Not sure what the power adjustment range is on the new AEA .45. My .30 SS Plus adjusts from a max of 48fpe to a min of 30fpe. At lower than that it will still fire but it won't cycle the action.
The AEA's have the power and the semi-auto option and some level of easy power adjustments. The Terminator and SS Plus are quite loud though, and already long enough without hanging an LDC on the front end. If the diameter of the barrel shroud on the SS Plus was increased to 50mm it could be made about as quiet as they come without any additions. It's funny in a way that the more powerful the airguns are, the quieter I want them to be. If that .45 semiauto AEA can be adjusted down from 200fpe to under 50fpe, and quieted down to a dull thump, it'll be a formidable addition to their product line.
Powerful and relatively compact semiauto airguns like that have also crossed into the arena of home defense, along with a few compact pistols like the First Strike FSC paintball pistol which shoots .68 cal hard balls in the ~35fpe power range. A company like Grimburg Defense positions their less than lethal .68 cal CO2 and HPA launchers and new Gavle compact CO2 defense pistol directly at that personal defense market. All of the bigger bore AEA and similar have evolved so far beyond the 12fpe spring rifles and 8fpe pump-ups of 50 years ago. Techniques are evolving too as forums spread the news. Like using Helium to increase power output by 50% over air, or by filling the rear of a pellet with Vaseline to raise the power of the shot out of a springer or gas piston break barrel rifle by 75%. Information like the recent Shot Show airgun product videos increases market awareness and demand, it was actually exciting to see that video demo of that new 200+fpe AEA semiauto .45. Too noisy and too powerful for me, but I'd still like to have one for awhile just to check it out.
And that attitude is exactly why there are so many expensive Leshiy 2 and Daystate airguns showing up in the Classifieds all the time. People like me, and many reading this, aren't so concerned about the money, or about finding the one true airgun to rule them all. I just want to try a bunch of them, compare them, and keep some of them longer than others. Those Leshiy 2s are really excellent at what they do, and so are the AEA products though they do it quite differently than the Edgun designs. I didn't already have an L2 and an SS+ I would have snapped up some of the recent deals I've seen for them in the Classifieds, same with Hubens which seem to me to be underpriced on the resale market. It's an exciting time for airgun technology that's for sure.
