What is your biggest airgun related disaster ?

[Graemevw]

When we were kids a friend had what I now believe was a bsa cadet. It was rubbish, took maybe 4 cocking and firing cycles for the pellet to come out the barrel. We were messing about, cocking and dry firing it. I pointed it at him across the room and a pellet came out! Hit him in the forehead square between the eyes. Still had enough power to leave a small white lump and caused enough pain to think he was going to smash me in the face.
Not really a regret though.

Only regret was selling my webley senior 5 or 6 years ago. Why!!! I didn't need the money and I loved that pistol. The moment the buyer left with it I realised I'd been stupid.

[DM80]

Buying a theoben slr 98 was absolute dog crap

Dave.

[laverdabru]

More recent minor disaster...in Winter there is only one place in the garden I can shoot without being overlooked, due to lack of leaves on the hedging/trees. My neighbours are fine, but there is the occasional walker along an unofficial path bordering my back garden.
So at this time of year, I put up a double thickness of softish planks against my wife's potting shed. No ricochets, check to see the damage to the planks every 10 shots or so. Move the target placement.
Try a different pellet in the late Meteor, & the 1st group is brilliant. On a roll, put thru another 20 Hobbys. Then remembered the soft planks. Yup, the planks are well & truly pierced, as is the shed. Luckily, have some Tetrion & paint handy to fill in the hole before it gets dark...

ATB

Bru

[T 20]

Around 15 years ago I swapped a break barrel Whiscombe JW50 for a Theoben Imperator FT SLR88 .177 and topped it up with £100, yes a temporary moment of madness... As soon as I got back in my car I realised that it wasn't right, so called the guy I swapped with and offered him another £100 for a swap back to how things were, so he would have made £200 for nothing. When I called he told me to get lost and told me to never call him again. Moral of the story, I have sold very little since

I've heard that story before.

I'm pretty sure that I've permanenty banned that chap off here a few times now --- not a nice bloke.



All the best Mick

[Dutch]

Only regret was selling my webley senior 5 or 6 years ago. Why!!! I didn't need the money and I loved that pistol. The moment the buyer left with it I realised I'd been stupid.

Why not buy an other one!?
The Senior was the first air pistol I came contact with (granddad let me oil it and take it apart when i was a kid). Also the very first pistol I was desperately after many years later and they are not that common in the Netherlands. When one appeared for sale at a shop 50 miles away I mailed them and left messages saying I wanted to buy it the same evening. Jumped in my car next morning and when I arrived at the shop (Joppies Dump) there was a bloke standing at the counter with the Senior in his hand! Just as I remembered it gloss black, seemed in good condition. Appalled that he beat me to it at 09.00 in the morning! When he left with a tin full of pellets, the owner (Tonnie) turned to me. I explained the unfortunate incident and he laughed, apologizing many times. The then pointed to his personal collection at the wall (I did not notice it before), he said i am prepared to sell you one of these! I was over the moon, perfect pistol, still in my collection. Disaster turned out to spark my collecting fever.

[harry mac]

Changing the mainspring in my BSA Centenial, and the trigger block was on there,real tight. As I gave it some grunt, the whole rifle twisted round in the padded vice, the rear sight came into contact with the topof the vice jaw and popped off, leaving the bottom part of its mounting screw stuck in the hole.
"I'll soon have that fixed with an easy-out", thinks I. Well, the easy-out slipped and put a nice gouge in the barrel. The bottom of that screw is still stuck in there 20-odd years later.
My "pride and joy" air rifle, ruined.

[hwtyger]

Bought a rifle (ex Webley museum), had it sent to me. It arrived with a broken stock. Not just cracked, literally in 2 pieces...

[Graemevw]

Why not buy an other one!?
The Senior was the first air pistol I came contact with (granddad let me oil it and take it apart when i was a kid). Also the very first pistol I was desperately after many years later and they are not that common in the Netherlands. When one appeared for sale at a shop 50 miles away I mailed them and left messages saying I wanted to buy it the same evening. Jumped in my car next morning and when I arrived at the shop (Joppies Dump) there was a bloke standing at the counter with the Senior in his hand! Just as I remembered it gloss black, seemed in good condition. Appalled that he beat me to it at 09.00 in the morning! When he left with a tin full of pellets, the owner (Tonnie) turned to me. I explained the unfortunate incident and he laughed, apologizing many times. The then pointed to his personal collection at the wall (I did not notice it before), he said i am prepared to sell you one of these! I was over the moon, perfect pistol, still in my collection. Disaster turned out to spark my collecting fever.

Maybe one day I will, but with these kinds of things I tend not to buy something if I've had one before. Too many different rifles and pistols I'd like to own.
They have also gone up in price a fair bit since I sold mine!

[WILBA]

Buying a theoben slr 98 was absolute dog crap

Dave.

Slr88 is not much better either. Very over hyped rifle. Same shite trigger as all my other rammers.

[edbear2]

Honestly been quite lucky, but when I was 14 or so I learned all about the Original 50's 3 ball bearings ability to hide once their flight had finished as had one come apart on me due to inexperience

I had previously taken a Cadet apart, and possibly a Haenel tin plate, so thought it would be a piece of cake.

I had bought the gun, (which was in super condition otherwise) very cheaply in a junkshop as it did not stay cocked , .......It must have been cheap as all I had then was paper round money and pop bottle refunds, any other money was from washing the car or shopping / gardening , as never got pocket money after my first paper round as it was deemed "had a wage" (obviously school things and clothes etc. were laid on!).

And despite a few goes after getting more bearings could not get it to work, so swapped it for a few tins of Wasps at the gunshop......It was in the window a few days later at 5 times what I paid for it, so learnt a double lesson!

ATB, Ed

[Chrisratbasher]

I remember having a shooting permission on a farm near a horse riding school years ago, I used to control the rabbits and rats for the farmer up there and was up most nights after work, I had a few nice rifles at the time but for some unknown reason on a whim I bought a gamo camo rocket IGT when they were first released as I liked the look of the gun it was lightweight and with the bull barrel they looked great. Anyway after I zeroed it in I fired it and it had a detonation, it was so loud that a horse kicked a young girl off in the riding school next door, I heard her scream and I thought it had ricochet and hurt her or something so jumped over the fence to check she was OK, turned out the horse was young and it had just kicked her off and she was OK. Anyway after this I shot a few rabbits with it and the pellets were far more deformed and were doing more damage than my other guns, it also wrecked the gamo scope ot was bundled with and an expensive hawke scope I put on it, when I took it in the gunsmith to give it a look over and it was doing nearly double the limit hovering around 20ftlbs, he apologised and I got a refund. The early igt rifles were notorious for problems. My dad has a gamo igt rifle for Knocking the pigeons down in his garden now and it's a really good shooter really smooth and bang on 11 ft lbs so they obviously sorted their act out since !

[urx]

Selling the very disappointing Junkers2 just before learning that there was a 12ftlbs pcp conversion available for them…….sigh
Selling the senior, hw45 and Jackal when i was saving for my first house….
Selling my hw80 which i had bought stroked and running a .25 barrel
Selling the nice boxed 99 makarov to fund a brocock

I think there is a theme developing here….

[Feek]

Selling the nice boxed 99 makarov to fund a brocock

I had a lot of fun with my (legally owned) Brocock revolvers, shame they're pretty much gathering dust now and have been for many years. There haven't been any IPAS or PP competitions for years so all I can do now is plink in my garden from time to time

[urx]

Be thankful you aren't in Scotland as our local dictator decided we aren't allowed to shoot in out gardens without a police inspection and a pointless ‘licence’….