AirGun World memorabilia

[Terry D]

i dont want to knock what agw does now as i know the contributors and editor mean well to keep everyone content but i cant help hankering after the old 1990 editions. jim and carl hunting article phil bulmer adam smith james marchington, jon paris test reports and collectable section.

Matt, do me a favour and study those 1990 issues side-by-side with the Airgun World of today. Compare the quality of the photos, the paper, the number and size of the editorial pages, and the variety of subject matter. You say you like detail? There's no feature in any shooting mag' that does into more detail than our Technical Airgun section.

Jim Tyler told me a while ago that Airgun World is everything he wanted Sporting Air Rifle to become, and from one editor to another, that's about as good as it gets. Please do that comparison and get back to me - and that goes for anyone else - I'd be interested in your thoughts.

All the best.

[Mattatack]

yeah ok terry i'll do a short comparision when i get a min. incidently sorry i forgot to mention your old ft comment and test articles in the 90's agw which i must have read over and over and again in recent times hiding in my garage avoiding any work that needs doing. one thing for a start is that the old mags despite being well cared for have started to fall apart so hopefully the latest ones will last a fair bit longer.

[I. J.]

I remember the issue of AGW which came with a free sample of Prometheus (sp) on the front! Ooops.

ATB
Ian

[BSFNUT]

I remember the issue of AGW which came with a free sample of Prometheus (sp) on the front! Ooops.

ATB
Ian

I still have mine with the said pellet sample 'virgo intacto' ( I have 13 issues for that year - May 1989 ) how much is that worth ? - they were swiftly withdrawn - the editor should have got the boot earlier than he did

[clarky]

I also much prefered the old Airgun Worlds but would go even further back than the 90s. The qaint hunting articles with simpler guns was a real joy and very little PC around to blight things. Heck, how i hate PC.
I agree with Terry that the modern version is very high quality, with much better photography. I also noticed recently that the mass of advertising that blighted the late 90s magazines has been reduced back to virtually nothing. That has to be creditted.
I just opened an early 2000 edition here, with no less than 18 pages of adverts in it. It was the the point where i stopped my purchase, prefering to hand select an article in Smiths.
The magazine does look to be in a lot better shape now and i made purchases of both the Dec and Jan editions for reading over the xmas period.
I think there is possibly room for 2 very different mags really.
The magazine from around 2000 has had a greater emphassis on high end tackle and field target stuff. The equipment is super good for this type of shooting but if your not into being strapped into a gizmo with a 2ft scope on board (complete with shooting cushion) it might not be your bag. Thus a magazine with this emphassis for those who enjoy that but one for classic Springers and pistols, with simple hunting articles.

Its interesting that we have lost sight of the old classic, sleek sporters with a simple 4x32 or 40 scope which everyone loved but all fell into the trend for gigantic stocked strap ons with wind detectors and anodized blue paint jobs. What real field shooting is all about is classic simple lines and ease of carry just like sleek full bore firearms. or fine shotguns which never followed the gawky trend of the Airgun industry just to put the cheeks closer to the scope. It looks like im right too, with the latest Daystate sporter leading the field, everybody picking the thing up in Sportings guns yesterday, loving the simple sleek lines.
You can raise your head a little on the cheek piece and have a gun with beautiful lines, just like what full bore shooters have done for 100 years!
Just a thought for the manufacturers there.

[Terry D]

What real field shooting is all about is classic simple lines and ease of carry just like sleek full bore firearms. or fine shotguns which never followed the gawky trend of the Airgun industry just to put the cheeks closer to the scope.

Fullbore rifles and shotguns don't follow air rifle trends because they are completely different devices, with equally different ways of going about their business.

Hunting with an air rifle is primarily about placing the pellet with target standard accuracy, and all other considerations should be prioritised below this, in my opinion at least. If it takes features that owe a debt to target rifles, then so be it. If the degree of control required for precision shooting can be incorporated while retaining traditional sporting lines, then that's fine too.

The same goes for scopes. I did OK with my 4 x 40 many years ago, but I know a higher spec scope helps me to be a better shooter, so that's what I use.

Make no mistake, though, a hunting air rifle is more about what it does in the field than how it looks or how convenient it is to carry.

