Welcome to AIRGUN NATION - please introduce yourself here!

I'm Ron Robinson from Texas, a notorious airgun FREAK!

In 60+ years of airgunning I've explored all manner of airgunning activities including hunting small game, varmints, predators and hogs, competing in silhouette, field target and bench-rest competition(s), airgun collecting, and customizing vintage airguns to unbelievable levels of success at the highest levels of airgun competitions. 

I co-founded Texas' first airgun club, and introduced field target competition to the state of Texas with buddy and current AAFTA Governor Leo Duran. I single-handedly started pistol field target competition in the United States, served on the six-member pistol field-target rules committee, and overthrew the Chairman of that committee in a hostile coup when it became obvious the committee's eight months of work was in danger of going to waste by missing the AAFTA Governor's deadline.

I've captured 6 National Champion titles, 18 State Champion titles, and 5 NRA National Record certificates (in rifle and pistol field target and silhouette competitions), posting 5 perfect scores in filed target competitions along the way. Many of the titles and records were captured with 40-60 year-old vintage Crosmans of my own customizations; the modifications effected almost entirely with hand tools (since I'm no machinist).

I have recorded my airgunning experiences in magazine articles and five books (The Manic Compressive, Airgun Hunting and Sport, A Sporting Proposition, Airgun Chronicles- Thirty Yrears of Airgun Testing and Competition, and Custom, Classic and Otherwise Awesome Air Pistols!).

I just found this Airgun Nation forum, and am most impressed with it. 

Howdy, Y'all!

My name is Doug.Brislee is my last name. I got into airguns in 1990. Shot competition (NRA Silhouette and Field Target) all through the 90's. Got outta shooting in 2000 when my son was born. 14 years past and my son wanted a chance to try shooting. Been back into shooting airguns again now for 3 full years. I run one of two field target courses at our club here in Pa. I own 6 HW 30's (love shooting those guns) 3 Brocock Bantams (1-full power .177 1 full power .22 and 1-12 ftlbs. .177 that AOA built for me) and just got my .177 FX Impact X last week. I shoot mostly HFT with my full power .177 and my .22 on low power Bantams. Hoping to be able to figure out picture posting here as computers and I have a strange and difficult relationship. Been absorbing information here long enough,figured it was time to join in.

My name is Joe, and I'm from the great state of Kansas (Rock Chalk).

I've been shooting powder burners since I could stand. For the past five years I've been competing in compound and traditional archery tournaments around the MidWest. Just recently my parents, who own a fair amount of land out in the country, mentioned giving air rifles a try and I jumped on board.

My first purchase was a Gamo Hornet Maxxim, which I'm still using today and enjoy very much. But my FAVORITE rifle I own is a Weihrauch WH30S I purchased from AoA.

Most likely, given some time, I'll end up with a PCP, but I'm enjoying the springers right now.

Unfortunately, I've research local clubs and competitions for my area and there is nothing to be found.

Hi. I am new as of today. I am not a big air gun shooter, but I do buy and sell them. I joined this forum to gather info and occasionally post to the classifieds.

Hi,

Can't remember the name of my first airgun, but it was given to me in England when I was about 14.

My second was a BSA meteor around 1978.

Third was a cheap Benjamin pump air rifle.

In 2001 I got rid of my air rifles as I was moving to the US.

Fast forward to 2017, had a rat problem in my back yard so a .22 Diana RWS Magnum 460 was bought, this did the trick on the rats.

This year I have stepped up to an FX Crown .25, lets just say the cost of getting into high end PCP is high, I have always been a "try not to buy twice" guy, so I have the Crown, an air ventri 74 cu ft tank and have a Daystate compressor on it way.

Not sure if I can justify a rifle collection, but if I just have to keep to one PCP and a springer the two I have are going to fit me well.

Steve.

Good morning! My name is Bill Butler, and I'm from upstate New York.

I've been an airgun shooter since the 1990s, though I've not shot much much in the past ten or 15 years. You might say I'm coming back to pick up old guns and look up old friends from our shooting days at Rancho Pneumatico (Steve Parker and Russ Best will get this).

This year, I've dusted off my springers and have been shooting them in an informal rotation. They have all been tuned to one degree or another by people such as Jim Maccari, Paul Watts, Dave Slade, Russ Best and John Whiscombe. The guns are damn near perfect, though one TX200, a Maccari, has gone balky on me and makes crunchy noises when I pull the lever and will not cock. (Hey, it is 20+ years old.) Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. 

I'm strictly a paper puncher. I'm too lazy to hunt, and too laid back to compete. My only reason for showing up at FT matches has been purely social--a way to connect faces to the names I met on Tom Gaylord's old "Airgun Forum."

As I mentioned, I shoot my rifles in a rather informal rotation, though I've been spending more and more time with a .20 caliber JW-70. That thing is pure heaven to shoot; despite my aging eyes, I'm able to consistently get sub 1.5 inch groups at 50 yards (minus a few liars and flyers).

My next project will be my PCPs and CO2s. I need to dust those off, too, as well as my compressor. My biggest challenge, though, will be to find my hoses and connectors. Heaven only knows where those are hiding.

