In my efforts to research pcp air rifles for purchase I have reached the following conclusions and bits of information. I have listed quick takes and anyone can address them as they see fit. I am also including what I found to be interesting data while doing research for my latest pcp purchase. I have purchased a total of 7 pcp's including the latest one. I currently have 4 and will probably keep it at that number for the foreseeable future. I would be curious what others think the data could mean or signify. I give my conclusions below. Keep in mind we are talking about PCP's only here and these are my observations / opinions / conclusions.
1) There is a whole bunch of information out there and available. It is very difficult to sort through it because of the volume and bias of the providers. For example:several providers, the individual produces promote / use specific products. Those products used can / have changed over the time (years). The same goes for on line reviews, articles and blogs. It is not impossible but difficult to find anything truly unbiased. We are all human and have our own motivations and preferences. Just like trucks. Some people are hard core Ford other s Chevy, Dodge, Toyota, Nissan.... etc. This also applies to Air rifles.
2) There is a lack of good useful practical information presented in way to educate people on the basic principles of pcp rifles. How they work and why. How the ballistics of various projectiles / pellets work and why. What type and kind of scope to use for the kind of shooting you plan to do. Everyone has an opinion, very few take the time to clarify why they have opinion and what application it is good for. I personally am a hands on learner. Show me something in person a couple times and then let me have at it. I can't stop the presenter in a video / review /article to ask them any questions specific to my intended use. Inquiries can be submitted but you are at the whim of the content provider as to if or when they respond to your question(s). I want an answer now!!! Air rifles are a tool to be used with a specific goal in mind to each individual user. The best answer to this question when I have asked, short of 1 on 1 personal training, is to join a club. Either one is not always feasible or possible for everyone.
3) An educated customer is a happy customer. I have my own business (Glazing contractor: glass work) and I spend more time initially with a potential customer asking : (who, what, where, how, why and when questions) to find out how I can best fulfill their needs. Any seller wants to sell what they have on hand or available to them obviously but we are not talking about the purchase of a $42.85 wrench set. Most purchases range from several hundred up to a couple thousand dollars or more. More on this later.
4) Someone should come up with an education format to inform people from the basics for newbies to intermediate and advanced topics for experienced users. Something that is interactive where people can ask and get specific questions answered. I know I would be willing to and have paid (and will in the future) to be "educated" in some of these areas. It pays in the long run because of the initial expense in getting started with pcp's. When I set out to buy an air rifle I know what I intend to use it for and have specific goals in mind. I want to buy something that will accomplish those goals with no or minimal modification by me after the fact. Others may want something that they can monkey with. Again individual choice. By being informed you can make those choices.
5) Safety issues. Being uninformed and uneducated can lead to people being imprudent in use, maintenance and modifications of pcp's. I want to know what I can and should use or be able to do. Just as important, what not to use or do.
6) Realistically what types of accessories and equipment will I need to do the shooting I want to.
I have read a lot of good advice and gleaned a lot of good information from here and other various on line resources but have yet to find a place where this information / "education" can be found and presented in single place in a succinct fashion. I would think that manufacturers / retailers would want to do this. I know PA and a couple others have a lot of this type of information available but a person has to really dig to find what they want and will still have questions. For example I have yet to see a manual provided by a manufacturer that is adequate in my opinion. I have not seen all. At best a few topics are highlighted and that is it. And if you purchase your air rifle in the after market (classifieds) you are lucky to get anything at all. Usually it is a big fat "0", nada, zip.
While researching the purchase of my latest air rifle I decided to go through the classifieds here and on other forums to see what people were selling and why. I realize that individuals will list the same item for sale on multiple sites for obvious reasons so the data provided here is from the AGN classifieds only. AGN is the only forum that I have subscribed to / registered with for my own personal reasons. Each forum has its own biases and cliques etc. so any data you may find listed elsewhere could very well be different than what I found here.
I went back and counted the various makes (brands) of pcp's listed for sale or trade in the past 6 months. I did my best to eliminate duplicate listings. Keep in mind this is for pcp guns only, not parts, not springers, not accessories etc.. In no way do I claim that this is scientific or 100 percent accurate. It is just my findings while researching for my own personal reasons. I am just sharing what I found.
