Which do you prefer?

[igolfat8]

Money doesn’t always translate into supreme accuracy. I have a $300 Avenger that was more accurate than 3 rifles I owned nipping at $3K each. Certainly the higher priced rifles won in fit, machine work and finish but the Avenger trumped them in accuracy which is most important to me.

 

[MysticalDragon]

Money doesn’t always translate into supreme accuracy. I have a $300 Avenger that was more accurate than 3 rifles I owned nipping at $3K each. Certainly the higher priced rifles won in fit, machine work and finish but the Avenger trumped them in accuracy which is most important to me.

Its one reason I'm looking at grabbing an Avenge X once I decide caliber and use. I just wish the bottle version wasnt so fugly. They needed to put the foster fitting elsewhere and use a standard bottle. Guy at the range shooting a RW got one and likes his X but in HFT he still uses his RW.

 

[Northwoods22]

I go with quality. Of course, a gun doesn't necessarily have to be expensive to be a quality piece.

 

[JimD]

Another factor I did not mention in my first post on this topic is weight. If I could find a "high end" PCP that weighed 5 lbs like my P35s I might already own one. I think the Katran may be closest but only with a really short barrel (P35 is 450mm). Another discouraging factor is length of pull. I want 14.75 inches. Nobody makes that. If I had a really nice gun I would be hesitant to put a comparitively crude spacer on it so I can shoot it comfortably. 4 of my 5 under $500 guns now have home made stocks that fit me. I've made the other one fit too but it is even uglier than it was stock (plastic stock Avenger). I don't mind "messing up" a $300 gun but would take to do that to a $3K gun.

I shoot the Avenger the least not because I find it to be ugly but because it is so long and uses plastic where I prefer metal. It's accurate and easy to tune so I keep it but I find the shorter guns more fun to shoot. I don't think the shroud support should be plastic nor should the picatinny for a bipod. So some things in "cheap guns" do annoy me. But P35s and my Prod are not made that way.

I do tend to start looking at the low end of the price range and if I find something interesting I buy it. But when I think something higher priced fits my desires better I am also willing to spend the money. But I do not start out with an assumption that lower priced airguns (or other things) cannot do what I want to do. Usually this approach works out.

 

[humbled.ag]

I prefer to double up on quality. Even the best breaks with regular use.

 

[Dairyboy]

I started with budget and worked my way up. I learned so much invaluable info during that time. #1 buy quality

But in all honesty I really did learn so much about tuning, improving upon things, repairs and resealing. It's hard to argue against that and we're great learning experiences. I do buy quality now and wont go back. Except my Notos has well exceeded its cost of investment but thats another thing. I think nowadays the budget guns now compared to almost 8 years ago when I started are way better than they used to be. Budget wise was I think Mrod, Discovery and some Hatsans were around and airforce if you wanted to spend alittle more. Now there are many different kinds.

I will say though what I spent on the lower end guns buying and trying and selling at loss, I could have a big stable of most the high end guns out there.....it's fine doesn't keep me up at night that much lol

 

[ThomasT]

Money doesn’t always translate into supreme accuracy. I have a $300 Avenger that was more accurate than 3 rifles I owned nipping at $3K each. Certainly the higher priced rifles won in fit, machine work and finish but the Avenger trumped them in accuracy which is most important to me.

Hello @igolfat8

Very well stated

One of my most expensive rifles could NOT shoot MOA at 25-yards. The dealer sent me another barrel at no cost and it still would not shoot MOA. Way too many "top brand", high dollar rifles on the market today are not accurate right out of the box.

ThomasT

 

[EdinGa]

I buy used cars/trucks and low to mid tier airguns. This has worked out well for me, so I'll keep doing it. No hate or judgement towards anyone that feels differently.

 

[.20calguy]

It doesn’t matter what item there is (cars, bows, air gun, etc) you always have high end and low end. The common things to hear are “Until you have one this quality you don’t know what your missing” or “I can have 5 of these alternatives for what you paid for that one they do the same thing”. I can see the point of both sides because I have been on both sides of the debate. So the actual question is if you had to choose do you prefer to have 1 quality one or multiple of the lower quality ones?

I bought a Beeman P17, and loved it.
I wore it out in short order, and replaced it with an HW40, rather than six P17's.
So been there done that.