Hello from Hampshire

[Joejack]

Just to say Hi to you all,and give a potted history of my involvment in shooting, I'm an old hand at shooting, well at 71 I'm an old hand to most things, I had the usual airguns as a youngster a Diana rifle and I bought a Gat when I was 13 with my paper round money, I still have the Gat today, I joined the local gun club in 1984 and soon got into smallbore and fullbore handgun competition shooting mainly Police and Service Pistol and Practical Pistol diciplines, and I loved every minute of it, also reloaded my own ammuntion in verious calibres, I had a modest collection of handguns and a couple of rifles untill 1997 when handguns were banned, I carried on shooting rifle for a short time but the appeal had gone for me and I gave up shooting, I got back into shooting in 2007 using long barrelled pistol and a Winchester Mod 94AE lever action, but the local club had long gone so it meant a trip of nearly 50 miles to the nearest club/range, this got tiresome after a couple of years so I reluctantly gave up again the worst part being selling my Winchester, then after retiring in 2010 a friend let me try his pcp rifle I could not believe how air guns had advanced and soon became hooked and now have a collection of air/c02 and pcp pistols and rifles and have set up a modest 6metre range in my garage and another in my "den" where I shoot most days, well I hope I havn't bored you all too much and look forward to reading your shooting comments.
Joe.

[TonyL]

Hi Joe and a very warm welcome to you.

Lovely little history, sir, and so sorry to hear you were a victim of those ill thought-out laws.

But great to hear that airguns have re-ignited your passion for shooting. And with that added flexibility of suitability for home use.


I think a Boinger or two wouldn't go amiss though, y'know!

Enjoy!

Tone.

[andrewM]

May I also welcome you on board and I echo Tone's sentiments.

Do look at the 'Collectable guns' part of the website: many folk on there who have returned to air rifle shooting after a long break - or no break at all - and are discussing guns that are now collectable items and quite valuable in some instances.

If you have any questions, put them to the site and you will find much expert advice - albeit not from me, I fear!

Kind rgds
Andrew.

[rabbitwrecker]

Hi Joe...

[REDBULL]

Hi Joe.

If you would like to join a club that welcomes all types of shooters, that is not far from you, try looking up Meon Valley Airgun Club.
We are a friendly bunch of enthusiasts with some fantastic shooting facilities.

Alan

[bozzer]

Welcome Joe.

Thank you for a splendid introduction.

Enjoy the ride.

Col

[Jonjon79]

Welcome aboard Joe

[Joejack]

Well thank you all for the warm welcome, I look forward to getting to know everyone, once I get used to the forum and can find my way around the various sections etc.
I do have a couple of Boingers , a Birmingham .22 Webley Tempest I bought and refurbished around 5 years ago, and a .177 Gamo Deltamatic rifle that I bought back in 1982, and I certainly be looking into the Meon Valley airgun club.

just for interest I thought I would list my collection.

Colt saa nickel pellet, Colt saa blued pellet, Walther CP88 the old shiny one, Beretta FS92 stainless, Dan Wesson 715 pellet, S&W 586, Gamo PR-45,
Webley Tempest, Gat chrome finish, AirArms s410 .22 rifle, Walther "Winchester", Gamo Deltamatic .177, Crosman 1077.

Joe

[Lloyd57]

Hi Joe and welcome on board.
Lloyd

[happydad]

HI Joe, and welcome

Just to reiterate what 'Alan' had posted about "Meon Valley Airgun Club", we have quite a few senior statesmen amongst our ranks and there is quite a mix of different air rifles and pistol's used, from very old to very modern.

Our members are spread across Hampshire and quite a few are very local to you.

We have a club house with a 33y indoor range and we are in the middle of building a 55y outdoor range, we are also very fortunate to have two woods that we use to shoot HFT & FT in, Hen Woods we use almost every Sunday throughout the year and Wallop woods is used Wednesday evenings during the summer.

More details can be found on our web page www.mvac.co.uk

If you are more interested in bench rest and 10m shooting then you are in luck as there are a number of clubs very local to you.

http://www.farehamrpc.co.uk
http://www.wickham-drc.co.uk
http://www.havant-rpc.co.uk
http://www.sbftc.co.uk

Just a few for you to take a look at

Great fun shooting in you back garden but, a lot more fun can be had when shooting with like minded shooters and with your years of experience, it would be a shame not to share that wisdom with others

ATB
Mike

[Joejack]

Thanks for that Mike, It's been twenty years since I belonged to a shooting club where I was deputy captain, and a NRA qualified RCO,
it's a bit daunting thinking about joining a club after all that time, but I'll give it some thought.

Joe

[RobF]

A club map is here

There's some paper punching clubs and all sorts on there.

[barrel]

What a great introduction Jo, a warm welcome to this fine forum mate.

Kindest regards

Barrel

[happydad]

Thanks for that Mike, It's been twenty years since I belonged to a shooting club where I was deputy captain, and a NRA qualified RCO,
it's a bit daunting thinking about joining a club after all that time, but I'll give it some thought.

Joe

Hi Joe,

Maybe Meon could be just what you need, Wednesday nights is club night, very relaxed and easy going, you don't even need to shoot, sometimes is nice just to sit and chat, everything is at your pace.

You are more than welcome to come along and have a look see and get a feel for the place.

If you go on our web page there is a link to our excellent Book page (you don't need to join FB to read the page) where you will get to see what we get up to

if you need anymore info just ask away, I'm more than happy to help.

ATB
Mike

[deejayuu]

Hello Joe. Great bio'.