That's right, after watching two episodes of the Christmas Story today I found an official Red Ryder, carbine action, 630-shot, range model air rifle, under the tree.

What an awesome day.... Thanks Dad!!

Do you have cattle rustlers in your neighborhood?

You'll shoot your eye out kid.

Paintballs on golf tees are fun targets.

I still have mine but it does not shoot anymore. It's about 30 years old and has probably seen 100,000 rounds or more.

I had my grandfather’s BB gun as a kid. It was really hard to cock - because it was powerful. I later got a new Daisy that was a wimp compared to grandpa’s. It died somewhere along the ride.

Happy shooting
Mike

My lovely wife and I both have Red Ryders. They are a good time. I've read that Daisy weakened the spring so that they would not break the skin.

We've had a bunch of Daisy air rifles over the years, and there are still three here in my office.

Two of them I gave to my sons for each of their first Christmas (so 26yrs and 23yrs), they are the classic Daisy lever BB rifles. I still have the boxes they came in also. We had them out last night when everyone was here for dinner!

The other is an old Model 25, which if you remember the pump model with the plastic wood grain stocks and the gold paint "engraving". I was at my gun club with my oldest son when he was probably 7 or 8.
They had a little tabletop swap meet going on and I walked through the isle looking at all the junk the older members brought to sell. At one table I saw a mint Daisy Model 25 and laughed and told my son Ryan that I had the same BB gun when I was a kid.

The fellow selling it handed it to me to inspect and it had a piece of masking tape on it that said $50.00.

I handed it back to the old fella after we chatted for some time about all the BB guns we both had.

He asked my son I he had his own gun yet and he said "no". So the old guy says "well, if your Dad had ten bucks this one can be yours." I handed him a 10 and thanked him as we shook hands.

Of course it went home with us and I still have it and we shot all of them yesterday afternoon!

At one point over the years I was looking for some info about the 25 and stumbled on the story of Daisy and how the BB rifle got the name "daisy"

https://www.daisy.com/about-us/

A Daisy of a Name


In the late 1870s Clarence Hamilton, a watchmaker and inventor, moved from Ohio to Plymouth, Michigan. He set up shop in the front window of a drug and jewelry store, where he repaired watches. One of his inventions was a vane-less windmill and he began production of it in a shop near his home about 1880. In 1882 he built a two-story, 8,000 square foot building, formed the Plymouth Iron Windmill Company and began production of the windmills.

By the mid 1880s the business was struggling. Transporting the heavy steel windmill by wagon throughout the southern part of Michigan, northern Indiana and Ohio was impractical. In January 1888 the board met to consider closing the company. The motion to liquidate failed by one vote, that of general manager Lewis Cass Hough.

Around the corner from the windmill company, Hamilton also operated the Plymouth Air Rifle Company, producing a wooden airgun to compete with the one being manufactured by the Markham Air Rifle Company.




On March 6, 1888, Hamilton approached the windmill company with an all-metal airgun of his own design. He chose to take it to the windmill company because they had blast furnaces and they were equipped to mold and stamp the metal parts necessary to build his gun. The gun was passed around to members of the board. General Manager L.C. Hough test fired the gun and exclaimed, “Boy, that’s a Daisy.” ‘”It’s a Daisy” was a colloquialism of the time.) So the little gun was named Daisy.

Legend has it that the board of the Windmill Company decided to build the gun and offer it as a premium item to every farmer who purchased a windmill.

By 1895 the sales and popularity of the gun had grown to the point that the company ceased the manufacture of windmills, began producing airguns exclusively and changed its name to Daisy Manufacturing Company.

The Markham Air Rifle Company was established in July 1886 in a small two-story factory in Plymouth, Michigan. The Markham Chicago model was the first financially successful BB gun. When the founder of Markham decided to leave Plymouth in 1912, he sold his company to two Daisy executives. They changed the name of the company to King Manufacturing Company in 1928, and Daisy acquired King Manufacturing in 1931.

No history of Daisy would be complete without including the early years of the Plymouth Iron Windmill Company, the first premium gun and the acquisition of the Markham Air Rifle Company.

Of course, the company moved to Rogers, Arkansas – the city we still call home today – in 1958 and a lot of BBs have rolled out of the barrel since then. We still dominate the airgun category with tried and true models like the legendary Red Ryder as well as innovative new high power PowerLine air rifles, air pistols, and a line of Avanti air rifles and pistols for training and match competition. And, we license the Winchester name to create a line of Winchester Air Rifles and pistols which live up to that legendary name.

If you’re interested in a more complete history of Daisy, we’d encourage you to order a copy of the 2006 reprint of the 1976 book, It’s a Daisy and a copy of the 125-page hardbound, full-color book, Daisy. It All Starts Here, both available through the Rogers Daisy Airgun Museum, www.daisymuseum.com

Thanks for taking time to read about our colorful history and, for those of you who have learned to shoot or taught someone to shoot with a Daisy, thanks for being a big part of it.

quote:

Originally posted by Texas Bob C.:
My lovely wife and I both have Red Ryders. They are a good time. I've read that Daisy weakened the spring so that they would not break the skin.

They claim 350 fps, so at close range it should easily break skin.

I received mine for my 37th birthday. Never had one growing up. I shoot it for fun between haircuts when my shop is open. Some of the customers have shot it, too!

My kids both have one. No Shit story the Christmas they received them we were shooting cans one ricocheted came back and hit me just below the eye. My kids had eye protection on but I didnt. Almost shot my eye out.

My son (now 13) has enjoyed his many years.