Average age of collectors

[Garvin]

People not really engaging with the substance of this thread for the most part...

Oh well, let's just wait and see what the future brings...! Que sera sera and all that.

[KP-R]

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

Frank, my girls 8 and 10 have a gadget once a week if they are good, TV more when the wife and i have inportant stuff to get on with in and around the house... However recently I have introduced them both to the world of air guns. All i have to do is mention shooting and they are both there. Starting them off on a very small .177 Diana air rifle that i was brought up shooting at the age of five.
Only thing i need now is a bank loan for all the pellets the 8 year old shoots, 500 in one session last time we shot, she loves it and is a pretty good shot too

[Binners]

People not really engaging with the substance of this thread for the most part...

Oh well, let's just wait and see what the future brings...! Que sera sera and all that.

Whoops! I went a bit of track too
Going by the people attending the Fairs, I would say average age to be around 50.

[madcarlos]

I'm 53 and look out for springers from when I was a lad , Mostly have jackals, crossman, early HW and some webley etc , Its what I remember from a lad, You dont see many young lad going around now and the odd occasion you do they will get abuse from older people, Right or wrong if any lad and I mean of age carry a gun case over thier shoulder will be met with some kind of abuse from older people,

[frakor]

Whoops! I went a bit of track too
Going by the people attending the Fairs, I would say average age to be around 50.

Peter, Danny stated in his first post, most people LOOKED over 60 .....

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Frank

[SRV1]

Mmmm....I am on the wrong side of 70 and each day is another day closer to death. But, cheer up, I try to live each day as if it is the last and bloody go for it, whatever it is.....Air rifles, motorcycles, music and guitars, watercolour painting......My children and grandchildren are not interested one bit and will probably have arthritic thumbs by the time they are 30 on those minute smartphone keyboards. They will also need to have them surgically removed from their ears and will need counselling for depression after removal for a day without the device. A good idea about the stall, if I have botox I wonder if I can get a look in and a bargain?

All the best....

[o2bmark]

Over 60 and look over 60
My sons are on their own and know how to shoot but are not really shooters or knowledgeable of the underlying principles and science. The one in Los Angeles recently requested a skeet shotgun which I joyously provided. Among liberals shooting is “edgy” (should be normal). Anyway at my age I’m beginning to distribute my collection rather than add to it. My focus is shifting to the guns I actually shoot. I do occasionally backslide. The point is that most of our collections will be sold off for pennies on the dollar by our widows since so many of our children have no appreciation of the things we cherish.

[Abasmajor]

There are a lot of relatively younger air gun shooters out there, so hopefully some will start collecting older guns from their youth just as earlier generations have done. The club I shoot at which includes the use of both firearms and air guns have been trying to recruit younger shooters for years, but unfortunately the number of hoops newcomers need to go through to fully partake in the sport is just too daunting.

Brian

[guitardan]

I'm 62, just back into airguns this year, last time was about 1977.
I bought an Hw45, then decided I would get the pistols and rifles I admired but coukd never afford in the 70s. To date webley junior mk2, tempest, hurricane, bsa airsporter, meteor, still want a BSA Scorpion pistol and Mercury rifle.
One rifle and one pistol was enough back in the 70s...not quite sure what changed so that I "need/want/lust" after all these others now..

[ptdunk]

People not really engaging with the substance of this thread for the most part...

Collecting airguns can be an expensive hobby, speaking for myself it’s only been a bit of middle aged disposable income that makes it possible, never could have afforded it when I was younger.
That said it’s possible a ‘discount collectible’ table at Kempton might just get youngsters hooked on something they otherwise couldn’t afford to continue with? It is a nice idea though, and if it does happen I’ll be happy to contribute something.

I’m a member of a few clubs and there are no youngsters at any of them apart from a couple of dads who might bring their son along. A mate has got his two daughters into shooting at home, one 6 and one 9.

When I grew up as a kid in the 80’s you could shoot airguns happily in your garden, some waste ground or even over the park. Didn’t even know clubs existed till I got back into it as a middle aged man.

