When were you first hooked?

Bought a break barrel "Varmint Hunter" about 4-1/2 or 5 years ago in .22. Fun to plink with & during that time came across Hunter One's videos on YouTube purely by accident. Didn't even know what a PCP was. "I gotta try one of those" I thought to myself & saved up for a Discovery .22. First time I picked off a ground squirrel @ 60 yds I was hooked but I wanted more power, distance, CALIBER! Since that 1st pcp I've had (in order of ownership) a .22 Marauder,.22 Hatsan AT44 QE, .22 Hatsan BT65 qe, .25Hatsan BT65 qe, .30 Hatsan Carnivore,.25 FX Royale 500 & an FX Boss (.30). I've sold off all but my 2 FX guns to pay for the FX guns. No regrets. These two check off every box on my wants/needs list. I'm done buying rifles as fixed income won't allow that kind of spending but I'm amazed at what I spent during my learning curve. I'm well set up with tools, tanks, scopes, o-rings, etc. but I really did spend like a drug addict. I'm addicted to the whole thing now. I hunt more than anything but love the tinkering, learning, comradeship & all that goes with this sport. I CAN'T GET ENOUGH!!! Sure, I'm curious about the other guns out there & because of the great guys I've met through this forum I get to try some REALLY fine & accurate pieces of machinery. If I could afford it I wouldn't stop buying that's why I'm so happy with the guns I have. This IS a truly addicting sport.
 
Like many, my first air gun was a Daisy Cub lever action rifle I got for Christmas when I was 8 or 9 in the late 50's. A couple of my buddies had the same gun and we spent hours shooting things I now look back on and regret. When I was about 13 or 14 my dad bought a 0.22 cal. Hy-Score Mod. 801 from a man in town who bought it to get rid of the pigeons that were living in the steeple of the church next door. The parishioners caught wind of his activities and were non too thrilled so he decided to sell the gun to my dad. I've still got that gun but it is pretty weak. It's not a high value gun but I have been thinking about getting it resealed for sentimental value. I found the fact of using just air to shoot such a powerful rifle absolutely fascinating. It seemed like you shooting for free. Sixty years later the thrill has not subsided and to make matters worse, I now have the means to feed the addiction.😁
 
I remember shooting the Crosman pump style BB guns in the 60's and 70's as a kid. Then I discovered girls, and that put everything on the back burners. Still have an old Crosman 760 Pumpmaster

Picked up my first springer in 2013 which led to a few more springers, which led to my first PCP before the year was over. So I would say 2013 was the year I was hooked!

I have around 6 PCP's right now that I consider keepers but have bought, sold, and traded another 18 airguns since 2013. My P-17 pistol is the only springer I have left.

And of course the airgun addiction led to the scope addiction. I've spent more money on scopes than I ever dreamed of as well.

Peace and bottom of the wallet grease

Fuss
 
@oregun introduced me to airguns on my birthday last year (damn him!). It was the best birthday of my life and turned out to be the most expensive as well. I immediately bought a Wildcat MK II and all the goodies. Oh, then the Condor, then the Impact...

Made it to EBR this year. Didn't finish last so that was a plus. Learned a lot and met a ton of great people. What a community! I'm hooked -Dave
 
Early 1970. I had already owned firearms and had hunted both deer & small game with those. For some reason I wanted a Sheridan 5mm. My parents thought it odd for me to be going backward in their opinion. Well I got one & that 5mm was shot more, and carried more than my .22, 30-30 & 410 together. My second great air rifle was a model RWS 45 or 48 , can't remember. While it was a great rifle, I liked the Sheridan better for small game. I forgot about air rifles for a decade or so and then in the mid 80s, I bought a Crow Magnum. All over again, have been hooked ever since. My first PCP was a Evanix , then a while later a FX 400 unregulated. My FX 400 has had been used heavy and still functions perfectly. The only repairs has been a few breech o-rings. I have taken about 250 tree squirrels with it over the years. 
 
Late 70’s. Had a POS haenel break barrel. ‘‘Twas in .22 caliber. Gun was horribly abused and I shot the beloved trash can Crosman pellets out of it from the spice tin with the sliding lid. first kill was a huge water snake out of our neighbors pond.


Quickly discovered quality airguns when I got my first Beeman catalog. lusted after those guns as much as I lusted over the girls in my treehouse penthouse magazine. Ol Beeman knew the siren song and I ate it up with a fervor. Wanted the FWB 124 but at my income rate, would have taken twice as long to save for it. Ended up with a Beeman Webley Vulcan. Loved that gun. Wish I still had it.
 
Late 70’s. Had a POS haenel break barrel. ‘‘Twas in .22 caliber. Gun was horribly abused and I shot the beloved trash can Crosman pellets out of it from the spice tin with the sliding lid. first kill was a huge water snake out of our neighbors pond.


Quickly discovered quality airguns when I got my first Beeman catalog. lusted after those guns as much as I lusted over the girls in my treehouse penthouse magazine. Ol Beeman knew the siren song and I ate it up with a fervor. Wanted the FWB 124 but at my income rate, would have taken twice as long to save for it. Ended up with a Beeman Webley Vulcan. Loved that gun. Wish I still had it.


