave me a Crosman 101 in 1959 and my addiction started. I bought a Bavaria 55N from Air Rifle Headquarters in 1969 and a FW 124 in 1976. Got into high-power springers in 1982 with a R1. I bought a RX2 from AOA in 2007 and then a Marauder and hand pump in 2009. A short time later in 2011 I got a FX500 from AOA . I traded an Anchutz 22 for another FX500 later that year. Last March AOA made me a deal I couldn't refuse on a FX400. I like tradional type airguns and firearms. No black guns for me. I know I may be giving up some power but that's ok. Have fun, Scott

 

[OkAirgunner]

I was introduced to air rifles around 1976 as Scott above with an FWB 124 Deluxe that my dad bought from Air Rifle Headquarters and then he bought me a BSA, wish I still had that BSA, while it was nothing like the 124 it was still my first. I took a hiatus through HS and College. Then in the late 90's I thought I would like to get another air rifle so I got a Sterling at a big gun show. It was not a good gun and I meet Bob Kelley at the next big gun show and he invited me out to shoot indoor silhouettes with them and that was the fall of 97. I have been shooting with him and a few others ever since. I have had many rifles since then. My absolute favorite was an AA Shamal that I absolutely LOVED, it was stolen in 13 and that just breaks my heart because I know they had no idea what they got and most likely destroyed it. I really enjoy shooting piston guns and compete in Hunter FT Piston. When I shot indoors before these crazy times I usually took one of my many Vintage Spring Target rifles or my AA SM100 I also put together a Marauder Bullpup. In the spring I am a Lacrosse official as well as have coached Volleyball for many years and had to take a few breaks from regular shooting one time I returned and an old friend Dave Cole from another part of my life before airguns was there and we have rebuilt our friendship. He talked me into going on a Prairie Dog hunt in 18 and I had so much fun using my dove hunting skills trying to help control the PD population. I have also met one of my closest friends Arnold Smith who has fueled my love of old springers. I have met many people that I can call friends and count on in hard times through the Airgun community. 

Thanks to all those that help and support others in this community.

Mark 

 

[JCNiest5]

Some interesting journeys we've got here! Someone posted above that there is another thread with similar posts. I went to read the first few pages and was quite intrigued by what everybody said there as well. There, however, is a little different. Just short statements of how they got into airguns. Here, we have full story of journey and I'm just happy to read everyone's unique journey/story. Thanks for sharing, everyone! Keep it coming!

 

[Odoyle]

Welcome started with a Daisy BB pistol a very long time ago then graduated to a Crosman 2100 classic then came a Beeman HW77K then Rodney Boyce (RIP) AZ Daystate CR97 and Anshutz ZM 2002FT and ARS AZ Joe Korick Shin Sung Career II 707 and AirgunsR*US DM Falcon FN12 Light Hunter and ARS FX Tarantula then 2 pairs of 177 and 22 RWS 54 Air Kings from Cabelas and FWB300s and AZ Theoben Rapid 17/17 FT then a 20 cal AZ Rapid 12 FT then a 20 cal Storey Career II 707 shorty then AA TX200SR then it was all history after that. That was only the mild beginning for me one toe in the water so to speak.

 

[Long_Gun_Dallas]

Well, mine started when I was about 10. With a $20 daisy quicksilver single pump pneumatic smoothbore. It had a bb well you could dump about 100 bbs into, and it was pretty dang sweet at the time. Within about 2 years or so I discovered darts, pellets, and about anything else you could cram in the bore, haha. When I was 13, I managed to get my hands on a $10 daisy red dot sight. And let me tell you, it was the coolest thing in my possession. I'd go off in the woods with it, and a pocket full of bbs, and not come home til dusk. It was replaced with a beeman gt600 when I turned 14, my Christmas present that year. That thing was a shooter. Only about 600fps, but a noticeable step up from the daisy. Many squirrel were felled with it, and though neither me nor my dad could cook worth a damn at the time, they still got eaten. I'm 32 now, btw, and have since learned how to cook, haha. Fast-forward a few more years,I owned a crosman 357 co2, 1377, suppressed 880, and lastly a gamo whisper with crosman nitrogen piston and upgraded trigger. The modified gamo was unlike anything I'd shot, and was accurate, but particular, and jumpy. I got it when I was 21 years old, so 11 years back. And that was the last airgun I owned until 2019.