There were approximately 290 listings for pcp's the past 6 months. The brand(s), and the percentage of the total listings for that brand, of pcp are listed as follows:
1) FX with 24.1%
2) Benjamin / Crossman with 22.3%
3) Daystate / Brocock with 12.1%
4) Hatsan 8.1%
5) Kalibre 6.4%
6) BSA and Air Arms were tied with 5.3%
8) Airforce 3.9%
9) Edgun and Taipan were tied with 2.5%
Others of note RAW/Vulcan (air gun tech)/ Kral/Walther were between 1.4% and 1.8%
The remainder were all other brands not listed above.
The top 10 accounted for over 90% of the listings. FX for nearly a quarter and Benjamin/Crossman close behind. The top 2 accounted for almost half the listings of pcp's for sale here on AGN for the past 6 months. I did not check every list to see if they told why it was being offered for sale or trade. I am still not sure what can be concluded from this data. My observations are:
1) I understand the Benjamin/Crossman rank as they tend to me more entry level and more of a "tinkerers" gun that people tend to take apart and modify or start out with.
2) FX surprised me. Maybe their users are not as welcome on other sites? Maybe there is a greater proliferation of FX guns in the market? Could it be their tendency to keep upgrading and changing their line of products more than others? Were the initial buyers lacking in their "education" and got into something over their heads? FX is not typically thought of as an "entry" level brand.
3) I did do some random checking of listings to see if reasons for their being listed were given. Most just listed the item for sale. Some were upgrading. Some were getting out of pcps or needed the money. A couple brands, RAW for one, the listings were more detailed with more pictures and almost expressed regret at having to sell them. That stood out as it was a RAW listing that I first came across that "feel" in the ad and as there were only 5 listings I looked at them because that first one I looked at caught my attention that way. Taipan was another brand I saw that in along with Daystate and I think there was an FX listing that had that feel.
My reason for checking was to see what Brands were people selling and which ones were they holding on to. My thinking being that less listings means people are happier with their purchase and less likely to want to sell or trade it. This does not in any way account for the market share factor as a percentage because I don't know what market share for any particular brand is. It is obvious that Edgun, Vulcan, RAW, Flex and Taipan to name a few have a smaller market share than FX, Benjamin or Daystate for example. This is what I found in my research. This could all be skewed and mess up for all I know. It did however influence my decision in the purchase of my latest pcp. I had a list of requirements for what I wanted in my latest purchase. I had a possible 5 different brands that made a pcp that would have fit all or most of my requirements (didn't have too many) and information gained from going through the past listings here in the classifieds helped me narrow it down to the final 2. If this is of any interest or worth to anyone else good, if not I at least got my 2 cents worth out there.
1) There is a whole bunch of information out there and available. It is very difficult to sort through it because of the volume and bias of the providers. For example:several providers, the individual produces promote / use specific products. Those products used can / have changed over the time (years). The same goes for on line reviews, articles and blogs. It is not impossible but difficult to find anything truly unbiased. We are all human and have our own motivations and preferences. Just like trucks. Some people are hard core Ford other s Chevy, Dodge, Toyota, Nissan.... etc. This also applies to Air rifles.
2) There is a lack of good useful practical information presented in way to educate people on the basic principles of pcp rifles. How they work and why. How the ballistics of various projectiles / pellets work and why. What type and kind of scope to use for the kind of shooting you plan to do. Everyone has an opinion, very few take the time to clarify why they have opinion and what application it is good for. I personally am a hands on learner. Show me something in person a couple times and then let me have at it. I can't stop the presenter in a video / review /article to ask them any questions specific to my intended use. Inquiries can be submitted but you are at the whim of the content provider as to if or when they respond to your question(s). I want an answer now!!! Air rifles are a tool to be used with a specific goal in mind to each individual user. The best answer to this question when I have asked, short of 1 on 1 personal training, is to join a club. Either one is not always feasible or possible for everyone.
3) An educated customer is a happy customer. I have my own business (Glazing contractor: glass work) and I spend more time initially with a potential customer asking : (who, what, where, how, why and when questions) to find out how I can best fulfill their needs. Any seller wants to sell what they have on hand or available to them obviously but we are not talking about the purchase of a $42.85 wrench set. Most purchases range from several hundred up to a couple thousand dollars or more. More on this later.
4) Someone should come up with an education format to inform people from the basics for newbies to intermediate and advanced topics for experienced users. Something that is interactive where people can ask and get specific questions answered. I know I would be willing to and have paid (and will in the future) to be "educated" in some of these areas. It pays in the long run because of the initial expense in getting started with pcp's. When I set out to buy an air rifle I know what I intend to use it for and have specific goals in mind. I want to buy something that will accomplish those goals with no or minimal modification by me after the fact. Others may want something that they can monkey with. Again individual choice. By being informed you can make those choices.
