The weapon of choice for the aulder High Wall boys. Gat guns were .177 "pop oot" airguns that fired corks, darts and pellets.
Arkos and I were havin' a wee debate aboot the origins of oor Gats earlier tonight. I reckoned we got the money for them fae the sale of a couple o' auld books we found when we were rakin' aboot in the abandoned Banks & Co printing Factory on Causewayside. As I recall they were auld leather bound books wi copperplate engravings o' Scottish landscapes in them. We selt them fir a fiver tae a bookseller guy in Brunstfield. Boy nivvir asked any questions, just gied us a fiver and that wis that. He wis happy and so were we. Who knows whit we had found, but a fiver wis a fair bit o' dosh back in the mid 70's. A fiver was also the price o' two brand new Gat guns
Arkos reckoned they came fae the proceeds o' the sale of a couple o' reel tae reel tape machines we fished oot o' a skip on Ratcliffe Terrace. Ah mind o' that too, and in fact still hae a couple o' the tape reels tae this day. Ah still reckon it wis the books though.
Anyway we bought oor Gats fae a wee shop in the Arcade off o' Cockburn Street. Man they were guid things tae own. We used tae wander aboot wi them jammed doon the waistband o' oor troosers, like Jimmy Cagney or John Wayne. We used tae shoot tin cans, boatils (non returnable ones of course) road signs, abandoned factory windaes and, naturally, each other.
Now a Gat gun pellet will sting and probably could "have yer eye oot" but we wore snorkel Parkas so were well padded. We used tae hae some laughs shootin' each other aroond the High Wall and in the auld abandoned Southside factories, hidin' and layin' in ambush, waitin fer a clean shot. A sort o' urban paintball withoot the coloured dyes.
Now ah wouldnae fir one minute condone firearms and there have been a few terrible and tragic incidents involving airguns over the last few years. Airgun legislation in Scotland is getting tighter and that is probably a guid thing in my book. But we did hae some fun wi thon Gat guns back in the day.
I saw an auld original Gat fir sale at the Ghillies Funday in Ballinluig a couple o' years ago and wis tempted tae buy it fir auld times sake just tae stick oan the shelf. It was only a few quid but ah ended up no botherin'. The world has moved on I guess.
5 comments:
Jist thinkin. Where wiz ma cut fae the books when yous two goat the guns? Nivvir mind. THey certinly wirrnae weapons oh choice fir a hit man, unless he pit against yir heid and..... bit they did make ye feel like a million dollars! Ave heard ye kin rent a reap piece in the toon nooadays fir aboot the same amount! Strange days indeed.
Aye, "It's A Corker" as it used to say oan the box! That picture fair takes me back. I still remember holding a gat in my hand for the first time. Alien Orders and maself had some rare fun with oor gats. But like you say changed days indeed. And I wouldn't like an air-gun kicking aroond the hoose these days. Mind you you could probably dae mair damage tae yerself with the toaster than a gat gun! The only air gun that I ken aboot that came wi corks!
Mind you I do remember that Old Jimbo suffered some damage from a gat gun. The boy he was playing poker against in the school bogs took umbrage tae having a gat gun pointed at him in some petty disagreement over a 10p win, and promptly tok the gat off him and pistol whipped him with it! Probably the most damage ever inflicted on someone wi a gat gun!
All the best!
Arkos
I remember my Gat gun they were great fun , not the most accurate of weapons the pellet/dart never went the same way twice.im glad I grew up when I did much better fun than the nanny state kids now.
WANTED 1970'S GAT GUN IN GOOD WORKING ORDER
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/302537374114?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649
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