What age was it that you tried one or owned one?
Have you been an enthusiast for them ever since?
Are you just now getting in to them?

I`ll start.

Maybe 13. I had a Daisy single action lever cocking BB rifle. Ya` know. The one that looks like a rifle straight out of the 1800`s. Still a classic looking piece to this day that a fortunate few kids get to have. Somewhere along the way, 16 maybe,  I graduated to a Daisy Powerline 880. It was a fun rifle to shoot until somehow, I lost the front plastic sight in some high weeds. Never found it. End of air rifle shooting "career" until about the first of this year. Mind you. Thirty PLUS years had gone by until lately. Was sick of the ammo shortages. .22 LR ammo supply even went to ......shtuff. Somewhere, somehow, I remembered all of the fun that I had as a kid with an air rifle. Figured.....think I`ll go this route again for a bit and see what is out there. Bought another 880. Was having no joy trying to get it to hit longer range stuff. Wound up on the Pyramyd Air website from a link someone well known on this site, had put up. ...

Bought a Nitro Piston rifle in .25 caliber. Never thought of that one.
Looking at some other .22 air rifles even now as I type this. I seem to find myself reading more and more about airgun shooting lately. It takes up most of my internet time nowadays.

I like, so far, what I have. It serves my purpose and that is all I need. I can plink in my backyard and the police don`t show up. My backyard is my range that I don`t have to drive to. Neighbors haven`t complained yet and I ALWAYS give thought to my backstop and even where my side splatter from pellets may go to.

Love the revived interest! It is fun and it is cheaper than regular shooting.

I wish I had gotten back into this years ago.

Cossman 2100 Classic, my father bought it for me when I was 5 or 6.  I was too small to operate the forearm pump to charge it, so needed help every time I shot it for a while.  I'm 37 and still have it, it's the only air rifle I own.  Still runs like a champ and looks pretty good given the use it's seen.

About 25 years ago, I was just getting into guns, pretty much on my own. As I recall, the local pawnshop had a Benjamin multi-pumper and I paid the princely sum of $40 for it.  I shot it in my basement in the evening after work. I kept noticing the ads in the gun magazines for Beeman airguns and requested a catalog. It was all downhill from there. Those of you who remember the Beeman catalogs will understand . . .

My first "adult" airgun was a Beeman R1 (a poor choice for a first airgun, it turns out). That prompted the purchase of Tom Gaylord's R1 book and several attempts to tune/calm that beast. Somewhere along the line I bought an HW55 . . . the gun that became the airgun love of my life . . . Then came "The Airgun List" and "The Airgun Letter." Then came an FWB300s. One thing just led to another. The Internet was pretty much the ruin of me. The "Yellow Forum", the vintage site and a few other online communities exposed me to other lost souls who encouraged and enabled my weaknesses. It's their fault as much as anything.

In truth, I am primarily an airgun collector. I shoot them some, but not nearly as much as I should. Although I have a couple higher power airguns that I will take outside and shoot occasionally, the vast majority of my airgun shooting is inside, down in my basement. That's a big reason why I prefer the lower-powered guns: the HW50/55/Beeman R8 family and the various match guns. I'm also a tinker and enjoying tearing the guns down and replacing the innards with aftermarket springs/guides. Always the goal is smoothness and calm firing behavior, not power.

Ultimately, I think I'm drawn to the quality and precision of good airguns. It pleases me that for a modest sum of money ($300 to $500) I can own "the best." A nice air rifle . . . especially the old Weihrauchs . . . represent the rare product that makes no (or few) compromises. It really is as good as you would ever ask. There is a level of satisfaction, a tactile sensation, that comes from holding and handling a fine thing. Airguns provide that. Of course, experiencing this joy of owning a "best" gun on my budget requires that I limit myself to decades-old technology but, fortunately, I'm drawn to the older stuff. I can't really afford (or can't justify) a brand-new high-tech Anschutz or Feinwerkbau pre-charged pneumatic match gun, but I can afford the best that those companies offered in the 1960s and '70s. Frankly, in my hands, there isn't much different at the target between the best of the past and the best of today. I get to experience fine crafted things at a price I can afford and justify.  

