N/A Their story

In the beginning of this hobby I only bought new but in recent years I've begun to aquire out of production guns on the pre-owned market. What I enjoy most is that it gives me the opportunity to pickup one that I either didn't have the way or means to in the past. I have more than few now and some of the things I think about when I look at them is where has it been, how was it used. Was it used for hunting or slaying tin cans and targets.
Some of them show signs of a lot of use which answers some of those questions. I have a 140 that looks like it spent many a day defending a garden. I can picture it leaning against a cinderblock wall of a garage, ready for engagement.
 
Every one of my Beeman R series rifles was bought used. I've got a few others bought for various reasons, whether oddballs or no longer made: Made by Mendoza for Crosman RM577 .177 with the original Mendoza peep sights, my 1973 Silver Streak, a D34 .177 T01 found in a gun shop and under $100, the Webley Rebel pumper I just got from fellow member DanaD. Probably a few others I'm forgetting...lol
 
I get you, but I never give airguns much thought in that way. Maybe they're just not glamorous enough. If I wonder anything about one it's something like "Geez, where was this kept, in the back of a pickup truck?!"

But hand me a saddle worn, 100 year old .30-30 lever gun and my imagination runs wild. I'd give my eye teeth to have followed that gun through history.
 
I've owned north of 200 airguns in my day, and I can only think of 5 that I bought new. I love the older ones, and yes - always wonder about their stories.

These two HW 55's are a couple of favorites. They were both owned by my late friend, Professor Gaines Blackwell, who got them from a gent in Germany. Gaines was the most outgoing, friendly, true Southern gentleman you can imagine, and learned that both guns had belonged to the man's father - a WW2 Afrika Korps veteran, and enthusiastic match shooter after the war.

Both show signs of much use and careful maintenance, and have some interesting details. The 1956 finger-groove Tyro has a barrel sleeve, a rare double-threaded front sight for an "eagle eye" lens or other accessories, and its original early Rekord trigger was replaced at least once.

The slightly older M is most unusual, with a pre-Rekord steel trigger and a 3-digit serial that doesn't fit any known sequence. Its simple OEM front sight was replaced with a Walther tunnel sight (requiring professional cutting of mounting grooves), which has an "eagle eye" in place.
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Here's the Walther front sight on "711." You can tell from the wear at the muzzle, that it originally had the older type of HW sight seen below it.
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I've owned north of 200 airguns in my day, and I can only think of 5 that I bought new. I love the older ones, and yes - always wonder about their stories.

These two HW 55's are a couple of favorites. They were both owned by my late friend, Professor Gaines Blackwell, who got them from a gent in Germany. Gaines was the most outgoing, friendly sort you can imagine, and learned that both guns had belonged to the man's father, a WW2 Afrika Korps veteran and enthusiastic match shooter after the war.

Both show signs of much use and careful maintenance, and have some interesting details. The 1956 finger-groove Tyro has a barrel sleeve, a double-threaded front sight for an "eagle eye" len or other accessories, and its original early Rekord trigger was replaced at least once. The slightly older M is most unusual, with a pre-Rekord steel trigger and a 3-digit serial that doesn't fit any known sequence. The original simple front sight was replaced with a Walther tunnel sight (requiring professional cutting of mounting grooves), and has an eagle eye in place.
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Mike
Great story on those 2 exquisite 55s! If they could speak I'm sure the stories would be fantastic.

JC
 
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