IT DOESNT HAVE TO BE SO COMPLICATED !!

[VINNY]

Our hobby/sport of airguns is different to each of us.Some are into mods. Some are into collecting. Some for relaxation.Some to stay in practice, whatever.Whatever the reason, its a good one. It brought us all together.It is a GREAT sport.I was apparently destined to collect them! After telling my wife I had a four day weekend, I was informed that that would be a great time to put in the hardwood floors! Anyway,does anybody remember when they were a kid, running around with whatever you had to shoot?How coolwas it to be able to just blow a walnut out of a tree with ease. Or line up plastic spoons on the fence and not miss any of them?Or just plink at anything and everything [that wouldnt get you beat] I dropped sooooo many birds I wish I had a nickle for every one. They were in trees, on the ground, on the telephone line, wherever. I pretty much didnt miss.I know most of you were the same.All I personally had was a Red Ryder.[much better than the one I have now, by the way]It took some practice of course.Tons o bb's! I didnt have Chairgun, a tuned this or a modded that with an upgraded thingy - thingy, but I had FUN!, and learned to shoot and learned gun safety.Now I have 18 air rifles and 7 air pistols. How did that happen?! I Know most of the airguns I have are considered "entry level" at best. But I enjoy all of them. If Ihad'nt read all the info on the web about airguns, I would never have known that my Gamo triggers suck, My Turkish guns are junk, etc. I would just shoot them in my ignorance and be happy! like when I was a kid.I never knewmy Red Ryder wasa beginner bb gun. My buddy had a Pumpmaster 760 that was POWERFUL to me, but I out shot him EVERY time with the little Daisy.I amGLAD I learned about all of these things that can be done to make my airguns better! I am going to have a few of them tuned. I will have the magic trigger in the ones that will fit it. But until I do, I will continue to enjoy them how they are. I get a thrill just holding them, admiring what they are and respecting what they can do. There is NOTHING wrong with wanting to upgrade your airgun, or to want a top of the line airgun, but just dont think that you have to have this or that to enjoy the sport.Its all about FUN. I guess my point is, if you want a Gamo so and so with the plastic pos trigger, or the Hatsan whatever that was made in Turkey, GET ONE, ENJOY IT, and upgrade it if you want when you can, or just leave it alone and have FUN!

[mvhunter]

well said......some many guns so little time....

[longislandhunter]

I agree,,, very well put indeed !!  

Like you, I enjoy all my "BB" guns, the expensive ones and the "cheap" ones  

One of my weaknesses is cheap chinese shooters of which I have a few.  I'm not really into target shooting, unless I'm sighting in a rifle for hunting, but with my cheap chinese shooters  like my B-3's, AK clones and such, I love sitting in the backyard killing cans .  Some of em are home tuned, some aren't but I am always amazed that a rifle that cost me $30 or perhaps $50 bucks can shoot so well and accurately.  

Your post made me remember back a couple of years ago when I first got into air guns and wound up buying my first "adult" shooter, it was a GAMO Shadow that I got at Walmart.  I would roam the duck farm I shoot at for hours on end and put a good hurtin on the local starlings and pigeons.  Now, like most of you, I have several gun safes full of air rifles, I have PCP's and the myriad of accessories that go with them.... scuba tanks, hand pumps, etc.... and while I do in fact get great enjoyment from all my rifles I will always remember all the fun I had when my airgun addiction was simple and all I had was that one GAMO Shadow, 2 or 3 tins of pellets and hundreds of starlings to stalk.    

Thanks for your post...... brought me back to the "center" of the air gun universe  

Jeff

[Big_Bill]

Yes Vinny, Those Were The Days !!!!

It's GREAT to remember the GOOD OLD DAYS, when everything was so much simpler

And the pressures to shoot better than the rifle was capable of ! Just hittin the can was a 10 !

Thanks for the memories

Bill

[kp4att]

VINNY I AGREE WITH YOU TOO.  IT WAS JUST HAPPINESS!!!

IN MY CASE READING THREADS HERE MAKE SICK.....