[maximus]

Fullbore rifles and shotguns don't follow air rifle trends because they are completely different devices, with equally different ways of going about their business.

Hunting with an air rifle is primarily about placing the pellet with target standard accuracy, and all other considerations should be prioritised below this, in my opinion at least. If it takes features that owe a debt to target rifles, then so be it. If the degree of control required for precision shooting can be incorporated while retaining traditional sporting lines, then that's fine too.

The same goes for scopes. I did OK with my 4 x 40 many years ago, but I know a higher spec scope helps me to be a better shooter, so that's what I use.

Make no mistake, though, a hunting air rifle is more about what it does in the field than how it looks or how convenient it is to carry.

Having your cheek in the correct place on a shotgun has always been critical to achieving accuracey. It frustrates me how low in the comb many air rifles are when it comes to lining up with scopes, especially on guns that will never have open sights fitted. Its one of the things that Theoben seemed to be more in tune with than most manufacturers, or maybe Custom stock sorted it for them as their own stocks also have much better ergonomics than most.

[tonyn]

Matt, do me a favour and study those 1990 issues side-by-side with the Airgun World of today. Compare the quality of the photos, the paper, the number and size of the editorial pages, and the variety of subject matter. You say you like detail? There's no feature in any shooting mag' that does into more detail than our Technical Airgun section.

Jim Tyler told me a while ago that Airgun World is everything he wanted Sporting Air Rifle to become, and from one editor to another, that's about as good as it gets. Please do that comparison and get back to me - and that goes for anyone else - I'd be interested in your thoughts.

All the best.

I have just done exactly this terry,
I have a 1987 issue of airgun world (it my fav cos theres a pic of me in it with a trophy at macclesfields first open ft shoot )
anyways What you have said about the early issues is spot on .quality of paper, print, content is much much inferior compared to what we are getting today ,also much fewer pages
bang for buck theres no comparison.

I do though miss Arthur Shepard explaining how a pellet sounds whilst hitting vermin , THWACK , BLAT , SMACK , CRUNCH , POW , BIFF


http://i575.photobucket.com/albums/s...cclesfield.jpg

[Terry D]

I do though miss Arthur Shepard explaining how a pellet sounds whilst hitting vermin , THWACK , BLAT , SMACK , CRUNCH , POW , BIFF

What, no 'THOCK!'?

[tonyn]

oops i forgot the thock , which if i remember correctly was the sound of a .22 wasp striking big ears

[p.m.h]

This was my first ever Airgun World, from 1978:-



I still have it to this day and like looking through it.

Things did seem much less complicated back then.

I know we all have an occasional moan, expressing our opinions of how it could be better, but there is something magical about AW, and an awful lot of work does go into each issue.

I was honoured, and still am, to have had an article published.

So, if you feel it could be improved upon, get your keyboards out and give it a go.

Kind regards,



Phil

[Neil.]

http://www.airgunbbs.com/showthread....haley-Crossman

[London177]

Hello everyone,
I've quite a few airgun magazines dating back to the early 1980's. Although the quality of printing was inferior to today's mag's the content was much much better. I can read good airgun reviews and quite often a review told you the truth about an airgun: It was not very good!
Where can you read a bad review of an airgun today? Hardly ever. My local gunshop is stuffed full of poor quality airguns. Publishers make money on advertising and not circulation. I bought a copy of the 2013 Airgun World 2013 Buyers Guide last week. A waste of time. It just re-prints the advertising blurb from the maker/distributor. No real info' at all. It because of this approach that I rarely buy airgun related mag's. The same goes for motorcycling. Journo's are more akin to salesmen than bringers of useful reviews and news.
Just my tuppence worth......
Alan

[DaveC]

I still got my first issue of Air Gun World, in fact it's right in front of me, I love looking back through the old ones.

I have the first 5 years of AGW, starting at the first ever issue, Issue 1 - Volume 1 - August 1977 - 35p

Its falling apart mind you, been read so many times now.

I even have some of the Air Gun World Annual from 1983


Oh, the memories.....

[where's it gone]

.. do me a favour and study those 1990 issues s Please do that comparison and get back to me - and that goes for anyone else - I'd be interested in your thoughts. .

The font was bigger and darker, making it slightly easier on the eye.