how times have changed

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i love stories like this my first was a Crosman 760 Pump Master im 47 years young and loved that rifle ,,open sights grew up on a dead end with woods every where ,,funny thing was i was told you [eave the yard and the police will have a hard time with you,,that gun stayed in the yard everyday i shot thousands of bb s didnt like pellets back then and the only day i took it out of the yard ,,i was 16 trying to impress the wrong crowd ,had it outta the yard for 45 minutes ,,,, 10 minutes later i layyed it down covered with leaves ,,and woudnt u no it here comes the bubble gum machine lights and sirens ,,we ran,, one boy i was with was trying to burn a school plexi glass window ,, never again did it leave my yard ,,i still have it HYNZIE
 
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My introduction to air guns was a bit different. 62 years ago, my Grandfather taught me to shoot using his father's squirrel rifle, a .32 muzzle loader built in 1787 by James Watt in Mifflin Town, PA. When I complained that I wanted to shoot more, Gramps got me a Marksman single shoot springer pistol si I could shoot in the back yard. Did the usual stupid kid tricks with it, fortunately never causing any lasting damage.

But if you want to consider how much things have changed since then, think about this. When I was in third grade, I shot in the Chicago Muzzleloader's annual turkey shoot. Somehow, the story made into the local paper, the Westmont times. My 15 minutes of fame :) Anyway, my 3rd grade teacher asked my parents if I'd do a show & tell about the experience. So my best friend, Rob, and I walked from my house, down main street Westmont, carrying this rifle between us to and from school. Not so much as a raised eye brow from anyone.

Yeah, times have changed alright. For better or worse, I can't say.
 
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Great story Hynzie. I’m 64 and when I was about 10 my father bought me an airrifle, I think it was bsa in 177 cal. A couple of mates and I built canoes out of old iorn sheets and scrap timber and we would camp down on the river every chance we could get.

In the mornings we would paddle stealthily through the mist and shoot a duck to eat. We would also spear mullet to eat from long sticks and straightened fish hooks. Those were the days.

Gary
 
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My first bb gun was Daisy "spittin image" Remington fieldmaster pump that my best friend gave me. It had been in a bicycle crash and had the barrel bent and straightened. I had to hold the forearm closed or it would uncock. Had to sneak it past my parents who didn't exactly approve of me having a bb gun. Got so I could hit just about anything with it, still kind of feel like I'm getting away with something when I hit the woods with my pellet gun!
 
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Inherited a .177 Diana spring piston underlever from my Grandfather kinda by default... no one else among my siblings had any interest in shooting sports. Never did learn much about that gun and stupidly sold it off for a pittance years ago. Funny thing is that now I am an airgun addict with a penchant for springers. Go figure. As for how the times have changed, I was part of a group of guys who, at ages 13-16, would carry our long guns openly while walking the 4 miles to a quarry outside Dayton, OH for shooting parties. Between us we had lever action .22s, bolt action target rifles, and one guy who was way into Early American history and carried a cap-and-ball muzzle loader (authentic powder horn and all) while wearing his Hudson Bay Blanket coat. Imagine what the response would be today if a group of 6 or 7 teens were seen trouping along the shoulder of a State Highway with various firearms resting on their shoulders. Expulsion from school, Family Service visits to the home, and mandatory psychological counseling are only the first things to come to mind...
 
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Daisy Model 1894. Shot thousands of BB's, collect them out of the target, and shoot again. Wish I still had it, but it got lost in a move somewhere. Taught me the fundamentals of shooting. Graduated to a Ruger 10/22, and bigger, but now, back to air rifles. I like to shoot but the recoil and noise just aren't for me. Nice and quiet, no recoil make life so much better!
 
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When I was six or seven one of my older brothers came up with a Daisy BB gun that he'd let me shoot some. I can remember going to town with my dad to the feed store or parts store and walking to the Tru-Value and buying BB's in the little cardboard cylinder for 25 cents. I don't know how many times my brother shot me with that gun, he's sneak around, catch me not paying attention and shoot me then take off. Then he'd hide the gun so I couldn't extract my revenge. On several occasions though I found his hiding spots and made good use it on him. One day he'd been wearing me out with it and for some reason had to go in the house, after coming out of hiding I discovered he'd left the gun propped up against a big wild cherry tree that stood in our yard. After several good baseball bat swings against the tree he never shot me or anything else with it again.
This brother is five years older and was quiet a bit bigger than me and I couldn't whip him, even though I tried him many times. Years later we were out riding around doing what country boys do and I told him "it's a good thing I didn't grow up a great big mean SOB", and he asked "why"? "I told that if I had I'd beat you to death a long time ago for the stuff you did to me" lol. That's been 50 years ago and we're still best friends, but there are times I'd like to have that old Daisy and sit in hiding waiting on him to come along.
 
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Mine was a Daisy 95 "Woodstock" circa 1968. Seemed to hold near 1,000 BBs, convenience stores carried the little, red sausage-tubes of BBs for cheap.

That was my "X-box". Soon found it had just enough juice to thump the sparrows that hung around the chicken-run.

Traded it for a pocket knife after I graduated to a Crosman. That 761XL was a peashooter, by today's measure, but it shot straight and when I started bringing home cottontails and whopper bullfrogs, I sure felt like a heap-big hunter.

PawPaw had a $5 bounty on woodpecker (they gnawed holes in the barn). Only collected once. A fiver would buy a box of pells and enough candy and fried pies to get sick on

Own around 50 airguns now.
still keep a '95 on hand. It's good grasshopper poison!
 
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