Nostalgia: What was your first airgun….?
Probably in the wrong section, but still: If you can talk about bows and arrows here, why not how it all started airgunwise………..
I remember my own debut very well. One guy in my class had this wonderful Diana35 springer that we all lusted for. It was the most powerful gun around in those days. I talked him into lending it to me for a few days (trading for a few Corgi toys cars). I was twelve at the time (1959), and those were the days where red squirrels were plentiful and morals hadn’t been invented (as far as I know)…… 😳
To cut it short, – he never got it back. I think I told him it had been stolen or something, -poor guy. Anyway I still have it. In its original condition. She has never been opened and she still shoots quite well. The number of magpies etc. that have ended their lives due to her abilities is classified information………… 😉
Here it is:
A brilliant example of German post war engineering ………..
What was your first airgun ?
Cheers
Trygve :biggrinn:
PS: Lars, if you read this, please forgive me. I’ll give you all the Corgi toys I have…………… 😳
All Replies
Mine was a Crosman 101 my grandfather gave me.
I was 10 years old and dad owned a central Oregon ranch, life was great until the seals went.
At 13 or 14 years of age, I then stripped off the barrel and tried to make a bullet mold out of it to use in my Ted Williams 150 CO@ pistol to penetrate bob cat skulls.
I bought another when I got back into air guns, had it resealed and I refinished it, but I had discovered PCP’s by then and the magic was gone from the 101, but that first 101 had gotten me into casting bullets and that has lasted another 50 years.
Crossman pumpmaster.
It was also my second as my asshole neighbor pumped the first one too many times and blew out the air bag, or whatever it had. His dad bought the new one and made him mow the grass all summer to work it off. I think that was in 1983.
Mine was an Haenel. Can´t remember the model though. I got it from my Uncle for my 12th birthday. Sooo many dead Sparrows … :biggrinn:
Found a pic : 
late 1970’s Daisy 880.
That gun was very accurate…even compared to todays PCP’s
No longer a bird refuge after psycho Brant baited and killed them all :rofl:
I had to think about it for a while. It was a Daisy 572 Fieldmaster BB gun. I was on Sanibel Island in Florida on my birthday when I got it. I remember going in a store and asking if they sell BBs. The owner said we don’t sell BB’s because this island is a bird refuge. 😆
I’ve been in and out of it ever since I was about 7, my brother got me started with a Benji 317 pumper. He give it to me under the condition I could cock it by myself. I pull like it seemed like eternity, and was told to give up already. Then the hammer engaged and that was the beginning of my now 46 year journey for the quest and obsession in achieving all bulls. Ever since then there hasn’t been anything moving in our back yard, it’s boner accurate.
I did a little 10m Olympic Air pistol (Morini 162ei) about 12 years ago, but I fell sort of entering. The passing of the wonderful Don Nygord had changed things up for me. Oh, and that old pumper is still pumping with no repair work ever, a scope and it’s new stock still unfinished. I hacked of the old stock to make it fit me better when I was young, as I grew up …………. well you know the story.
That’s the oldest and my newest is a Cricket 22 cal Bullpup, with many others in between.
~ GKU
The Daisy Red Ryder BB gun ………..(but not in pink)
This was the greatest gun in the world, dump a tube of 500+ bb’s in the tube..and you were good for the day.
The POI was perfect…5″ inches at 10 yards…nothing escaped
Shoot a black bird, and it would laugh and fly away. It could take down a gold finch though.that was about it.
Gold finches, frogs, Dragon flys, gardner snakes..I musta got millions of them.
fun, times..now I’m old, good memories.
Moved on the the Benjamin Blue streak .20 pump (still have one)…great gun
Left-handed, walnut stocked, Beeman-Weirough 55 in .177 caliber. 700 whumping fps, a big deal in those days, and it never missed.
An old Crosman .22 pump, I think it was the Model 1. The instructions said the max pump count was 10, but the repair guys said “8”. It has been repaired twice and I gave it to my brother, who now targets rodents with it. Shot Silver Bears or Meisterkugelns with decent speed and accuracy.
a benji 760 pump, early 80’s, it wasn’t actually mine but, my best friend and i shared it. My dad was stationed in subic bay at the time. Can you say target rich environment?? We shot everything from monkey, monitor lizards and a slew of bird species!!!! Best four years of my life!!! No scope either just iron sights!!
