My son asked me earlier if I would allow him to buy an air rifle, while having no problems about his common sense and ability I was admittedly confused about the laws on ownership, where he can use it and how it can be transported from a-b.
He asked me about my first air rifle/pistol and where did I go to use it.
I certainly had an enjoyable time raking up some old memories as I told him about them.
My first ever air gun was a 177 gat gun, that you had to push the barrel in to shoot, it wasn't that accurate but it was surprising what you could shoot from it from pellets and darts to corks and potato. I never took it out to use because it was more of a fun thing, I did sneak it out once to show to my school mates but I got caught by my step dad who gave me a stern lecture etc etc and he confiscated it for a couple of weeks.
I actually bought the pistol with my saved up pocket money, my mate wrote a letter pretending to be from my mum saying I was 14 and giving me permission to buy one. Somehow I can't see that happening nowadays.
My second one was from a catalogue, I can't remember which one but my gran ordered it for me and I gave her some of my pocket money each week until it was paid off.
It was a Relum .22 and as in the pic I also had a telescopic sight and a rather cool carrying case for it. I found the Relum to be a fantastic air rifle with a lot of power and accuracy, it would kill a rat at 50ft easily as it did for pigeons too.
I used to put it in my carrying case and make my way to southall gasworks a couple of miles away to use it.
There was an abundance of rats to shoot at as well as other static things of interest to teenagers who want to shoot things up ( in an old control room we once found about 100 of, now, old style telephones ).
It was great fun but we were trespassing on the old gasworks and had to cross the canal on the railway bridge to gain access to the gasworks, which looking back was dangerous enough on it's own.
This is where my friends and I used to go
.
I told my son that aged 13/14 I could put my air rifle into it's case and get a bus or walk down the street with no problems, however laws change and people now are paranoid about rifles.
I told him that we need to check the law and find somewhere it's safe to use or a farmer with a rabbit problem that are causing horses to get injured.
He did however express an interest in joining our local rifle club where he can shoot full bore and .22 semi autos in there underground range.
So it got me thinking about other people's experience, what was your first air gun and where did you go to use it?
He asked me about my first air rifle/pistol and where did I go to use it.
I certainly had an enjoyable time raking up some old memories as I told him about them.
My first ever air gun was a 177 gat gun, that you had to push the barrel in to shoot, it wasn't that accurate but it was surprising what you could shoot from it from pellets and darts to corks and potato. I never took it out to use because it was more of a fun thing, I did sneak it out once to show to my school mates but I got caught by my step dad who gave me a stern lecture etc etc and he confiscated it for a couple of weeks.
I actually bought the pistol with my saved up pocket money, my mate wrote a letter pretending to be from my mum saying I was 14 and giving me permission to buy one. Somehow I can't see that happening nowadays.
My second one was from a catalogue, I can't remember which one but my gran ordered it for me and I gave her some of my pocket money each week until it was paid off.
It was a Relum .22 and as in the pic I also had a telescopic sight and a rather cool carrying case for it. I found the Relum to be a fantastic air rifle with a lot of power and accuracy, it would kill a rat at 50ft easily as it did for pigeons too.
I used to put it in my carrying case and make my way to southall gasworks a couple of miles away to use it.
There was an abundance of rats to shoot at as well as other static things of interest to teenagers who want to shoot things up ( in an old control room we once found about 100 of, now, old style telephones ).
It was great fun but we were trespassing on the old gasworks and had to cross the canal on the railway bridge to gain access to the gasworks, which looking back was dangerous enough on it's own.
This is where my friends and I used to go
I told my son that aged 13/14 I could put my air rifle into it's case and get a bus or walk down the street with no problems, however laws change and people now are paranoid about rifles.
I told him that we need to check the law and find somewhere it's safe to use or a farmer with a rabbit problem that are causing horses to get injured.
He did however express an interest in joining our local rifle club where he can shoot full bore and .22 semi autos in there underground range.
So it got me thinking about other people's experience, what was your first air gun and where did you go to use it?
