I have been looking at one of these guns off and on for a long time. Almost all of the negative posts, especially the one from the "highly experienced" engineer somewhere in Europe who bashed the Priest to death, were all a bunch of crap. There had to be some agenda with that guy and a lot of the other negative posts were from people who had never even shot a Priest. Anyway, all of the negative myths about this gun have been dispelled. I have a neighbor with the first version and it's a blast to shoot, it's very simple, powerful and pretty inexpensive considering what you can do with the gun. The detachable tank was got me excited, for my young sons, this is an awesome feature. Or, if you just want more capacity you can leave the tank attached to the gun and hook up a second tank via the micro bore hose. You either like the looks or you don't but after getting a chance to shoot one, they're quite a cool package for $1249. The Eastern Europeans know how to make quality guns and this is no exception!
With all of that being said, the reason I really wanted to respond to your post is to let everyone know that AOA will be selling the Priest 2 to US customers very shortly. I heard they were going to be an imported/retailer so I gave AOA a call to find out more. I called a day or two after IWA and was told they are going to start selling them but they didn't have the details yet. They told me to call back in 2-3 weeks, after their staff gets back from Europe and they know more about it. That was 2-3 weeks ago so they should have more information anytime.
I love my Beeman's, my Brocock's and my FX's. They're all quality guns for sure. I've been saving for a new Daystate or FX but recently decided I need to start buying some guns from different manufacturers to see what's out there and how the quality stacks up. You never know until you try, right? I would have never really considered the Priest 2 if I hadn't had the opportunity to shoot one. Yeah, I though the concept was cool and believe it or not, I like the looks! But that's about where that ended. After shooting one though, I really got excited. It's a cool gun with a lot of great features...external tank option, swappable calibers, fully adjustable, high power regulator, left side, straight pull cocking, fully adjustable trigger, externally adjustable hammer spring, super lightweight (like 4.5lbs with the tank removed and used via hose)and it has a tiny footprint too.
We air gunners are a lucky bunch. No matter what you like to shoot or what you like to shoot at, there are so many options these days with new options being released constantly. It's an exciting time for all of us and it's only going to keep getting better and better!
Stoti
and some money to spare on ammo
It is time to sell some AGs