What’s up with the Skout Epoch 🤨

[Headshots]

Most guns are designed with ability for attachments or upgrades, just look at ARs, or a platform. If one of the Skout’s design goal is to be at 6lbs I’m sure it won’t be as “built like a tank”.


Pretty sure SKOUT did not get into the maket to sell to only select few, as 2 completely separate businesses I am fairly certain they share a common goal of selling as many guns to the masses as possible.

And what some people don't get is that upgrades from FX are reasonably priced. Carbon fiber sleeve 29.99 , slug probe, hammer upgrade 39.99 , slug liner 109.99 .

Huma and other aftermarket upgrades are way more than FXs price , and FX doesn't get money from aftermarket companies. They get rich off the FX platforms. Because the genius marketing that makes their airguns seem accurate on the rigged videos. Lol

Just on the weight alone I have little interest in owning a Skout . Nice to see some different tech but not at 2x the price of my fx.

 

[Stubbers]

Skout is making a bold market move, and it very well may pay off, both short term and long term.

They brought their product to the market timely. They delivered on pre-production promises. They still potentially have a long road ahead of them, so to see them starting so strong is quite the statement. They created something unique. I may not be a fan of the design as a whole, but I certainly am a fan of Skout's workmanship, commitment, and transparency thus far.

 

[JoePolanco]

This weekend was for me a complete affirmation of what I've suspected all along.

As some of you already know, I've been doing R&D testing with Skout on the Epoch for a while now. My initial intro to the .30 caliber back in Sept. of 2022 was so impressive, I knew immediately that I was going to be an owner. However, since I'm a devoted small bore guy (.22&.25) I offered to weigh-in on the pre-production models in those calibers. As can be expected with the development of any new product, unforseen issues have plagued and delayed these two calibers, although the .30, the .357 and the .177 are all currently shipping. To Skouts credit, even though these very popular small bore calibers are in high demand, they've held true to their promise of delivering only guns that have met or exceeded their initial performance standard.

Since neither of my calibers of choice were ready for release let alone professional level competition, as the time for N.A.C. approached, I asked them to simply bring me two newly built and tested guns (a .30 & a .357) to the competition and I would use those guns, virtually sight unseen, such was my faith in the platform.

I'm pleased to report that the guns both delivered in spades and had it not been for a bizarrely stupid error on my part, I would have easily breezed into the finals. ( if you're interested in the details of my feau' pa, you can read all about it on Facebook in "the Airgun Benchrest Channel" group)

The bottom line is, no gun is going to win any shooter a place on the podium. However, for those looking to eliminate guns that might impede that goal, the EPOCH, right out of the box just might be what you're looking for.

 

[hunterroark]

That’s because the airgun community has got accustomed to glowing reviews of every airgun a YouTuber touches. Not every normal guy jumps on a forum or makes a video to brag about how great his gun is. But most will to bitch about something to either get help or feel the need to warn others. In life we are warned about a woman scorned. In the airgun community, a man scorned is no different.

I purchased the .30 Epoch w/Titan scope and both barrel lengths from Tom at HPP in Michigan. Can it shoot....sure. Would I spend the $5,000.00 again? no. It is not my go to gun nor will it ever be. I have been loving my .22 Western Sidewinder (semi-full) and my .22 Wildcat MK111 BT.
Carpe Diem Hunter

 

[hunterroark]

Posted by @DMTman

View attachment 339235

I feel your pain

 

[Frank1738]

I had the opportunity to watch the NAC competition this weekend closely, and it was quite an event. There was a moment when a competitor, using a Skout rifle, messed up by shooting Ken's target and then experienced a significant malfunction with his rifle. I can't help but feel a bit sorry for those who have invested in Skout rifles early on. I understand that they need to promote their products and carve out a place in the market, they might be getting ahead of themselves and possibly misrepresenting their offerings.
As the competition unfolded, it became clear that no Skout rifles won or even made it to the finals. At the end of the day, it's the targets and the shooters' skills that matter most, regardless of the rifle they choose to compete with.
After holding an Epoch from another forum member, I can say that they have their merits. They're better than FX in some aspects but not in others. It ultimately comes down to what you need a rifle to do and how much you're willing to spend on it. I believe that the emergence of Skout rifles might push FX to up their game in the competition segment, especially if we see more Skout users on the podiums this year. The competition between these companies can be beneficial for the industry and consumers, so it will be interesting to see how it all plays out. It's also worth noting that none of the professional shooters in the NAC were using Skout rifles. I wonder why.

