Hello everyone, my name Lauryn, I am a conservation picture framer & builder of custom display cases/cabinets in my late 40's living waaay down in the Eastern Bay of Plenty of New Zealand (nice to see a couple of other 'kiwis' here by the way)

Ever since I was a kid I have loved guns...  and whenever I played cowboys & indians/cops & robbers, I wanted to be Annie Oakly or Bonnie Parker.
When I was 17 I joined the 'Territorial Reserves' [like your National Guard I guess], so that I could get to "shoot some guns & blow some stuff up" and get paid for it, but due to safety concerns in regard to having guns around the house and some of the company I used to keep in my party/biker days,  I never bothered to get a firearms licence or own a firearm.

Fortunately, it is still legal to own an airgun without any special licences in NZ, and when I recently got internet-savvy and started browsing the local on-line auction sites my interest in collecting airguns was kindled... and when I bought a few very nice 'collectable' guns from another 'kiwi' member of this group, I was hooked.
(The fact that both my partner & my 13 yo daughter also love to shoot beer cans & stray drogs we catch ripping up our garden has done nothing to retard the advancement of my 'terminal addiction'

My addiction knows no specific boundaries, and while my heart is drawn mainly to rare & 'collectable' replicas & 'signature' models, my disposable income does not always support such excesses... like most gurls I have an inborn need of regular 'retail therapy', but when I walk out of the hair salon, instead of heading for the shoe store, I get on TradeMe and buy myself another gun.

With the 'gun fund' temporarily depleted, and some very pressing business bills to pay, I have recently had to auction off my beloved Umarex 160th Anniversary Commermorative Colt 1911-A1 <SOB>, but  couldn't resist picking up an immaculate Daisy 44 & a 'mint' Gamo Spectra for $20 apeice that someone else had up for sale.... see, I am totally incurable !!!
(I am currently considering the possibility of setting up a small home-based dealership just to support my 'habit'... but the worry is that I'll end up buying a lot more guns than i can bear to part with)

My current 'collection' includes a Schimel GP.22, a Daisy 44 [chromed with 8" barrel], a Daisy 44 [black with 6" barrel], a Healthways Plainsman 9401, a Crosman C40, a Crosman 357 GT 'python' [black with Gold Trigger & 6" barrel], a Remington Airmaster 77 Rifle, a Gamo 'Paratrooper' .177 Rifle, and a Gamo Spectra .177.

I don't know much about Daisy's, but I have always liked the look of  the Red Ryder & anything that looks like a Winchester lever-action rifle, and I was told about this group by fellow 'kiwi' collector Jim [who has an impressive collection of 'Colt SAA type pistols' & Daisy Red Ryders/Winchesters etc], so here I am hoping to learn more.

I was intrigued to see the profile of another kiwi member here who builds up his own guns [some of which I've seen on another site], as I'd also like to have a go at doing some 'customising' at some stage.

Lauryn Weissbaum