I come from a background of working on autos. Souping them up, breaking them, racing them. Well, my current home does not have a garage. So, I really dont have a place to properly do that. So, I've been doing woodworking, playing music, working on bikes. One day it just crossed my mind. I have several real guns, and like shooting them. Why dont I shoot airguns much anymore? I thought of the 1377 in particular. I didnt have any sort of money when I was young, and never got to modify the 1377 the way I had wanted to back then. So, I went down to walmart and picked up a 1322 instead. Thats when I fell down the rabbit hole. Fell might not even be the right word. More like I was consumed by, lol.

Steel breech, flat top piston, ported and hogged out valve, transfer port, lothar walther barrel, roller bearing trigger, custom hammer, steel breech, hollow bolt, charge handle, tom west stock, ldc adapter, huma ldc, scope. Man, it really gets out of hand. But it's a hell of a shooter, I can say that! More accurate than anything I had ever owned up until that time.

Reaching the peak of 1322-ness, where was I to go from there? I'd learned of pcp's sometime while modding this 1322. And let's be honest.... after shooting it a LOT, tuning, modifying, tweaking... I'd take anything other than pumping a gun 10-15 times and single loading 1 pellet to get a shot off, lol. I don't mind it sometimes, but it's not the most relaxing thing in the world, haha. I still single load my pcp's 99% of the time lol.

Well, I got to looking. I looked at the BSA r10s, the Hatsans, Krals, Atamans... and there it was. The FX Crown. Adjustable regulator, externally adjustable port size, and externally adjustable hammer tension! None of the other rifles offered that level of adjustability on the fly. But the price! My most expensive powder burner (a colt 1911) cost about half as much.

I settled for a kral puncher jumbo instead because it still had adjustable port size. And seemed to output good power and consistency without a regulator. But every single last one of them was sold out! For months!! I reached out to a reputable Kral tuner to see if he had any. Low and behold he had a spare jumbo stock he had ordered, and the action from a pro500. My rifle! Being a tuner, I asked him to go ahead and tune and assemble it. Well... one delay led to another. I kept the line of communication open, and kept waiting. Slowly but surely the tuner stopped keeping me in the loop. A few months of increasingly poor communication pass, and I tell him not to bother contacting me anymore. 

I pulled the trigger on a synthetic Crown Continuum in .22. Although I wanted walnut, I just could not bring myself to spend more than $1700 What a shooter, though! Lots of adjustability everywhere. Super lightweight (6.5 lbs unscoped), and super efficient. Somewhere around 300 shots on my 650fps tune. The gun also cranks out 960fps when I twist the two dials on the left side. And still manages around 120 shots at that power level.

Currently it is walnut stocked. I managed to find a nice stock for it, and put a nice hand finish on it.

I've gotten a few other pcps and have had a lot of fun modifying and tuning them up.

I do have a nova star as well, and had the same sentiments you do. I have detuned mine, and fitted a much smaller shorter barrel to it. As well as have a rear mounted scope on it. The center of balance is completely changed. And the gun lost roughly 1 pound off the front end of it.

I've detuned mine, so it shoots about 865fps thru a 14.25" 22 caliber barrel. I removed the little trigger weight from mine, as it made the pull/break mushy. And I am working on hand finishing it as well. (currently sanded, stripped, and bleached)

I do have the factory 177 barrel for it, and a custom shroud for the .22 barrel

Awful photo, but this is it with the custom shroud, and the super short eye relief 12x scope. Center of balance like this is super nice.