 

[_CTAIRGUNNER_]

I had the opportunity to watch the NAC competition this weekend closely, and it was quite an event. There was a moment when a competitor, using a Skout rifle, messed up by shooting Ken's target and then experienced a significant malfunction with his rifle. I can't help but feel a bit sorry for those who have invested in Skout rifles early on. I understand that they need to promote their products and carve out a place in the market, they might be getting ahead of themselves and possibly misrepresenting their offerings.
As the competition unfolded, it became clear that no Skout rifles won or even made it to the finals. At the end of the day, it's the targets and the shooters' skills that matter most, regardless of the rifle they choose to compete with.
After holding an Epoch from another forum member, I can say that they have their merits. They're better than FX in some aspects but not in others. It ultimately comes down to what you need a rifle to do and how much you're willing to spend on it. I believe that the emergence of Skout rifles might push FX to up their game in the competition segment, especially if we see more Skout users on the podiums this year. The competition between these companies can be beneficial for the industry and consumers, so it will be interesting to see how it all plays out. It's also worth noting that none of the professional shooters in the NAC were using Skout rifles. I wonder why.

There was one pro shooter shooting a skout thatactually shot quite well top 5 on the first qual card.. With that said I witnessed one shooter only get through one stage of PRS before the rifle malfunctioned and just completely shut down, would not do anything and this was only after having the rifle a week after it had to be sent back to Skout.

Skout was at the event luckily to repair this rifle and the shooter got to complete 2 of the 6 courses of fire. Same rifle had a barrel blow out on the sight in bench as well. After it was repaired on site from the PRS event it had parts falling off it (minor adjustment pieces that could quickly be threaded back on). I too saw the shooter you were talking about have a malfunction but I feel that a certain member will pop in here to give a bunch of reasons/excuses as to why this is acceptable.

After the major speedbumps at the event that these rifles had the skouts I saw when operating correctly actually shot really well, especially considering they were being handled/taken apart/tuned on the spot .

 

[JoePolanco]

I had the opportunity to watch the NAC competition this weekend closely, and it was quite an event. There was a moment when a competitor, using a Skout rifle, messed up by shooting Ken's target and then experienced a significant malfunction with his rifle. I can't help but feel a bit sorry for those who have invested in Skout rifles early on. I understand that they need to promote their products and carve out a place in the market, they might be getting ahead of themselves and possibly misrepresenting their offerings.
As the competition unfolded, it became clear that no Skout rifles won or even made it to the finals. At the end of the day, it's the targets and the shooters' skills that matter most, regardless of the rifle they choose to compete with.
After holding an Epoch from another forum member, I can say that they have their merits. They're better than FX in some aspects but not in others. It ultimately comes down to what you need a rifle to do and how much you're willing to spend on it. I believe that the emergence of Skout rifles might push FX to up their game in the competition segment, especially if we see more Skout users on the podiums this year. The competition between these companies can be beneficial for the industry and consumers, so it will be interesting to see how it all plays out. It's also worth noting that none of the professional shooters in the NAC were using Skout rifles. I wonder why.

Alright, that' s complete hogwash. To begin with there were a dozen Epochs in the competition. All but 4 of these were being shot by 1st time BR competitors, several of which were under the mistaken impression that as company affiliates they were required to register in the PRO division. This is why very few Epochs made it thru to the finals. Of all of the Epochs competing, ONE gun did malfunction. My personal aggregate score for days ONE and TWO was 5th highest OVERALL . It was MY OWN FAULT that I failed to make the finals as I suffered a 27 point loss for cross shooting 3 of Boyd Linders targets. That's on me, not the gun which performed BRILLIANTLY. Tim Swan, failed to make the cut due to an injury suffered the night after round one which incapacitated him and caused him to have to withdraw from the competition. Jerry Kornfield, who tied the winning scores for both PRO & SPORTSMAN classes during RMAC 2022 taking 2nd in the Sportsman class, simply had a bad 1st day and was unable to recover sufficiently to make the cut. The Epoch platform performed amazingly well allowing me to take two guns, that had only been built two days before the competion never as much as sighted in by me, and shoot competitively.

So please don't attempt to judge equipment you've never as much as tested via a pigeon hole of observations.

