How Did You Get Started - Tell Your Story!

[AIRGUN-7777]

My story is a bit different. I was into archery, and I've always liked odd weapons. I saw an ad for the benjamin pioneer airbow somewhere and was blown away by the concept and velocity. Basically a super powerful limb-less crossbow, it also sorta resembles my favorite weapon from the video game dead space 2. (Called the javelin, I even put a laser sight on, making it even more like the javelin from that game) Decided to buy one and a hand pump. I had so much fun shooting it, I shot it so much and had to pump it every 8 shots, I didn't let the pump cool down and blew the seals. Its a great deal of effort anyways, so I decided I better buy a SCBA tank and opted for the biggest one for max fills, and less frequent scuba shop visits. Then i realized with that scba I could get any pcp i wanted and was finding out about more, my 2nd was a .45 evanix Rex p. Then not long after got a huben k1, fascinated by its power and semi auto function. Around this time I was tired of the scuba shop not completely filling my tank and charging me $25 each time, and with a big bore and semi auto they were becoming frequent and cost prohibitive. They had a cascade setup and mostly filled scuba tanks to 3200 psi or so, so they either didn't bother topping off their system to fill me to 4500, or they didn't top it off after cooling down. It usually had around 4200 in it so it must have been filled pretty fast to be hot enough at 4500 to cool to 4200. Plus they made me leave it and pick it up the next day. so before I knew I was ordering a compressor too. I quickly fell in love with the huben and was going through slugs so fast I decided to spend the money on corbin swaging stuff too. I have never owned a .177

I started out with a .177 Beeman break-barrel since I live in a neighborhood and needed to keep the noise down.
I used it mainly for squirrels and chipmunks—a story I’ll share later.

Eventually, I picked up a .177 Weihrauch HW44 pistol, added a red dot, and found it gave me a lot more maneuverability for handling pest problems.

I have a 22 cal. Red Wolf, but I keep that one limited to the local range.
Even with a moderator, it still has a bit of a bark and a little loud for the neighborhood.
One of those situations I could probably get away with – but don’t really want to press my luck.

I haven’t tried slugs yet, but I’m looking forward to stepping up to a .30 caliber before year end for 50- and 100-yard benchrest shooting next spring.

If you ever get a chance to try a .177 pistol or rifle, I think you’ll be amazed at the accuracy.
I shoot the .177 pistol out to 50 yards in our local summer bullseye matches, and it’s incredible what it can do.

All it needs is a better shooter behind it!

 

[FL-Mach]

I had a daisy BB gun when I was young. Got my first .22lr when I was 10 and said goodbye to air rifles for quite some time. I had a Sheridan silver streak and a Crossman 1377 but rarely used them because a preferred the powder burners and .22lr was cheap to shoot back then. In the late 90s I got introduced to PCPs and that changed my perspective on BB guns and Pellet rifles. My first PCP was a .22 BSA Super10 MK3 Bull barrel and the accuracy and power of that think nocked my socks off and got me more interested. Since then I've picked up a .22 Airforce Talon SS, .25 Umarex Gaunlet, .25 (short) & .30 (long) Edgun Leshiy2, .22 Benjamin Akela, and a .22 Pinty bullpup to tinker with. I tend to buy a lot more powder burners but every couple of years I come back to airguns. I'm really surprised I haven't picked up an FX, Taipan, or Kalibrgun yet. I can shoot 25yds in my shop so when the weather is bad and I feel like shooting I can still have a little fun.

 

[M4Slugger]

Squirrels eating pecans in tree in my yard. Lived around houses and inside city limits. Buddy said "buy a pellet gun." Been shooting shotguns for dove since age 14.. Shotgun no good in my neighborhood. Large lot end of cul-de-sac and owned empty lot next to woods. Went to local gun store Gamo .177. my buddy bought a RWS 48. I bought a RWS 48 / Then Beeman RX2. Went to a different gun shop, guy handed me a FX Tarantula and said take it home with you.. "Hook, line and sinker." Bought one, killed every squirrel in the area with ease.. Filled with SCUBA tank . Then AA S 410, FX Cyclone, FX Superswift, Streamline, Dreamline, M3 now M4 slugs.. And now I'm an "Alkinholic" also..