I DO NOT KNOW WHAT IT IS HAPPENING TO ME NOW AT MY CLOSE 45 YEARS BUT.....


 MORE RIFLES, SCOPES AND ACCESORIES ARE COMIIIIIING!!!


/ GERALD

[snookman]

You are so right Vinny, we tend to complicate things so much that instead of being fun, they turn into a great big hassle.

 You brought back some good memories of my old daisy 840 single pump. Man, I got so good with it I could head shoot a lizard from 30 ft. I loved that gun. I don't think I would have traded it for anything in the world.

 Daisy still makes them and I think I might just go out and buy me another one just for the memories. Good shooting, snookman

[SDale]

Well said!

I think lots of us have fallen into the "Perfection Trap" . Like you said, when we were kids we could hit just about anything at any time. Cause we had only one gun and TONS of practice. Now we kinda want things to be accurate out of the box. "Think and it happens" type shooting, but we expect the RIFLE to do it. I've fallen into that HARD.

I guess it's all a function of getting older and LAZIER! hahaha


Gone are the days of stalking a ferocious man eating mutated sparrow through the bush on a cold and wet winter day. Trying to make as little noise as possible to keep from spooking creature into attacking your eyes and tearing you limb from limb.  Making absolutely sure to keep the muzzle of the trusty Red Ryder pointed up to keep the BB's from making that loud raspy noise as they roll from one end of the magazine tube to the other. QUICK!!! Get a sight picture!!! Hold slightly above and to the left! BAM!!!  Got him... Collect your quarry, admire it, check the entry wound, smile then feed it to the dog.


Ahhhhhh..... What I wouldn't give to be a kid again!

[RedFeather]

I find that, no matter what the shooting sport, it's best to keep it light. Couldn't have put it better, myself. It's not the guy with the most or "bestest" toys that wins. It's the guy who has had the most fun. My first "adult air rifle" was a Gamo Shadow. I still like them and would not pass up a good deal should one come my way. I don't care a fig about where a gun is made. I do care whether or not I, personally, like it.

[Bogey]

Vinny, the long and short of it is that I like so many others,  I agree with you.   I have wondered why on other airgun websites that elitist attitudes are indorsed.   I will never put someone down because they don't have an Ag I don't think is up to par.   Not everyone wants to spend $1000. plus for an AG.   But for the ones that can and do...then good for them.  Snobs in the GTA?   don't seem to be any.  At least not elitist snobs.    Would anybody put someone down for spending too much for an AG?   I doubt it.   So why do some want to put down those that don't feel comfortable spending over $100. to $ 200.  


As you said, "Buy what you like."  Have fun.

[gamo2hammerli]

Yep, well said.  I just enjoy the hobby/sport.  I buy less expensive and a few higher priced airguns because I like what I've read about them.  I target shoot (Just mediocre) and I plink for fun....it's all good for me.  Of course if I could hang with the big boys.....I might start adding things and tuning my airguns to make me a better shooter.....actually the gun a better shooter.

[airiscool]

Kinda brought me full circle.
Got back into airgunning for pest control and because of the rise in lead prices, so that I can do more shooting at lower cost. Well, so much for the lower cost part !

What I've found is a hobby of discovery, and re-discovery.  It's fun getting to explore a world of new airguns. And, learning to shoot my new gun has rekindled interest in my first BB gun. I've dug it out of the closet, cleaned it up and I'm shooting it again after many years. I started shooting it over 50 years ago, and it still works, and it's still fun !!!!

Guess we're all just big kids at heart !  

Paul.

[thebookdoc]

What...I still do the same things I did when I was a kid. I shoot toy soldiers. Sometimes targets. Sometimes things that will pop into the air. Sometimes I'll throw a can on a pond and take the ol' multipump BB gun and set about shot after shot to sink it. If I have nice guns, it generally wasn't because I paid a lot for them...I can't justify it even if I can afford it. I'm amazed at how these things shoot, and I'm not afraid to tout my cheap chinese guns that outshoot some of the best standard Euros. But if it can't plink a plastic soldier, it is useless to me.