5) Safety issues. Being uninformed and uneducated can lead to people being imprudent in use, maintenance and modifications of pcp's. I want to know what I can and should use or be able to do. Just as important, what not to use or do.
6) Realistically what types of accessories and equipment will I need to do the shooting I want to.
I have read a lot of good advice and gleaned a lot of good information from here and other various on line resources but have yet to find a place where this information / "education" can be found and presented in single place in a succinct fashion. I would think that manufacturers / retailers would want to do this. I know PA and a couple others have a lot of this type of information available but a person has to really dig to find what they want and will still have questions. For example I have yet to see a manual provided by a manufacturer that is adequate in my opinion. I have not seen all. At best a few topics are highlighted and that is it. And if you purchase your air rifle in the after market (classifieds) you are lucky to get anything at all. Usually it is a big fat "0", nada, zip.
While researching the purchase of my latest air rifle I decided to go through the classifieds here and on other forums to see what people were selling and why. I realize that individuals will list the same item for sale on multiple sites for obvious reasons so the data provided here is from the AGN classifieds only. AGN is the only forum that I have subscribed to / registered with for my own personal reasons. Each forum has its own biases and cliques etc. so any data you may find listed elsewhere could very well be different than what I found here.
I went back and counted the various makes (brands) of pcp's listed for sale or trade in the past 6 months. I did my best to eliminate duplicate listings. Keep in mind this is for pcp guns only, not parts, not springers, not accessories etc.. In no way do I claim that this is scientific or 100 percent accurate. It is just my findings while researching for my own personal reasons. I am just sharing what I found.
There were approximately 290 listings for pcp's the past 6 months. The brand(s), and the percentage of the total listings for that brand, of pcp are listed as follows:
1) FX with 24.1%
2) Benjamin / Crossman with 22.3%
3) Daystate / Brocock with 12.1%
4) Hatsan 8.1%
5) Kalibre 6.4%
6) BSA and Air Arms were tied with 5.3%
8) Airforce 3.9%
9) Edgun and Taipan were tied with 2.5%
Others of note RAW/Vulcan (air gun tech)/ Kral/Walther were between 1.4% and 1.8%
The remainder were all other brands not listed above.
The top 10 accounted for over 90% of the listings. FX for nearly a quarter and Benjamin/Crossman close behind. The top 2 accounted for almost half the listings of pcp's for sale here on AGN for the past 6 months. I did not check every list to see if they told why it was being offered for sale or trade. I am still not sure what can be concluded from this data. My observations are:
1) I understand the Benjamin/Crossman rank as they tend to me more entry level and more of a "tinkerers" gun that people tend to take apart and modify or start out with.
2) FX surprised me. Maybe their users are not as welcome on other sites? Maybe there is a greater proliferation of FX guns in the market? Could it be their tendency to keep upgrading and changing their line of products more than others? Were the initial buyers lacking in their "education" and got into something over their heads? FX is not typically thought of as an "entry" level brand.
3) I did do some random checking of listings to see if reasons for their being listed were given. Most just listed the item for sale. Some were upgrading. Some were getting out of pcps or needed the money. A couple brands, RAW for one, the listings were more detailed with more pictures and almost expressed regret at having to sell them. That stood out as it was a RAW listing that I first came across that "feel" in the ad and as there were only 5 listings I looked at them because that first one I looked at caught my attention that way. Taipan was another brand I saw that in along with Daystate and I think there was an FX listing that had that feel.
My reason for checking was to see what Brands were people selling and which ones were they holding on to. My thinking being that less listings means people are happier with their purchase and less likely to want to sell or trade it. This does not in any way account for the market share factor as a percentage because I don't know what market share for any particular brand is. It is obvious that Edgun, Vulcan, RAW, Flex and Taipan to name a few have a smaller market share than FX, Benjamin or Daystate for example. This is what I found in my research. This could all be skewed and mess up for all I know. It did however influence my decision in the purchase of my latest pcp. I had a list of requirements for what I wanted in my latest purchase. I had a possible 5 different brands that made a pcp that would have fit all or most of my requirements (didn't have too many) and information gained from going through the past listings here in the classifieds helped me narrow it down to the final 2. If this is of any interest or worth to anyone else good, if not I at least got my 2 cents worth out there.