 

[qball]

Alright, that' s complete hogwash. To begin with there were a dozen Epochs in the competition. All but 4 of these were being shot by 1st time BR competitors, several of which were under the impression that as company affiliates they were required to register in the PRO division. This is why very few Epochs made it thru to the finals. Of all of the Epochs competing, ONE gun did malfunction. My personal aggregate score for days ONE and TWO was 4th highest OVERALL . It was MY OWN FAULT that I failed to make the finals as I suffered a 27 point loss for cross shooting 3 of Boyd Linders targets. That's on me, not the gun which performed BRILLIANTLY. Tim Swan, failed to make the cut due to an injury suffered the night after round one which incapacitated him and caused him to have to withdraw from the competition. Jerry Kornfield, who tied the winning scores for both PRO & SPORTSMAN classes during RMAC 2022 taking 2nd in the Sportsman class, simply had a bad 1st day and was unable to recover sufficiently to make the cut. The Epoch platform performed amazingly well allowing me to take two guns, that had only been built two days before the competion never as much as sighted in by me, and shoot competitively.

So please don't attempt to judge equipment you've never as much as tested via a pigeon hole of observations.

That’s a huge bummer, mistakes happen all the time under pressure of competition! Hope you will do better next match.

 

[_CTAIRGUNNER_]

Alright, that' s complete hogwash. To begin with there were a dozen Epochs in the competition. All but 4 of these were being shot by 1st time BR competitors, several of which were under the mistaken impression that as company affiliates they were required to register in the PRO division. This is why very few Epochs made it thru to the finals. Of all of the Epochs competing, ONE gun did malfunction. My personal aggregate score for days ONE and TWO was 5th highest OVERALL . It was MY OWN FAULT that I failed to make the finals as I suffered a 27 point loss for cross shooting 3 of Boyd Linders targets. That's on me, not the gun which performed BRILLIANTLY. Tim Swan, failed to make the cut due to an injury suffered the night after round one which incapacitated him and caused him to have to withdraw from the competition. Jerry Kornfield, who tied the winning scores for both PRO & SPORTSMAN classes during RMAC 2022 taking 2nd in the Sportsman class, simply had a bad 1st day and was unable to recover sufficiently to make the cut. The Epoch platform performed amazingly well allowing me to take two guns, that had only been built two days before the competion never as much as sighted in by me, and shoot competitively.

So please don't attempt to judge equipment you've never as much as tested via a pigeon hole of observations.

Your posts trend the same, skout did not have a good outting and a lot of people noticed. Consumers, users of the product NOT affiliated with noticed. Thats who you want to post things like above. I get it you have to push the product, but be honest.Thats what takes companies places.

The bottom line is, no gun is going to win any shooter a place on the podium. However, for those looking to eliminate guns that might impede that goal, the EPOCH, right out of the box just might be what you're looking for.

You are quick to say this statement but following up with it after my post, franks post, and your post. Can you tell me why the common denominator in the equation is the Epoch and not the shooter?

I think any logical person is going to understand the rifles will have growing pains especially being completely new, even other manufacturers modifying existing platforms extensively have growing pains.

 

[JoePolanco]

Your posts trend the same, skout did not have a good outting and a lot of people noticed. Consumers, users of the product NOT affiliated with noticed. Thats who you want to post things like above. I get it you have to push the product, but be honest.Thats what takes companies places.



You are quick to say this statement but following up with it after my post, franks post, and your post. Can you tell me why the common denominator in the equation is the Epoch and not the shooter?

I think any logical person is going to understand the rifles will have growing pains especially being completely new, even other manufacturers modifying existing platforms extensively have growing pains.

You act or believe that I have some kind of skin in the game where Skout is concerned. Here again that couldn't be further from the truth. I bought my Epoch just alike anybody else. I don't push ANYTHING I don't have experience with or believe in. I write reviews that put forth my PERSONAL experiences not vague opinions based on what..... ahhh... nothing?
The REASON we're here talking about the GUN is because that IS WHAT THE ORIGINAL POST IS ABOUT. "What's up with the Skout Epoch?".....Duhhhh...LoL

You want to talk about shooters, start up a post about shooters. This one is about THE EPOCH.

 

[_CTAIRGUNNER_]

You act or believe that I have some kind of skin in the game where Skout is concerned. Here again that couldn't be further from the truth. I bought my Epoch just alike anybody else. I don't push ANYTHING I don't have experience with or believe in. I write reviews that put forth my PERSONAL experiences not vague opinions based on what..... ahhh... nothing?
The REASON we're here talking about the GUN is because that IS WHAT THE ORIGINAL POST IS ABOUT. "What's up with the Skout Epoch?".....Duhhhh...LoL

You want to talk about shooters, start up a post about shooters. This one is about THE EPOCH.

You brought up the shooters tho.... I just read all I need to read too. A lot of fluff. Fluff I hardly believe.