Word of advice. The hatsan flash barrels fit the nova star. My little 14.25" barrel was custom made for someone's flash. But a factory flash barrel should be shorter. than the factory nova star barrel. That is almost certainly your cheapest option for lightening the front of the gun. That and ditching the shroud. The shroud alone weighed a crazy amount on mine (4mm thick, steel, non-qe version)

 

[JCNiest5]

Welcome started with a Daisy BB pistol a very long time ago then graduated to a Crosman 2100 classic then came a Beeman HW77K then Rodney Boyce (RIP) AZ Daystate CR97 and Anshutz ZM 2002FT and ARS AZ Joe Korick Shin Sung Career II 707 and AirgunsR*US DM Falcon FN12 Light Hunter and ARS FX Tarantula then 2 pairs of 177 and 22 RWS 54 Air Kings from Cabelas and FWB300s and AZ Theoben Rapid 17/17 FT then a 20 cal AZ Rapid 12 FT then a 20 cal Storey Career II 707 shorty then AA TX200SR then it was all history after that. That was only the mild beginning for me one toe in the water so to speak.

Wow, so many of them! You made me look and feel really small now....LOL!!!

 

[davelarson]

Great post! We can see everyone’s path into the money pit!! JCNiest5 you are going to be blown away by your dream gun! I started out needing a way to deal with a chipmunk infestation. Bought a cheap springer and it was awful. After whittling down a couple poor chipmunks I set it aside as trash. I watched some videos on line and ordered a marauder and pump. Scoped it and got 56 chipmunks the first day, over 20 the next day and the problem was over. I was impressed and wondered how accurate these airguns could be. I could hit a nickel at 50 yards almost every time with the marauder and so I watched more videos (I was already completely hooked). There was an English guy named Cye who was shooting his Theoben, he put up a piece of paper and shot a .177 hole in it, he then shot the rest of the magazine into the same hole. I don’t remember how far but I was totally impressed. I called AZ to buy a high end rifle and when he said he had this Theoben .20 cal. I went for it. It’s the most accurate gun I own. I also fell for a couple FX guns which are also completely awesome. Then I started trying pistols and I have completely fallen for them. We are so incredibly lucky to have guns we can shoot in the yard and even in the house! So quiet and accurate. You will be blown away by the Crown Continuim. Welcome to the some of the best fun to be had!

 

[JCNiest5]

I got my Avenger 22 cal.! Wow, light and it shoots so much more consistent than my Hatsan Nova QE! Even using the Ruger SuperPoint, which shoots horrible in the Gamo and Hatsan, the Avenger can actually hit the same hole each time if I can aim it completely still. Granted, pellets tend to wander off outside or in the wind, but I think I got myself something I will enjoy for a long time. Squirrels, here I come! Well, I mean when season opens or when the weather favors me.

I'd like for Air Venturi to at least include some kind of accessories, though. There is none, except the two 10-shot magazines and the single shot tray that comes pre-installed. No manual. No nothing. Come on, Air Venturi! Well, I guess this is a $300 gun and they want to make absolutely sure it remains that way. Understandably, I guess. Ranting aside...

I need to learn all the ins and outs of this gun. Need to learn how to tune it.

Gonna have lots of fun with this.

 

[steve123]

At age 5 I saw some boys shooting at a bat with a BB gun that they had hung from a fence, lol, something about that gave me ooh's, and ahh's.

Went with my Dad over to his buds house and his boys were knocking cans off a saw horse with a BB gun. I got to try it and was good at it, I've loved shooting ever since!

My Dad bought me a Daisy Plainsman BB rifle for my birthday, it was a replica of a Remington pump 22rf, that was 1968.

Next was a Diana M27 in 1970, from abuse and shooting it so much I wore it out.

Got a 760 and broke it.

Got whatever model Diana that was after the M27 in 1975?? Wore it out too.

Fast forward to 1985 I bought a Sheridan 5mm. Then a Gamo CFX.

Visited Robert's AOA tire shop about 1995 and bought a Daystate Sportsman multi pump and saw my first PCP there that day. I went back a few months later and traded it in on a Daystate Harrier, yolk, tank, and became a PCP lover. Owned a bunch since and few nice springers.

 

[JCNiest5]

Steve123, 

Great journey. Thanks for sharing!