Lessons learnt.

[where's it gone]

Having airguns for quite a few years, as many on this forum will have, what lessons have you learnt ?
Expensive guns often are the cream, does everything you want. But try to sell on for an acceptable price to you and you will find the exciting hobby of collecting ! (DVD's are a good example).
Quality always count.
Scopes come with a vast ray of gimmicks and accordingly, prices. The best scope is the one that you can see clearly through with the crosshairs or dot, on the target. Not the one where it zooms into so you could see two fly's on a cowpat three fields away. You'll probably keep a scope longer than the gun.
Pellets. Never presume that one make and variety will shoot the same in all guns. Unfortunately, you can easily become a collector of pellets as well ! Find the right pellet for the gun and then buy a few tins. Check for prices and buy because the price never goes down.
Storage is important. Not only consider security but the humidity.
There must be more lessons, what's yours ? ( and don't say mine's a pint, cheers )

[madcarlos]

Having airguns for quite a few years, as many on this forum will have, what lessons have you learnt ?
Expensive guns often are the cream, does everything you want. But try to sell on for an acceptable price to you and you will find the exciting hobby of collecting ! (DVD's are a good example).
Quality always count.
Scopes come with a vast ray of gimmicks and accordingly, prices. The best scope is the one that you can see clearly through with the crosshairs or dot, on the target. Not the one where it zooms into so you could see two fly's on a cowpat three fields away. You'll probably keep a scope longer than the gun.
Pellets. Never presume that one make and variety will shoot the same in all guns. Unfortunately, you can easily become a collector of pellets as well ! Find the right pellet for the gun and then buy a few tins. Check for prices and buy because the price never goes down.
Storage is important. Not only consider security but the humidity.
There must be more lessons, what's yours ? ( and don't say mine's a pint, cheers )

One think I did learn from a early age was that speaking to a old chap in the early 80s when people started to modify or tune air rifles was that the main thing is to keep them clean, polish the internals and lube them properly.

[Unframed Dave]

Keep your mousetraps baited in the gun room.

Dave

[averageplinker]

The main thing I have learned is never, ever, ever accept a kind offer to try fellow club members rifle/pistol. Especially if it is expensive or rare/hard to find. Because you are going to want one.

I learnt this when having a go with a Daystate CRX years ago. Fell into the same trap with a HW44 pistol more recently. I really want both now.

[laverdabru]

When I returned, forgotten some of the basics e.g.

Follow through

Relaxed, consistent hold

Also;

Guns like exercise, a long term loft find will often need stripping/cleaning before use

Don't lend a BSA Gold Star underlever repeater to someone who thinks it's a Winchester

99% blueing can also mean '99% is missing'

Use the appropriate oils, & be careful with wonderlubes.

Beware of buying a gun photographed from only one side/angle

If your partner is not overly curious, you can double your collection by having examples in 2 calibres (or more, if they're in .20/.25)

Some RFD's don't know, or care, very much about airguns/spares.

[Mr. Gen]

Never strip a gun unless you are going to repair/work on it and rebuild it same day.

That's how a massive collection of spare parts and odd stocks is started

[Shed tuner]

Never strip a gun unless you are going to repair/work on it and rebuild it same day.

That's how a massive collection of spare parts and odd stocks is started

lol... you too ?

Zip lock bags are invaluable for keeping spares all together, with the gun written in big letters on the bag !


My lesson learned ? That there is very little correlation between price and entertainment value !

[evert]

Having airguns for quite a few years, as many on this forum will have, what lessons have you learnt ?

From a tinkerers perspective:
Barrel quality is important, too many springers are tight at the breech, and you end up with a gun that is impossible to get good performance from
Many airguns have their breech tapers cut too deep or loose at the factory
Converting from leather seal to modern seals isnt always a good idea
Muzzle heavy guns are preferred for accurate shooting
Old guns with hyped reputations arent always as good as people want them to be (I own three FWB sports, but still struggle to like them)
Shiny finish and high price does not automatically mean a gun is a good shooter
Nothing really new has happened with springers since the 80's

I like my Dianas to be made before 1985, my HWs to be made after 1980, and my Webleys and BSAs to be made before 2000.

[where's it gone]

Keep your mousetraps baited in the gun room.

Dave

I did sell a Fenman to a work colleague once. His wife didn't like guns full stop so he keep it in his shed/mancave. After a while he said do I want to buy it back. I agreed a price, to my advantage, and said bring it in when we were both working the weekend. He brought it in and to my dismay, keeping it in the shed had given the gun an even coat of rust and, the mice has chewed a nice hole in the wool fleeced lined gun bag. I didn't buy it.

[Hunkyfunkymunky]

When I was in the process of doing my exams at school (16 years old in 1977), I had time off to "cram" for the tests, I already had a job lined up and the results I got, never affected my future employment. I had an HW35 at the time with a Kassnar 2.5x40 scope on top and was at the tip, shooting rats when an old guy happened along and we started talking, we sat on a log and chatted for a while, he told me tales of his youth and the fun he had with air rifles, shotguns and eventually rifles. We became good friends and I felt a huge loss when he died a few years later in 1980, aged 87 and I always remember what he told me, "pay three times for your scope, than you do for the rifle".
I never got to know what guns he had, but I would hazard a guess that he'll have had some "good stuff" based on what he told me, I would love to have known what was in his collection and which scopes he had, maybe Zeiss, Bauch and Lomb, Schmidt & Bender, I'll never know, but I'll forever remember him, he was "a very wise old sage".

[Phil Russell]

A few:
Never underestimate the strength and pre-load of a mainspring.
Never dismantle a gun somewhere where a dropped part will disappear forever.
Keep a stock of replacement bits and bobs. Most ball bearing used are standard bicycle sizes.
Never assume a previous owner put it back together correctly.
Make notes on the take-apart sequence.
Sometimes an old gunged up leather piston seal is better than the new one you make; at least for a while.
Advice to a person new to repairs / service: NEVER be tempted to clamp any part of the action in a metal working vice or with mole grips without adequate protection e.g thick leather or rubber sheet. YOU WILL mark the action.
Be adventurous if you need to. It is quite easy to heat blue small nuts and bolts. But please do not use self tapping screws unless the gun was fitted with them from new (??)
Wherever possible, read a 'strip guide' before starting in order to prepare yourself.

And maybe finally: have fun and enjoy it. I find fiddling with old / under preforming guns quite satisfying.

And, away from the maintenance angle: Do not believe everyone who tells you 'You absolutely must get one of these / spend this much on a scope / send the gun to XYZ for an amazing tune, you must use pellet X with head size Z, after all it works well for me, etc. In all these cases, think carefully, do your research and do what you think is right for you. Try suggestions before leaping in at the deep end.
Cheers, Phil

[evert]

I forgot one:
Get a Webley Vulcan

[angrybear]

Don't be afraid to ask, someone will know,
But, equally don't assume everything you're told is correct,
particularly true of youtube "how to" vid's, watch several because some are highly suspect.

It doesn't matter how many people tell you a TX is great, if you don't like it, don't buy it. (same for any other rifle).
As above for scopes.
Bag & label parts, you will forget what they are & the order they fit in.

Don't believe the hype, check for yourself.

[Craig-P]

Don’t store your Razzle collection in your gun cabinet(s).

[Shed tuner]

Don’t store your Razzle collection in your gun cabinet(s).

Handy if you need to go shoot one off