Basher
HAM Specialist
Well, I’ve known about HAM for a few years, but somehow I missed the memo about there being a HAM *forum!* 
I’ve been a powder-burner basically my entire life, but cut my teeth as a kid on an OLD Daisy Red Ryder (old as in it was my father’s when he was a young lad), then on one of those multi-pump pellet rifles that looked like an M16. That grew into .22s and other firearms with Boy Scouts and I kind of forgot about airguns until my teens when I got into paintball and airsoft pretty heavily and learned how much fun that was. That then progressed again into actual firearms when the magical 18 rolled around… However, as I’ve approached middle age, I’ve learned of a few ailments I have, one of which requires a medication that causes me to bruise rather easily. So now most of my powder burners mostly sit.
Enter air rifles!
I learned at an early age to live by the “buy once, cry once” principle. With a few exceptions, I’ve followed that fairly closely. Something as potentially expensive as an airgun addiction had me start off on the slower side, and right now I have a Benjamin Akela in .177, a Cayden in .22, as well as an Air Arms TX200HC in .22 (there’s that buy once thing…). The Benjamins are pretty new to me and I got a good deal on them, so as starter PCPs I’m not at all disappointed. However, seeing as I enjoy some precision long-range stuff, I want to stretch my airgun legs a bit, and now I’m looking at a variety of mid- to high-end PCPs such as Taipans, Brococks, an AGT, or maybe an FX of some kind.
I’m absorbing what I can like a sponge so I can make an educated purchase. I’ve read quite a bit on GTA and AGN, and now I’m here to do the same. Despite years and years on forums, I’ll probably make one of “those” new-guy posts about which option suits my use case best before spending my hard-earned money. That way that those with far more experience than I can either confirm my choice or correct it. Not sure when that’ll happen but at this point it’s probably not far off.
Speaking of use case, that would be a mix of plinking/target/casual shooting and a healthy dose of small game hunting/“pesting.” I run a rural airport with a pretty bad seasonal bird problem that needs some attention, and airguns seem like the perfect tool for the job. I can use powder burners when needed, but if I can keep the noise down, limit my lethal range, and drastically limit the potential for ricochets, I’m all for it. And, you know, it’s a good excuse to buy airguns, soo…
I do intend to compete eventually (NRL22 and FT type stuff) as I used to compete a good bit with the PBs and miss it, but one thing at a time. 
Anyway, I tend to lurk more than post, but we’ll see how things go. Happy to add another forum to visit and another community to try and be a part of!
I’ve been a powder-burner basically my entire life, but cut my teeth as a kid on an OLD Daisy Red Ryder (old as in it was my father’s when he was a young lad), then on one of those multi-pump pellet rifles that looked like an M16. That grew into .22s and other firearms with Boy Scouts and I kind of forgot about airguns until my teens when I got into paintball and airsoft pretty heavily and learned how much fun that was. That then progressed again into actual firearms when the magical 18 rolled around… However, as I’ve approached middle age, I’ve learned of a few ailments I have, one of which requires a medication that causes me to bruise rather easily. So now most of my powder burners mostly sit.
Enter air rifles!
I learned at an early age to live by the “buy once, cry once” principle. With a few exceptions, I’ve followed that fairly closely. Something as potentially expensive as an airgun addiction had me start off on the slower side, and right now I have a Benjamin Akela in .177, a Cayden in .22, as well as an Air Arms TX200HC in .22 (there’s that buy once thing…). The Benjamins are pretty new to me and I got a good deal on them, so as starter PCPs I’m not at all disappointed. However, seeing as I enjoy some precision long-range stuff, I want to stretch my airgun legs a bit, and now I’m looking at a variety of mid- to high-end PCPs such as Taipans, Brococks, an AGT, or maybe an FX of some kind.
I’m absorbing what I can like a sponge so I can make an educated purchase. I’ve read quite a bit on GTA and AGN, and now I’m here to do the same. Despite years and years on forums, I’ll probably make one of “those” new-guy posts about which option suits my use case best before spending my hard-earned money. That way that those with far more experience than I can either confirm my choice or correct it. Not sure when that’ll happen but at this point it’s probably not far off.
Speaking of use case, that would be a mix of plinking/target/casual shooting and a healthy dose of small game hunting/“pesting.” I run a rural airport with a pretty bad seasonal bird problem that needs some attention, and airguns seem like the perfect tool for the job. I can use powder burners when needed, but if I can keep the noise down, limit my lethal range, and drastically limit the potential for ricochets, I’m all for it. And, you know, it’s a good excuse to buy airguns, soo…
I do intend to compete eventually (NRL22 and FT type stuff) as I used to compete a good bit with the PBs and miss it, but one thing at a time. Anyway, I tend to lurk more than post, but we’ll see how things go. Happy to add another forum to visit and another community to try and be a part of!
Welcome to Ham 
.
