This is the good ol honest truth why I prefer good unregulated guns. Sooner or later you may get those missed first money shots that you won't know till you missed and it's gonna be the guns fault.
There are many factory regulated guns that I have so far not experienced the first missed shot phenomenon.
None of my HW100s nor my HW110s nor my HW44s nor my RAWs nor my Daystates nor Brococks nor Taipan Veterans nor Mutants nor Crickets nor Vulcans nor Atamans nor Hubens nor SK19s nor Gauntlets nor Fortitudes nor Marauder Field and Targets nor any Edguns nor any Steyrs nor FWB FT nor any 10 meter rifles and pistols and the others I just make it a habit to waste/blow off the first 5 shots before doing any serious shooting or nowdays just store them right at their set reg pressures.
I agree. I started with unregulated guns and am considering going back. I just wish there were more mid-high quality unregulated airguns available to choose from that can be purchased new. I am first and foremost a hunter. I never know when a shot will present itself, so first shot consistency is of the utmost importance, and you are much more likely to get it with an unregulated gun. For target shooting, you may have time to blow off 5 settling shots, but not practical in most hunting scenarios.
After 25 years using airguns, I have come to the conclusion that 80% of airgun accuracy/functioning issues can be traced to 3 places: the barrel, o-rings, and the regulator.