by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier
This report covers:
- Covered this subject before
- How to begin?
- Because I couldn’t have them
- I couldn’t afford them
- Got a paper route
- The point
- Why do this?
- Not the only reason
- Summary
Reader William Schooley requested this report and I need to do it today for a special reason I am going to explain. On Wednesday I go into the hospital for surgery, so I am writing a lot of blogs to cover the time when I can’t be online. When Edith was with me, something like this was seamless, but now I am the only guy in town and I have to do things differently. Therefore, this week’s blogs will be shorter and, starting Wednesday, I won’t be able to answer comments for awhile. I’m supposed to be home on Thursday sometime, but we’ll see how that goes. Now let’s get into today’s report.
Covered this subject before
This is not the first time I’ve addressed this subject. Just last year a reader named Toto@F52 asked me what made an airgun collectible. Several other readers wondered the same thing, so I wrote a 3-part report titled, Collecting airguns: What is collecting? that is a very good introduction to the subject. Today we have a slightly different question that touches on the same subject.
How to begin?
William’s question — Why collect airguns? — is entirely subjective. It’s like trying to answer the question, “Why do you like the color blue.” Still — there are a lot of people who do collect, so there must be something to it. Why do they do it?
I thought the best way to answer would be to explain why I collect. Maybe something will come of that.
Because I couldn’t have them
When I was a kid two things prevented me from having airguns. First, my mother didn’t permit it. That ended all hope for me, as long as she felt that way. She had been terrorized by some neighborhood boys with BB guns and didn’t want me to do the same. She wasn’t anti-gun, just anti-breaking windows.
My father died when I was 9 and he wasn’t much on gun instruction, either. About the only thing he ever said was, “You’re too young for this” (a Benjamin pump pistol). “When you grow up I’ll show you how to shoot it.” Well, that never happened, though I did inherit the pistol and discovered on my own how it worked.
I learned to shoot from my neighbor, Duane. He owned some sort of Daisy that had no forearm and he knew that gun well. He seldom let me shoot it, but I got to watch him a lot, because it was always in his hands when we weren’t in school.
I couldn’t afford them
When I got older (11 or 12) my mother relented and bought me a BB pistol — or at least that is what it said on the outside of the box. In truth it was a cruel joke. Toy caps were said to propel BBs when fired from a plastic Luger-looking pistol. I got it to “work” a couple times on the day I got it but never again after that. The caps left a hygroscopic residue on the few metal parts inside the gun and they rusted to the point that they no longer would function. It wasn’t a great loss, though, because I could actually throw a BB faster than a cap could propel it.
This is how the Wamo pistol was advertised in 1956.
Yeah, the box promises everything, but the gun inside doesn’t deliver.
Once those breech parts rust like this they stop moving very fast. Then the caps don’t detonate.
Got a paper route
Then I got a paper route, delivering the Akron Beacon Journal to about 58 homes. That brought me close to $10 each week, and that was when I had the money ($5- used) to buy the most powerful BB gun of the day — a Daisy Number 25 slide-action. I bought it and enjoyed it for a few days until it lost power. Then I took it apart and couldn’t get it back together again and sold it to a friend whose father repaired it. It turned out that BB guns have to be kept oiled to maintain their power.
I owned a Daisy Number 25 just like this when I was a boy. I didn’t oil it and the power was lost.
The point
The point of these two stories is that, because I was fascinated by the Wamo Kruger, I collected 4 of the cap-firing Wamos (they are still quite cheap) and wrote the longest expose of the Wamo company’s involvement with guns that has ever been written. It was published in Airgun Revue number 5). Turns out Wamo made 6 different BB guns and one potato gun that all used caps. I have proved their connection to some oddball BB guns like the Western Haig with patent numbers and Post Office box addresses. I also identified three .22-caliber rimfire firearms that were made by Wamo.
Wamo made lots of cap-firing BB guns, like this Western Haig that sold in comic books.
