100% the case with me too.
Back "in the day", had Airgun World not been launched, I wouldn't dare to think how things may have turned out for me........
By the age of about 12 I wanted an airgun, but knew virtually nothing about them. There were some of the oiky lads who hung about on the canal side where I fished who used Webley Premiers and the like to shoot rats. Although my dad used a 12 bore (and I was his appointed rabbit carrier), all the grown ups I met and asked knew nothing about airguns and just regarded them as pointless toys. I did finally manage to find a few references in Exchange and Mart and The Shooting Times carried adverts for (I seem to remember) the Webley Hawk. I later then saw them for sale in various home shopping catalogues.
So the launch of Airgun World was most certainly a life altering and enrichening event for me. And, indeed, I believe for the airgunning world in general. At last, airguns were to be taken seriously and this new found enthusiasm helped drive development, especially once FT arrived. Prior to this I guess that the German market will have been strong for lower powered target weapons. The US market would have been awash with junior plinkers to launch shooting careers, with the exception of some rifles like the Sheridans. I'd say that their interest in "adult, precision airguns" was a spin-off from the surge in interest and knowledge from the UK and Dr Beeman drove this?
So I think we're greatly indebted to those pioneers of the airgun press of the late seventies.
Now, to rest on their laurels would have been so easy but I also believe that the Archant publications are top quality items, catering for many tastes and I await them dropping through the letter box each month with as much enthusiasm as I ever did.