I shot airsoft guns a lot as a kid. My buddies and I would shoot bottles off of a swing set in his backyard. They don't hurt quite as much as bb guns, but they were alright. I moved on to shooting bb guns, then my dad's pellet rifle, the my grandpa's 12 gauge was the first actual gun I ever fired.
Let the stories fly about backyard pellet gun shooting as kids or with your kids.
- Thread starter PHEASANTPETE
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4runnerman
New member
Being 52 yrs old now, I can say I did the same thing. Started with a BB gun and then a Pellet gun. I shot in the back yard all the time. Big cardboard box filled with Blankets and such. Life was simple and fun. My mom ( bless her soul ) Was always against guns of any nature. My dad- He would come out and shoot with us sometimes. The days of the Red Ryder are all over. But the memories live forever.
a friend of the familay gifted me a bolt action spring powered rifle, magazine fed but kinda pointless because it took all my might to work the bolt, I am talking resting the buttplate on the ground and using all my weight
and I was a big kid , like pushing 200pounds at 12 years old
My dad always had me shooting against the wheelbarrow (stood it up on the front wheel and the rim) as a bullet catcher I guess, but I didn't realize that and lined up my toysoldiers on the top rim
Not really used for hunting save for some pest control at my mums stable, but crows are damn smart so I had to find good hiding spots or shoot from inside vehicles or open windows to get them.
When my borther finalyl got his hands on it (I had advanced to .22s by that age) he bought the wrong kind of bullets and they are still odged in the barrel
and I was a big kid , like pushing 200pounds at 12 years old
My dad always had me shooting against the wheelbarrow (stood it up on the front wheel and the rim) as a bullet catcher I guess, but I didn't realize that and lined up my toysoldiers on the top rim
Not really used for hunting save for some pest control at my mums stable, but crows are damn smart so I had to find good hiding spots or shoot from inside vehicles or open windows to get them.
When my borther finalyl got his hands on it (I had advanced to .22s by that age) he bought the wrong kind of bullets and they are still odged in the barrel
aarondhgraham
New member
Hello rmocarsky,,,
It would wing a BB out there with some authority,,,
Enough to bury a BB about 1/4" deep into the palm of my hand.
If you could actually hit anything with it,,,
It was enough to drop a sparrow,,,
About 40 shots per cartridge.
Several of my friends had that Crossman spring powered BB pistol,,,
The one that was made to look like a 1911 Government .45,,,
They weren't nearly as powerful as my pistol was,,,
But theirs were so much cheaper to shoot,,,
And they also shot those nifty darts.
A big old wave of Nostalgia is sweeping over me,,,
I wonder if I can find one on EBAY.
Aarond
.
It would wing a BB out there with some authority,,,
Enough to bury a BB about 1/4" deep into the palm of my hand.
If you could actually hit anything with it,,,
It was enough to drop a sparrow,,,
About 40 shots per cartridge.
Several of my friends had that Crossman spring powered BB pistol,,,
The one that was made to look like a 1911 Government .45,,,
They weren't nearly as powerful as my pistol was,,,
But theirs were so much cheaper to shoot,,,
And they also shot those nifty darts.
A big old wave of Nostalgia is sweeping over me,,,
I wonder if I can find one on EBAY.
Aarond
.
leadcounsel
Moderator
So many great memories of BB guns in the back yards of my youth.
First, I never shot any animal for pleasure, and highly frown on that practice. Birds, rabbits and squirrels are mother nature, not play things to be killed whimsically.
That said, I have some fond memories to share.
First BB gun experience: I was probably around 10 years old, and at my grandmothers house for our weekly family Sunday dinner. My very butch grandmother was introducing me to a BB gun pistol that she was going to teach me basic gun safety with. Family was gathered in the living room as she talked through the basics. She cocked and fired an ND BB from the pistol right into the Tube TV screen, and the BB bounced off the screen and ricocheted a few times in the room, missing all 10 family members. We all had a big laugh.
I remember two different BB gun pistols from that era. I recall a 1911 style with a pop-up single loader over the end of the barrel, and a cocker on the slide. I found one later as an adult in 2012 for a few bucks at a gun show and snagged it for sentimental value. I also remember a single action style cowboy revolver that could load somewhere around 10 or so BBs under the barrel. Both were fun, but very under-powered BB pistols. They were long lost during my grandmothers estate sale when she passed and I was off at college.