That Beeman catalog, was fuel on the fire. Beeman was a master salesman. Wished I would of kept my Crow Magnum and my Webley I bought from them. 
 
I wasn’t bitten then but I shot my grampa’s pump Crossman in the mid 70’s. I was into all aiming sports. .22’s, archery, slingshots... But got the bug last year when a friend showed me what precise rifles PCP’s are. Shot matchstick heads off at 27 yards. Joined this forum and a few days later bought a used Edgun. Was fun target shooting in my friends side yard, but when I got my first hit on a ground squirrel at 40 yards, I was hooked. Moved to a Steyr, made my first 100 yard kill and I was hooked deeper. Now I look forward to getting out whenever I can. 
 
I grew up shooting pellet guns in the 80's. Plenty of space in the back yard to shoot cans, targets and any pest that was foolish enough to enter. Then graduated to pb's. I enjoyed them for years but interest declined. Was always interested in shooting longer distances but no shooting ranges around offered a long range experience.

Then the skunks started invading my yard and messing with my dogs. PB's cant be shot in the area I live due to proximity of homes. I needed something lower powered and accurate. Started with a break barrel and then discovered the gun had more accuracy ability than I had talent.

Found this site, and a whole new world opened for me. This site made me aware of PCP's and their abilities. I spent hours ready forum posts and watching user videos.

So I guess you could say all of YOU got me hooked!
 
I got hooked late in life, not too long ago. I did have the obligatory multi pump BB gun growing up. I always favored BBs, they were cheap and I did not know how accurate pellets could be. I actually kinda hated pellets, you had to load one at a time, while you could load the gun with a hundred or so BBs and just go to town. Eventually I grew up and grew into powder burners, never looking back at airguns. Did not know what they were really capable of. 

About 17 years ago I bought a cheap break barrel and was instantly disappointed. Damn thing grouped like 4 inches at 20 yards. That experience left me thinking all those guns were crap. Did not even know that PCPs and quality break barrels existed. 

About 4 years ago, after being in our new home for a year or so, I discovered we had mice in the garage. So....I bought a multi pump and got a few of them suckers. Then the squirrels became a problem soI figured I would get a good quality gun capable of dispatching them. Something that I would spend $200 or so and go shooting into the sunset, a gun for life. So I bought a Gamo underlever after watching a No Fluff video. (that Gamo now serves as my workshop doorstop) But then I discovered AEAC and was suckered into joining AGN, and the rest, as they say.....is History!
 
I remember having a .22 cal pump pistol about 60 years ago. Tried hunting squirrels with little success.

A few years ago my wife and I who are NRA instructors were helping out at a local shooting club having a clinic for youths. Actually we do it every year. One of the stations was a pellet gun range and we decided to station ourselves there. Really had a great time and have been stationing ourselves there ever since. Bought a pulley type target system to install at home. We also recently purchased some old (1968) Winchester pellet rifles and a pistol (all .177) that were still in their boxes and said to be unfired from an older fellow (my age) would was looking to liquidate his collection. I couldn't help myself....had to buy them. Now I'm thinking maybe we should not fire them because of their age, new condition and unfired status. Not sure what to do...?
 
My first introduction to airguns was the Gat Gun, .177 that would shoot, corks, pellets or darts, these are truly awful pistols but I loved it until that is I realised it was a truly awful pistol! As bad as it was it didn’t put me off airgunning, I still enjoy it 50+ years on


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edit....



hold on, it just reminded me of something 







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Got a Daisy Model 99 lever action BB gun when I was 13 (still have it - thanks dad). Then I learned to shoot .22 3-position small bore rifle (Remington 40x - still have it). My dad owned a side-lever .177 for 10m air rifle for his indoor practice when he couldn't get to the range. I shot it some, as well as his Daisy Model 177 pistol. Grew up hunting with shotguns in NJ (no rifles allowed, just like the previous post said). Then pretty much got side-tracked from college, through 21 years in the Navy. I still shot powder burners, but no airguns during that time.

A few years back, a co-worker said I should check out these videos by some guy named "Fred's Holdover" 😉. (I've said it before, and I'll say it here, it's all his fault I got back into air guns. 😁) I started with a cheap piston rifle (NP Fire in .177), then jumped into PCPs (Discovery .22, Maximus Euro .22, FX Dreamline .25) and a couple of .22 CO2 pistol/carbines. I really enjoy pest elimination (feral pigeons, collared doves, rats, starlings, and sparrows in my adopted state of TX).

My wife and sons enjoy shooting in the back yard, and I think it's a great way to introduce novices/new comers to shooting (airguns and/or firearms) because you can develop good shooting techniques without getting all caught up in loud noise and recoil (breath control, stable positions, sight picture, follow through, etc.). 

I personally don't restrict my kids from talking about guns or shooting, but I can understand the paranoia about it. My personal philosophy is that if we make shooting a "taboo" and scary subject, it will remain a "taboo" and scary subject. I just cannot behave like I'm doing something wrong when I'm not (nor is anyone else here). I won't have my kids do it, either.