Hi Mate..I have never been a huge collector, I think the most I have ever owned at one time is 23 guns (I know to some that may seem a lot...but trust me it is 5-10% of what some have).
I started early shooting as both my mum and dad and my older brother (by 6 years) all shot. My dad had a Mk 1 Airsporter that was out of bounds, but my earliest recollection was probably shooting a tin plate something at the age of 8-9 with darts in the garden when my older brother had his mates around. We were lucky in that my mum was warden of an old peoples home with a small wood and an overgrown orchard, although it was supposed to be private, it was a magnet for anybody locally with a gun of any type back then (mid 60's), so there was always somebody shooting something, and I would tag along for a go at an early age. It was a different time then and battles with webley pistols and rifles up to meteor size were fairly normal, with us wearing old donkey jackets that were way too big, and German and British helmets borrowed from home, and bike goggles...don't ask me why all my friends were able to find them...it just seemed normal back then that dads had this sort of thing upstairs
Of course I had cap guns as well, and an Airfix slr, which lost it's bayonet and broke it's barrel (didn't they all?)
By the time I was 10 or 12 I owned a couple of ratty break barrels, but had shot most stuff...My first new rifle was a daisy 1894 as I was a wild west fan and my parents thought I would love it...didn't have the heart to tell them. by this age I was doing paper rounds and learning from bigger kids all the tricks of scouring building sites and parks (and even the back of pubs
) for discarded pop bottles to get refunds on, and even then used to go to junk shops and look for guns...I had a few Webley pistols, an early Diana 50 and after a lot of saving, one of the first Mercury MK1's to arrive in the place where I would always be found, Coles gunshop of Cirencester. (I was 14 when I got that...god knows where it went...I suspect big bruv
).
After that, I got a moped at 16, so the shooting went quiet for a bit as I explored the west country, but I always had at least 2 rifles sitting around...The diana lasted the longest, I think I swapped it for a Mitchell 300 reel.
My parents parted company when I was 17, so never found out what happened to the old man's sporter, as I went to live with an ex-guards man with my mum, it was around that time that all my airguns went walkies (big bruv again!).
I did some shotgunning then, but mostly practical stuff as I have never been much of a hunter, and had a friend who had a permission and rifles, so used to shoot there, and his dad had a BSA standard which opened my eyes to how well they shot in capable hands.
By the time I was in my early 20's I had moved to a small flat in Surrey, and used to shoot a bit at Bisley (short Siberia) and Aldershot, but only had a Mercury. I suppose it was when I moved to near Aldershot in the early 80's and finally had a house and garden that I started plinking again and shooting more air...It was just less hassle, and a lot cheaper!
The first gun I bought then was an early standard which I got from a shop in Weybridge I remember, from then the usual happened...took it to work (I used to work on the Brookland circuit in the old Hawker sheds, and a few of us had various "toys" and the space to use them at dinnertime), and someone would say "Oh..I've got an old air rifle", or "my mate has one to sell" etc. etc.
I try to keep it sensible, and shoot everything in strict rotation...but of course like most on here, the lure of the "next best thing" is a bugga to shake off!
ATB, Ed
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Originally Posted by Blackrider
. Mitchells seem to peak and trough price wise and are really cheap at the moment. I love using these old reels, just like I love using vintage BSA's even my centrepin reel for long trotting is an ancient Trudex of 1950s vintage. I love stripping and rebuilding them both too. Although my rods are purpose built, long and very ''tippy'' to middle in action as most of my fishing is fast moving rivers or large glacial mountain lakes. Couldn't give a toss what the younger ones think Ed most I've met are all the gear no idea anyway 
. i traded up to a meteor from the same people [god was i gullible] but i did spend some of my happiest childhood hours with a mate tornado and meteor in our grubby little hands traipsing round boothys fields much to his annoyance;hilarious now i think about it, he used to chase us in his old tractor as he was so rotund! his old man i remember was arrested when he loosed off both barrels of his shotgun at the milktanker doing the rounds