And the Daisy Number 25 that got the better of me as a youth built in a lifetime attraction for that gun. I wanted to own one, and then another until a few years ago I owned one example of every major Daisy 25 variation made before Daisy moved from Plymouth, Michigan to Rogers, Arkansas. I have since gotten rid of most of them, because apparently that itch has been scratched.
Why do this?
So, William, why did I do all of this? It boils down to one thing — I detest being lied to! Wamo lied about that Kruger BB gun working and they lied again more recently when I contacted them for information regarding their former involvement in the BB gun and firearm trade. This was when I was gathering information for my article. They told me they were never involved with BB guns and that it was a different company that had done that. Well, the company has changed hands a few times over the years and they have changed the spelling of their name from Wamo to Wham-o, but the lineage is there. The ad from 1956 that I show above has both name spellings in the same document.
Not the only reason
These two experiences shaped a portion of my life, but they aren’t the only reasons I collect airguns. For example, seeing ads for the Sheridan Model A (the Supergrade) multi-pump pneumatic as a kid made me want one of those. Heck, just seeing the ads for the regular Blue Streak in Boy’s Life made me want one that I could never afford. So, when I returned from Germany in 1977, I bought one as an adult for $39.95. I still have it.
My Sheridan Blue Streak has been with me since 1977.
Summary
This report sort of wrote itself. I got it started and then my memories took over and wrote the report. And knowing that allows me to answer William Schooley. Why collect airguns? Because something in your life has set you up for it. Perhaps it’s a fascination you have or perhaps it was some specific incident that caused you to associate with one or more airguns in an intimate way.
The report I linked to at the beginning of this one talks about what makes a thing collectible. Read all three parts of that report to answer that question. But as for why we collect, I think I have addressed that today.
Thank goodness for BB`s airgun collecting as we get to read about the most
interesting airguns
B.B.,
I think your statement to scratch an itch sums up a reason for everything anybody would do.
Good luck in your forthcoming surgery. Will be praying for its success and for your rapid healing.
Siraniko
PS: Section: The point Second sentence: It was published in Airgun Revue number 5) (Maybe this should end with a period?)
Siraniko,
Got it! Thanks,
B.B.
I believe for me it was an early experience with my Father when he and a friend of his took me into the deep woods not too far from our home and we shot a single shot Cooey .22 rifle at some targets.
That was one of the few times that me and my Father did anything together in the way of male bonding; and the memory of the experience started me collecting and shooting air guns many years later.
I’m sure there are many many stories out there that started others out in a similar way into air gun shooting…
Best wishes on your upcoming surgery and here’s hoping for a speedy recovery.
BB I hope your stay in hospital is short and sweet.
Sean,
Me too! 😉
B.B.
B.B.,
I have had 3 surgeries in my short 65 years being here, they were all brutal, painful and scary.
I hope your upcoming operation is quick and the recovery is easy, best wishes.
Mike
B.B.
When I was a kid, whenever we would go out for pizza, my parents would only allow my brother and I one extra topping. Now when I have pizza, I get it loaded!
Wishing you success with the operation and a full and speedy recovery.
Best wishes,
Yogi
Yogi,
Growing up with 5 kids in the family,…. I could count the # of times we ever ate out within a year on one hand,… and that might be a stretch. I can relate. I like my pizza loaded too! 😉 Air guns as well,.. if I can get them that way.
Chris
Chris,
Pizza! Boy, do I love it! Haven’t had a piece in over ten years! Too many carbs for me.
B.B.
B.B.,
Good article. Cap guns (the rolls) and the 1897 lever action. And, had little, had a paper route, had little instruction. Also grew up being taught to be practical. I suppose that still carries through even today. Not a bad thing in that it will usually leave you with at least some jingle in the pocket.
Best wishes on the surgery.
Good Day to one and all,……. Chris
BB
Hope all goes well with your surgery.
And thinking back what is kinda of funny. As a kid on the farm I thought having a gun was just the way it was suppose to be. After I got older I found out how lucky I was to have guns as a kid. All I know is I’m happy that I got to live it.
