Your First bb gun or pellet gun and what do you have now?

[jh45gun]

OK I'll start. 1962. Crosman V350 bb gun. Fast forward to 1976. Bought several 1377's.Kept taking them back as they kept looking velocity. No one told me back then you should keep at least one pump in them. A C02 pistol after that got tired of that then nothing for a long time. Then a Chinese tool shop special that didn't last long was not impressed. Then a Crosman CO2 copy of a Python 357 several years ago. Got it new in package at a sports show for 10 dollars. I traded that off for some truck tires. Lol. Then a dry spell again then a couple of years ago I got fed up with the hording and lack of 22 ammo and panic buying. So I bought a 177 Crosman Nitro Venom. Then a 22 cal Smith&Wesson 78G that needed rebuilding. Now I had some 22 ammo on hand I bought years before the panic buying. I refused to shoot it. So when I decided to find another gun project (not air gun) I sold a 22 rifle and pistol and just kept one rifle. Then recently I started joining face book air gun groups. Guys were saying how good the cheap Daisy 880 multi pump 177 guns were. Walmart had them for 40 dollars and our local store was selling them for 30. A no brainer. Then guys were saying how great the Crosman 1300 platform was. So I thought about it. Then on a Cyber Monday special Crosman had 25% off and free shipping even Custom shop guns. I found I could get a 1300kt in 22 with a long steel breech and a 14 t inch barrel with a shoulder stock and trigger shoe for 83 dollars. An other no brainer. Then the Chatter around Christmas time about the Hatsan Edge Springer 177 break barrel guns at Dicks for 60 dollars. I wanted a 22 Gas Ram. Amazon had them for 100. So I had enough Christmas money I received that was my Christmas gift to myself a Hatsan Edge Vortex 22. Lastly I found a somewhat used Crosman 760 with a rifled barrel. Most are smooth bores. So I bought it and gave it a new pump arm and bolt and piston. So now I have 3 22 cal air guns and 3 177 air guns. I think I am bitten. Lol you know what though out of the 6 the most expensive was the Nitro venom at 170 dollars. All the rest were very affordable on a fixed income and fun to shoot and hunt with. So what are your experiences?

[Multigunner]

First BB gkng .1un I remember owning was a Daisy Model 25 pump action. It was used when given to me, but still shot very well indeed, accurate and powerful for an old BB gun. The modern remake is not worth buying from what I hear.A BB gun that belonged to my dad and then to my brother that I still remember well was an ancient rusted over non working .118 caliber Daisy Parlor pistol. I played with it a lot, but never got it working. It may be in the basement of my deceased Brother's home. I may ask his son to keep an eye out for it.Years later I got a Daisy Rodgers .177 remake of that old parlor pistol, but these were such weak shooters everyone was disappointed with them. The design could be adapted to 6mm airsoft and would then be a useable indoor target gun. It might sell well in that form.I got a 38C Crosman when I was a youngster, and until today I could not for the life of me remember where I got it. Then the old memory came back.The gun was on a shelf at an old tire store where I went to buy a bicycle tire. I was admiring it and asked what it cost. The guy at the counter said the gun was used, the mechanics had been using it to kill rats in the garage but it started leaking CO2. he saw I really wanted the gun but probably couldn't afford a new one if they had them in stock so he said to take it at no charge and maybe I could fix it. Well it would hold CO2 long enough to fire two or three cylinders of six shots before going flat but it was many years later that I figured out how to put a seal in it. I got a lot more use out of it then until the exhaust valve seal broke up with age and I lost some parts. I'm rebuilding it now with parts from a 38T.I had a Benjamin 312 for awhile but traded in on a Remington Rand .45 back when they were dirt cheap.Working guns I have for now are a 1377, a older Crosman smoothbore 760, a 10/77 I picked up for $20 in a junk shop and it works great, A Daisy 880 modified with the metal pump arm and receiver from an older version, A 1977 version Daisy red Ryder, A Gamo 230, A Daisy CO2 made like a S&W Model 59. A Pistol I have that still sort of works is an Umarex Walther PPKS that needs some serious work.

[Multigunner]

The typos on the first line are courtesy of my cat who decided to dance across the key board while I was posting. Still no edit function with this browser.

[koehlerrk]

JH, nice thread starter... and it's obvious you've been at this game longer than me.

When I was but a little tyke, my friends all got BB guns. I felt left out so I asked my dad if I could have one. His reply was, "No, because those things are too close to being toys and I want you to respect a firearm for what it is, a tool to kill things."

Dad was NOT a fan of BB guns. But, that same week he brought me home a present. A brick of 22 ammo. He pulled his old Marlin 25 bolt gun out, showed me how to clean it, how to load the magazine, and then we went out back and shot it. Apparently I was doing pretty well for a seven year old.

After that, if I wanted to shoot, I had to ask dad and he'd supervise. By the time I was ten he was confident enough in my gun handling that he let me do it alone. I still had to ask, but no longer needed supervision. Heady stuff wen you're ten.

Grew up, got a wife and kids, and made it clear they were all going to learn how to handle a firearm safely. Started with a Crosman pump rifle. All three kids learned the basics with that gun, then moved up to 22s.

Now, full circle time. Last summer, 22 ammo was still scarce and expensive. My dad wanted something to pick pigeons off the barn roof, but mom didn't want him banging away with a shotgun. So, I bought him his first air rifle for his 73rd birthday. A 22 cal Benjamin Discovery. He loves it! Can't blame him, it's a sweet air rifle, and being a PCP gun, he doesn't have to worry about cocking effort. Very nice!

