Collecting- where do you draw the line......

[Geezer]

"A good collection of air rifles is no more than one very nice shotgun. Or what a new car depreciates after a few years. So in truth fill your boots. The economics are you might take a very small loss and at best break even. In the mean time its fun."

Sums it up for me. Compared to what some spend on a watch, a TV, or even a pair of jeans, old airguns are comparatively cheap, and will pretty much hold their value unless you bought unwisely or the government ban them - and a few actually appreciate in real terms. Above all you get hours of shooting and/or tinkering pleasure, basically for free.

(We have very similar taste in rifles, though recently I've become more of a pistol person. I too had a well-read copy of the Walter book as a teenager. Now I have the first, second, and fourth editions, because I appear to collect airgun books as well!)

[I. J.]

(We have very similar taste in rifles, though recently I've become more of a pistol person. I too had a well-read copy of the Walter book as a teenager. Now I have the first, second, and fourth editions, because I appear to collect airgun books as well!)

I didn't realise you included arigun paraphernalia. For the classic rifles I, obviously, need classic scopes which need classic mounts which are, in my eyes, Apel.
Then theres the books. Apart from the four books by Walters theres the many volumes of the Blue Book of Airguns and those by D R Hughes plus a few more odds and sods.
Then theres the (early) editions of the airgun magazines including Sporting Air Rifle.

I cant see no line.

ATB
Ian

[Geezer]

I didn't realise you included arigun paraphernalia. For the classic rifles I, obviously, need classic scopes which need classic mounts which are, in my eyes, Apel.
Then theres the books. Apart from the four books by Walters theres the many volumes of the Blue Book of Airguns and those by D R Hughes plus a few more odds and sods.
Then theres the (early) editions of the airgun magazines including Sporting Air Rifle.

I cant see no line.

ATB
Ian

Yes, and Bruce, Thrale, Wesley, Hiller, WHB Smith, Darling, Shepherd, Marchington and our own DT Fletcher. And... well you get the picture.

Probably have 100+ old AGWs squirreled away around the place.

Have so far resisted the classic scope bug, but at some point I'm sure I'll be chasing after Optima Moonlighters and Tasco 2-7x32PAs.... :-)

[pjbingham]

Yes, it's the thin one that comes between Collecting and Hoarding. I seem to have been straddling it for years.
Mel.

I think I'm safe for a few years yet but I do have a weakness for anything Webley and pistol shaped and can't promise that it won't become a hoard in years to come :s

[Geezer]

I think I'm safe for a few years yet but I do have a weakness for anything Webley and pistol shaped and can't promise that it won't become a hoard in years to come :s

I have only owned one Webley pistol, a Typhoon in around 1979 (thanks, dad!), that my adolescent self swapped a few years later for an ASI/Gamo Paratrooper repeater. A deal that made perfect sense at the age of 15 or so.

I did not miss the Typhoon, and believe the Johnstone/Fearn Webley is objectively inferior to, say, the BSA Scorpion, Original 5, and various other contemporaries.

More recently, I have come to the conclusion that I would like a Typhoon, for nostalgia's sake. And a Hurricane. And maybe a slant-grip Mk1. And an A-series Premier. And a Senior. Perhaps a cheap Tempest. And, heck, a straight grip Mk1 to round it out. Not to mention a Mk11 target. Preferably in the original boxes.

I blame the BBS!

[Garvin]

Yes, and Bruce, Thrale, Wesley, Hiller, WHB Smith, Darling, Shepherd, Marchington and our own DT Fletcher. And... well you get the picture.

Probably have 100+ old AGWs squirreled away around the place.

Have so far resisted the classic scope bug, but at some point I'm sure I'll be chasing after Optima Moonlighters and Tasco 2-7x32PAs.... :-)

Agreed. And also let's not forget the massive contribution to vintage airguns of John Atkins , who keeps on churning out top quality articles month after month, year after year, decade after decade.

If you put them all together, they would add up to the biggest vintage airguns encyclopedia ever written!

And the articles are not all stuck in those dusty magazine volumes in the loft any more, thankfully. Strictly for my own personal use, I've been compiling collections on different subjects from just the last six years or so of Mr Atkins' articles that are downloadable as PDFs with an Air Gunner digital subscription, and they are superb works of scholarship.

It means that I can now 'reach' for, eg., a 43-page digital volume on the history of Oskar Will's Venus Waffenwerk. Who else is currently supplying this kind of scholarly reference work?

[Garvin]

There's two types of collecting: impulse collecting and collecting with a well defined purpose in mind, and I think most collectors are infected by both but to varying degrees. I don't think you can draw the line with impulse collecting - no one can pass up a bargain if you have the readies - but I think with directed collecting you might possibly reach your objective and then stop. For example, someone wanting to collect one example of every version of the Webley Junior air pistol could probably achieve this fairly readily.