I remember spending hundreds of hours wandering around her property shooting ragweeds tips, homemade targets, soda cans, and plastic army men toys.
Around that same time, maybe when I got abit older, around 12, I got a Daisy BB rifle. You could load a few hundred BBs in the magazine tube and a single cock of the lever action would compress air for a decent powered BB. I was an excellent shot with that rifle and could hit army men toys from a significant distance.
I used to shoot all sorts of great home-made targets, and the confines of our 1/2 acre yard was enough entertainment for me for hours every day. I would save up to buy a model car, build it, and then use it for target practice! Glass bottles, small broken window glass, homemade paper targets, pie plates, you name it, and I loved to shoot it with my BB gun.
I learned about the dangers of shooting on an 'empty' chamber when I put a BB from my 'empty' rifle through our front door plate glass window!
I learned about the dangers of ricochets when I caught one on the Adams apple.
I learned about the dangers of horseplay when I shot myself in the foot and it was painful, and shot my friend in the foot and it hurt him too!
Somehow when I was off at college that BB gun disappeared through my nephew, and it's long gone. Wish I still had it though!
First, I never shot any animal for pleasure, and highly frown on that practice. Birds, rabbits and squirrels are mother nature, not play things to be killed whimsically.
That said, I have some fond memories to share.
First BB gun experience: I was probably around 10 years old, and at my grandmothers house for our weekly family Sunday dinner. My very butch grandmother was introducing me to a BB gun pistol that she was going to teach me basic gun safety with. Family was gathered in the living room as she talked through the basics. She cocked and fired an ND BB from the pistol right into the Tube TV screen, and the BB bounced off the screen and ricocheted a few times in the room, missing all 10 family members. We all had a big laugh.
I remember two different BB gun pistols from that era. I recall a 1911 style with a pop-up single loader over the end of the barrel, and a cocker on the slide. I found one later as an adult in 2012 for a few bucks at a gun show and snagged it for sentimental value. I also remember a single action style cowboy revolver that could load somewhere around 10 or so BBs under the barrel. Both were fun, but very under-powered BB pistols. They were long lost during my grandmothers estate sale when she passed and I was off at college.
I remember spending hundreds of hours wandering around her property shooting ragweeds tips, homemade targets, soda cans, and plastic army men toys.
Around that same time, maybe when I got abit older, around 12, I got a Daisy BB rifle. You could load a few hundred BBs in the magazine tube and a single cock of the lever action would compress air for a decent powered BB. I was an excellent shot with that rifle and could hit army men toys from a significant distance.
I used to shoot all sorts of great home-made targets, and the confines of our 1/2 acre yard was enough entertainment for me for hours every day. I would save up to buy a model car, build it, and then use it for target practice! Glass bottles, small broken window glass, homemade paper targets, pie plates, you name it, and I loved to shoot it with my BB gun.
I learned about the dangers of shooting on an 'empty' chamber when I put a BB from my 'empty' rifle through our front door plate glass window!
I learned about the dangers of ricochets when I caught one on the Adams apple.
I learned about the dangers of horseplay when I shot myself in the foot and it was painful, and shot my friend in the foot and it hurt him too!
Somehow when I was off at college that BB gun disappeared through my nephew, and it's long gone. Wish I still had it though!
Raised two boys on the Chesapeake Bay surrounded by 200 acres of woods. Of course the lads and all their friends had pellet guns, and every time they went into the forest they'd get the obligatory warning ... "be careful and don't shoot your eye out".
Then I got the call at work. The younger boy, the 10-year old, lost an eye right smack dab though the pupil. A sad day indeed at the Wilmer Eye Institute in Baltimore.
Then I got the call at work. The younger boy, the 10-year old, lost an eye right smack dab though the pupil. A sad day indeed at the Wilmer Eye Institute in Baltimore.
I don't know if this counts, not being strictly in a back yard. (at least not mine)
I was an air rifle/pistol paladin back in the day, in England no less.
