funny story...

When I was about 10 years old, I bought a bb gun from my best friend, Randy. (Randall Vernon…a crazy kid that I just don’t have time to write about right now.) Anyway, I was obsessed with all things mechanical when I was young and loved taking things apart to see how they worked. The bb gun was no exception. Upon purchasing my new ordnance, I promptly took it to my bedroom and began inspecting it for exploitable weaknesses. I found a few screws in the casing so, of course, I grabbed the nearest screw driver and went to work. After taking out the last screw I could find, I gently lifted off the upper half of the casing. Before I could even see the insides of the gun, all manner of springs, rods, and metal bits came flying out. It looked extremely complicated inside, and I soon determined that it would be too difficult for me to figure out. I began stuffing everything back inside as I saw fit. I connected rods with springs and placed bits into slots where they seemed to fit. I had to keep my finger on some of the pieces to keep them from springing back out as I slowly placed the cover back on. I put the screws back in, cocked the gun, and pulled the trigger. It felt the same as before I had taken it apart, so I felt somewhat confident that I had successfully restored it into working order…despite that fact that I had an extra couple of springs in my hand. I eagerly loaded it up and took it outside for some shooting practice. I pumped it up, cocked it, aimed at my target (the shed out back…yes, the same one that I broke my nun-chucks on), and pulled the trigger.

Nothing.

I tried again.

Nothing again.

From that day forward, the only way I could hit something with that gun was to put a target on the ground right in front of me, roll a bb down the barrel, and tip the gun up so the bb could roll forward and out the front of the barrel, dropping onto the target.

Dang.