Alkin W 31 Price hit the roof

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airgunmike56

airgunmike56

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Aug 4, 2018
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Odessa,Texas, United States
I been very lucky with my Sheldon compressor , About six years ago I thought well I will put a little money aside in case my compressor ever gives up, Looked up the Alkin best of the best, 3000. set aside just in case, My compressor never a problem in 12 years or so, Just looked at the price of the new Alkins W 31 Dam a tick over 4000 bucks , What happened , Has the price jumped that much or did I look in the wrong store?
Dam maybe my Sheldon will last another 12 years , I am sure the Alkins will be 6000 by then, Dam , Crazy...
Mike
 
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Alkin had a recent price hike in December of last year I belive. From what I recall it was a $300-$400 jump. I figured it was related to the cost of materials going up or inflation. I never asked considered that I purchased mine beforehand. I have no regrets about my purchase. Airgun hunting and shooting is my hobby and I’m in this for the long haul. I don’t ever anticipate having to shop for a compressor again. A person with better knowledge on past pricing of Alkins is @Humdinger. He is one of our resident Alkin gurus.
 
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Even at $4,000, one of the best purchases an airgun enthusiast can make. Topped off my 97 cu ft great white last evening from about 2,800 psi to 4,500 in about 9 minutes.

Have owned mine now for maybe three years. Rock solid in performance and there is no one better to deal with and answer questions than the Alkin team.
 
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Right after the turn of this century when PCP's started to gain serious market share FX introduced a PCP compressor. It cost $1,000 and was merely a motorized hand pump in a box. It was water cooled but could only fill PCPs up to 3000 psi and was unable to fill tanks without overheating. Tom Kaye of Shoebox fame designed an air cooled booster compressor that made the FX obsolete. It sold for $399 in its first generation.

The only high quality dive compressor that specifically targeted the air gun community early on was sold by Airetex. The W31 and W45 models were designed by Bruce Dodson in Dallas. The Airetex W45 cost $3,500 and is a heavy duty compressor in service by some early buyers to this day. It was manufactured in Turkey by Alkin but to Airtex specifications. Prices remained steady and even dropped some during the past 20 years. Alkin eventually took over sales of their own compressors when they opened a U.S. based operation in Clifton, N.J. a decade ago.

There are several factors that result in Alkin price increases in the past few years. Transportation costs to ship cargo from overseas has skyrocketed. Inflation has added to labor and materials costs everywhere in the world. Alkin dropped their manual model W31 and made the auto shutoff option a standard feature. Increased demand for Alkins by PCP owners inevitably resulted in increased prices. We all have seen pellet prices increasing by similar percentages in the same time frame.
 
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bdzjlz said:
Topped off my 97 cu ft great white last evening from about 2,800 psi to 4,500 in about 9 minutes.
Click to expand...
My ( in comparison cheap ) Chinese compressor will need a "few" more minutes to do that, which are okay in my book.
As i recall it do something like that in 15 minutes,,,, which yes is almost double the time.
If it last as long, that's doubtful i think, at least i would bet on a Alkin

IMHO if you are a solo shooter and buy a fine and expensive compressor, well either you shoot a lot, or are blessed with a strong earning potential.
For most people it would probably be wiser to go dutch on something like that, my friend paid nothing to leech on my compressor, but then i run it at his place for free, and you be hard pressed to find countries with a higher KWh price than Denmark.
 
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I hope mine last until i am dead, which by the way it feel things are going souldent be all that long, even if i am actually still 10 years away from transferrig to the actual pension( 67 YO for the actual age pension ) and not the higher early pension i get now.

So brand recognition and resale price dont bother me, actually only once in my life have a sold something used, and that was my Amiga 500+
And i am not doing that again, it is give, or scrap with me.
 
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The other day I added up the cost of my Panthera. With scope and accessories $6500. If you are shooting an Impact or Panthera or other high end air rifle. The cost of the compressor is less than a second rifle with accessories. Most have a minimum of two rifles. Just skip the second rifle and get an Alkin or other high end compressor. Again go to dive forums, they may help you to decide which compressor to get. A good compressor is essential to the pcp Airgun hobby. Now if shooting a 750-1000 dollar gun with a lower end scope, sure get a lower end compressor. But beware, you will probably be fixing it quite quickly. I had a Coltri, but ultimately switched to a Alkin. Yes a good compressor and a bottle and hoses will be $5000. It is part of the sport. Suck it up, do it. Soon you will be purchasing the second Airgun rifle.
 
