First Airguns.

[Maple]

I wasn't allowed one.

Dave

Neither was I but my cousin had a BSA Merlin which we shot until it's relatively quick death.
When I was old enough to start collecting I sought out a Merlin and I've had it for nearly 40 years. To hold it brings back so many memories but knowing how flimsy they are I don't make a habit of shooting it.

[greenwayjames]

Havent still got it but the first was an ancient Gem .i77. My second was a W&S Senior that wouldnt push a pellet out so I gave it away. I found afterwards that they were supposed to be fitted with something called a breech seal

[AC99]

My first air pistol was a Diana model 2 pop-out' bought for me as a Christmas present in 1955 and the following Christmas I got a Diana mod 16 rifle. Regrettably I sold both these in 1960 to buy my first Webley mk3 with ribbed stock which I paid £8 for (second hand) and the following year I bought my neighbour's mk 3 with newer bulbous stock for £10 and also a BSA Airsporter mk1 from his brother; I still own all three.

In 1957 I bought a Webley mk1 air pistol from a boy I sat next to at school for 30/- (£1.50). It was his dad's and he and his sister shot matchsticks from it apparently! My first ventures into 'gunsmithing' was when I fitted a new breech washer, mainspring and piston washer to it and I still have it.

In 1959 I bought a Webley Senior from a second hand shop near Paddington station and the following year I bought an Original mod 5 from a second-hand shop in Brentwood and I still have both these as well. I think I must have had a passion for airguns back then.

Although these six airguns were never used for over thirty years they become the basis for my collection when I started just after the '97 handgun ban. Pistol shooting up until then had been my main passion but has since been replaced with air pistol shooting and collecting air guns of course!

Aubrey

[Phil Russell]

I still have a Diana G10 pistol, bought for me as a Christmas or Birthday present around 1960. It is still in the box but the box is worse for wear and the pistol is not exactly mint. I remember using a cardboard box stuffed with rags as a backstop for BBs and pellets with a target fastened over the box front with tape. The box was put on my bed and I shot from along the upstairs landing into my room ... the 'box' room with just space for a single bed and small chest of drawers.

ah, memories...
Cheers, Phil

[springfieldm6]

My first was a Meteor Super, bought from the classifieds in the Daily Echo (don’t think they advertise guns anymore..) for £35 with 4x20 scope - seems quite a lot of money, as they don’t sell for a great deal now. I still have it and it’s still fitted with the dire OX mainspring that many of us were fitting back then. Must dust it off and have a play with it….
This was followed shortly after by a Gem that I purchased with money I won in a poetry competition (!), £30 from Portsmouth Gun Centre, which I also still have. And shortly after a Tell 2, also from Portsmouth Gun Centre, which I still have. Strangely everything bought since has come and gone, with no great attachment.
I remember going into Southampton on the bus when I was 15/16 and buying a Sharp Innova for £30 (was this the standard price for guns then?!) down one of the junk shops in Northam Rd - they frequently had interesting guns come in.

[springfieldm6]

This was back in 1985.

[laverdabru]

First, tin grip Junior, had it for many years. Lost in a house move. Diana 27. sold to a farming mate as a barn ratter, Webley Mk 1 pistol, sold to a workmate. Hawk Mk 2.(POS).
Next up, early Hurricane bought nearly new, still got it. Since then, apart from an early HW77(sob) never sold one.

ATB

Bru.

[rapidshot]

Webley Hawk Mk.1...My grandad bought it new for my 12th Birthday... came with 2 barrels... used it for about 5 years before I realised that the .177 barrel in the box was actually another .22 barrel !
So I've got a Webley Hawk with 2 x .22cal barrels ….never was very bright !! ...Must have been a cock up in the packing room at Webley !

[Mark D]

A Gat and a Diana Model 15 - I abused them so much with screws, nails, matchsticks, potato and apples that they were only fit for a skip. 10yr old boys don't really look after stuff and I was no exception.

[gingernut]

BSA Scorpion pistol bought new in !973
£17 and 6 shillings

One service 5 years ago

Still going strong

[Abasmajor]

My very first air gun was a Diana Mod 15 which my dad brought back for me from Germany where he was stationed with British European Airways in 1952 when I was just six years old ! I kept the Diana until Christmas 1957 when it was replaced with a BSA Cadet Major much to my delight. Like many, I didn't think to hang on to these early acquisitions and progressed to more powerful air rifles and eventually shotguns and live firing firearms. How I wish I had kept them as a reminder of how it all began. When I reawakened my interest in air guns one of my first purchases was a 1957 Cadet Major with exactly the same stock colour as the one I owned when I was eleven. I shoot this regularly now and still love the smell when its taken out of the case together with distinctive noise it makes when going into battery after cocking. This experience could probably only be bettered if it were the original gun but not by much thankfully.

Brian

[pnird]

First one was a Harrington Gat in 1953 I think - couldn't hit a barn even from the inside! Then rapidly on to a Webley Junior, and got hung-up on Webleys ever after. I don't buy much these days, at least not after my hundredth birthday (it felt like).

John

[Binners]

I wasn't allowed one.

Dave

I'm still not either

[Strimmer]

Gat was my first. Aged about 11. Lost the screw then lost the gat. Just bought another in fact and it's sat in the cabinet.
Then a pump daisy bb gun. That died (seals) as it does. Must of put 20000 bbs through it tho. Then I bought a smk lion 22 off my mate, shot loads of dinner with that, then a b45-3 in 22. I've recently got a 177 which is getting restored as I'm trying to collect the guns from my youth so to speak. Then a meteor mk1 for a fiver at school.
After that I went wild and stuck with bsa, bar a hw80 which I hated and flogged for £20. Silly boy.

[sparko]

BSA Cadet was mine, at about 9 yrs old, think I used it everyday until upgrading to Mk2 Meteor at 12 yrs, felt quite grown up with a 22.

This has made me realise that I have never had a brand new rifle, either air, rim fire or centre fire … Too late to start now👍