The future of airguns

[madeintheuk]

So it seems that slugs are becoming more and more popular if not “the norm” as a projectile from airguns these days, yet the majority of airguns still don’t have barrel options or the power to shoot them accurately. If slugs are to become the future of airgunning, shouldn’t the manufacturers be looking into offering today’s guns with the means to shoot them? I see companies like fx and jsb coming up with hybrid style digs to try and help transition into slugs with current pellet barrels shooting them fairly well, but with all the options in slugs these days, why aren’t airgun manufacturers offering slug barrels as the norm (like fx, and others are doing).

the majority of airgunners can’t afford to be spending $2k on a gun just for he opportunity to shoot slugs......why isn’t this catching on?

 

[JimNM]

Compare the sales stats of slugs vs. pellets. You will see that slugs are still only a drop in the bucket as far as volume. You have the cart way before the horse. Ammo buyers shoot all kinds of guns - not just the latest and greatest that the cool kids are showing on their videos.

 

[Eaglehorn]

It's business. The market for slugs is growing, but the vast majority of people who buy airguns are still using pellets because they're not pushing extreme distances (and slugs are more expensive and not worth the extra $ for terminal performance that doesn't help the average shooter by much).

 

[survivor45]

Just my thought. 
Designing and manufacturing “slugs” is fairly simple and cheap. 
Designing and manufacturing barrels that shoot slugs is probably fairly complex and expensive. 
So , you get a big verity of slugs but not so much for gun/barrel options.

 

[edenwildfood]

So it seems that slugs are becoming more and more popular if not “the norm” as a projectile from airguns these days, yet the majority of airguns still don’t have barrel options or the power to shoot them accurately. If slugs are to become the future of airgunning, shouldn’t the manufacturers be looking into offering today’s guns with the means to shoot them? I see companies like fx and jsb coming up with hybrid style digs to try and help transition into slugs with current pellet barrels shooting them fairly well, but with all the options in slugs these days, why aren’t airgun manufacturers offering slug barrels as the norm (like fx, and others are doing).

the majority of airgunners can’t afford to be spending $2k on a gun just for he opportunity to shoot slugs......why isn’t this catching on?

As others has said its a minority of enthusiasts using slugs. YouTube videos are not representative of general air gunners

 

[edenwildfood]

Higher end air guns will always be q fairly small market in the US as they compete with cheap and effective easily obtainable firearms.



The overseas market often have power restrictions that make slugs not worth it so less likely demand there too

 

[madeintheuk]

I understand the market share currently, but If slug barrels were more mainstream, more people would shoot them, and the price would come down as the market share increased. The benefits of slugs is obvious, it’s not just all the cool kids making YouTube videos that show this, it’s science. I know the slug industry is increasing exponentially, but imagine if airgun companies jumped on the Bandwagon. Pellets will always have their place in the sport especially for low powered guns, but slugs just have more benefits!

 

[edenwildfood]

I understand the market share currently, but If slug barrels were more mainstream, more people would shoot them, and the price would come down as the market share increased. The benefits of slugs is obvious, it’s not just all the cool kids making YouTube videos that show this, it’s science. I know the slug industry is increasing exponentially, but imagine if airgun companies jumped on the Bandwagon. Pellets will always have their place in the sport especially for low powered guns, but slugs just have more benefits!

Slugs are largely irrelevant for the UK market

 

[AndyH]

I think I will always prefer pellets for their accuracy out to 100 yards and ability to shoot them in many places slugs would be risky. Played with some .22 slugs and concluded if I needed the flatter trajectory for hunting I would use one of my many powder burners. Just my opinion and to each their own.

 

[JFS737]

Slugs are growing in popularity no doubt but the pellet still will fill the vast majority of shooters needs for some time to come. As noted, if you want to shoot over 100 yards, PB's are often a better choice and usually cheaper! Once the range comes back down, pellets don't lose out too significantly and at least for now, they are much cheaper and safer. They are often as accurate or more so at these shorter ranges as well. I like knowing my round is not going to continue on forever after I pull the trigger, one of the plusses of airguns ! I would shoot slugs if I had a gun to do it and it was in a safe environment to do so.

I think both have their place, but the largest segment is still better served by shooting pellets and I'm referring only to the US here. Worldwide pellets will thrive for reasons noted above as well.