I'm happy to have found this forum; I hope to re-connect with old friends, and make a host of new ones.

Chip, what rifle is that?

Hello everyone,

My name is Leap. I'm pretty new to the scene since air guns are a fairly new/recent thing in my area. I am looking to learn as much as I can and was told this is the place to do it. In California, air guns seem like a much easier hobby to get into than traditional shooting.

-Leap

Hello, my name is Buck, I'm retired and live outside of Willcox, AZ. The last 40 years working were in commercial aviation. Before that I had a couple of motorcycle shops and did some local racing. Okay, a bit of street racing, too. There's always been a couple of powder burners close to hand and I enjoy making holes in paper and making cans move around. About 10 or so years ago, just to keep the wildlife out of my wife's garden I got a Daisy Avanti. The blighters would get up and run away after being hit. A Diana 34 made everything work as planned. About the time we moved out here from Phoenix Ted's videos were coming on line and the possibilities seemed endless. And that's been the case for me. There's an example of each type of airgun, according to Mr. Gaylord, in the cabinet and they're all fascinating to shoot. I still have the Avanti, too. As a foot note I'll admit to not being adequately computer literate. There always seems to be something new which is never "intuitive". Not giving up yet, though...

This site has always been a font of knowledge even as an observer. I'll add what I can to the conversation. Buck in Willcox

 

















Hello, my name is Buck and I live just outside of Willcox, AZ. Airgunning for me started as a way to keep the critters out of the garden. That was back in Phoenix before retirement and moving here. Although the garden is still a focus, target shooting is what's done mostly. When opportunity or a prairie dog pops up it's fun snaking pellets through the mesquite. Someone mentioned snakes? I do fall back to powder burners for those. I've been kibbitzing here for a couple of years to keep track of what's going on with airguns. The nearest group shooting organization I know of is 145 miles away and AOA is 200 miles out back in Phoenix (they'll say they're in Gilbert) and I stop there when ever I can. So giving credit where credit's due, Ted's Holdover has been and continues to be a real inspiration. Now there's also Matt, and a host of others. Always good during a lunch break or at oh-beer-thirty. Glad to be on board here, while going with "you're never too old to learn", maybe I can contribute 2 cents worth here or there, too.

Okay - here's the funny part. I had to reply to my own reply to realize the last replies are 63 pages from the start. Buck 

Hi,

My name is Ron and I am an airgunner.

currently I am shooting field target with CASA in So Cal. I have an air rifle or two.

My name is Todd, just getting into guns/ shooting. Someone recommended me getting an air gun for my first gun, so here I am. I hope to learn a lot here. Thanks !! I am going to start a different thread with all my newbie questions.

Well, I'm too old to be "New" at anything. I'll soon be 68 and got my 1st air rifle a year ago. A Hatsan Torpedo in .25. A bit much for a backyard plinker,,Right. Like I said it was my 1st air rifle and I didn't want a toy. It only gets used now at my local Field and Game 50 and 100 yard range now and shoots very well, Very accurate for me. I'm able to keep all my shots on target ( a 6inch heavy steel disc at a 100 yds) I find the underlever quite a work out to cock and have found a Hatsan Edge .177 springer I picked up a better fit for use at home. I can shoot targets on my 10 yd indoor range without feeling like I've been pumping iron all afternoon. Its a great way to relax and clear my mind. Thanks for being here. Brian

Ok so I'm a 40something from coastal Massachusetts with no prior gun experience. Been living in central South Carolina for the past 4yrs and not really diggin it. Well except for owning a house on an acre for le$$ than renting an efficiency apartment up north. It's a completely different planet here from what we are used to and our plan was to stay on the coast and originally bought a house in Little River S.C. but that was delayed so long we settled in near her parents. I have picked up shooting since being down here. First was with my girlfriend's fathers 9mm pistol then a .22 centerfire then a ak and I even tried a musket. Cool but Meh! Wasn't my thing. We both work full time and spend all our spare time and money on home improvements. Then one day her dad dropped by with a gamo silent something or other, "to take care of the squirrels in her garden" I thought it was silly and put it in the closet until one day I came home early and as I went to let the dog out, stopped quick, I spotted 3 squirrels digging up some bulbs she made me plant. I snuck the dog back into the house, ran to the closet, opened the case, cocked and loaded a .177 crossman hollow point and hurried back to the door. I wasn't sure what I could do having never even shot an airgun since I was young and "borrowed" my dads crossman pump pistol when he wasn't home. So anyway I lined up through the blurry scope and pulled the trigger. When I seen the acrobatic backflip I figured I missed so I broke the barrel and fumbled another pellet in there to try to finnish him but by then the bouncing had stopped but his buddy was still in the yard so I took the shot for an instakill. The third one was gone by then but when I went out to pick up the bodies (before she got home) and seen how much power and potential airguns have I was hooked. I started practicing and shopping and youtubing and then more shopping. Now I have a decent shooting, second hand budget bullpup that I have modified extensively but still not done with. And am searching the market for the next one. It's only been a year since owning a pcp but it's all I think, read and talk about now. I drive her crazy blabbing about shots and parts and kills so here I am to find an outlet.