Besides, I enjoy and appreciate the simplicity of the old spring guns. I enjoy working on them and making them even better. Servicing and rebuilding air guns allows me to experience their quality on an entirely different level.

Finally, I like to shoot. Airguns allow me to shoot any time I want. If I get tired of watching TV, I can get up from my recliner, walk down to the basement and pick up a rifle. We all are gun people so we understand the challenge and satisfaction of placing that next shot exactly where we want it to go. It's hard to beat the convenience of being able to do that any time you want. No need to drive to the range, gone is the box full of crap necessary with my other guns . . . no muffs, rests, spotting scope, target stands, etc. . . . just open a tin of pellets and shoot at the target box across the basement.

But on another level, airguns strip shooting and marksmanship down to their essential level. With the quality of these guns, their inherent precision and their calm, easy firing behavior (especially the match guns) the ONLY thing keeping me from that elusive one-hole group in the 10 ring is MY skill and execution of the shot. In other words, when shooting one of my better airguns, I have nobody to blame but myself for a bad group or a flier. There is joy and satisfaction that accompanies that situation as well. There's also the factor of skill development. Learning to shoot airguns well (especially the spring guns) has forced me to learn some marksmanship fundamentals. I've learned about natural point of aim, proper stance, breathing, etc. I've had to work on follow through and hold techniques. Plus, during times when I'm on an airgun shooting kick, I get a lot more trigger time in. If you want to get better, 20 shots fired every day will do more for your skills than 200 shots fired in one sitting every couple of months.

Why do I like airguns? I don't know . . . perhaps the same reason that some people pursue good food and fine wine (I like those, too). It's an opportunity to experience a fine thing. There's not enough of those opportunities in this modern world. I guess that's why I'm a bit of an airgun snob. Plastic stocks and mushy triggers don't satisfy the urge, but finely machined parts and crisp, light triggers do. In my mind, life is to short to waste time with cheap airguns . . . (old Crosmans being an exception, in my case, though . . . )

Sorry to wax on and on . . . it's complicated . . .

My first air rifle was an old Daisy 25 I got from my uncle in 1967, he used it when he was a kid in the mid 50's to hunt chipmunks around the family summer house in Peekskill, NY.  I shot my share of bottles and cans with it, then my family moved from PA to GA onto several hundred acres of woods, swamp, and creeks.  My neighbors son had a Crosman 760, and I ended up trading for it.  That was the first airgun I used to hunt the woods behind the house, using the crappy Crosman pellets of the time (early 70's) on squirrels and multiple bb's chained together by the magnet in the bolt on birds (sort of an air shotgun).  One day I was at Richway with my father, with a pocket full of allowance money, and I saw a Benjamin 340 (smoothbore 177 version, with a recessed bolt head made to hold the Benjamin chilled BB shot).  It was a great plinker, not a great hunting gun, and I ended up taking it back to Richway and exchanging it for a new 342 .22.  My best friend used a Sheridan 5MM, and between the two of us we harvested hundreds of tree rats and doves.  I still have a couple of those old green Benjamin pellet cans laying around.  One day I saw an ad in the back of Field and Stream for a company called Air Rifle Headquarters in West Virginia, and I sent for the catalog.  I wish I still had that document, it opened my eyes to the potential of serious hunting air rifles.  I called Mr. Laws, the gentleman who ran the company, and after several conversations and convincing my father that $140 was not excessive for an air rifle (remember, this was in 1977, so that was a LOT of money to a 16 year old), I ended up with an accurized Wischo 55B, in .177 with a beautiful hand select beech stock and selected for minimal barrel droop.  It was considered one of the most powerful guns that ARH stocked, rated at 770 fps, the others being its sister, the Wischo/BSF 70 and the even more powerful FWB 124/127.  Mr. Laws threw in a box of Beeman Silver Jet pellets and my world changed.  I slapped a 1" 3X scope on it and everyone of my friends who shot that gun desired it, it became the bane of all tree rats living in our back woods.   Not a day goes by that I don't regret selling that wonderful but now woefully outdated Bavarian air gun.





