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Buster Bodine · Veteran Member

First and foremost, I'd like to say thanks to Eric & Co. for seeing fit to give us a BB gun forum. I appreciate it and hope to get a good bit of use out of it.

Second, I'd like to address a common recurring misconception I keep encountering in these forums.

A lot of y'all out there keep insisting that BB guns are toys. Well, if when you say that, you're only talking about yourself, you're almost certainly right. If you think it's a toy, then in your hands it's probably a toy and will never be anything more until you change the way you think.

But then, I know a lot of guys who own burners like AR-15s, M-1A1s, AK-47s, FN FALs, Steyr AUGs, etc, etc, and to these guys, those very expensive, very effective, and very deadly firearms are nothing but toys.

These guys who own these "dangerous toys" lack either the desire, ability, or knowledge required to turn that "toy" into a "tool."

In the right hands, those firearms can all be highly effective tools.

Like, my hands.

Former Army
Former US Marine
Gunsmith
Firearms Instructor (Certs from NRA, Arkansas State Police, etc.)
NRA Distinquished Expert in two different disciplines.

When I pick up a rifle or handgun, it's no toy. It's a tool. Sometimes that tool is a very general purpose item, sometimes it is a highly developed and specialized piece of equipment perfectly suited to one task and one task only.

But it's never a toy.

And neither are my Red Ryder BB guns or my two pellet guns. (More will come with time.)

Oh that doesn't mean I can't have FUN with them! Let's not get all sourpussed about it.

Just as a carpenter can enjoy banging nails with his hammer and have a grand ol' time doing it, so I can use the tools of my trade (firearms, AGs and BB guns) and have a great time as well.

But no matter how much that carpenter enjoys his work, that hammer isn't a toy and never will be. It's just one of the tools of his trade. Just like BB guns are one of the tools of my trade.

Bottom line...
If you have a BB gun and want to keep it light, play with it, and treat it like a toy, that's perfectly cool. You got a right! Mr. Green

But don't assume your lack of serious intent is universal. Some of us put those "toys" to hard use and get a hell of a lot of mileage out of them.

This first picture is a nickle I've thrown into the air and shot about 150 times with a Red Ryder BB gun.

This is a quarter I shot with a 10/22 day before yesterday. I shot about 10 quarters, but this was the only one I could find at the end of the session. Those puppies really fly when you hit'em. I also hit a 50 cent piece with a .45 Colt Single Action but that one took the long march too so sorry, no picture. :D

I learned how to do all this with a BB gun. You could do the same if you stopped thinking of them as toys.

scroller99 · Veteran Member

As a basic rule anything that could easily put an eye out is not a toy, I feel the same as you do about bb guns I do not own a working model but I did enjoy them so much as a kid and learned to handle a gun and to not shoot a foot off when I jumped up to 22's and 12 ga Smile

fritz · Silver Status Member

Toys is a very broad term. Most people think tonka trucks or barbie dolls when you say toy. I think anything you have fun with can be a toy. Let's make it clear that some toys are MUCH more dangerous than others.

To me, my toys are socket wrenches, hammers, guns, reloading tools (even though I don't have any, I want them), screw drivers.

I love tools, one time I just about blew one in my pants when I saw the "blackhawk" ratchet from black and decker. Twist the handle and it turns the bolt, great for tight spaces.

I'm sure that if I spent enough time with the red ryder I could hit dimes and pennies thrown into the air. That's with a "toy"... that toy is also a tool because I could make money shooting stuff with it. People would pay for the spectacle.

Should you point that .25 Condor at your neighbors' heads? Most certainly not. Would it be safe to point a nerf gun at them? Sure... nerf guns are not tools, just toys.

High powered burners are obviously tools, because they are not to be "played" with. But who goes to the range and tries to keep a straight face when you hit the X on your 1000yard target? Can you not have fun when you go hunting and get within 20 yards of a monster buck, and it drops on the spot? That's a toy to me.

Should guns (of any kind) be treated like toys? No. Are they toys? Yes. Are they tools? Yes. Are tools fun? Yes.

Buster Bodine · Veteran Member

Rogerflat · Silver Status Member

Anything that shoots metal projectiles is not a toy. Period.

fritz · Silver Status Member

Fine. I will make pellets out of ice.

Since water is a liquid combination of gases (at room temperature).

sniper · Silver Status Member

they're all toys to me. my K-BAR is a toy. explosives are toys.

as in. i like to play with them for fun. they're big kid toys. some people have dirt bikes and boats for toys.

not to be taken in the literal sense.

i love my toys and they are all in lockdown. Mr. Green

Rogerflat · Silver Status Member

I think toys mean "something little kids can play with".

Sure, a kid can "play" with a red ryder. But he has to have a very adult understanding of the implications of improper use.

sniper · Silver Status Member

[quote="sniper"]they're all toys to me.

not to be taken in the literal sense.

like i said. Mr. Green

SnowBunny · Veteran Member

sniper · Silver Status Member

sniper · Silver Status Member

[quote="SnowBunny"]

SnowBunny · Veteran Member

kanyon · Silver Status Member

[quote="SnowBunny"]

Buster Bodine · Veteran Member