This one.
Got it for Xmas ’78, I was 11 and it was glorious! The way that box looked as the wrapping paper came off was heart quickening. A cheap pistol but my brother and I shot nearly everyday in our room (we had the upstairs attic for a bedroom) he had a Marksmen .45. We even made a target retrieval with a couple of Erector Set pulleys and crank and also a BB trap that I just threw away a few months ago. I could and did shoot out a light bulb (morals?) from a second floor window at 20 yds. Now of course it’s broken first from klonking my brother on the head with the barrel and broke the latch and then the trigger went . Bad move, shoulda pistol whipped him (he was bigger and 4yrs older). I keep it because the memories are so wonderful and No gun has ever felt like that one.
Great thread Zocoloco.
I actually got hooked when my neighbor let borrow his daisy pumper .177, I was 11 or 12 years old, officially my first gun was a Gamo ,22 cal, I liked it so much, I’m still have this gun but not here in the US, i used to leave right next to an closed Hospital, the roof was full of pigeons and parrots, unforgettable times!!!!
WoW…. very nice story, ,, I usually like to read or listen to the old story. …. this thread is really will be very enjoyable. …
In between 1998 to 2001one of my friends use to borrow me his Chinese spring air rifle almost for a couple of days or so,,,, was very delicious and enjoyable. … that was not mine but,,,,,
My first air rifle (I believe have mentioned) was a spring power Turkey manufacturer, I bought for almost only $78 in 2009, I bought a very fake tasco scope with a very bad rings, ,,, I have spent all its life with zeroing this bad scope,,,,, after shooting almost 400 or 500 pellets I couldn’t zero that scope and unfortunately the main spring has broken, ,,,, and never could to repair it,,,, I was so sad and had a very limited fund to buy another one ,,,, so I decided to wait until I will get a good fund & another good one, ,,,
I use to zero it only for two shots then went back to re-zero it again …. very bad ,,,, my brothers always came to shot with this bad air rifle, ,, it was my family air rifle hahaha
I never knew that there is another type,,, PCP ,,, I became to know in 2010,,,,, and the rest you know,,,,,
Thank you God for all your grace anb your merciful on us…. I am thankful that now everything is available in our airgun world …..
Thanks our big brother Trygve fot this nice story and post
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I like this……. :biggrinn:
It brings back hidden memories from my own airgun childhood that probably wouldn’t have surfaced if you hadn’t given me the keyword……
Somebody mentioned lightbulbs further up. One of my favourite targets when I was a kid……… 😳
I grew up in Oslo very close to a large and famous sculpture park called “Frognerparken” where there were (and still are) looong alleys lined with squirrel heavy trees and lightposts. In those days (1950ies) we had to have a written permission from our parents (if below 16) to buy pellets. The permission had to be stamped by the police before we could move on to the shop. Our local police station was just across the park from where I lived. On one occasion I had my permission stamped by a rather large and friendly police officer, got my pellets and started for home. I was accompanied by a friend with a Winchester sort of airgun….
Of course we couldn’t resist those lampposts on our way home. We nailed them one by one. I utterly enjoyed seeing the looong dark alley left behind us (it gets dark early in Oslo in October) as well as the sound and sight of the glass breaking and falling to the ground. I can still feel the thrill……. 😳 😳 😳
That was until we reached the other side of the park. Guess who was waiting for us. The very same police officer that had stamped our permission a few hours earlier. Only this time not quite as friendly. Apparently he had been tipped off by some neighbour. I had my rifle confiscated on the spot and so did my friend (we got them back six months later). And not only that. I was taken home in his black and white patrol car……
Needless to say, – my parents were not overly happy having their son brought home in a police car. Neighbours and all that. I was heavily punished the way parents punished in those days. I could not sit down properly for days after. And not only that, – I never got another permission to buy pellets. I had to rely of friends to get my needs covered….
I must have been around 10 at the time…….
Oh, – those were the days…….. :biggrinn:
Keep the stories coming guys….!!!! :8:
Cheers
Trygve :biggrinn: