What did you start out with?

As above .. what got you into the sport/hobby?

My first Springer was the BSA Meteor .22 (open sights) i think it was an MK2..?
We used to go down the canal when i was a kid and shoot the cans floating in the water and wait for the rats to come out.. only god knows how many rats that little rifle sent to hell !

The rifle was past onto me from my uncle, at the time when he bought it (90s) we didnt know how old it was? i got back into airguns maybe 4-5 years ago after a long break, the Meteor had just been sitting in the loft since then (wrapped up well). something sparked my interest.. i think we had rats underneath the shed and i desided to dig it out..!!

After i sorted out the rat problem with the Meteor i seemed to have been hooked ever since, i joined a forum.. the interest grew, i joined another lol.. i did abit of research on the Meteor, and found out from a good source that it was made in 1967, that would have made it 23 years old when my uncle bought it.. so add the other 10-15 years of it sitting in the loft.. that rifle must have been over 30 years old.. not once in that time did that rifle ever see a service.. 30 years later from the day it was born it still had no problems clearing the rats from the shed!!

My first air rifle was a Gecado mod 25 .

My very first rifle was a Webley Osprey, which I still own.

I have owned it for about 31-32 years, and only recently I gave it an overhaul.

Steve Pope machined the piston to do away with the standard piston rings, and accept a Weihrauch HW77 piston seal.

A new spring and a guide, along with a general polish and re-lube, completed the internals.

I also did a lot of work making sure the loading tap was in perfect alignment with the bore, as when I rodded pellets though when the piston was out, showed that they were being shaved.

It now shoots absolutely superbly, better than I ever remember.

Power is still not great though, it is producing 520fps with proper 5.6 'ELEY' wasps.

It is now surprisingly accurate (with the wasps or 5.53 Trophy's), printing 'little fingernail sized cloverleaf groups at 20 yards.

my first was a webley lite w8, cracking bit of tool.

A clapped out Baikal .177 was my first ever air rifle bought off my mate for £2 pocket money in 1977, it had brass rifling and was a nice looking gun but shortly after my Dad bought me a well used BSA Mercury .22 which i had for quite a few years before i started work and saved up and bought myself a brand new HW80, my pride and joy!!! That gun lasted 23 years of regular use and abuse and started my love for the 80

Lost in the mists of time, but I do remember my first airgun was a Diana pistol (a bit like a Gat, you unscrewed a pin from the back, then used it to push a pellet into the breach before screwing it back in). I had traded for the Diana from a friend in primary school, I must have been about 8 years old. Then I had a variety of cheap Diana break rifles, followed by my first 'proper' rifle a BSA Merlin (under-lever with a pop-up rear sight into which you placed the pellet and then pressed it back down). It was an accurate rifle and we kids tested our skills by shooting aniseed balls at silly ranges. This was followed by an ASI Paratrooper, Airsporter, Webley pistols, and so many others I can't even remember now. I then moved on to powder burners - .22LR taget pistols at first, then full-bore pistols for practical pistol shooting. Also rifles (had a nice .22 Marlin lever for hunting). Tried my hand with shotguns but could never hit anything with them. In later years I got fed up with the increasingly bad press shooting enthusiasts were getting and the ever-tightening firearms laws. When pistols were finally banned I disposed of everything firearm related other than my faithful Webleys. However I've come full circle now I'm retired and back to air rifles buying a HW100KT. If PCP rifles are banned or licenced I'm giving up completely (actually, there wouldn't be much left to give up would there?).

My first air rifle was a MK1 airsporter which was secondhand but not more than a few months old.
It has alot to answer for as I am still shooting 60 years later.

ChisH wrote:

Lost in the mists of time, but I do remember my first airgun was a Diana pistol (a bit like a Gat, you unscrewed a pin from the back, then used it to push a pellet into the breach before screwing it back in). I had traded for the Diana from a friend in primary school, I must have been about 8 years old. Then I had a variety of cheap Diana break rifles, followed by my first 'proper' rifle a BSA Merlin (under-lever with a pop-up rear sight into which you placed the pellet and then pressed it back down). It was an accurate rifle and we kids tested our skills by shooting aniseed balls at silly ranges. This was followed by an ASI Paratrooper, Airsporter, Webley pistols, and so many others I can't even remember now. I then moved on to powder burners - .22LR taget pistols at first, then full-bore pistols for practical pistol shooting. Also rifles (had a nice .22 Marlin lever for hunting). Tried my hand with shotguns but could never hit anything with them. In later years I got fed up with the increasingly bad press shooting enthusiasts were getting and the ever-tightening firearms laws. When pistols were finally banned I disposed of everything firearm related other than my faithful Webleys. However I've come full circle now I'm retired and back to air rifles buying a HW100KT. If PCP rifles are banned or licenced I'm giving up completely (actually, there wouldn't be much left to give up would there?).

ha ha i still have an old diana gat in the cupboard somewhere

A BSA Mateor mark 5. 22. Still have her a still a great little gun.

