Nostalgia

[AC all day]

Hi Guys,
At some stage we all try to rekindle our youth and put on those Rose tinted glasses, again I have been buying rifles of my youth.... I started off with an El Gamo expo before a 77 and a Meteor mk3....
What would you be buying?

[ashf9999]

More Webleys (Brum ones)...but to be honest I haven't stopped buying them. My dad introduced me to airguns via his .22 Omega carbine and Senior pistol. Despite having acquired many multiples since, those 2 guns would be the last I'd ever part with.

[foby75]

More Webleys (Brum ones)...but to be honest I haven't stopped buying them. My dad introduced me to airguns via his .22 Omega carbine and Senior pistol. Despite having acquired many multiples since, those 2 guns would be the last I'd ever part with.

Sadly sold my Omega .22 c. 1985 my dad got me, bitterly regret it to this day! Loved it!

[look no hands]

Wish I knew and kept the springer rifle my grandad had which I started shooting when I was 5, I honestly can't remember what it was, it was probably knackered inside as I used to blast ants on the patio when we had run out of pellets, the first rifle I bought myself was an Airsporter mk5 or 6, then I got into pistols and got Record Jumbo and then a HW45, I've obviously got the Airsporter now but I think I'll have to get the Jumbo one day.

[Mzee]

When I was five or six years old a 'grown up' cousin showed me how to shoot a little air rifle safely then gave it to me! Unfortunately he didn't give me any pellets as this was in 1943 or 44 & he couldn't spare any as they apparently weren't easily available. My Dad found out daisy (flower) heads would shoot quite well & I've fond memories of us both wiping out hordes of imaginary Germans while up a mountain when we were visiting a relative in North Wales.
The actual barrel of this lethal weapon screwed into the end of the barrel/compression chamber & would also double as a pea shooter when used on its own.You removed it & put your 'round' into the end facing you, cocked the beast & carefully re-fitted the barrel. If you removed this part it would take a small cork to shoot in the recess at the end of the barrel.
I've no idea what came of this, but my parents were quite happy to let me have it & play out with my pals with it.
For some reason, a few months ago, I remembered all this &, overcome by nostalgia, got in touch with Tim Dyson & gave him a rather hazy description of my first air gun. He immediately knew what I was waffling on about & produced a couple!! It turned out to be a Diana Model 1 my cousin Jack had given me. The original was pre-war of course, but I'm now the proud owner of a 1950s Model 1 which is great fun to shoot, looks just as I remembered the gun I'd been given, surprisingly accurate for a kid's smoothbore at 10 yards & knocks empty beer can 'sausage eating swine' in a very satisfactory way.
Who says that growing up is compulsary?

[Josie & John]

A shiny Gat gun and ASI Paratrooper Repeater.

I have since bought both to remind myself of the happy times I had when I owned examples the first time round.

John

[Gamocfx]

I would like to source a Gamo Hunter 440 with the walnut stock effect, I have fond memories plinking with one of these with my late wife. I part exchanged the rifle to upgrade never realising what it would mean just a few years later.

[evert]

It wasnt until the early 90's that I was old enough to start wanting airguns, so if we talk pure nostalgia from a youth perspective, the 50's 60's and 70's guns are not relevant for me. But some of the 80's guns were still around.

The guns I looked at in catalogs and dads old gun magazines were:
-Daisy Red Ryder, with its lever and large magazine capacity
-Crosman M70, which looked like a real hunting rifle
-Smith and wesson 77A, which was supposed to be really powerful

Knowing what I know today, dad should have bought a HW50s with the screw in end block and synthetic piston seal in the 80's-
that would have been a real introduction to airguns.

[Strimmer]

I got my gat gun and recently the bsa 240 magnum. I've got a smk b45-3 in 177 in bits, but it was in .22 with the custom stock I had as a kid so that will be another investment.
Then I'll get a bsa supersport from 96, maybe the ags pcr-1 and original 50. Had about 10 airsporters and they never lived up to my fond memories and passed them all on.

Thing is I'm happy with what I've got so if it comes my way I might be tempted but I really cba looking anymore

[colin g]

Weihrauch Barakuda for me... Should never have got rid of that rifle, Swapped it for a Harper air cane. Col.

[laverdabru]

1950's Diana 27, early one with the alloy 2 stage trigger.

Webley Mk 1 pistol, from the same era.

ASI Paratrooper, like my mate's brother had. First scoped gun I tried.

Early HK77K. Most accurate gun I've owned.

All affordable, but I don't think I could get away with it unless I sell some of my present small collection or one of the Sorned motorcycles.

Bru

[AC all day]

I have swapped lots to get my Aircartridge collection.... Never managed a cane before the ban though!!
Don't suppose you have any of the paperwork left??

[ashf9999]

A shiny Gat gun...

When I was at junior school in Cheltenham in the mid-80's, one of the Houses had what was little more than a broom cupboard with a dart board down the end and a single wall-mounted tin light (with lots of holes in it). If we asked the house master nicely (no funny comments) he'd produce a GAT pistol and pack of darts from his drawer; then there'd be a bunch of 10-13 year-olds trying to hit the bull from 10 foot away. It was safe enough by virtue of the fact the cupboard was only a doors-width wide, so barely enough room to turn round with an outstretched arm. Never heard of a fatal shot from a GAT thankfully.

I guess that'd no longer be allowed.