I’m a late starter to airguns, albeit, I did buy a Webley Tempest in 1978 when I was 18 but I knew nothing about sight adjustment and hold etc. so as a result, couldn’t hit anything smaller than the shed door so kinda gave up.
In 2015 at the age of 55, living in London/Harrow and backing onto a park, we were pretty much infested with squirrels, some of whom decided to make our loft a home. They shat everywhere and chewed up cardboard storage boxes etc, I would get up in the middle of the night standing on the bed, banging the ceiling to try and stop the scratching and running about.
They would be in the garden pretty much all day and very bold and un-phased by human presence due to neighbours and park goers feeding ‘the cute little things’.
So, I bought a BB gun thinking that would do the trick and scare them off. Nah, no chance, I’d ping their arse at 10yds and they’d just look at me as if to say “try harder”. So, I did, I started googling airguns and did the “which is the best air rifle”. I was directed to The BBS on many occasion and after a lot of reading, decided (for me) I would get a HW77.
Off I went to Woodys of Wembley (where I bought the Tempest some 37 years previous).
I practiced shooting in the 20yd garden having learnt a lot from tinternet about hold sensitivity, scope adjustment etc.
Wasn’t long before I shot my first squirrel which I must be honest was quite a scary thing at the time. But, I was hooked with the whole airgun experience by then.
Bought the 77 in July 2015, joined BBS in the August and attended my first Boinger Bash in September.
Eight years on, I now own the airguns below this post, have removed hundreds of squirrels, rats, rabbits and other pests from permissions I’ve gained but most of all, I’ve met the most amiable, honest, like-minded group of people I’d ever wish to meet, a good number of whom will be life-long friends for sure.