And finally after all these years today I should have a Benjamin 392 in my hands again. Checked my tracking number and it says it loaded on the truck for delivery today. I can’t wait. I’m sure it will bring back memories. And I don’t know why it took me this long to get another.
Everyone,
I left out the ad for the Wamo cap-firing pistol! You would have eventually noticed it because I referenced it in the text.
Sorry,
B.B.
All the bb guns I had as a kid were weak and inaccurate and I was just marking the time until I could get a .22. Too bad I couldn’t get a Diana 25 like I have now. My thoughs and prayers on your surgery.
Brent
BB,
May everything go well with your surgery.
BB
My prayers are for you, your surgeons and a successful outcome. Prayer is powerful. I think especially so when lots of people are praying for you.
My urge for collecting began with the intoxicating smell of shotgun hulls my father would bring me from quail hunting. I was raised with guns. Gun safety was a serious no nonsense fact of life in our house. Cap pistols were all the rage as a kid especially one with double hammers that rarely failed to ignite due to strong hammer springs. My first BB gun was a Daisy No. 25 which lasted for years. Fascination with firearms in general and military pistols and rifles in particular has been a lifelong hobby and a wonderful financial investment.
Now airguns have taken over as my favorite hobby. I shoot targets everyday weather permits. Accuracy is accuracy whether its with air, gas, black powder, smokeless powder, bows or catapults. Ain’t it just fine!
Deck
Courage B.B., You’re a strong leader, and a good one.
Best, R
BB,
I am praying for a successful surgery and quick recovery. It has to be a totally difference experience having surgery without the support of your spouse. But, I know some of your friends and know that they will take good care or you.
David Enoch
David,
Yeah, this going it alone is for the birds. But people at my church are already arranging my meals for several days after I come home. So I do have a support group.
B.B.
B.B.,
First off, I’m praying for a successful surgery and a quick recovery for you. =>
Second, like you, I was not allowed to get a BB gun, even though many others had one.
I kept asking for YEARS…looking at ads and dreaming of the airguns I’d like to own
(one gun I really wanted was the WAMO Luger; thanks for letting me know I didn’t miss anything on that one!).
It was just a month before my 17th birthday that my Dad relented and let me get my first airgun,
a Sheridan C-model in .20 caliber (still have it, a way cool rifle!).
And I’ve been trying to make up for lost time ever since!
I’ve had lots and lots of airguns…still scratchin’ that itch…I even buy my cats their own airguns. =)~
take care (praying for you!),
dave
Dave,
Airguns for the cats! I never thought of that! I can start buying again! 😉
B.B.
Yep, hahaha! =>
BB,
Best wishes on your surgery. Hope it’s not for a serious condition.
Childhood poverty is responsible for my collecting bug, as well. Boy, am I makin’ up for lost time now that I’m retired!!
Half
BB-
Hope your surgery is as smooth as the side lever on a high end airgun! Living on a farm as a kid, I was never exposed to airguns. We had to hunt a lot of our meat so powder burners were always ready to do the job. After we moved into town I just never got caught up with air power since I always had “the real thing”! It wasn’t until about 10 or 12
years ago that I bought my first airguns, 2 Gamo Whisper’s, if I remember correctly. The experience wasn’t very positive and they spent the next 7 or 8 years in the corner of a closet. It wasn’t until about 4 years ago, when I had a major health crisis and was no longer able to work, that I pulled the Gamo out and began to try to entertain myself with it. At that time I found PA and, more importantly,your blog! I learned alot and finally bought a Benjamin Discovery and it has been a life saver for me ever since! You and your readers are a treasure for me and I partake every day. I am living on a very limited income and there is a lot of “dreaming” going on but I was able to, about 1 1/2 years ago, buy a .25 Marauder and appropriate scope and other necessities to make it all work. It’s wonderful!
Hope you have a fast and easy recovery and thanks, again, for all that you do!
Bruce
Good luck with your surgery B.B.! Not to worry – you know we will hold the fort while you recover!
