What Was Your First Pellet Rifle?

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A Crosman 760 Powermaster built 6/70 I still have. Bought it in 1970 when I was 14 with newspaper route money. Restomodded it to take a scope, restained and completely reblued. Upgraded seals. Here it is in it's original form when I rediscovered it in The Closet of Lost Gold...

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And now, after being restomodded, with Weaver V22-A 3-6x18 scope I bought new in the 70's;

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Crosman 760 Pumpmaster - just a plastic-y one purchased around 1990, but for my 8 year old self, it was great. I spent hours and hours in the basement, with a heavy canvas sheet as a backdrop, shooting battalions of army men at probably 5 yards with the iron sights. Great fun. When I was 12 I moved in with my dad, and the gun wasn't on the moving truck ... we suspect it was stolen, but I don't think my dad thought it was worth following up.

For Christmas that year I got a Sheridan CB9, which was a significant upgrade. I still have it, but the inlet seal gave out, so it's in pieces waiting for me the re-assemble it.
 
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Well I mentioned the first pellet rifle a .177 springer from BSF West Germany in 1969.

So I feel it is appropriate to reveal what this rifle showed me over many years of shooting it offhand and in seated position with back backed up against a wall or post or fence.

The range for this could reach out to 50 yards and anything under that. If it was a ground squirrel it would not kill it but if it was a bird of Magpie or Starling or Cowbird it'd kill them after they got hit clear out to 50 yards as a single shot springer shooting Crossman .177 pellets 500 to a mustard powder type of can.

Thousands and thousands of Crossman .177 Hourglass Pellets (many deformed in those days of 500 per tin) would shoot right there.

Later I put on a Weaver V-6 .22 variable scope on it and found the accuracy at 40 yards was around a dime.



Many many years later after seeing Pump Ups from Sheridan and Benjamin and Crossman I ended up in a seminary in San Anselmo for four years of graduate school and saw Beeman in San Rafael and got an HW35EB or "Long Barrel" a bit more powerful than an R7 but not nearly a C-1 or R1.



The first pellet rifle made me faithful to air springers; in favor of CO2, Pump Up Pneumatic, Scuba pressure types. 

All that interest me now is the spring air rifle from yesteryear and what they have today. I fear the sales market swings towards power and PCP.

It could be the loss of a real tradition we all take pride in. 

Kindly,

John
 
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I've been around BB guns and the first pellet gun was a rifle springer way after seeing the new BB gun somebody got.

Never had a BB gun and won't.

I don't consider them real air rifles because the rifling has to be inside the barrel to make your shot precise.

Shooting BBs aimlessly across our countryside in Nevada was a waste of anything formed to look like a rifle or shotgun but just a bb gun.

I disdain BBS and BB guns. They pollute the countryside with little metal balls that can't shoot straight from the beginning for lack or rifling in the "smoothbore" bb gun.

Air is wasted around the BB as it gets a puff to get out.

Not so in the Pellet Rifle.

My first air gun was a West German .177 BSF Springer in 1969 on the ranch. I learned more from that rifle than I knew because when it was time to try out the .22 Rimfire I felt it all became EASY; and easier with any POWDER type of rifle.

The German Springer taught me how to properly shoot and it was more unforgiving than any .22 rimfire.

It only made matters later in the world of rifles with bigger and faster bullets EASIER.

The BB gun is the gun you get to use to try and shoot out a red star in a carnival because it sprays out of line so fast you might have just enough BBs to "shoot out the red star" with PCP and 100 BBS.

But the surface area needed to take out the entire five pointed star is more than 100 PCP bbs can shoot out completely.

BB guns are NOT pellet rifles so why are BB guns on this post?
 
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I've been around BB guns and the first pellet gun was a rifle springer way after seeing the new BB gun somebody got.

Never had a BB gun and won't.

I don't consider them real air rifles because the rifling has to be inside the barrel to make your shot precise.

Shooting BBs aimlessly across our countryside in Nevada was a waste of anything formed to look like a rifle or shotgun but just a bb gun.

I disdain BBS and BB guns. They pollute the countryside with little metal balls that can't shoot straight from the beginning for lack or rifling in the "smoothbore" bb gun.

Air is wasted around the BB as it gets a puff to get out.

Not so in the Pellet Rifle.

My first air gun was a West German .177 BSF Springer in 1969 on the ranch. I learned more from that rifle than I knew because when it was time to try out the .22 Rimfire I felt it all became EASY; and easier with any POWDER type of rifle.

The German Springer taught me how to properly shoot and it was more unforgiving than any .22 rimfire.

It only made matters later in the world of rifles with bigger and faster bullets EASIER.

The BB gun is the gun you get to use to try and shoot out a red star in a carnival because it sprays out of line so fast you might have just enough BBs to "shoot out the red star" with PCP and 100 BBS.

But the surface area needed to take out the entire five pointed star is more than 100 PCP bbs can shoot out completely.

BB guns are NOT pellet rifles so why are BB guns on this post?
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, many have chosen to ignore what I spelled out in my initial post.



Not talking BB guns, just rifles.

Here was what I cut my hunting/plinking teeth on. It was my Dad's. 

Click to expand...


 
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