Let the stories fly about backyard pellet gun shooting as kids or with your kids. - Page 2

5thShock · March 30, 2014, 10:55 AM

This yard is a nightmare for the anti gun parents who have lost their kids to us for a few hours of learning to deal in lead, friend. We will keep it as such.

leadcounsel · March 31, 2014, 03:15 AM

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!

Harvey · March 31, 2014, 06:58 AM

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.

Picher · March 31, 2014, 05:24 PM

That's so sad. No child or parent should have that happen. I'd never heard of a kid getting shot in the eye by a lead pellet, but almost became the victim of a rebounding BB.

wogpotter · March 31, 2014, 05:35 PM

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!

jimbob86 · March 31, 2014, 06:18 PM

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 ......

Slopemeno · March 31, 2014, 06:39 PM

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.

Brian Pfleuger · April 1, 2014, 11:52 AM

I thought ya'll might appreciate my "learning marks" (scars).

March 31, 2014, 06:58 AM	#28
Harvey Junior Member Join Date: March 28, 2014 Location: Anna Maria Island Posts: 8	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. __________________ just ask Harvey

March 31, 2014, 05:35 PM	#30
wogpotter Senior Member Join Date: September 27, 2004 Posts: 4,811	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! __________________ Allan Quatermain: “Automatic rifles. Who in God's name has automatic rifles”? Elderly Hunter: “That's dashed unsporting. Probably Belgium.”

March 31, 2014, 03:15 AM	#27
leadcounsel Junior member Join Date: September 8, 2005 Location: Tacoma, WA Posts: 2,119	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!

March 31, 2014, 05:24 PM	#29
Picher Senior Member Join Date: December 14, 2004 Location: Maine Posts: 3,694	That's so sad. No child or parent should have that happen. I'd never heard of a kid getting shot in the eye by a lead pellet, but almost became the victim of a rebounding BB.

March 31, 2014, 06:18 PM	#31
jimbob86 Junior member Join Date: October 4, 2007 Location: All the way to NEBRASKA Posts: 8,722	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 ......

March 31, 2014, 06:39 PM	#32
Slopemeno Senior Member Join Date: January 19, 2007 Posts: 2,663	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.

April 1, 2014, 11:52 AM	#33
Brian Pfleuger Moderator Emeritus Join Date: June 25, 2008 Location: Austin, CO Posts: 19,578	I thought ya'll might appreciate my "learning marks" (scars).