Airguns have always been important in my childhood – got my first “real gun”, my Slavia 618 when I was 12. Like many, I went the whole route… slingshots, bows, airguns to rim-fires and center-fire powder-burners.
For most of my life there was always a break-barrel springer close to hand. I discovered this blog when I was doing research on resealing my FWB 124 and the “Enabler” opened my eyes to the world of modern air rifles. I give B.B. credit (blame 🙂 ) for my infatuation with airguns. Selling (most) of my powder-burners has allowed to indulge my airgun habit and collect some nice PCPs, SSPs and springers.
So to answer Mr. Schooley’s question… I don’t “collect” airguns any more that I do tools or fishing rods. I have a number of them because I have realized that in their diversity some airguns are better suited for a particular application than others. So like having English and Metric wrenches I have target airguns and hunting airguns.
That being said, I do have more airguns than I really need but then being retired (and in my second childhood) I have been making up in getting the “toys” that I couldn’t afford in my first childhood. 🙂
Happy Monday all!!
Hank
B.B.,
First, my thoughts and prayers will be with you regarding your surgery this week.
The BB gun (not strictly an air gun) I coveted when as a boy was a Daisy 179. I finally bought one with box about 7 years ago to satisfy that “unscratched itch” (like that one). Like you I longed for the Sheridans (and Benjamins) advertised in the back of Boy’s Life. So now I have a few Benjamins and a Sheridan.
I lost my father a while back, and one of the fondest memories of my childhood was when we would walk along some rural railroad tracks and plink at things with a Marksman 1010. After my dad died, to try to reconnect in some way — though it might sound silly, to a degree it actually did — I started plinking in my backyard.
Finally, perhaps twelve or so years ago I was in a pawn shop looking for under-priced guitars when I spotted an unusual looking pistol. The pawn shop owner barely knew what it was, butr from its markings one could see it was a very clean San Rafael marked Beeman Webley Hurricane with scope mount and scope. I could tell it was extremely well made, and when he said he wanted to get rid of it and talked himself down to $35 or $25, I jumped. of course I had to research what I had, so I went online to learn.
The learning part of airgunning is essential to my being an enthusiast. I have a compulsion to constantly learn new things. If there were little to learn about air guns, I would have become bored very quickly and moved on.
Michael
Off subject
Just noticed (P/A) Kral seems to have it’s own sale on the futuristic Puncher Armour, ‘in certain calibers’, at a whopping 25% off, with free ship. That’s a real deal !
Too Late
If you search Kral on P/A it has the reduced price but you need to click on product details to order it and it is back to the regular price. 🙁
Bob,
The “free shipping” I found to be a bit phony. Yea, they got it ,.. but is nothing different than they have any other day. The Chaser Rifle was 99 (+ 11% off) and back up to 119 today. ( I think that is right without checking). I found the 20% today to be interesting in that it was just on selected items. Pretty good if your in the market for whatever it is. Very good if you are buying for a gift. 0% interest to me.
All in all, I do not care for gimmicky sales. Give me a good % with no restrictions and you are very likely to get my business. I know,… it is all about the margins and how much you can “bend” them and still walk away with something.
As a side note,…. I saw a news article over the weekend on TV that was talking about the on-line sales tax and crossing state lines. It would appear that it is in a “transitional” stage with some company’s honoring it and others not. Still legal to do so, so they said. The Red Wolf a few month’s ago was tax free.
For anyone looking at a big ticket item,… now is the time to be shopping around.
Also, the Chaser rifle shows/ed “product details” on the multiple gun page,.. but when clicked on, shows “in stock”. That is not good in the sense that I do not like back orders and I will skip right over that item. In fact, if it is something I want,… I will (not be ordering anything at all), if I can wait.
Ok,… my rant is done,…… 😉
Chris
Chris
I don’t mind a back order if it’s on sale at the time of purchase and you plan on getting it any way. Using a credit card delays that payment anyway. Pay-Pal not so. I’m just glad I got what I wanted when a sale comes op. I try to wait for them, most of the time. I made note of the Kral sale because there was no mention of a 25% discount sale except for the listed price.