Regards,

John

 

[Leatherman]

I got caught up in the slug craze from all the forums and tube videos and modified a Condor 25 to shoot 48 grain slugs at over 1000 FPS. I also bought a FX Crown in .22 and tuned it to shoot the FX Hybrids . That was fine but I shoot mostly in my back yard at 40 yards max and decided I didn’t need all that FPE . So I tried the JSB Hades 15 grain pellets in my Crown dialing the hammer spring back and switched the port to .22 and at 850 FPS the rifle is unbelievably accurate out to my 40 yard max range. I have taken groundhog with it and the lighter hammer spring makes the gun more enjoyable to cock and shoot. Quieter too. It’s all in what you want to do with the gun that should make your decision on how much gun you need. If you want to compete in bench rest at 100 yards don’t go with a 200 dollar gun that cant push a slug Or heavy pellet fast enough to benefit from what they should give . On the other hand that same 200 dollar gun with a light pellet can be very accurate for inside target competition and a deadly pest getter out to 60 yards. It is easy to get caught up in the more power craze but it come at a price , cost of the gun or upgrades, cost of ammo, cost in the recoil and noise. This sport is growing fast and I think the manufacturers have made a lot of improvements in the last ten years and we have a lot of accurate , guns of all types of configurations to choose from that shoot a pellet as well as a slug out to 50 yards with plenty of foot pounds for small game and pests. That is where the market always will be. 

 

[Plinkerton]

After hearing Ed talk about slugs in one of his videos and knowing there will probably be more brands offering them over the next year on a larger scale I wouldn’t be surprised to see a slug barrel for the leshiy 2 down the road. It seems like a good platform for barrel swapping. I’d buy one. I preordered an extra barrel kit for mine and would have added a slug barrel to my order as well if it were available. I’ll probably buy whatever barrels he or anyone else produces for that gun in fact. 

 

[stoti]

The slug market has blown up over the last couple years. All the big companies aren’t getting in on the slug market because it’s a passing fad. Diabolo pellets are about played out as far as innovation, the design has remained the same for years because they work for their purpose. As the sport evolves, so will the projectiles. Sure, some countries have restrictions but there are many around the world that don’t. Although pellet sales are huge compared to slugs, the market dictates FX, H&N and JSB And lots of smaller companies get involved to capture the market share. As air guns and projectiles evolve, electronic guns, power, supreme accuracy, and slugs are going to be a big part of the future because they help those of us that want to, push the limits of long distance shooting. For hunters, slugs have way more energy to kill game at long distances too. Pellets certainly have their place for the majority of shooters but slugs aren’t going anywhere. Just my .02.

Stoti

 

[clgraham82]

I found that slugs were to difficult and expensive to tune my guns for and never got the accuracy I could get with pellets out to 100 yds....lost interest in them.

 

[bandg]

I think I will always prefer pellets for their accuracy out to 100 yards and ability to shoot them in many places slugs would be risky. Played with some .22 slugs and concluded if I needed the flatter trajectory for hunting I would use one of my many powder burners. Just my opinion and to each their own.

Same here. I've shot some slugs out of a .177 Condor that were pretty impressive but, as stated above, I have other options for anything a pellet can't do.

 

[thumper]

I don't give a damn about slugs.

 

[madeintheuk]

So just from this post, the census seems to be, you love them or you hate them. So manufacturers would capture more of the market if they offered either barrels that shoot both well, or barrel options to cover more people. I feel like currently I order to really get into slugs, you need to buy the higher end (above $1k) guns in order to get these options. It can’t be this way if the sport is to survive. 

 

[thumper]

It's made it 100 years without slugs. 

And as was mentioned earlier, it's very likely that nobody in the power restricted markets will give a damn about slugs either. 

The whole "sport" of airguns these days has become the sport of making airguns into rimfires. In my opinion, I don't see the point doing that in a country where we have easy access to rimfires that are a much more cost effective option. Especially with silencers getting more affordable. 

Airguns are interesting because I can shoot more often, in more places, cheaper, and without worrying about collateral damage a half mile away. 

Take that away, and a lot of people won't give a damn about airguns anymore. Because that's what drew them in in the first place. 

 

[fuznut]

When you load a slug your not shooting a pellet gun anymore. They do have some advantages over pellets in a few areas. But in reality not that much in typical air gun calibers. When you compare them to current powder options they make no sense at all. No safer, underpowered and way more expensive. Shoot what you want but keep in mind a air gun shooting slugs is the same as a 22 rim fire with a reduced powder load.

 

[L.Leon]

I feel the same way, I shoot sub 100 yards So pellets work well. At some point I might try some slugs for fun, but don’t ever see myself transitioning to them exclusively.