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archerhmr said:
The other day I added up the cost of my Panthera. With scope and accessories $6500. If you are shooting an Impact or Panthera or other high end air rifle. The cost of the compressor is less than a second rifle with accessories. Most have a minimum of two rifles. Just skip the second rifle and get an Alkin or other high end compressor. Again go to dive forums, they may help you to decide which compressor to get. A good compressor is essential to the pcp Airgun hobby. Now if shooting a 750-1000 dollar gun with a lower end scope, sure get a lower end compressor. But beware, you will probably be fixing it quite quickly. I had a Coltri, but ultimately switched to a Alkin. Yes a good compressor and a bottle and hoses will be $5000. It is part of the sport. Suck it up, do it. Soon you will be purchasing the second Airgun rifle.
Click to expand...
With the filling of the tanks going up $$ and the fill pressure of our guns going from 4000psi + there is no better investment than a good compresor..
 
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Everyone has to make decisions about compressor purchases based upon their own priorities and budget. There is no absolute right answer to fit everyone. I am amused reading about a reviewer who has owned or tested twelve $200-500 compressors which have all failed within one year yet he still is asking which new economy compressor he should buy next. Add up his losses and it would pay for a new Bauer or Alkin. Others will pay for big buck for the newest got to have it PCP innovation. A year later a newer version comes to market. The owner then sells the older model for a huge loss on the used market. What I've never understood is buyers who don't blink at prices for the latest high dollar PCP but insist that a similarly priced compressor is not within their budget.

"Cheap reliable" in high pressure air compressors is an oxymoron. There is cheap or there is reliable but there is no cheap and reliable.
 
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When I first got into this sport, I tried the air cooled portables thinking they were the way to go. That was a mistake. Two down, almost $2K down the tubes. I didn’t even bother sending the last one back for repair. It will become a victim for my Bushbuck to chew apart.
I have two 98 cf bottles, a 70 something bottle and an 18 cf. I was desperately trying to avoid the big ticket compressor. Nearest air supply to me is 30-40 mins away and $10 a bottle to fill.
I added two big bores to the stable. A compressor is now mandatory. Those big bores eat air like no other.
I found a used Coltri MCH6, not the compact version. Even used they ain‘t cheap but I have no time to be running to the air supply all the time.
I have come to the conclusion that if you are going to dive deep in this sport you may as well save your pennies and get a higher end, honest to God commercial compressor.
The deep dive is not for everyone bit once you get to the deep end, there is no viable option IMO.
 
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airgunmike56 said:
I been very lucky with my Sheldon compressor , About six years ago I thought well I will put a little money aside in case my compressor ever gives up, Looked up the Alkin best of the best, 3000. set aside just in case, My compressor never a problem in 12 years or so, Just looked at the price of the new Alkins W 31 Dam a tick over 4000 bucks , What happened , Has the price jumped that much or did I look in the wrong store?
Dam maybe my Sheldon will last another 12 years , I am sure the Alkins will be 6000 by then, Dam , Crazy...
Mike
Click to expand...
I still have a Shelden 4.2 CFM Kidde. I got an Alkin after Mr. Shelden retired in case something happened. I was used to just texting or calling him if I had questions. The Shelden has been sitting unused in my garage for 1 1/2 years now. I thought about selling it, but I know I'm not going to ship it and all my shooting buddies who are really into airguns have compressors. To your question, I paid $3500 total with shipping for my W31 Alkin.
 
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blackdiesel said:
I still have a Shelden 4.2 CFM Kidde. I got an Alkin after Mr. Shelden retired in case something happened. I was used to just texting or calling him if I had questions. The Shelden has been sitting unused in my garage for 1 1/2 years now. I thought about selling it, but I know I'm not going to ship it and all my shooting buddies who are really into airguns have compressors. To your question, I paid $3500 total with shipping for my W31 Alkin.
Click to expand...
I paid the same for my W31 in 2020, and that was the Cadillac version with auto bleed and shutdown.
Could only find a Sheldon in 3k psi output, and Airetex was defunct by that time.
 
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