As far as taxes go I think the plan is to make people pay tax if the store actually has a physical outlet present in your state.
Bob M
Bob,
That is already the case in (all) states,… I am pretty sure. I for sure pay it in Ohio when ordering from P.A., also in Ohio. From what I gather,.. in the future,… if you sell across state lines,…. then it is up to the business to collect (that states) sales tax and then forward that tax to said state. I could be wrong, or half wrong,… but that is what I have gathered thus far from casual news observance.
Chris
Chris
In CA you must add all taxes you avoided paying through out of state purchases to your income tax return.. So much for a break there.
B.B.,
I hope all goes well with your surgery and you have a swift recovery.
Don
B.B,
You are now on the list of folks I pray to God for each night. May the Good Lord give your surgeon and staff the wisdom to perform the operation and recovery without a hitch. May he keep you and give you the strength to endure the procedure and the will to have a speedy recovery.
I had airguns (10 meter) and powder burners (mostly target rifles) in my youth because my father believed that an armed citizenry could have avoided much of Europe’s early Twentieth Century troubles. He embraced fully his newly adopted countrie’s Constitution and its Bill of Rights; particularly the Second Amendment.
My military service allowed me to shoot almost everything you can imagine on land, in the air and at sea…what great fun!
I wouldn’t say I collect edged weapons, airguns or powder burners; although people who see my weapons storage room have said as much. I view it more like Hank (Vana2) does: as a selection of tools for various jobs. Those jobs include weapons for home and self defense, hunting, Biathlon, target shooting and plinking. I think the mindset difference is; a collector frequently only enjoys the acquisition of items in a collection whereas I enjoy using the weapons I have acquired more than just looking and holding them from time to time. One final thought that in my mind defines a collection is the need to simply aquire a gun (thing) because it adds to the COLLECTION and not for the usefulness it has.
May the Good Lord Bless you and Keep you!
shootski
shootski,
Wow! I’m on your list! Thank you. I don’t think I’ve ever been on anyone’s list before. 🙂
B.B.
B.B.,
I seriously doubt that you have NEVER been on anyone’s LIST! Lol!
shootski
Mr. Gaylord:
Thank you.
May your surgery go well and may you have a swift and complete recovery.
Shalom,
William Schooley
BB:
I find it gratifying that such a high percentage of your readership are apparently Christians that actively pray. Certainly not representative of our population as a whole. I’m sure there’s some kind of an interesting sociological connection of some sort.
That said, let me add my voice (and faith). You will be in my prayers as well.
Regarding my interest in airguns, I’ve had a lifelong interest in firearms starting around age 12. Neither of my parents being firearm enthusiasts, I didn’t have much support for my interest. Dad’s policy was we had to be 14 to own a firearm. Only years later did I discover that I could have spent those years between 12 and 14 with airguns. I’m sure I could have convinced Mom and Dad to permit pellet guns and I’d have enjoyed that much more than the
Daisey BB gun.
So, today I get to buy anything I want (air gun or firearm) and I’m enjoying being the proverbial kid in a candy store. Buy ’em, shoot ’em, set them aside, buy some others, come back to the first one for a re-introduction, Rinse and repeat! Way fun!!!
Motorman
St. Louis, MO
Motorman,
I appreciate your observation. Don’t forget that we also have a lot of readers who are Jewish. Lest we forget — they are the chosen people of Adoni Elohim! 🙂
B.B.
BB
I have witnessed first hand the miracles modern medicine can do today taking care my ex and have all the confidence in the world in them. Hope you add to their list of successes. You appear to be in good hands all around.
If my rememberer works at night I’ll add your recovery success to the list of things I request God bestow his blessing to. Heck, consider it done already. Why take the chance of forgetting.
I made a few entries on the last collecting blog and did a direct reply to William a short time ago offering my thoughts on reasons why people collect. But I don’t think I explained how I became a collector.
