My father was a gun guy. He started my brother and me out early with Daisy bb guns. As soon as we were a little older and learned the basics of shooting, we moved into shooting .22 rimfires. We did keep shooting Crosman and Benjamin pellet rifles, but these seemed like children’s toys to us, and we wanted the .22’s.
As a young teen in the early 80’s I used to read all the gun rags. In the back of one of the was an ad for “Adult” air rifles from some company in California called Beeman. Intrigued with what these possibly could be, I wrote a letter requesting a catalog.
What came was this gorgeous, full color, glossy catalog with these amazing works of blued steel and walnut. Clearly these were not Daisys or Crosmans! These truly were “Adult” air rifles, and they were powerful too! Dr. Beeman had an article in the catalog. He talked about the R-1 and why it was the best air rifle ever. I had to have one. I quickly went to the inserted into price list and I was immediately discouraged. The R-1 cost almost twice what a Ruger 10/22 did. Who in their right mind would spend that kind of money on an airgun?
Well, that was that. I’ll stick to .22’s and real guns. Only thing is, I never forgot about them. Over the years I would revisit the idea, but the cost would always jolt me back. “It’s a toy” I would say to myself, a nice toy, but still a toy. I still wanted one though. After a short stint in the Army, I started building my gun collection. I thought about these fabulous Beemans, but real guns were my goal. It was always the cost of the airgun that I shied away from. When I embarked on my federal law enforcement career, I started making some real money. I started thinking of the Beemans again. However, by this time, we were living in California and family obligations took precedence.
Still, I never forgot about these “adult” airguns. My 30th birthday was approaching, and I had the airgun bug again. I mentioned this to my wife, about their costs and I really think I was trying to talk myself out of one. She looked at me said, you work hard, we have the money, and it’s your birthday. “Get one”.
I was shocked! Not that she said “Get one” but that I really had no more reasons not to. Well, the internet was a new thing and I found, and airgun forum called “Fun Supply” (often called the “Old Yellow” forum and now morphed into airgunwarriors.com) and read everything I could.
I order catalogs from a company in Iowa (I can’t remember the name, but they are now Pyramyd Air in Ohio). I received a RWS catalog and a Beeman catalog. Ah, those Beemans called to me, but they were even more expensive! The RWS/Diana catalog had some nice guns too. Not as nice as Beeman, but they were powerful and cheaper.
More research ensued. I made up my mind and bought an RWS/Diana model 48 in .177. I decided on .177 because I liked the velocity that was advertised, and I figured I could find pellets easier. We were in Arizona now and I had an acre of land. I shot that rifle every day for at least 15 minutes.
Twenty some odd years later and I’ve never regretted spending that kind of money on an “adult” airgun. Now a days, I have more airguns than firearms and I definitely shoot them the most. In fact, while my airgun collection has ebbed and flowed, I’ve never been without one since then.
As a young teen in the early 80’s I used to read all the gun rags. In the back of one of the was an ad for “Adult” air rifles from some company in California called Beeman. Intrigued with what these possibly could be, I wrote a letter requesting a catalog.
What came was this gorgeous, full color, glossy catalog with these amazing works of blued steel and walnut. Clearly these were not Daisys or Crosmans! These truly were “Adult” air rifles, and they were powerful too! Dr. Beeman had an article in the catalog. He talked about the R-1 and why it was the best air rifle ever. I had to have one. I quickly went to the inserted into price list and I was immediately discouraged. The R-1 cost almost twice what a Ruger 10/22 did. Who in their right mind would spend that kind of money on an airgun?
Well, that was that. I’ll stick to .22’s and real guns. Only thing is, I never forgot about them. Over the years I would revisit the idea, but the cost would always jolt me back. “It’s a toy” I would say to myself, a nice toy, but still a toy. I still wanted one though. After a short stint in the Army, I started building my gun collection. I thought about these fabulous Beemans, but real guns were my goal. It was always the cost of the airgun that I shied away from. When I embarked on my federal law enforcement career, I started making some real money. I started thinking of the Beemans again. However, by this time, we were living in California and family obligations took precedence.
Still, I never forgot about these “adult” airguns. My 30th birthday was approaching, and I had the airgun bug again. I mentioned this to my wife, about their costs and I really think I was trying to talk myself out of one. She looked at me said, you work hard, we have the money, and it’s your birthday. “Get one”.
I was shocked! Not that she said “Get one” but that I really had no more reasons not to. Well, the internet was a new thing and I found, and airgun forum called “Fun Supply” (often called the “Old Yellow” forum and now morphed into airgunwarriors.com) and read everything I could.
I order catalogs from a company in Iowa (I can’t remember the name, but they are now Pyramyd Air in Ohio). I received a RWS catalog and a Beeman catalog. Ah, those Beemans called to me, but they were even more expensive! The RWS/Diana catalog had some nice guns too. Not as nice as Beeman, but they were powerful and cheaper.
More research ensued. I made up my mind and bought an RWS/Diana model 48 in .177. I decided on .177 because I liked the velocity that was advertised, and I figured I could find pellets easier. We were in Arizona now and I had an acre of land. I shot that rifle every day for at least 15 minutes.
Twenty some odd years later and I’ve never regretted spending that kind of money on an “adult” airgun. Now a days, I have more airguns than firearms and I definitely shoot them the most. In fact, while my airgun collection has ebbed and flowed, I’ve never been without one since then.
