I’ve been around guns since I was a kid, starting with a Daisy BB gun. Over the years I’ve owned plenty of others—too many to list—and none of them especially matter for this story.
During COVID, when ammo was nearly impossible to find, I picked up a CO₂ Crosman 2300S pistol on Amazon. Honestly, it was part boredom, part curiosity. I’d never shot a CO₂ gun before, but for around $350 it felt like a low-risk gamble. Pellets were cheap, I could shoot in my backyard, and I wouldn’t have a fortune tied up in it. So, I grabbed a box of CO₂ cartridges and a tin of 500 pellets, figuring those would last me forever.
My first thought was: what am I doing with a .177 single-shot pellet pistol? No power, no rapid fire, no “Tim the Tool Man” grunt factor. Sure, it had a Lothar Walther barrel, but at the time that didn’t mean much to me. I figured if it was a dud, at least I hadn’t lost much.
Then it arrived. One afternoon I unboxed it, slipped in a pellet, and—open sights, one hand, from 50 feet—I was smacking tin cans. And I hadn’t shot in years. I was floored. That little pistol was accurate. Before I knew it, that “lifetime supply” of pellets started disappearing fast.
That was it—I was hooked. Fell straight down the rabbit hole. Since then, I’ve been shooting airguns at local ranges, side by side with the powder-burner guys in bullseye matches, benchrest, and more. I’m not out there to beat them, just to enjoy myself.
This past spring I even bought a .22LR benchrest rifle, shot three matches with it, cleaned it, and put it away—right back to my air rifles. But that’s a story for another day.
I’m curious: How did you first get into airguns?
I think your stories would be interesting.
During COVID, when ammo was nearly impossible to find, I picked up a CO₂ Crosman 2300S pistol on Amazon. Honestly, it was part boredom, part curiosity. I’d never shot a CO₂ gun before, but for around $350 it felt like a low-risk gamble. Pellets were cheap, I could shoot in my backyard, and I wouldn’t have a fortune tied up in it. So, I grabbed a box of CO₂ cartridges and a tin of 500 pellets, figuring those would last me forever.
My first thought was: what am I doing with a .177 single-shot pellet pistol? No power, no rapid fire, no “Tim the Tool Man” grunt factor. Sure, it had a Lothar Walther barrel, but at the time that didn’t mean much to me. I figured if it was a dud, at least I hadn’t lost much.
Then it arrived. One afternoon I unboxed it, slipped in a pellet, and—open sights, one hand, from 50 feet—I was smacking tin cans. And I hadn’t shot in years. I was floored. That little pistol was accurate. Before I knew it, that “lifetime supply” of pellets started disappearing fast.
That was it—I was hooked. Fell straight down the rabbit hole. Since then, I’ve been shooting airguns at local ranges, side by side with the powder-burner guys in bullseye matches, benchrest, and more. I’m not out there to beat them, just to enjoy myself.
This past spring I even bought a .22LR benchrest rifle, shot three matches with it, cleaned it, and put it away—right back to my air rifles. But that’s a story for another day.
I’m curious: How did you first get into airguns?
I think your stories would be interesting.