A lot of life changing events got me involved in and out of firearms for decades. 15 years of nothing in the Navy, followed by 5 years of intense involvement at the end and when civilian semi-auto versions of assault weapons became available. Then decades of occasional informal target shooting, plinking, while out camping in the desert.
Then around 2008-9 I was single and moved to the country to retire with six sources of income after setting aside a lot of savings. Pests were a problem but an AR or even a 1022 was a bit of overkill. I had one model QB=25 China springer that could not hit anything, a broken Daisy 1894 and two bb pistols that were not suitable for pest control.
Trying to repair and troubleshoot those airguns through the internet led me to BB and every airgun company out there. I repaired both and redesigned a newer Daisy wood stocked version of the 1894 but was now exposed to far better airguns, then PCPs and now replica pistols and rifles.
When you can afford to buy one of everything P/A sells and having the dent in my wallet continuously filled in and overflowing as you go, picking up another airgun on a whim is no problem at all. Selling them off is a hassle. Some I collect, some I utilize for their purpose. Others I buy out of simple curiosity and the fun of modifying them.
All my needs are already satisfied and they as well as motorcycles, cars and anything that requires analytical ability to maintain, modify and or repair keep me totally happy in my retirement. Boredom is never spoken here !
Besides collecting and investing in cars would require more buildings on my property and I like just as is. OK perhaps just one more garage 🙂
Bob M
Bob,
You have done well. That is admirable. (By the way,…. I just this moment became eligible for adoption). Hey,… I am house broke and can cook pretty decent,…. 😉 LOL!!!
Chris
Chris
Gotta laugh 🙂 your not the first… and to be honest I don’t think I’m house broken any more, single, but not always alone, too long and too practical to be overly compassionate or politically correct to fools or care what they think. I just do what ever I feel like and to be honest it’s not always in my best interest, sort of speaking.
I was also a short order cook at the club after work while in the Navy at NAF Mildenhall, England. It got me a new 1968 BSA Mk IV Spitfire motorcycle. And there is always the microwave, hell of an invention.
Luck was not involved in my success. A lot of planning, like getting a military pension at 40, getting an A&P license, matching 16% of my pay in a 401k for 20 years, free money, and years of doing without. Sad part is after explaining how to do it I can’t convince people to do what it takes. I’ll admit a nice inheritance helped put me way over the top but it was just gravy.
To be sure, I thank God every night for it all.
Bob M
Bob,
🙂 Young folks,… pay attention. ((Golden)) advice there.
Me? Let’s just say I could have “applied myself” a wee bit more in my youth. My brother on the other hand did apply himself (maybe? smarter too?) and in doing such,.. is doing quite well. So,… his is well ((earned)). I did however smarten up in my older years and took the opportunity to make the most of an O.T. boom and did much of what you stated. Too little to late? Most likely. None the less,… better than never at all.
As “they” say,…. “If I only knew then, what I know now”,……… 🙂
Chris
Chris
I was fortunate to have a hard working mother who helped with advise along the way, and the inheritance at the end.
When I was young she did not have a nickel to give me for a Brooklyn truck mounted swing ride. and she cried.
She got a job and went from switchboard operator to office manager and management advisor and was just about running the company. She got her HS diploma at night after I got older and educated herself on investing money. 16% interest for a time really helped! Then dumped my dad and took control of her life, when I was 16. She eventually remarried after I was in the Navy. A civil service worker with a pension and they retired to FL and was just a bit shy of being a millionaire in the end. She never went without things she needed but never wasted money and could almost fill the kitchen with free stuff from coupons.. Buy one, get one free!
Truly part of the greatest generation. Especially when she let me buy my first airgun, with my own money of course. I worked after school from the age of 12 to my first full time job at 16. I helped with the rent giving her 56$ a month and eventually found out later on that was the entire rent ! She promptly reminded me I was eating more than that.
Bob M
Bob,
Lot’s of good lessons in that life story. My Mom, at near 80 still does the coupon thing but is on the I-Phone in today’s world. Paper too, if available. If there was ever anyone that can stretch a penny into a nickel or dime,… it is her.
