Start with a "budget gun" or go all out?

[bandg]

I'm back on the bullpup thing again. I do not have the opportunity to handle/shoot one, as folks have recommended I do before buying one. I've lived life long enough to know that I either buy an entry level/budget gun, like the $500 Kral, or spend the money and go all out on a $1200+ rifle. I am leaning towards the Kral. My working theory is, if I do not care for the platform, I can hand it off to one of my older children or sell it to someone else who wants to try it. If I like the bullpup platform, I can always upgrade down the road and keep the Kral as a loaner.

Another part of me says to slow down and wait to see how I evolve in this hobby, maybe upgrade what I already have, etc. I welcome any feedback on this.

I think you laid it out for yourself pretty well. "My working theory is, if I do not care for the platform, I can hand it off to one of my older children or sell it to someone else who wants to try it. If I like the bullpup platform, I can always upgrade down the road and keep the Kral as a loaner." All that seems very logical. Some say turn left and some say turn right but only you know where you're going.

 

[theLBC]

devil's advocate here, i am one of the buy once crowd, but admittedly i don't have lots of people waiting to take possession of items i don't feel are up to snuff for myself.

more i often i buy the best i can (having done exhaustive research) and thus ensure that my family will inherit nothing but the best i could afford rather than yardsale fodder. that said, it took me years to decide what to get, lol.

 

[slapahondn]

I have a taipan and a buddy of mine has a kral puncher breaker. I feel the kral is 90% of the veteran for less than half of the price. I would have been happy with something like the kral had I stayed off of the forum. 

 

[Guest]

In today's PCP world a lot of the more affordable guns offer a great bang for the buck.

 

[HARLEY01]

Buy once, cry once. Spend as much as you can and get it over with the first time.

I agree with this statement...I have 1800 in paper weights

 

[BackStop]

I guess it depends on what you are going to do with it and what your expectations are. For some, and probably most, buying a quality lower end lower priced airgun simply makes more sense. But you have to do your homework in any case. YMMV

 

[Saltlake58]

It depends. My opinion (worth what you paid for it), get the best budget gun you can afford with the features you want. By that, I mean if you want an adjustable regulator, hammer and other adjustments, find a budget gun that scratches that itch. Learn on the budget gun. If you screw it up, it's a couple hundred bucks and you shouldn't be afraid to repair it yourself if you need.

Once you feel comfortable with the budget gun, you will be more knowledgeable on what high end gun you want. The budget gun is an investment in your education and developing shooting skill. Knowledge gained is invaluable in deciding what gun you want, how much you are willing to pay, and that knowledge can be directly applied to shooting the high end gun.

In my case, I started with a Marauder that had valve, hammer and pre-load adjustments. I spent months tuning it to what I wanted, then applied that info to deciding to buy an Impact. The knowledge gained was invaluable in understanding how the high end gun worked.

Two Impacts later, I'm ready to buy back into the "Entry" level gun market. Maybe next gun will be an Avenger I can tune specifically for slugs. It has the basic features I want, accuracy of 1 MOA at 100 isn't the goal, so the Avenger might just tickle the itch. . . . . . .

 

[CyberDyneSystems]

For any hobby, I feel it makes sense to remember you have to "start somewhere" but the top makes no sense.

Right now there are Canon interchangeable lens cameras that sell for a few hundred, and then there are the EOS R3 and 1DXMKIII selling for $6,000.00+ ish...

Lenses start at about $99.00 and go up to $13,000.00

Under no circumstances does it make any sense to start out with that top of the line gear. In a year, or a few weeks one might decide, "this is not really my bag"

This does mean that one should always start at the bottom, but there is a reason that there are so many price points. All of life is about compromises. If you become "hooked" and want more, then go for it. But how do you know until you try? Trying should not cost thousands.

