Bad news travels fast, misery loves company I hear all the horror stories of the "problems out of the box" people have experienced, and my heart breaks for them! I've bought ten new air rifles since 2002 and one was a "basket case" that shouldn't have even shipped, although repaired it was never the same as new, dings scratches ect, from the repair process which degraded the pride and satisfaction of ownership. ($1100.00 gun), however the other eight I still own have all been remarkably reliable from day one, including Theoben, Airarms, Beeman, and FX, just haven't had any problems and I shoot them a lot! Lets hear about the great reliable day one guns still going strong, routine maintenance is expected but issues out of the box, even dings and scratches are unacceptable!