Now, I'll admit, I put about 100 pellets through that Discovery before I gave it to him. Had to sight it in and make sure everything worked right. Well, that bug bit me hard... two weeks after his birthday I bought a lightly used Marauder, 22 cal, from a friend of a friend. Love that rifle!

And now, I sent money in for that new Wildfire semi auto 177 gun. Should be here around the end of February.

PVP guns aren't exactly cheap, mostly due to the cost of building them, and then the fact that you need a high pressure pump or tank to fill them. That said, they tend to be well built and I see me passing these down to my kids or grandkids someday.

[jh45gun]

Actually multigunner came up with the idea.

[randy_68]

Started out with a Winchester 422 .177 back in about '69 or '70. Still have it too, looks new yet. In the last 15 years I've bought and sold well over a hundred different ones and my current collection is an RWS 52 .177, Rws 850's in .22 and .177 both converted to HPA and a Rapid MKII .22 pcp. professionally tuned. I've had just about every brand and type made. Loved em all! They are all I use to hunt small game anymore.

[GhostHawk]

The year before I was to get my BB gun a boy in our town lost an eye. His brother fired the shot.

No BB guns ever arrived in our house.

Once I was 18 I did buy a Sheridan Blue streak, but IMO that was a serious varmint killing tool.
Ohhh I enjoyed it immensely but it had to be respected.

I do have a bb gun now, mostly used to punch holes in paper. Once in a while it discipline's a cat.

[PerpetualStudent]

So far just the Beeman p17. I've had it most of a year and have ~700 rounds through it, it's probably still more accurate than I am but it has already helped my handgun accuracy a lot. I just made a new trap for it from laminated cardboard and a cracked cutting board. Hoping to put a lot more rounds through it now. Before I buy more I need to do a proper test of it's accuracy. Throw together a pistol rest and actually see what the upper limit of its accuracy is.

The "to acquire" list has been stretching lately. I want a repeating airgun next and that was going to be the 1077, but that Benjamin wildfire may get me to make the PCP plunge once I see some reviews.

[Shooter6br]

Crosman 760 smooth bore. I was 12 now 60.........Never broke or repaired Crappy wood like stock.Was a birthday present from my Dad. Will always have it.

[wadcutter]

My first was a Benjamin 22 pump air rifle. Nearly put my eye out shooting at a piece of steel.

[Multigunner]

Air rifle related story from my youth.
My girl friend at the time lived in the country. She had a large yellow Orange Tom Cat. He was an outside cat and a roamer. Someone, perhaps a neighboring farmer shot that cat at the root of his tail with a pellet gun.
My girl cleaned the wound and bandaged the tail securely.
A week later when I dropped by I asked about the cat. She said he was doing fine and his tail was healing up because it would stay up when she raised it by hand. She then raised the cat's tail and it stayed up for a few seconds then fell right off. You should have seen the look on her face.
He was fine though.
Only problems a cat might have from losing its tail is that if there's not enough muscle movement left they can't take a dump normally. The movement of the muscles that raise the tail act as a signal to drop a load. So long as there's about half an inch or more of a tail that's no problem. Some Manx Cats are born with no visible tail at all and can develop serious hygiene problems.

Even a medium powered airsoft gun can cause serious injuries to small animals.

As for the old "you'll put someone's eye out" they now market BBs with a soft metal core that deform when they hit something solid, which reduces the probably of a BB bouncing back. Solid lead alloy BBs are another option.

Also just remembered an extremely old BB gun I saw at a relative's home when I was a kid.
it was a combination .22 Air Rifle and cartridge firing .22 Rimfire.
The air cylinder was in the stock at a steep angle, cocked by a rather large trigger guard lever. When used as a rimfire the air piston acted as a blowback bolt. To load either .22 pellets or round ball or .22 cartridges it broke down like a shotgun. Never got to shoot that one.

[375RUGER]

Had a 22 several years before I got a Crossman 2100. it was a real shooter. It killed a lot of small game. Was stolen when I was in college.
Now I have a RWS Diana, don't recall which model right now, it's a side lever.

[dlbarr]

First BB gun was a Daisy 1895. Bought when I was 10 or so. At .25/wk allowance, it took exactly one year to save the $13.00 (incl sales tax) to purchase it. Unfortunately, I sold that nice classic to a friend in my early "adulthood" who needed a b'day gift for his young nephew. Sure wish I had it back.

Today I have the standard Red Ryder that everybody has - got mine when my 3 boys got theirs for Christmas. I also have a Crosman American Classic pellet pistol. Nothing fancy like some of you guys have. I have taken squirrels with the crosman.

[lrdg]

I want to hear more about this .22 rimfire/.22 airgun. Who made? Someone out there must know. After six and a half decades, how have I missed that?

[MT Chambers]

My first was a Daisy BB gun when I was 6 yrs. old, I'm a lot older now and like nice guns with nice wood stocks. My airguns now are: AA TX200 in .177, Weirauch HW97 in Blue laminate in .22, Daystate Huntsman in .22, AA S510 in walnut .25 cal., Daystate Wolverine in .303 cal. Life is too short for ugly guns.

[Multigunner]

Pretty sure this was the combination airgun/rimfire I spoke of.

http://bluebookofgunvalues.com/Airgu...OMBINATION_GUN

The No.5 new model

[melloairman]

A Wards made by Crossman in .22 caliber .Rebulit and still shoots for me .Marvin

[lrdg]

Thanks Multigunner!

[Artful]

Daisy lever (red ryder?) - currently have a china side lever, which is just under transonic with it's .177 pellets.

[Lon246]

1944 Red Ryder. (Still have both eyes).
1970 Crosman .22 pump.
2014 RWS 34P .22.