 

[esd02]

I had a Parrot growing up as a little kid. It hated everyone else but me, and would scream all day when I was gone at school which drove my mom absolutely mad. I had always wanted an airgun, but they wouldnt let me get one much to my dismay

A few months after I turned 12, in a state of desperation, my mom said "if you let me take that parrot back to the breeder and re-home it, you can have any damn pellet gun you want, but I'm going to lose my poop real soon if this screaming keeps up".

Little did they know that I had been getting the Cabela's catalogue for years and knew exactly what I wanted..the RWS Diana model 54 recoiless side cocking lever in .22 cal. I think at the time (1991-2) it was a $400 air gun which was ABSURDLY expensive for a 12 year old kid. I told my mom she had herself a deal, and the next day the bird was gone, sent back to find itself a more suitable home (side note, owning a parrot is NOT for the faint of heart).

So when it came time to pay up, I sat her down, showed the the cabelas catalogue and said, "this is the one". NEVER, in her wildest imagination did she expect me to show her a $400 "bb gun". Her jaw hit the floor and she said, "absolutely not". Well after some good deal of negotiating we agreed to SPLIT the cost of the RWS and I forked over the $200 (everything I had saved as a kid) and she placed the order.

Honestly I can still remember the day the UPS truck pulled up and carried that giant box to my front door. That feeling is most likely why I'm still so addicted to this day (got the same feeling 2 days ago when UPS driver carried my new Mordax Venom box to the front door and I saw him walk up

Little did 12 year old me know that it took the strength of a grown ass man to cock the side lever on that gun..but ya know what, I kept at it and figure out how to brace the gun and get it cocked...nothing was stopping me.

Last piece of wisdom. If you are my mom, and assume a bb gun or pellet gun are all the same thing, and dont understand velocity, calibers, or any of those metrics. dont by a 12 year old a killing machine and let him leave it in his closet. boy I did some reckless poop with that pellet gun. Everyone lived (barely) and I'm still here enjoying every aspect of the sport. I wish I still had that RWS..it was one super sweet springer.

 

[RickH]

I started with a Daisy kind of like the Red Ryder, a Model 100 maybe. Then one Christmas I got a Crosman 500 co2 semi auto and thought I was in heaven. My middle brother got a 760 and I still have both. After years of other things in life I got both Crosmans refurbished and it’s been downhill ever since. I found this place and now I can’t stop myself.

Rick H.

 

[trapdoor2]

Not much differently than many others. My parents were products of the Depression and WWII. They both were hunters, my mother enjoyed rabbit hunting. I still have her .22s. Uncle Bob told me she was the best shot of them all.

We moved from Southern CA to North Alabama in '65...and suddenly instead of sidewalks, I had miles of cotton fields, woods and swamps to explore. I got a Daisy BB gun that Xmas...couldn't cock the lever. By summer, I had built up the strength. By the next year, I graduated to a Crosman 760. I was given the firearms safety lecture and "no songbirds". I had a helluva great childhood, nearly causing a local extinction event for starlings and sparrows.

In the 1980s, I inherited the family firearms (Dad was killed in an accident). I joined a club and started shooting NRA and DCM events. I stopped in 2003, mothballing everything: reloading, casting, etc.

Retired in 2019, moved to the beach. 4 bird feeders over the past 5 yrs have brought in enough squirrels to have done serious damage to the house...bad enough that my wife (normally opposed to any sort of cute animal extermination) said "take them out, I'll buy the pellet gun."

After some research, I bought a .25 Mrod...last May. The tree rat tally on the fridge stands at XCIX (99) today.