Most problem free PCP?

[gendoc]

  I’ll throw my vote in for the Taipan Veteran.

 

[USAFANG6799]

Takes time to figure out what's the most trouble free...so I kind of look on PCP'sthat have been in service for less than a few years (lets say 3-4) with doubts.

As fast as new PCP are coming out in today's market, "Golden Age of Air Rifles" as it's been constantly referred, this is old. Doubt me? Why are airgun addicts.....you know whom you are  keep looking at a new fling every 3-6 months

[AlanMcD]

I think one of the keys here that has not been discussed much is this: I think the key to getting an outstanding gun "out of the box" is knowing what you want, and getting a PCP that delivers as close to that as possible right away with no fiddling or changes required all by following simple instructions.  In other words - no chrony required . . . 

I have several Marauders and while I agree that they are a rock solid platform with minimal problems, it seems you never know what they are going to do out the box - we are always guessing at the fill range, among other things.  I never felt comfortable with any of them until I had run them over the Chrony, and that always led to some tuning as the results clearly were not optimal.

I have a .22 Daystate Air Ranger, and that thing did exactly what it was supposed to do right out the box.  It shot all pellets well with only one exception out of about 20 that I tested in it (the original JSB Monster was the bad one; the redesigned one is great). I tweaked the trigger to my liking of course - a simple procedure - but that was it for a long time. No problems at all.  I did eventually tune it differently, but that was a conscious choice to use it differently than how it was set up from the factory.

[USAFANG6799]

it seems like the Marauder and the Urban are both pretty strong in reliability out of the box

Given the cost considerations, specs and entry level I'd say these are very good contenders for the title.
They both can be had at a bargain new or used if one shops around. 

[avator]

I don't think tuning a gun to meet your specific need constitutes "a problem".. nor is tweaking a trigger to your liking.
A problem gun to me is one that leaks or don't hold air at all, shotguns pellets all over the place or comes out of the box just plain broken. The other side of a problem gun is customer service.
If I paid upwards of $1000 and above for a gun and had the issues that I've seen some members here experience, I would get in my truck, drive to whoever sold it to me and stick it where the sun don't shine.
BTW... by tuning I mean making adjustment with the provided adjusters... not spending another $500 to tune it.

[USAFANG6799]

A problem gun to me is one that leaks or don't hold air at all, shotguns pellets all over the place or comes out of the box just plain broken. The other side of a problem gun is customer service.

Bill - Why are you talk about my Chief like that  .
Remind me not to sell my Chief to you even though we are about 1500 miles apart 
I want to see the SUN SHINE but not from that direction.

[avator]

Other than trading two for one I've never paid more than $275 for an airgun anyways... and don't plan on it.

[Deckard1973]

I think we are making various assumptions as to the OP:  Most Problem Free PCP?

Do we automatically assume a high end (>$1k AG) should be totally problem free for, say, 10+ years?
I have no doubt the fine gents at JSAR put a lot of time into each and every AG they build.  And it shows!

But what about a mass production mid $ hundreds range (e.g. MRod), for 5+ years?


As others have mentioned, customer service, parts availability, aftermarket parts or even end user tuning/modding/adjusting friendly without sending to the factory for service or to someone else to mod/tune?

I did not have any real issues with my Gen I MRod (the air leak required new plumbers tape, and the bolt screw was my own dang fault). 
But then I went whole hog replaced the internals, got a new stock, and after much help from the fine folks here at GTA, I polished the barrel. 
And I fell IN LOVE with my MRod all over again.
But none of those were "problems," per say. 

I think Problem free depends on one's expectations from their AG. 

Regardless, good discussion and good to see others experiences with their AG.

[HunterWhite]

I have a
Benjamin Marauder,
AirForce Condor SS,
Crosman 2240,
Umarex Colt Peacemaker.

I have had no problems with any of them.
I will keep them all.

I have a Savage A22 lr that I can't hit anything with, and the magazine is not wonderful.

[n2omike]

Takes time to figure out what's the most trouble free...so I kind of look on PCP'sthat have been in service for less than a few years (lets say 3-4) with doubts.

As fast as new PCP are coming out in today's market, "Golden Age of Air Rifles" as it's been constantly referred, this is old. Doubt me? Why are airgun addicts.....you know whom you are  keep looking at a new fling every 3-6 months

I don't know if I would call it the 'Golden Age'...   It's kind of like computers in the 1990's...  New ones were coming out every year, and they were advancing so much, they rendered what they replaced pretty much obsolete!  Our PCP's are getting better and better at a fantastic rate...   If you're buying Airguns for fun, that's awesome...  But, if you're looking at any kind of investment like you might have with a powder burner, FORGET IT!  lol

I say, buy a nice, proven mid range air gun that has a lot going for it, and simply ENJOY it.  Don't spend stupid money, as it will NOT hold it's value.  Simply buy a SHOOTER that puts a smile on your face, and get some trigger time!  WHAT you want will depend upon your needs.  Is it hunting?  Is it target shooting?  Is it a little bit of both?  If so, how much of both?  Lots of good choices...  Just need to know your needs and budget! 

