Which airgun(s) got you started?

Daisy Model 99 with a green strap. Still have it in good condition. I had to sell about 12 bushels of hand picked peaches to buy it from Western Auto. I moved up from it to a Rifled Benjamin 342 with the Tootsie Roll handle around 1968 (My Granddad bought it for the sum of $38 from Furrs Family Center . I gave it to my landlord around 1983 I just thought I gave it away. My wife found it and we are becoming acquainted. I purchased another 342 in 1984. I just had it rebuilt and I refinished it in the last month! The original still works fine with no rebuild.

In 2016 I discovered PCP's and now have a small Harem of various models mainly in .25 caliber. Several Big Bores for hunting large game and a slew of break barrels from USA, Spain, Mexico, Turkey and China. Recently picked up a used 392 Racine Benjamin in Chrome .177 and before that a 392 in .22 .

Beeman R8 and FWB 300S

Started back in 1960 or so when I was eight or nine with a Daisy model 36. Somewhere in the 1970s as a teen I got a Benjamin 342. As an adult in the 1980s I purchased with a Diana 45. Then the Crosman 2240 in early 2000 and that is where the real addiction started. There were so many parts available and mods to make the possibilities were endless.





Benji 342



Late 80s Diana 45



The lowly 2240 caused a lot of craziness in my life.



And this was only the beginning. I was determined not to collect guns I would only purchase those I would use.



A few pistols were purchased or modified under the same guise.



Crosman 1377, stolen in late 2010, only stock parts are the tube and gripframe





.25 folding stock 2250 carbine with DAQ upper, stolen in late 2010, With too many mods to mention once again the tube and gripframe are the only stock parts.



2240 gripframe Discovery PCP tube .25 DAQ upper Cocoran stock.





Modded a Nightstalker, stolen in late 2010, to shoot a bit harder and be a bit quieter.





And then there is the Ratgun all modded up with a Discovery tube 2240 gripset, BNM repeater breach, the stock off my S&W MP15 and a nightvision set I put together for it.



And there is the latest springer a Diana 54 very nice gun it is.



What would the collection be like without a couple of PCPs? That is only a couple I do not plan on collecting these only buy what I will use says the addiction.



2019 purchase MK1 gen2 Impact with a few mods of it's own.



2020 purchase LCS SK-19 stock from the factory with a defective barrel and a scope complete with an o-ring and a kitchen sink seal ring as well. Oh and I guess the 580cc tank I stole off of my Impact.

Wow did I do all of that? I am a sick and addicted soul. ;^) Got to love that!

My madness started in the sixties with a daisy 94 repro. Kinda left air rifles behind until 1979 and bought a Beeman Webley Vulcan in .177. Many tins went through it. It is being rebuilt by Mr. Slade in Minor Hill. Is it worth the cost? To me it is. Can't wait to get my old friend back, and create more memories.

I've been around guns and shooting of all types for as long as I can remember. With airguns, I started out with a Crosman 2100 given to me by my parents for my birthday at around 8 years old or so in the early 80's. My parents gave me a 1377 maybe a year or two later. These remained my only airguns for a very long time until I kind of "rediscovered" and got back into air guns about 6 years ago. I still have my old 2100 and 1377 today and they both still work and shoot good. They get used rarely these days but will forever remain in my gun collection. 

Gamo... which seems like was the “gateway drug” for many of us. Whisper Fusion in 0.22.

first was a Benjamin Sheridan .22 special edition walnut stock..Still have it, never use it. Loved that gun for many years, got so proficient with it on my one property where I was able to shoot it daily...Got 106 squirrels in that house over 6 years...Then I decided it was time for upgrade and discovered PCPs, now have two of them. FX Crown .22 and FX Dream Tac Compact in .25...I am in deep now. 

Crosman 102 then a Wischo 55N from Air Rifle Headquarters.

Daisy lever action as a kid and later in life an a2a modified Benjamin marauder shooting rat sniper slugs for urban coyotes. 

I used to have a Daisy powerline in .177 when I was a kid, then several years after when I was able to save up some money i got a Gamo 220 and following a Gamo 440, I don’t have the Daisy anymore, it got lost somewhere but I still have both Gamos, this the 220




Renz

A lot of fun memories. .. thanks!

My brothers and I were not allowed any shooting implements growing up(not anti's... just too wild) , so we made our own slingshots, etc. Around 1960 I would pick up bottles on the roadside and turn them in and buy bbs to shoot at a friend's house with his 1894 Spittn Image . We could reliably shoot marbles at around 5 yards and could light matches... probably a bit closer. It was powerful and accurate to me. Didn't shoot again til in the USAF in 1974 and bought a 760 to defend against some marauding dogs but it was really bad. A couple years later bought a Benji 137 and that started it all for me. I've had hundreds now. No real idea how many but the real jump came with discovering Beeman in 1979. Began FT in 91 and can credit RB of AOA for most of my current sickness. Still have a love for the pumpers though . I have several Sharp, a Dragon, custom 140s and Sheridans, a modified Cros 100, a few modified 1377s and 1322s, and a DS Sportsman. All are fun but the Sharp's rule that group. My sickness probably jumped a notch when RB drug me into EBR. Always thought those things were interesting but not my cup o tea but the Royale kinda changed that. My Red Wolf HP 22 is now my pride but my EVOL 22 Standard is a very close competitor. A small collection of Korean's aren't far behind.

Fun memories. .

Bob

Hw-97, then to a Hw-100, which just fed the addiction!

My starter kit crosmans. Then the adiction kicked in..

Started with an early model Diana underlever with a mid-length pellet port and stock very similar to this gun I found online.



Came to me after Grandpa died and I shot it off and on for twenty years... but never really learned how to work on an airgun. Sold it like a dummy in the late '90s. Crosman pulled me back in with a 1377 which ended up modded and scoped. From there it was a 392, then several springers, and now a handful of low power shooters that I love. Thanks for the intro to airguns, Grandpa!

Mine was a Gamo BigCat 1200. Right after that was a Beeman R9 .22.

Click to expand...

That is one gorgeous rifle my friend - consider me quite envious of your good fortune!

When I was a rugrat I got a hold of my older brothers Daisy Lever action BB gun. That got promptly taken away lol. Then in the mid 90,s I bought several Tech Force 97 in 22cal from compasseco. Still have them too. But I've upgraded a little since then.

Sherridan .20 cal.

My dad bought a Beeman R1 very early in their production, and I got a Daisy 880 shortly thereafter. It took a little while before I was big enough to carry around the R1, but the combination of those two got me thoroughly hooked. The daisy self-destructed a few years later, but my dad still has that R1, and it's not going anywhere (although it really could use a tune!). 

Fascinated with the Sears catalog (early 80s) that had the picture of a BB/dart pistol and a dartboard for a target.. wasn't allowed things like such.

Fast forward, I bought my son a Gamo Bigcat 1200 and a Air Force Talon SS for me.

Mine was a Gamo BigCat 1200. Right after that was a Beeman R9 .22.

Click to expand...

That is one gorgeous rifle my friend - consider me quite envious of your good fortune!

Click to expand...

Thank you Mr. V.!