Average age of collectors

[Garvin]

Peter looking at the Kempton pics, it strikes me that most collectors are 60+. Would you agree?

I wonder how we can get younger people involved in the hobby? One idea is to have a heavily subsidised table at the fairs where we all (well, those of us that can anyway) either donate a vintage airgun or pay, say, £30 towards a table exclusively for under 25s (or under 30s, maybe gun club members only? They would have to prove it, and one each of course!).

This would only happen once. The guns would be sold at a massive discount, say for £20 each, with all proceeds to Macmillan, and the buyers would have to sign a pledge that they wouldn't sell the guns on for two years.

The idea is obviously to 'pump prime' a younger cohort of collectors...

This is just an idea. Off the top of my head, probably hare-brained. Please shoot it down!

Here's a poll I did years ago:

http://www.airgunbbs.com/showthread.php?701279

[frakor]

As beiing one of the average 60+ collectors , my thoughts are most of the younger people are only interested in "toys" with wifi or bluetooth.


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Frank

[Garvin]

As beiing one of the average 60+ collectors , my thoughts are most of the younger people are only interested in "toys" with wifi or bluetooth.


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Frank

Yes Frank. It's clearly a tall order to pull their attention away from their devices. Maybe focusing our attention on those who already like shooting would help?

[Josie & John]

AT 54, Danny's comments make me feel young. Thanks mate!!!

John

[Steve Zodiac]

I always think ....



Are we the last generation ?

[ptdunk]

I’ve just turned 47, so quite a youngster in the collecting demographic it seems.

One of the reasons I’ve been making YouTube vids on vintage airguns is to hopefully introduce some younger Airgunners to the joy of collections and shooting these lovely old time machines.

Anything to bring them into the world would get my support.

Discount table is a nice idea, and might attract people to Kempton who otherwise wouldn’t attend.


Once they get the bug that’s it......
Matt

[Shed tuner]

Matt, you and me both under 50 are ths kids around here... Walking around Sandown the other day, it felt like an old folks home

[gingernut]

They are not keen on airguns in Old Folks Homes.

Baz and I have tried to find one that will have us and a few toys.

No luck so far.

Another project for Binners Enterprises ?

[frakor]

Yes Frank. It's clearly a tall order to pull their attention away from their devices. Maybe focusing our attention on those who already like shooting would help?

Danny, I have helped getting youngsters to start shooting at our local shooting club, with succes!
But our laws are very strickt about shooting or owning a airgun when you are under 18 years old .
This means they have to be superviced by an adult when traveling with a airgun to the club.
Most gun clubs in this region do allmost nothing to encourage young people to join, they are to bussy obeying all the rules to comply with the rules about owning/shooting firearms.
Most of them have only 1 or 2 old airguns to let some one start shooting and that kills the fun rapidly.

When I was 10 years old me and my friends walked to the local skip with our airguns to shoot some rats and passed a local police officer, who said "be carefull boys" and that was it!
Doing that this day and age would get a armed responce team on your case in no time!

The governement (in The Netherlands) is doing everything they can to discourage posession of airguns/firearms or whatever they think of as a weapon.

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Frank

[duomatic410]

At 85 I feel positively old, but still manage a shot most days be it out of the garage or at the farm.
Long may I continue.👍😊🇬🇧

[Steve Zodiac]

At 85 I feel positively old, but still manage a shot most days be it out of the garage or at the farm.
Long may I continue.👍😊🇬🇧

Daddy ...

[Jerry Cornelius]

Danny, I have helped getting youngsters to start shooting at our local shooting club, with succes!
But our laws are very strickt about shooting or owning a airgun when you are under 18 years old .
This means they have to be superviced by an adult when traveling with a airgun to the club.
Most gun clubs in this region do allmost nothing to encourage young people to join, they are to bussy obeying all the rules to comply with the rules about owning/shooting firearms.
Most of them have only 1 or 2 old airguns to let some one start shooting and that kills the fun rapidly.

When I was 10 years old me and my friends walked to the local skip with our airguns to shoot some rats and passed a local police officer, who said "be carefull boys" and that was it!
Doing that this day and age would get a armed responce team on your case in no time!

The governement (in The Netherlands) is doing everything they can to discourage posession of airguns/firearms or whatever they think of as a weapon.

======================
Frank

Sadly it is much the same story here and much of what I did as a child would get you done for armed trespass now.

Over time it will inevitably reduce the number of people who have any familiarity with any sort of gun, and so increase the people who think any gun must be bad

I think collecting has always tended to be an older persons thing though so I wouldn’t worry unduly about the venerable demographic at Sandown.

[ptdunk]

Matt, you and me both under 50 are ths kids around here... Walking around Sandown the other day, it felt like an old folks home

Don’t worry Jon, we’ll be the proper airgun oldies one day

I do think that gaining an appreciation of the history of certain things is maybe something you start to do more as you get older?

The thing that hooked me into vintage airguns was the first realisation that they are actually pretty accurate. That was definitely something that surprised me with our first vintage rifles of a pre war Diana 27 and FWB 124.

Matt

[Thegreg]

I’m 32 and have been collecting old airguns since I was about 16. It’s just become apparent I was only 17 when I joined this forum(!).

Maybe it has to be accepted that it’s quite a rare hobby in the first place, even more so by a ‘younger’ person? I have plenty of mates my own age (and younger) that own guns and shoot, but I’m certainly the only one of us that owns 40+ old air rifles.

I’m sure there’d be plenty of younger people that would buy an old airgun for £20, but I don’t think it’d artificially kickstart a desire to collect them, that’s just an oddity that makes collectors ‘collect’ isn’t it?!

Cheers
Greg

[micky2]

Good idear Danny, but first of all you have to get them through the door. l think we have to rely on fathers and grandfathers to get them into shooting.
but it was my son aged 13 who got me into airgun collecting, when he asked me if he could have a airgun as the lad next door had one. it rekindled my memory of enjoyable times shooting. and l wanted to find the guns l used to own. l was lucky to find them in our local gun shop and l was hooked.