 

[Fatmike]

I bought a hatsan flashpup to see if I liked the bullpup format. It was cheap and I wouldnt be out much if I didnt like it. I then happened to get a great deal on an used dreamline dreampup for 700$. Really wish I would've found the dreampup first but the flashpup still gets used. The two guns are worlds apart. One doesnt make me want the other at all. If you have the money for the higher end gun get it. The resale value is better for the more expensive gun. 

 

[HARLEY01]

So I bought a flashpup and a bullboss...now the taipan is by far my favorite. Better in every way. My maverick is number 2

 

[JimD]

I have a Marauder pistol (Prod) and an Avenger and have a Artemis P35 on the way. I wanted a FX Crown Continum but got tired of waiting for them to be in stock. I shoot from the left shoulder despite being right handed because my left eye is dominant. Most bullpups put the magazine into my face and/or have the cocking lever in my face. But the P35 has a flush fit magazine and a forward cocking lever. So I ordered one. Should arrive Wednesday. I will find out if I like bullpups as much as I think I will. The P35 doesn't cost much more than a caliber change kit for a FX.

I enjoyed tuning the Prod including doing a Bstaley tune to get the velocity variation down. I wanted close to 20 fpe and that required a bigger transfer port and stronger hammer spring. Trigger worked fine so I left it alone. Made my own butt stock. Avenger is easier to tune, just turning screws and I enjoyed that. The trigger was bad in my opinion but a longer sear screw and some screw turning fixed it. Stock did not fit but a butt pad to lengthen the pull and an adjustable comb fixed that. The P35 is regulated but the regulator is inside the air tank with no outside access. So tunable but more difficult. I expect it to be more like the unregulated Prod. Both my guns required careful small changes of the hammer spring to reach their most accurate tune.

I was looking at the puncher breaker knight but the weight turned me off and it isn't much shorter than a Crowne with the 380 barrel. My Prod is 5 lbs including it's scope. The Avenger is just over 6 without scope. P35 is 5.2 without scope. If you will only shoot from a bench weight doesn't matter much but if you will carry it around while hunting it's nicer if it isn't heavy. P35 is only about 26 inches long. Not much more than half the Avenger length and may be slightly shorter than my Prod with it's stock on.

 

[HubenK1Sniper92]

 

[kingsqueak]

I’m new as can be, got an Air Venturi Avenger and I’m happy with it but my main use is walking around my property pesting. The 50 Inches in length of the AVA got immediately annoying. I went with a Leshiy 2 for the compactness and solid build for walking around in the woods.

The Avenger is a lot more comfortable to shoot mounted in my shooting rest/tripod.

For walking around shooting, I think the short format bullpup or compacts are the best option. I can sling the Leshiy 2 and just let it hang on my side as I’m walking.

I never recommend anyone spend any dollar amount that puts them into debt or hardship for a hobby. It took me my working life to get to this “max toy budget” time and frankly, it’s nice to just buy what you want but really my two rifles do the same job for me, one is just 8x the price.

Another bull pup I had my eye on that is a lot more affordable was the Benjamin Akela which is supposed to be very accurate.

My only other advice is to put money into your air and pellets. My tank was more than twice what the Avenger costs but if you don’t have air you aren’t having fun shooting. 

My next major purchase is a compressor that will fill tanks without drama…they are pricey.

 

[steve-kville]

Those EDguns are definitely on my radar and will eventually buy one as the hobby evolves. But not now. I bought a small compressor straight out of the gate. Why? Because trying to cobble together an air source was too stressful. So I spent the money.

I was looking at the bullpups, hence the reason for this thread. I decided yesterday to buy a second P-mod. I'm having lots of fun with my "carbined" version and I want to keep this one in pistol format. If you're not having fun and look cool doing it, then what's the point?

Only complaint is I can only run three mags until the pressure drops and accuracy suffers. But more on that later.

