One hundred years of memories

Guns Magazine, August, 2004 by Glenn Barnes

The unrelenting African sun showed no mercy as it slowly drained the life out of man and beast alike. He was old and standing alone, seemingly unfazed by the interminable heat. His enormous body carried the scars of seven decades of bloody and often deadly battles. I was a professional hunter and he was my prey; waxing philosophical or showing mercy to my victims was a trait I couldn't afford, and this big fellow was adorned with no less than 300 pounds of ivory, which meant money in my empty pockets and food in my pinched belly. Wiping the sweat from my brow with the back of my hand I cradled my custom Rigby rifle and closed in for the kill.

Walking and crawling through the waist-high, dew-laden grass, I managed to maneuver to within 40 yards of the bull elephant. Raising my rifle slowly to eye level, I centered the front sight on the big beast's massive forehead and sent one .275 Rigby bullet on its way for the legendary shot I'd made famous--the frontal brain shot.

The bull went down to his knees, shuddered once, rolled on his side and lay still. If my calculations were correct, this was my one-thousandth bull. My name is W.D.M. "Karamojo" Bell and I'm an elephant hunter ... at least I was on that day.

More than a quarter of a century has passed since that hot summer day when I became an ivory hunter. In reality, I was nine years old, the African plains were my backyard, and instead of a .275 Rigby rifle, I was armed with my trusty Daisy air rifle. The big bull was nothing more than a rusty tin can shot full of holes the day before, when it was an Apache warrior bent on taking my scalp.

Any Excuse Will Do

Life as a young boy was good, however, being all grown up ain't so bad either, especially when you've figured out a way to bring the little boy you used to be a few decades into the future. That's exactly what happened when I decided to acquire for myself, I mean my little girl, a couple of Daisy "BB" guns.

She's only two years old, but what the heck, it's never too early to begin teaching her safety and marksmanship skills. Dad started me about the same age, and besides, she promised her old man if he were good she'd loan him her "Red Ryder" for a shot at number 1,001.

For well over 100 years, boys and girls armed with nothing more than a reliable Daisy air rifle, a pocket full of "BBs" and a vivid imagination, have fought Indians, out laws, man-eating tigers, fire breathing dragons, sea monsters and pirates. Not to mention slaying a few black hearted Knights to rescue the raven haired damsel in distress--that was always my favorite. And, for well over 100 years Daisy has been teaching our youth the fundamental basics of marksmanship and safety combined with lots of wholesome family fun and down to earth values thrown in for good measure.

These same boys and girls grew up to be doctors, nurses, police officers, soldiers, Presidents and at least one who lacked the horse sense to seek a higher paying job, turned out to be a writer.

Training Tomorrow's Shooters

Daisy Outdoor Products is the world's largest and oldest manufacturer of airguns, ammunition and accessories, with more than five million items shipped worldwide each year. In addition to the demanding production schedule, Daisy also works closely with a number of national youth organizations, freely sharing their products and knowledge to provide our nation's young people the opportunity to learn responsible and safe gun handling practices while having fun in the process.

Most of us began our earliest forays into the wonderful world of shooting armed with an air rifle that read "Daisy" somewhere on its shiny barrel. Did you ever wonder how a rifle sporting the pseudonym of a flower, or your little sister's baby doll, managed to turn a boy's head, much less render him speechless, the first time he encountered one? And, how in the world did they come up with the name "Daisy" in the first place?

The answer to the first riddle is quite simple. Do names like Davy Crockett, Buck Jones, Buzz Barton, Zorro, Golden Eagle or Red Ryder mean anything to you? At one time or another all of these big screen leg ends or comic book characters had their names emblazoned on a Daisy air rifle and he-man little boys took notice of such things and had to have one.

If so inclined, even your little sister could join in on the fun armed with her very own "Annie Oakley" model. With alias" like these to mesmerize our developing minds, we soon forgot the slightly "sissy" sounding Daisy moniker and commenced having some fun.

Tilting At Windmills

Would you believe Alonso Quijano of La Mancha, better known as Cervante's knight-errant Don Quixote, along with his trusty swaybacked steed "Rocinante," had an encounter with an invention destined to become a major part of Daisy's history? It's true. He chased windmills, and Daisy's roots, as well as their name, can be traced to The Plymouth Iron Windmill Company located in Plymouth, Michigan.

Clarence J. Hamilton--a watch and clock maker by trade--conceived the idea of windmills crafted entirely from metal. By today's standards this doesn't sound like much of an invention, but prior to Hamilton's steel windmill, wood was the preferred material. Initially, sales were far from brisk, however, one of the premiums Hamilton included with the purchase of a brand new windmill was an all-metal air rifle he had designed.