I think my collecting history might be described as a self-contradictory "well-directed impulse". This in the sense that I have quite a well-defined purpose in mind while I'm collecting a particular genre or type of airgun, then impulse strikes and I'm off in a different direction! So I've gone from collecting match spring air rifles of the '50s, '60s and '70s, to prewar Webleys, to vintage BSAs, to 1950s Weihrauchs, to prewar Dianas, to match spring pistols of the 60s, 70s, and 80s, with quite a few other collectables catching my eye in between!

[pjbingham]

I have only owned one Webley pistol, a Typhoon in around 1979 (thanks, dad!), that my adolescent self swapped a few years later for an ASI/Gamo Paratrooper repeater. A deal that made perfect sense at the age of 15 or so.

I did not miss the Typhoon, and believe the Johnstone/Fearn Webley is objectively inferior to, say, the BSA Scorpion, Original 5, and various other contemporaries.

More recently, I have come to the conclusion that I would like a Typhoon, for nostalgia's sake. And a Hurricane. And maybe a slant-grip Mk1. And an A-series Premier. And a Senior. Perhaps a cheap Tempest. And, heck, a straight grip Mk1 to round it out. Not to mention a Mk11 target. Preferably in the original boxes.

I blame the BBS!

I think we all know those feelings,I would say go for it maybe starting with the Typhoon for old times sake. Personally I'm not out to collect every tiny Webley variation,that is a life commitment and study in itself but there are afew desires left, I've been looking for one of the early wood grip Webley Juniors for years....one day I will find one!

[ccdjg]

Agreed. And also let's not forget the massive contribution to vintage airguns of John Atkins , who keeps on churning out top quality articles month after month, year after year, decade after decade.

If you put them all together, they would add up to the biggest vintage airguns encyclopedia ever written!

I agree wholeheartedly. I have all John's articles from when he first started writing for Airgunner, as well as his earlier articles in Airgun World, and together they make the most detailed and broad coverage of anything related to airguns ever produced. Someday I plan to compile a detailed index for my own use, which would be invaluable as there is so much information spread over so many years that finding a specific item takes me hell of a long time!

[trevor1]

I have hum hem,compiled a three volume work by "his honour,JA" .Titled PRINCIPIA PNEUMATICA.
It would not be untrue to say I refer to this bible on a daily basis.
Now in my dotage-living at a retirement establishment,I take great comfort from the works of JA and JG. Most of my guns have gone and I'll never shoot a BB again but I'm still interested in odd airguns.Just bought a very nice Benjamin Model 710 at GUNBROKER. Check out it's dinky design.
There are no lines....just circles.

[Muskett]

I might be down to a few choice rifles but I have 200 plus Airgun and Airgunner mags, plus the annuals too. The mags cost me £25 (pick up only) and that includes first issues Few books too.
Funny how nothing changes in the magazines as still every rifle tested is great and every shot on a hunt is perfect. Still think .177 is best

[Geezer]

Given the recent advances in publishing on demand (shown for example I think by Steve Macgregor's Umarex book, which of course I bought), surely there is space for both John Atkins and John Milewski (and others) to get their works either in print or available on Kindle or similar?

Anyway, to return to the question, whatever you collect or accumulate, no, there is no hard line. I tried writing a list a while ago to control the accumulation, but stopped when the list of things to buy got longer than the list of things I owned. I had not known that an Original 45 SBS, FB Rekord Jumbo or Beeman C1 was on my want list before I started writing it down!

[Amac]

For me it is just about owning the guns I always aspired too but could never afford (like the rest of us then!) I don't have many compared to a "proper" collector, but the ones I now have are quality guns that I genuinely enjoy owning and shooting. The standard of engineering of something like an FWB 300 or 65 still impresses me no end. My own rule is, if I like a particular gun and I can afford it I will buy it. It might be something new or it might be a classic. I dont actually go out searching for a particular model, they seem to find me themselves!

Andy

[Abasmajor]

I believe that it's primarily collecting that is the addiction and air guns only represent the objects we have chosen to satisfy our craving. Like with all addictions, we kid ourselves that we can take it or leave it and stop at anytime without much effort. In reality, once we are in the' target rich' environment of an arms fair or auction we normally go home with something we didn't even know we needed !

I also believe there are two main groups of collector being those who gather static collections of usually very rare pieces and those who prefer slightly more common items that can be shot on a regular basis. I'm part of the second group and try to schedule the use of my old air guns so that I can appreciate the best features of the various designs. Having said that, I do have some very rare air pistols that I have only shot once to limit the risk of any breakages which might require the manufacture of replacement parts.

It's also a bit of a consolation that we preserve and enjoy some of these rarer air guns to pass to future collectors without any financial penalty as they are almost guaranteed to appreciate in value as time goes by,

Regards

Brian

[Muskett]

Think its time for a song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZk0RdzDrVs