 

[Ezana4CE]

I’m glad someone is speaking publicly about issues shooters encountered with their Skout guns during the NAC. I was curious about how they’d preform because I’d been informed about someone competing with one well ahead of the event. This made me curious about the gun’s potential and performance. I like to hear that reps from the company were present and helping shooters work on their guns in order to remain in the competition. Is this the norm with other companies at these types of competitions?Hopefully the Skout team can work the kinks out. I’m interested in seeing how they progress as a company and how their innovation impacts air gun competition and air gunnery in general.

 

[_CTAIRGUNNER_]

I like to hear that reps from the company were present and helping shooters work on their guns in order to remain in the competition.

They handle things with haste, that is for sure. I know of other rifle failures that happened that day that DID NOT get taken care of because the manufacturers weren't present.

 

[yenniedn]

Regardless of whether it was the rifle, the shooters or some combination of the two, I had a vague interest in the Epoch several months ago that has now changed to absolutely zero interest. This is not based on what happened at NAC or any other event - it's just based on the fact that it looks clunky and heavy and doesn't provide any better accuracy or consistency than anything I already own...while also being noticeably more expensive at the same time. In some ways, I'm kind of glad because it's $3k+ that I don't have to spend and I don't have to learn another brand new rifle.

 

[Chuck-in-Ohio]

I am going to preface this post with the statement that I know Joe Polanco, Tim Swan and Jerry Kornfield personally, shoot matches with them, and consider them to be friends.

That said, I am absolutely positive that Skout got more feedback on performance than they counted on.
None of those fellows are chumps on the bench at the 100 yard line, and know what needs to happen to get a pellet downrange into the 10 ring. Okay Oakay, near the 10 ring..
I am positive that Skout got feedback from angles they had not contemplated or figured upon, and can only make improvements right? They do seem to be super attentive, and very supportive of their product.

Take into account, that this was pretty much the big debut, the grand roll out event, and the rifles showed potential. Coupling that potential with the input that they now have from a competitive scenario where the rifles were in the hands of some very knowledgeable shooters, it may be that this is exactly what Skout needs to evolve the platform into a contender.
I do not think that it is reasonable to believe, although it would have been epic, that the Skout could come onto the line and immediately dethrone the Impact. And while we are on the subject of Impacts and parts going haywire at the most inopportune times..........

Anyways, I am in the boat with Yennie as far as I do not care for the layout and ergos of the Skout, and do not plan to purchase one.
Personally knowing guys who are running one influences me to hope that Skout will use this input and feedback to evolve their design to the point that it does show up on the podium.

 

[Motorhead]

professional shooters in the NAC were using Skout rifles. I wonder why.

Likely due too the SKOUT only being available a couple months prior to event.
A smart shooter will bide his time and efforts in proofing his tools before a big event.

 

[JoePolanco]

That’s because the airgun community has got accustomed to glowing reviews of every airgun a YouTuber touches. Not every normal guy jumps on a forum or makes a video to brag about how great his gun is. But most will to bitch about something to either get help or feel the need to warn others. In life we are warned about a woman scorned. In the airgun community, a man scorned is no different.

There's a saying in the service industry that I think applies here.
" Do a good job and that customer will tell three people.
Do a bad job and that customer will tell EVERYBODY. "

 

[JoePolanco]

I like to hear that reps from the company were present and helping shooters work on their guns in order to remain in the competition. Is this the norm with other companies at these types of competitions?

Where major competitions are concerned, it isn't uncommon to see Daystate, RAW and particularly FX have a contingent on hand including service techs. I've competed many times with both Daystate and FX rifles and on the occasions that I've had issues, I recieved help that kept me in the game. I'm certain that going forward Skout, as they've demonstrated, will be doing the same. After all, the manufacturers have as much or more to gain in having their products perform well as the competitors.

 

[JoePolanco]

I purchased the .30 Epoch w/Titan scope and both barrel lengths. Can it shoot? Sure. Would I spend the $5,000.00 again? no. It is not my go to gun nor will it ever be.

The EPOCH, like the new Pantera, is a purpose built gun. Where the EPOCH is designed to be a bench gun, the Pantera is aimed at PRS style shooting. Both can be used in other disciplines, but their designs will limit their suitability, albeit the EPOCH may appear somewhat less restrictive than the Pantera platform, it's weight and shape will tend to make it impractical for carrying around and/or shouldering.

These are types of things that everyone considering a purchase should contemplate. For those looking for a multipurpose " Go To" gun, you should probably look elsewhere.