[triggertreat]

Yep,  I'm good on .22 cal with my modified Marauder.  I'm good on big bore with my Slayer.  Now my modified .25 Marauder is great, but limited to 56 FPE in accuracy,  and it won't shoot slugs well.  I wanna fix that, plus an upgrade would be nice, so I have started on my hunt for options.

[Mod90]

OP asked a simple question, so I'll try to give a simple answer.
There's no such thing as a problem free PCP, any PCP can and will eventually fail, and that failure may be due to a minor issue or a major  problem. Yhere are some makes and models that have proven themselves as durable and reliable over  the decades. Mrod, AF, AT44, these are the ones that spring to my mind as being reasonably priced but durable and reliable and capable of taking a pounding.

If I were looking for the least problematic PCP,  I'd start by looking at guns available over the last decade, and the popularity of those from the perspective of how widely distributed they are and how many units were sold during production. If there's a problem with a particular make and model,  it will be made known sooner or later.
Then I'd start looking at the mechanics of them, exploded view diagrams are the things best for this if you can't get your hands on an actual torn down ag, opting for the ones with as few moving parts and seals as possible. More  moving parts and seals equals more potential things to go wrong or fail. Sometimes even the ways some parts may be designed can be a source of problems. Simplest is best.

Just my take on it, ymmv

[Sfttailrdr46]

  All toys break and at some point need fixing or replacing. I have a good friend in Connecticut who owns a repair shop for high end Euro cars He has owned and driven many fine cars and his attitude is no matter the cost or how well they perform all are junk WHEN not if they break. My experience is if it is mechanical IT will eventually break and require TLC. The term is MTTF (Mean Time To Failure). First thing is most of us on the forum love to tinker and very few just shoot our toys. At this point the only rifle that I own that has not been fiddled with except for cleaning is my FX Crown.   

[SADave]

Up to now in this very unscientific thread, it seems like the Marauder and the Urban are both pretty strong in reliability out of the box. The Marauder has been around a very long time and the Urban has a few years under it’s belt. This is a pretty good start information wise for novices. For those who adhere to the adage “buy once, cry once” I’ll throw my vote in for the Taipan Veteran. Daystate also has been mentioned several times among upper end guns.

Just to add some context, the Urban is based on the BSA Techstar/MMC platform which has been around a long time. I had a BSA Sportsman HV and an Ultra for about 5 years and they were problem free tact drivers. I still have a Scorpion SE and a Gamo Dynamax/Sportman HV and the only issue Ive had was replacing the probe Oring. The BSA platfrom is pretty solid with the one exception being the R-10s  but those issues were due to the regulator.  You can get parts for the Urban from the UK if anything goes wrong. Not sure if AoA is selling BSA parts again at this time.

If I had to go with a troublefree/ easily servicable airgun I'd go with Disco. Orings and parts are easy to find and they're easy to work on. Marauder  isn't a bad choice either.

[Taso1000]

I don't have as many pellets downrange as some but the rifle with most pellets through it is my Air Arms 200T.  I've never had any problems with it. 

Next would be my resealed and resprung B51's.  Not much to go wrong due to their simple designs.

I have two HW100 with the least amount of pellets.  Zero issues.  They work great straight out of the box.

I haven't shot my BSA's or Sentry's enough to comment on.

Thanks,

Taso

[cherokeesteve]

Most trouble free PCP? Gotta be the Umarex Hammer. No malfunctions anywhere to anyone! 😂

[robertr]

 Out of the three rifles I have experience with which are, M-Rod, Disco, BSA Scorpion SE, I would say the BSA is the most trouble free.

[BackStop]

I don't think tuning a gun to meet your specific need constitutes "a problem".. nor is tweaking a trigger to your liking.
A problem gun to me is one that leaks or don't hold air at all, shotguns pellets all over the place or comes out of the box just plain broken. The other side of a problem gun is customer service.
If I paid upwards of $1000 and above for a gun and had the issues that I've seen some members here experience, I would get in my truck, drive to whoever sold it to me and stick it where the sun don't shine.
BTW... by tuning I mean making adjustment with the provided adjusters... not spending another $500 to tune it.

This is my thinking exactly!