"wlbryce"I think Huben plans 3 good importers, but currently only 2 have sample guns. Im sure one of the importers will get trained on how to service the guns. Currently if mine breaks I will be on my own with help from Huben via email. I spent some time looking over the Airgun Nation threads, and I see some expensive airguns that don't shoot any better than the Huben K1 and not Semi-auto or as powerful as the K1. At 50 yards this gun will shoot ~ dime sized groups at over 1000 fps. So looking back Im not sure all the controversy is fair?
At 75 yards I can do ~1-1.5" groups of 10 shots. So, my question is what should be expected out of a $1500.00 semi-auto PCP airgun? What am I missing? I shot my FX Monsoon ($1500.00 gun) and the group I can shoot from it, in the gun vice is only slightly smaller and not even close to the power of the K1. I don't want to start another beatdown of me here, BUT is part of the problem the fact the gun was designed and manufactured in Asia (designed in HK and made in China) and not Europe, US, or the UK? The controversy has been crazy!
I wish Petr at TGAG had a K1 so he could give us his thoughts!
WB I see your perspective. Some Americans also have the "Asian flu" when it comes to scopes too. It seems less well known that some of the big name scope manufacturers have their glass supplied by Asian companies; some from Japan, or the Philippines, or Chine. My understanding is that the quality of any glass from any Asian supplier is just a matter of how much the Brand wants to spend on glass. Top-quality glass costs no matter where you buy it. Along that line, kudos to Leapers for having an American firm produce it's new 1-8 scope, including manufacturing the glass in-house.Very few scope brands make grind own glass. My perspective on glass comes from this video (discussion starts at 17:28 into the video, but the whole 40 minutes is very instructive):
So, the discussion of country of origin takes a back seat for me. It's only all about quality of manufacture and the performance of the product that command the interest of where I spend my $$. We are all used to reading about MOA accuracy of X airguns at 100 yards. At the same time we have read that X gun will out-perform the shooter. I think we air-gunners have a bias towards fabled accuracy and maybe nothing short of MOA accuracy will do. Whether we shoot well enough to take advantage of it or not is always a secondary concern. Being honest with myself, I fall into that category. I want the gun to outperform me (so I can aspire to better shooting skills with a gun that can get me there; show my improvement). But I am not a competition shooter. I'm a plinker. I've done some mild competitive shooting, and placed mid-pack, but I don't practice enough to get any better even at 25 yards. I'm just an "OK" shooter, a plinker.
So, WB you've done me a service by giving me reason to pause and think about the Huben K1 with a dose of personal reality. Thank you for that. The K1 seems reliable, per your reports. Were I to own one, I'd definitely try to find the projectile it likes just as you and I do for every gun we own. In retrospect, it seems a lot of money for the price. I hope Huben gets it's dealership network enlarged and sorted out in the good old US of A, and that after purchase service becomes a star with the brand. I'm already rethinking where to allocate my airgun $$ next. Nice post, man.
PS about the scope video, the guy knows his stuff if you decide to subscribe to him. In the video I linked, i used it to decide my scope for my Edgun R3M, and selected a SWFA 16x42 with the excellent Mil-quad reticle. The brand performs above it's price range, making it a great buy. I have no regrets.
