"steves"Zebra and Camp l, thanks for all the good advice. Zebra I'm going to inbox you and see what kind of deal I can get home a good tank. I have been thinking for the last 3 hours and I am backing up on the Streamline just because by the time I buy the gun the fill station and the scope I'm at $2,000. Just not sure I really want to do that for what I'm going to be doing. I want good quality but I think I'm going to have to scale back. So the journey continues. I looked at getting a Marauder, but by the time I do all the upgrades, I'm going to be at the same price as the Streamline.... I guess the only thing there is I don't have to do the upgrades right away. I can do them as I can afford them. But in the end will I still have a nice rifle... is it still going to shoot very accurate?
Steves,
Most of us have done what you're doing now, or at least I know I did. I got into the hobby a few years ago after growing up as a kid with a bb gun and was amazed at how far air guns had come. I, like many here, figured "x" amount of dollars is surely going to be good enough. Then we all get the shiny new gun and it is fun for a while as you begin to shoot and learn it. Afterwards, as you read the forums to try to learn how to make your gun better, you continue to see the results other are getting that you are not able to achieve. (or at least I wasn't, not being a master tuner and all) Then the shiny new gun you have becomes "If I had just put that money toward gun "x" to begin with, I wouldn't be out "x" amount of dollars right now.
I wen't from a Diana 54 (around $600) at the time, which seemed like all the money in the world for "just an airgun" to a TX200, to a HW97kt, then to an AA S-510, and finally to a FX Royale 500 which at the time was $2200 or so. I would have saved a LOT of money if I had just started at the Royale 500 first.
You nailed it earlier when you said "spend once, cry once". Folks are able to get some respectable results with their Marauders. I had one after owning the FX Royale 500 and it was such a step down for me that it only took a few days before I knew I just didn't want to shoot it any more. No amount of tuning or adjusting that I did to that thing made it anywhere near as comparable to the higher end PCP's I've shot. It was heavier, clunkier, less efficient, less accurate, less ergonomic, worse trigger, etc etc. This is also when I began to learn the importance of a regulator, when I finally got to shoot a pcp that didn't have one. Efficiency and accuracy both suffer.
I would say if you were going to skimp on something for the time being, get a cheapy scope and used tank. It is far less expensive to upgrade those later.
Not trying to tell you how to spend your money, I'm just offering to you the advice that others gave me and I wish now that I had followed. My bank account would have a much higher balance haha
Good luck with whatever you choose.
Best wishes,
Cliff