What got you into airguns ?

[where's it gone]

As I reached 66 yesterday and it's been 50 years ago since my dad died on my birthday, what got you into airguns?
As we had a large back garden, Dad grew veg and kept a few chickens. I'm pretty sure it was a BSA Meteor, for pest control, rats, but as far as I can remember, we always had a cat, black or black and white. Dad used to pin a paper target on the coal shed door and we played target shooting with darts, no rebounds! Dad's favorite trick shot was to place a playing card in a slot of the butted wooden door and hit the edge. Try it, it is not as difficult as it seems if you keep both eyes open
I bought my own air rifle, I think around when I was 12ish, a Webley Jaguar. At senior school, in metalwork class, the teacher kept a Webley pistol which a few of us made a target holder and a spinning target. We had great times in his class as it often led to shooting during and after lessons. The next gun I had was the Relum Tornado and, as they say, the rest is history.

[angrybear]

Shooting rabbits with a shotgun is too easy, so I got an airgun to make it more sporting.

[laverdabru]

Good question. Late '60/early '70's borrowing my big bro's tin grip Junior, & walking round the Somerset countryside with my mate & his Gat. Later moved on to a '50's Diana 27 from 'Secondhand Joes'. For my 15th got a newish Hawk Mk 2 with both barrels. Nearly got put off by this, not only was it chronically unreliable & unsafe, but my weekend walks with my bro consisted of him setting up a paper target & us taking 10 shots alternately. I'd have rather just plinked at cans & stuff, as I did on my friends farm.
Although I've often gone years without shooting, I've usually had one in my possession. When Colin died, I bought a Webley Mk 3 in his memory - he'd always raved about them, but never bought one for some reason. A workmate gave me his late dad's Junior rifle around the same time. Those were the nucleus of my small collection below.

Bru

[brian747]

Born in a farmhouse , i had my 1st air gun at 8yrs old ,
a small b/b diana.177 with wasp.177 pellets shot 1000,s of rabbits with that airgun,
been shooting on and off ever since.
atb brian

[Muskett]

Hunting is in my genetics, like most people. An air rifle was a natural progression from a catapult. It helped I lived in a rural environment.
My marksmanship was helped as my school has a 25m small bore range and a Shooting Maths Teacher; I got good at both maths and shooting from the age of 10.

[STR8SHOOT3R]

Airguns were just something that everyone seemed to do in the 80s. My school also had an active CCF with it's own armory and we got to use the 25m range at the local TA centre.

[Trumpetier]

I was just attracted to them in about 1980, the rest is history