Hello from Nor Cal. I'm Cullen, and I have been seriously into airgunning for about two and a half years. I made a local friend who has 28 airguns at the moment, and for the past two years I have been his student, lol. He loves to talk about the history of airguns, and I love to learn. I am very blessed to have met someone with so many different airguns. It saved me a lot of trial and error! I purchased a RWS, and a Filarms from a pawn shop in Ukiah CA, and bought a Diana Chaser. I plan on buying 9 new airguns this coming year, and have a list of older airguns I will be looking to buy used as well. So a person could assume I am addicted … hopelessly. 

Vance Johnson here...65 years old, grew up in Piru California, but called Fillmore CA home until about 7 years ago when I moved east to Satan Clarita...er, I mean Santa Clarita...and got married. Was raised around firearms from birth, hunted, fished, carried them as part of the job for many years, and it was one of my rabid hobbies for many years. 

But, as is true for many fun things, I moved out of that hobby, but the one thing I've done consistently all my life is ride motorcycles...still do that. A lot. But in the past few months, I've gotten interested in air guns. They ain't just for little brother anymore! My wife and I like to shoot in the back yard, so we got into pellet pistols, maybe back in June. Started with a Sig Sauer P-226 .177 pellet semi-auto...then pretty quickly moved into a Colt SAA 5" .177 pellet revolver. It was with that gun that we hit our stride! I eventually bought over a hundred of the 'cartridges' that the pellets load into, and it's pretty much as much like shooting a firearm as is possible without burning gunpowder! A few weeks later, we got a 7 1/2" barreled version of the same thing, and my wife shoots that one most of the time. She prefers the balance.

For several years, I have lusted after a Benjamin 397 multi-pump rifle. Why that one? Well, it's old school like me. I had some pals who had multi-pumps when I was growing up in Piru, so it was, I reckon, a link to my past. I had a Chinese no-name single shot one-pumper, with a scope, but I wanted to keep this one an iron-sight gun. 

But, we are blessed with a healthy population of rats in the back yard, and air guns and rats go together like hot and coffee! The handguns didn't work too good on them. Yeah, the pigeons without wings would jump lively when hit, but wouldn't die, so I wanted something that would permanently kill the little bastards. 

So, about two weeks ago, I ordered the 392 from Pyramyd Air, via Amazon Prime, and the next day, before I received it, the Williams 5D peep sight. Put 'em together, and have been happily shooting in my fifteen yard range since, getting better and better at it. I went from wanting the .177 to buying the .22 because of my desire to kill rats, although it's obvious that the smaller caliber would do the same thing...arguably, better. Have experimented with different pellets, starting with the Crosman Premier Hollow Points (meh)...moving to the Piranhas (now we're talking), and then to the Gamo Rockets (spot on and grouping excellently). Would appreciate any tips on pellets, by the way!

I'm gonna try to cruise a while with what I've got, and resist the temptation to move up into PCP guns...while they are obviously in a higher league than what I have now, and they would scratch my normal itch to upgrade and improve the stock, I also need to be realistic, and remain focused on back yard fun! Next up might be a decent single stroke, but man...are we having a hell of a good time right now!

One of my neighbors and good friends has a Crosman 1000 in .177, and I've been a very bad dog...the husband of my wife's best friend also got infected, and bought a .177 from Walmart yesterday...and his wife is perturbed with me right now...but...she'll get over it!

Anyway, it's my pleasure to be a member, I'm not certain how much actual posting I'll do, because I tend to search forums for information that I want, rather than ask a question that's been asked 9,500 times before...doing that takes a lot of fun out of forums, in my opinion. 

Hello, I’m Sandro from Serbia and kind of new to air guns over last couple of years. Started with Gamo gas piston last year and went to pcp this spring.

Hi Guys,

I guess I went about this backwards, I have posted a few times before my introduction ..Lol

I am in Texas, and I am an avid shooter, I try to shoot every day to stay sharp.

I own over 20 firearms, 8 air guns and the rest are traditional firearms, everything from a Custom Built SW22 Target pistol, to loaded out AR15 ,and everything in between...I also reload my own ammo for my traditional guns .380 auto, 9mm, 45acp , and .223

I got into air guns a few years ago mainly to sharpen my skills as a shooter , and be able to shoot everyday.

I look forward to making some new friends and contributing to the community ..

Thanks and see ya on the board !

Hi Guys,

I guess I went about this backwards, I have posted a few times before my introduction ..Lol

I am in Texas, and I am an avid shooter, I try to shoot every day to stay sharp.

I own over 20 firearms, 8 air guns and the rest are traditional firearms, everything from a Custom Built SW22 Target pistol, to loaded out AR15 ,and everything in between...I also reload my own ammo for my traditional guns .380 auto, 9mm, 45acp , and .223

I got into air guns a few years ago mainly to sharpen my skills as a shooter , and be able to shoot everyday.

I look forward to making some new friends and contributing to the community ..

Thanks and see ya on the board !

Click to expand...

Where in Texas?



Crusher