Not sure if it is offered in grade and high school or not,…. but the benefits of long term/early start financial planning should be taught. Most any high school grade person can easily retire a millionaire with simple growth/income sector investment.
Chris
B.B.,
I want to join the other bloggers in offering up prayers for your upcoming surgery. May God grant the surgeons the skill to perform the required procedure and may He give you His peace and comfort in a speedy recovery.
Just so you know…you are loved 🙂
Geo
Guess I was one of the lucky ones growing up. I can’t remember when I got my first BB gun but it was probably a Christmas present. As a youth, I along with a close childhood friend, made many sling shots using tree crotches and inner tube strips. We also made some crossbows using wood and the strips of inner tube to propel the arrows. Later when I was about 14 I bought a Crosman 140 multi-pump in .177 caliber. That airgun was so accurate that I seldom missed the target, be it pest, can, or bottle. I still own that pellet rifle though the pivot pin for the pump was lost. I often think about having it repaired, just for sentimental reasons. Like many others, I grew up with BB guns, .22 rifles, and shotguns. Gun safety was always of paramount importance. We learned how to handle guns and shoot safely, always knowing what was behind the target.
Here’s a story about how things can go wrong when a gun is not respected. A boy next door was always getting into trouble. One day I was at his house in his bedroom and he was messing around with his older brother’s shotgun. He was sitting on the bed with the shotgun across his lap. The shotgun was a pump action and apparently his brother had left a shell in the gun. Jimmy racked the pump and must have had his finger on the trigger because the gun went off. I blew a hole out through the wall of his bedroom. His dad’s car was outside in the driveway and the pellets broke every window in the car out. Needless to say, his dad was a little upset.
I learned something from that experience as well. Never leave a gun sitting around loaded! True story.
BB,
Best of luck with the hospital. I don’t do the religion thing, but you are in my thoughts and I wish you well. And if I did, I’d pray for you.
I agree on the motivations for “collecting”. Mine are either I could not acquire it when younger, and/or it is interesting, for whatever, often historical, reason.
Which means I can’t really imagine buying a gun I would not shoot, but, equally, I don’t have to shoot some of my collection very much to enjoy owning them.
So a collector/user?
Put it another way, I had a friend in the US who owned scores if not hundreds of guns, but his main effort for many years was restoring CMP 03s and M1s to their original status. So he’d get an M1 and slowly rebuild it so all the manufacturer-specific parts were Winchester (or whatever). Then he’d take the thing out and shoot it.
That’s sort of my philosophy. It’s good to get, say, a classic 80s air rifle properly serviced and bearing a period scope in a contemporary mount, but once you’ve done that, you need to shoot it, not just admire it.
I appreciate other opinions may differ. If it was now legally a prospect (sadly not in the U.K.), and funds allowed, I could imagine getting obsessive about minor variations of Mauser C96s or Lugers, for example.
On the other hand (thinking of early semi-auto pistols), I have never shot a Borchardt or a Mars. If I owned one, I would really really want to make up some cartridges and see how they shot.
BB:
I have a great deal of respect and admiration for those of the Jewish religion. The intent of my comment was just to remark that there are a number of praying people on this blog…unlike, in my observation, the lack of praying people in the general U.S. population.
While our founding fathers intended this to be a Christian nation, I believe in respecting and tolerating those that live by peaceful, tolerant principles.
Motorman
St. Louis, MO
BB,
Best of luck with your surgery. Hope it’s minor and routine. Will be keeping my fingers crossed for you until we hear from you. As for collecting, these things just happen – I started with a 392 and eventually got tired of pumping. Wondered what a spring piston rifle would be like so I got a Diana 46. Gee, I should try a break-barrel spring piston (RWS 350). Wait, what’s with those gas springs (Crosman Nitro)? Heck, maybe there’s something to everyone loving these PCP’s. Wonder how the Discovery shoots? Hey, there’s an FWB 124 for sale at a good price. The Great Enabler also speaks fondly of those. Well, that’s how my collecting got started.
Fred formerly of the DPRoNJ now happily in GA