Since then I have gone through dozens of air rifles, and continue to shoot, just not as often as I'd like.  I keep telling my sons we're going to construct an air gun range in the back yard, maybe I'll get to it this summer.

 

Dad started us boys out with some old pump rifle, I have no idea what it was.
I guess I was around 7 or 8. I loved it and my older brother didn't care for shooting.
That rifle got passed along through the family, quite possible one of my nephews still has it.

I got away from airguns for quite a few years after getting into hunting with rimfire, kind of a natural progression but the boredom of not shooting in the winter  got me back into them several years ago.
I have a 10 metre range set up in the basement and plink away when I feel like it.

Good handfull of pistols in C02 and a few springers in the rifle dept.

I love shooting all of them.

A bit late to get in on the discussion but I'll give it a go.

Yeah - my first air rifle was the Daisy Model 1894 BB gun. Xmas gift when I was probably 8 years old. Not very accurate but I loved the lever action and put tens of thousands of BB's through it.   Still had it as a teenager and it was put into action during BB-gun fights with some of my buddies.  Shop goggles protected our eyesight - we weren't stupid!  Actually loads of fun as we were careful to limit our weapons to underpowered weapons that wouldn't break the skin.

My first real air rifle was a Smith and Wesson Model 77A .22 rifle.  Pretty powerful gun but you had to pump it up to 20 times for full power.  Loved it but eventually traded it away for a Benjamin Franklin Model 137 .177 air pistol - which I still have.  
Then maybe around 1987 I bought a Beeman P1 Magnum in .177 caliber.  That is a really great pistol - I still have that and it's never missed a beat.

Hmmm - Been thinking about a rifle a lot lately. Maybe a Beeman R9 would scratch that itch?

I've been into guns in general since I knew what they were. As soon as I learned to read I had a dictionary in hand trying to learn what I could about firearms in general (these were days when there were books on all manner of weapons available in the elementary school library).

When I was thirteen or so my dad got my brother and I a Marksman Biathlon Trainer. Being a former Navy Hi-Power competitor he put us through a very formal and military-like training evolution. It was not a great time for us, but it was a great start and introduction into safety, shooting, techniques, and positions. That cheap rifle had great ergonomics, a decent trigger, and excellent sights. It was also capable of putting five shots touching at ten meters if we did our part. That rifle ended up destroyed by my brother who'd purposely diesel the gun with improper lubricants and would shoot nails through the barrel when we ran out pellets.

Next we got Crosman 2100's which had terrible sights but good power. Those guns eventually got wore out and basically discarded. The next guns I would purchase myself with any money I could put together. Most of those I still have today. I haven't purchased an airgun in over fifteen years. I wouldn't mind a few more now that we have a long back yard that would be perfect for a higher powered precision airgun.

To me shooting is shooting. There isn't the thrill of shooting something awe inspiring, but the challenge always keeps it fun and interesting. Shooting airguns is probably the best way to improve fundamentals, IMO. I went straight from .177 airguns to easily shooting Expert in the USMC. My dad instilled the discipline of the sport early on, and that gave a lot of confidence when it came to shooting everything else.

I would love to purchase a few more airguns to round out my small collection, but it's a little difficult to get the fundage these days. While I recently managed a 2K+ AR build through the sale of extra parts from other gun projects, I have no such equity in airguns. Funding that 1K airgun of my dreams seems like an impossibility. That said, I am considering less expensive, yet capable alternatives.

I've also been a immersed a bit in the airgun thing lately, too. I'm at the point where I have all the cartridge firearms I want, and have voids in my airgun arsenal that need filling. I plan on purchasing a full auto  CO2 BB gun for fun, a moderately powered small spring-air carbine for field use, and a full size high powered spring-air or gas spring rifle for longer range and hunting use.

Great post Rick !

The addiction of airguns is missed by alot of folks due to no fault of their own, they just have not experienced them such as you have.
When you have something that you can shoot every day you can really learn the basis of getting on target and how every firearm can be different but mastered with practice.

Just on a much less expensive level.

Cheers !

Welcome to the airgun forum!
Better late than never! Airgun shooting is something I would highly recommend to anyone who wants to practice frequently and hone their shooting skills.
Good to see your post!

+1 on that comment!