Unfortunately the days of what many consider to be 'fair' or 'reasonably' priced imported air guns are gone for some time, maybe forever.
- At the rate the current administration is spending/trying to spend/printing money, the value of US currency has dropped against international currencies. Therefore the price an importer/distributor pays in US dollars has gone up.
- While this has been improving, UK manufacturing is not as highly or fully automated as is manufacturing in many other 'hi-tech' countries. Employees who can be considered 'craftsmen' as opposed to 'operators' are still at a higher proportion in UK manufacturing companies.
- Craftsmen based manufacturing can provide products which have a higher level of fit & finish and functionality, but at a cost. Products can be made cheaper elsewhere, but may not have the same level of finish, or may not function as well out of the box.
- Product support and warranty is expensive. IIRC Brocock has a 3 year warranty in the US (and maybe limited lifetime if purchased through AOA?). Many other guns have maybe a 1 year warranty. But that is only the first part of this equation. Brocock/AOA (or Precision Airgun Distribution) have a demonstrated history of:
- Being accessible for contact by an individual requiring support;
- Having a stock of repair parts in-country;
- Having a capable staff to perform repair work.
The length of a warranty is meaningless unless it is backed up by the 3 activities stated above. And supporting those 3 activities in the US is not free, and is ultimately priced into every gun sold.
- The Atomic XR is a little bit 'new and different' in an airgun market which is currently very hot. So many new shooters coming into airguns. Relatively little inventory available to purchase. Maybe Brocock decides internally "let's add $100 to the MSRP of this new gun since the market is so hot right now." Why not? If it sells for the price, great, and we have another manufacturer who remains financially solvent and can support all of their products. If it doesn't sell at that price, mark it down as a sale. Win-Win for them.