Which brand/brands will survive and thrive.

There are quite a few long lived Airgun makers out there. FX is one of the most visible… Most of the other brands don’t need to be “worked on” or tinkered with. That’s why you see so few posts in comparison to FX. Air Arms, Daystate, BRK Brocock, RAW, RWS, etc. Some shooters actually like the smaller tube guns, they have their attributes. Can be hand pumped, HPA compressors, SCBAs, and other bits, not needed. My current setup: 33 shots at 17 FPE/725 FPS, 14 Gr. pellets from 250 to 110 BAR. 40-45 strokes of my pump. Plenty for hunting or pesting. And if the pesting is that good? It takes less than five minutes to air back up. I pump up my gun 3 or more times when plinking.

I humbly submit two brands that happen to be in our small herd Edgun and RTI. Both are very innovative in their out of the box engineering, yet are simple enough for any caveman to tinker around with. I'll grant you their basic metal appearance may not be to everyone's liking, but perhaps they weren't build to be. The tightening near future economy will bring upon the landscape many changes, most of which will not be good. To thrive or even survive will require innovations that are not yet seen.

If the quality is there, the reputation will bring in the followers. My flavor right now is springers. Air Arms TX and Weihrauch (all of them) are stand outs. Diana, I'm not 100% behind after trying some current offerings versus the older ones. Tinkered with China made ones ... they really seem to come and go. Those outfits trying to keep to tradition with a high emphasis on quality, those are the ones worth every single penny. I so miss the ma pa shop concept/image.

There’s also the consideration that some brands spend more on marketing than others. There’s really nothing about FX that puts them above the herd of other great manufacturers other than the crazy amount of money they put into marketing. They pay YouTube personalities, they make an appearance at every big event and show. They’re out there flaunting their new offerings constantly. When you see a gun performing in the hands of so many people, you’re more prone to buying that product than the ones you don’t see or know anything about.

Air Arms and Weihrauch.
For the smaller match rifle market, FWB, Walther, and Anschutz. All equally top tier.

SHOMER said:

I humbly submit two brands that happen to be in our small herd Edgun and RTI. Both are very innovative in their out of the box engineering, yet are simple enough for any caveman to tinker around with. I'll grant you their basic metal appearance may not be to everyone's liking, but perhaps they weren't build to be. The tightening near future economy will bring upon the landscape many changes, most of which will not be good. To thrive or even survive will require innovations that are not yet seen.

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Unfortunately, It will be the smaller producers who get hit the hardest when things get tight. When times get tough Capital is king. I just hope some of the smaller companies hold on. This would be a very boring sport without all the diverse offerings.

Chukar60 said:

Unfortunately, It will be the smaller producers who get hit the hardest when things get tight. When times get tough Capital is king. I just hope some of the smaller companies hold on. This would be a very boring sport without all the diverse offerings.

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But then you have to ask, what does "small" mean? Unless an airgun manufacturer is owned by an oil major or some other monolith, it's probably a pretty tiny company by corporate standards.

The air gun world might be somewhat comparable to the interchangable lens photography world. There is a market, but it's relatively small. There is innovation, but it's also relatively small-potatoes from the point of view of the history of firearms (or photography, respectively). Most firearm interest is in powderburners, much like most photography interest is in cell phones, i.e. both are relatively niche markets in the broader market they serve.

We are an educated and fussy bunch about our air rifles.

Hello everyone,

I am not a mechanic / gunsmith and I don't want to be, I am a shooter. I do understand those folks that just cannot wait to receive a new gun so they can start to work on it and spend a lot of time taking it apart and making modifications.

I want to spend every minute as much as possible shooting. Mounting a scope, initial cleaning and getting familiar with the gun is expected and then fine tuning for the correct pellet. When I buy a new truck or even a kitchen appliance, I expect it to work PERFECT from the get-go. I don't want to spend days, weeks or months "fixing" the item and do the work that the manufacturer failed to do.

When I take a brand new gun out of the original box I expect it to preform as near perfect as modern design and manufacturing can produce. In the past I have purchased a lot of powder burners for competition shooting and the procedure to get it ready to go to the range was so basic and simple. Remove the barrel/breach assembly from the stock, remove the magazine, remove the bolt, clean and remove ALL factory oils, inspect, re-oil, re-assemble, and go shoot.

When I take a new gun out of the original box it should have a "complete" owners manual including a blow out photo showing all of the parts and labeled. How to make any and all adjustments, etc, etc. There should be a clear statement that "this" gun was "designed and tested" to shoot a very specific pellet (s), listing the brand (s), weight, and best diameter based on the caliber of the gun.

Just my own personal opinion

Well with the Conflict happening in Eastern Europe, I'm not sure what Eastern Block Companies are going to survive if the conflict spreads, also with the high tensions with China, some companies might not make it, thing are up in the air, we'll have to see what happens with the political environment, Stay tuned to find out ........

Many of the lower end starter airguns are all private labeled versions of airguns being made by 2 or 3 Chinese manufacturers. Those manufacturers will survive by their size. A lot of the established respected brands have already been bought up by sporting goods conglomerates so they will survive by buying guns from the 2 or 3 Chinese manufacturers and rebranding them at low cost. The conglomerates will keep just enough high end in house manufacturing like Gamo does with BSA to keep the quality myth alive. So IMO not much would change with a recession right now especially concidering airguns are the hot new toy in the shooting sports. But once the consumer money moves to the new toy then we will see the disappearance of brands. It happened with handgun silouette, Muzzleloading, archery, and in many other sport/entertainment pastimes. Pickle ball would be a current good example of the new athletic rage. Right now everyone is investing in courts, equipment, clothing, tournaments and a lot of money is being made and spent. In a few years it will all be on the garage sale table. When airguns hit the garage sale table IMO is when manufacturers start to disappear and shops close.

I believe we are fortunate to have a number of makers of excellent air guns. In the long run, quality always wins. Innovative features may attract certain buyers, but those bells and whistles have to prove useful and reliable, or you've got a Ford Edsel. Consider the Theoben/RAW design. It has survived a bankruptcy and a couple of ownership changes, but the rifle is still very popular among shooters who prefer sturdy, proven quality over trendy features.