 

[steve-l]

A much bigger question than the OP has placed forward in this thread is overall cost of PCP. The OP should be prepared to spend a minimum of $10,000 to start in PCP..There are many costs that occur just to get setup not the least of which is air. The difference between an unregulated low dollar Kral at $800 and a $2000 FX is really insignificant in the big picture. Not understanding this is pure rationalization. In the end, you get what you pay for. Spending money on less than adequate just wastes your hard earned cash. As an example the cost of a decent compressor will cost more than the best FX gun. Now, add storage bottles, hoses, whips, fittings to the mix and you get my drift.. Don't think that you can get by with a cheap Chinese special because you cannot. There are far too many examples of failures right here on this forum.

 

[10mikemike]

Buy nice, or buy twice. Simple as.

 

[Cutler]

Lots of advice here, whatever you do, do your research, watch videos, then make up your mind. Just remember when you change rifles it is going to cost you money. And don't over capitalize on a rifle, and the cheaper it is the easier it is to spend a lot on stuff that you will recover when you sell.

 

[Guest]

A much bigger question than the OP has placed forward in this thread is overall cost of PCP. The OP should be prepared to spend a minimum of $10,000 to start in PCP..There are many costs that occur just to get setup not the least of which is air. The difference between an unregulated low dollar Kral at $800 and a $2000 FX is really insignificant in the big picture. Not understanding this is pure rationalization. In the end, you get what you pay for. Spending money on less than adequate just wastes your hard earned cash. As an example the cost of a decent compressor will cost more than the best FX gun. Now, add storage bottles, hoses, whips, fittings to the mix and you get my drift.. Don't think that you can get by with a cheap Chinese special because you cannot. There are far too many examples of failures right here on this forum.

Bollocks !!

Been shooting PCPs for 15 years and all I had is handpumps, now I have a 50 bucks Chinese Amazon special and works fantastic and has for 3 years now.



You can get into decent PCP action for less then a mid-high end springer,.....certainly no need for 10 grand !

 

[Airgun-hobbyist]

Make a checklist for features that you find appealing (cocking lever position, caliber, magazine fed, shot count, power level, adjustability, price, tunability, resale value, etc.) and check off the boxes and go from there. You will be happier in the end. 

Because you are going to a new bullpup style of rifle, find a design that you think that you will be comfortable with as far as where the cocking lever goes and handling will become second nature as with your long guns. For example, there are some that cock with the lever back by your cheek. This may not acceptable to you for quick and clean follow-up shots while hunting because cocking is nowhere near the bolt location of long guns.

 

[Bigragu]

For any hobby, I feel it makes sense to remember you have to "start somewhere" but the top makes no sense.

Right now there are Canon interchangeable lens cameras that sell for a few hundred, and then there are the EOS R3 and 1DXMKIII selling for $6,000.00+ ish...

Lenses start at about $99.00 and go up to $13,000.00

Under no circumstances does it make any sense to start out with that top of the line gear. In a year, or a few weeks one might decide, "this is not really my bag"

This does mean that one should always start at the bottom, but there is a reason that there are so many price points. All of life is about compromises. If you become "hooked" and want more, then go for it. But how do you know until you try? Trying should not cost thousands.

Like your advice. I always keep Clint Eastwood’s famous quote in mind when considering a purchase that’s high end- “a mans got to know his limitations”. I know he meant that for something else, but I use it all the time throughout just things in my life, but especially when it comes time to purchase big. 

To outright put yourself in debt, or rob Peter to pay Paul, over a pcp hobby, makes no sense for sure. 

One piece of advice I’ll give is if your more of the methodical, function over form guy, the guy that took apart his stretch Armstrong as a kid to see what was inside, then may I suggest a platform such as the Marauder? It is the perfect pcp in understanding the operations of how a pcp functions in its most simplistic form. It allows one to understand the mechanics, the tuning, service, and with the aftermarket support, it allows modification. 

Lets face it, one may claim they’re not into tinkering, but just like the lawnmower, your pcp will need to be serviced. Time to role up the sleeves and bust out those allen wrenches and calipers, lol. Working on a Marauder would have prepared you for that task. 

Folks that had the dollars enough to start big right off the line, sad to say, those are the ones that can’t figure out why their $2K+ pcp won’t take in any air as the air rushes out the barrel, instead.