We hired out to the local fishing club, who owned rights to a decent length of river in the West Country. They had a problem with "Water Rats" (actually Voles), back when you could legally hunt them un-permitted with the land owner's permission.
I learned to estimate range, lead a moving target, & not shoot until they left the water for the burrows in the bank because of those furry soggy critters. I upgraded from a BSA .22 to a fixed barrel Haenel, just to get that extra edge. The Haenel was actually paid for with water vole bounties, as were all the tins of pellets.
I also learned to have the trusty .22 "Webly Premier" for a security round should the rifle shot not cut it. Once you hit them they dived & you lost a wounded animal, which is of course a bad deal.
Thank God I never got the bright idea of cutting a notch for each kill!
I was an air rifle/pistol paladin back in the day, in England no less.
We hired out to the local fishing club, who owned rights to a decent length of river in the West Country. They had a problem with "Water Rats" (actually Voles), back when you could legally hunt them un-permitted with the land owner's permission.
I learned to estimate range, lead a moving target, & not shoot until they left the water for the burrows in the bank because of those furry soggy critters. I upgraded from a BSA .22 to a fixed barrel Haenel, just to get that extra edge. The Haenel was actually paid for with water vole bounties, as were all the tins of pellets.
I also learned to have the trusty .22 "Webly Premier" for a security round should the rifle shot not cut it. Once you hit them they dived & you lost a wounded animal, which is of course a bad deal.
Thank God I never got the bright idea of cutting a notch for each kill!
I grew up on what would now be termed as an "acreage"- a farm with no cropland to speak of .... my brother and I were charged with pest control duties and given airguns and a small supply of BB's (never enough!) to make it happen ........ mice, sparrows, starlings, grackles, any and all critters that ate chickenfeed or raided the garden and were not "songbirds" were on the hit list. We killed them by the thousands, stillhunting the windbreak, waiting in ambush in the chickenhouses, spotlighting at night ...... wore out several BB guns and Pellet guns over the 8 years we lived there.... we even used magnets to salvage spent BB's off the ground, or would dig then out of the wood in the barn at the back of the ledges where the spotlighted sparrows met their end .....
Guns included Daisy 25, a Red Ryder, a Daisy 840, a Crosman c73 (lever action CO2 cartridge powered), crossman 760, and last the Daisy880 ....
One could probably grow a good stand of aspen or river birch on that property with all the iron from rusted BB's ......
Guns included Daisy 25, a Red Ryder, a Daisy 840, a Crosman c73 (lever action CO2 cartridge powered), crossman 760, and last the Daisy880 ....
One could probably grow a good stand of aspen or river birch on that property with all the iron from rusted BB's ......
I always wanted a Model 25 Daisy. I bought a Daisy Cub at a yard sale for $5.00 back in about 1971 or so.
I later picked up a Beeman Webley Hurricane, then a Beeman C-1, then a BSA Meteor, then a Daisy 717, then a couple of Predom Luczniks, end so on...
I friend of mine in Jr. High and Highschool lived on some acreage with tons of area to shoot airguns, and I spent many an afternoon shooting his Daisy 860. We put untold thousands of bbs through that thing, like milk carton after milk carton of bbs. As far as I know he still has it some 37-8 years later.
Ok, I don't recommend the following- that said: My friend had a huge swimming pool in his back yard. We would take his nephews plastic toy boats out and toss them out in the middle of the pool, and shoot bbs at them until they sank. Probably wrong on a couple of dozen levels, but there you go.
I later picked up a Beeman Webley Hurricane, then a Beeman C-1, then a BSA Meteor, then a Daisy 717, then a couple of Predom Luczniks, end so on...
I friend of mine in Jr. High and Highschool lived on some acreage with tons of area to shoot airguns, and I spent many an afternoon shooting his Daisy 860. We put untold thousands of bbs through that thing, like milk carton after milk carton of bbs. As far as I know he still has it some 37-8 years later.
Ok, I don't recommend the following- that said: My friend had a huge swimming pool in his back yard. We would take his nephews plastic toy boats out and toss them out in the middle of the pool, and shoot bbs at them until they sank. Probably wrong on a couple of dozen levels, but there you go.
Brian Pfleuger
Moderator Emeritus
I thought ya'll might appreciate my "learning marks" (scars).
