I used to live in Minneapolis. I'd gotten into this sport pretty deeply about the time I moved there. The airgun world was relatively new to me and I'm not one to trade or buy rifles "on line" very often. I prefer to hold that machine in my hands. Get a feel for it. Maybe even have the opportunity to shoot it before I make my decision.
I'd found myself on some airgunner's email list. The "threads" of one classic airgun or another could be the topic of discussion for days. These guys wrote about the history of the sport. Who the important names were and the best airguns of the best.
Something interesting happened. Someone mentioned that there was an airgun store in Minneapolis. Not just any airgun store but one with a rich history. A place where airgunners who never went on the internet came to trade, drink coffee and get their rare and interesting airguns repaired.
The owner must've been clear over seven feet tall in his youth. As it was I met him in his late seventies and he's still closer to that seven feet than six. Old Bill opened the store when he came back from his service to this country. He dealt in airguns and recurve bows.
Over the years he'd hired a few people to take care of repairs but close to forty years ago he'd emplyed a gentleman who really knew his stuff. The two built a local reputation that still exists to this day. But the hired fellow moved on top bigger and better things.
Bill was getting older. He'd seen how things were going and decided to give an old friend a call. Gary didn't take long to think about it. He was back doing what he loved from the start. Repairing, rebuilding and tuning those wonderful old classics.
As time marches on you sometimes have to pass the baton forward. Bill made up his mind that Gary would be the next propriator of B&B Supply. Not much changed, really. The same shadows still breach the threshold of that airgun store which used to be a gas station. The best airguns still get traded and history is shared in tales to the newer generations in the sport.
Best of all, you actually got to see some of these great classic airguns first hand. You shouldered them. Felt their heft and balance. If it wasn't busy Gary would tell you things about specific airguns that made them fire the way they did. What caused this or that to produce that final firing characteristic. These were rifles which were used and enjoyed. Untold numbers of pests fell because of them. Through simple use and care by Gary, most these rifles were shot to a point of utter smoothness.
The place is still there. The phone number is the same. Gary still works on anything you bring him. He still takes care of his customers in the same tradition that B&B' always has. I don't think he could do it any other way.
It was through B&B Supply that I learned the value of those old classic airguns. That little store is the reason I spent the last ten years searching out some specific models.
A lot of times you can stumble onto an incredible airgun on the used market. Often times these air rifles are either self tuned or professionally tuned. They've gone past the break in period and on to the really enjoyable shooting cycle. The part of an air rifle's lifetime when it really starts to shine.
Why do some people sell rifles just when they really start to shoot smooth? Sometimes a tune turns a rifle better, but not what they owne expected so they move on. Maybe a sale is the money to buy the next airgun. All I know is that it means somewhere out of some airgun classifieds is the airgun you want, and all you have to do is watch for it. A used airgun may not be perfect looking but its probably got a tune inside it. You never know unless you ask. And that, my friends, makes the experience of finding some classic airgun so fun. Its rare to get a nice old classic that doesn't shoot well from the moment you put that first pellet through her.
and again, your mind has to be preserved for posterity, it is full of REAL stories that need to be told but told by real story tellers that know how to write them
you made me be at the store and meet these characters, talking to me and answering my questions
Harvey, you have the gift to write and make front start to end a big, believable event in life, keep it up, I will read your commercials if you ever write them
warren
and remember "it's 30% the gun and 70% the shooter"
Thanks. Just wanted to plant the seed to check out
January 30 2008, 6:41 PM
the classifieds. There's nothing wrong with used rifles. And some of the great ones can only be had this way. Production costs and bean counters often limit the greatness a company can achieve. Its all about the money right? Well it was to a degree but it wasn't always all about the money. When costs get cut sometimes truly great rifles do too. They're still out there, just in the hands of someone else for the time being. And when that someone desires the next airgun, its as good a chance as any those gems come up on the classifieds.
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