I agree if more youngsters were into modern Airgun shooting they might become the collectors of the future.
And it doesn’t necessarily follow they’d be interested in what they couldn’t afford in their youth, most of my collection is from way before I was even born.

I agree it would be great if we could think of some ways to encourage the next lot.

Cheers,
Matt

[Geezer]

I suspect that most people (men) go through a cycle, that is a bit like this:

- kid’s stuff;
- adolescent stuff (e.g. airguns);
- young adult stuff: sex, drink, parties;
- twenties: work, serious or semi-serious relationships, rent; and more of the above;
- late twenties/early thirties: marriage, mortgages, kids;
- more of the same;
- mid-life stuff, more disposable income, getting more into hobbies;
- optional mid-life crisis/divorce, etc;
- at some point, kids leave home;
- semi-retirement or retirement; much more time for hobbies.

I am sure we could have the same discussion and see the same trend about almost any hobby. Cars, bikes, stamp collecting, Airfix models, bellringing, chainsaw sculpture, knitting, whatever.

[walnutfarmmick]

Whoops! I went a bit of track too
Going by the people attending the Fairs, I would say average age to be around 50.

I wish I could have made it, Pete. That would have raised the average.

When a mate went to live in France the joke was that the IQ of both countries rose.

He didn't think it was that funny.

Congratulations on your latest successful event, Mick

[jirushi]

I am 32.
Most of my friends enjoy seeing my "old" airguns but prefer the modern stuff.
I had an FX Bobcat. Very modern. Lots of fun. But no character. No story. For me, at least.

[Garvin]

Collecting airguns can be an expensive hobby, speaking for myself it’s only been a bit of middle aged disposable income that makes it possible, never could have afforded it when I was younger.
That said it’s possible a ‘discount collectible’ table at Kempton might just get youngsters hooked on something they otherwise couldn’t afford to continue with? It is a nice idea though, and if it does happen I’ll be happy to contribute something.

I’m a member of a few clubs and there are no youngsters at any of them apart from a couple of dads who might bring their son along. A mate has got his two daughters into shooting at home, one 6 and one 9.

When I grew up as a kid in the 80’s you could shoot airguns happily in your garden, some waste ground or even over the park. Didn’t even know clubs existed till I got back into it as a middle aged man.

I agree if more youngsters were into modern Airgun shooting they might become the collectors of the future.
And it doesn’t necessarily follow they’d be interested in what they couldn’t afford in their youth, most of my collection is from way before I was even born.

I agree it would be great if we could think of some ways to encourage the next lot.

Cheers,
Matt

Excellent, Matt, thank you. I agree, vintage airguns are more affordable now I have a bit of disposable income. When I was young it was a huge struggle to raise the sums needed. Not least because the sources of collectable guns were so much fewer then. Being able to write a quick forum post or make a few clicks to purchase a vintage airgun still seems ridiculously easy!

I am sure we could have the same discussion and see the same trend about almost any hobby. Cars, bikes, stamp collecting, Airfix models, bellringing, chainsaw sculpture, knitting, whatever.

I agree that the path many of us have followed/are following is more or less as you describe it, although there are definitely some people who manage to maintain their interest more consistently throughout their lives (like Trev in New Zealand).

But I don't agree with your last sentence. I think guns and shooting are different in having a well-heeled lobby trying to make them off-limits and who are gradually tightening the noose, making collecting vintage guns or airguns less attractive all the time and encouraging people to steer towards less controversial hobbies. Which means we may have to take steps to actively counter this trend and make sure that younger people have the memories hard-wired in their brains so when they do return, wealthier, in later life, it's vintage airguns they want.

If we don't, future generations will steer towards 'easier' collectables - smart phones, tablets, computer games and the like.

[Geezer]

I don’t disagree with that, Danny. The change in public attitudes, except in some rural places, over the years is saddening.

When I was a kid in a small village in Suffolk, if someone found out you owned an airgun, the usual reaction was to ask to see it, and could they have a go, and was it any good.

These days, they’d be more likely to think you were a psycho, accuse you of shooting cats and swans, or just call the police.