My first air rifle was an ASI Paratrooper 25 shot repeater way back in 1974. I bought it on the drip from my mates mums catalogue. I kept it at my mates house coz i knew my parents wouldnt let me keep it. As i got older (richer) i started useing shotguns then firearms. I didnt get another air rifle until 1990 when the Webley Eclipse first came out. I really miss that Eclipse, would buy another one in an instant if i could find a .177 for sensible money. I currently own an AA TX200 HC .177, AA S400 .22, Original Mod. 45 .22, BSA Supersport .22 and a BSA Lightening with .22 and .177 barrels.

Turned into a good read this one.
It's funny how far Airguns have come on since I was using my old meteor!!

The first gun I can remember using was a very ols Diana, break barrel thing. The first airgun I actually owned by myself was an old Gat .177. I got it off a lad at school I swapped it for 10 fags, No6 if i remember correctly. The first time I took it home. I was showing my Dad (who was really into his guns), I pushed the barrel in and (unloaded) pointed it at the glass cabinet, pulled the trigger, and the end cap, barrel and spring shot across the living room and broke the leaded glass on the front of the cabinet. I just stood there, mouth open, wondering what the hell had happened. I stood there for what seemed like an age, and then realised my Dad was going to explode, but he just burst out laughing, I remember he said "If I had said what had happened as an excuse" "he would not have believed it" but he was there and saw it all unfold in front of him. The trouble was the cabinet was my StepMothers, and she was a bit possesive about this cabinet, It was her pride and joy, an heirloom from some relative or another. All I know is we spent the rest of the day driving round Basingstoke getting some glass cut and some replacement lead. We got it repaired and Barbera never knew about it.
Funny how you remember stuff aint it

A Webley Junior .177 smooth bore pistol, with tin grips. Also, a school mates GAT. Next, a '50's Diana .22. Then a nearly new Hawk Mk 2 (total rubbish) & a Mk 1 pistol. Think there was an Original 6 target pistol as well.
A few years break, then bought an early Weihrauch HK77 .22.
Sold that, later bought a .22 Tempest pistol, followed by a BSA GoldStar .22 last year. And have been given a Webley Junior .177 rifle recently.

I also started with a Gat, corks darts and slugs

what a beast when I look back.

My first experience with an air pistol was at a friend's house. He had an old break barrel pistol, a Slavia I think. I was hooked and went looking for one in the local shops. The only thing I could find at the time was a Daisy 717 target pistol. I was pretty disappointed with it, though, after seeing the wood and metal construction of my friend's pistol compared to the cheap plastic and sheet metal of the Daisy. I had it for years in my gun cabinet, hardly every shooting it. That was my impression of air guns until recently, when I discovered that old Crosman air pistols were well made, more like a real firearm. Then, I got a Webley Tempest with wood grips in a trade, and I have been addicted to Webley pistols since. You just don't see quality like that in any other brand of air gun, far superior to anything made in the US or anywhere else, IMHO. I am so sorry to see that Webley discontinued making air guns. I do like my Alecto, but it doesn't have the soul of a nice old Senior or a Mark 1.

My first airrifle was a HW35. A new one actually. Got intrested in the sport cause of the half-broken-abused chinese airrifle left-over I found in our garage. Ofcourse, it was beyond fix, so, with sponsormoney from my brother, I got the HW35. Otherwise, it would've been a spanish one, or another chinese for far less $$.
My first airpistol was a sechand steyr LP5 co2. I still have it. Now converted to pcp.

I started with a B2, cheap as chips, not very accurate, lousy trigger, but it confirmed the fact I still loved firing rifles, second was the Plain Brown Wrapper Stingray Mark 2, the Hatsan 60s, then I got a Stingray mark 2, they are the same gun...

Way back in the mists of time when I was a youngster I was desperate for an Airsporter (I'd never seen one other than in the advertisments) but all I got was on old tinplate Dianna, sadly long gone but I still have fond memories. I still have a soft spot for Airsporters and have six now, along with an increasing pile of other stuff that I consider to be an essential ingredient in my late mid life crisis.
Mel

My first attempt at a photo link I hope it works out.
Mel.
http://s1048.photobucket.com/albums/s372/mel1948/

my first air gun was an old german diana it didnt have a trigger, managed to find something near had to rework it i remember it was hair trigger not very safe!! from memory ths was about 1954 all of 12 years old had a gat webley snr now own Webley raider 10 BSA R10 to many shotguns

Mine was a BSA Meteor 38yrs ago open sights and i can still remember hitting beer tops off a fence at about 25 to 30yds away.

i started out with a .22 relum telly i bought for 50 quid