Rifle reviews in the mags.

[kevingambrell]

Well its come time to think about a new rifle and with that in mind I have had a read through a few past issues of the best from the airgun press.
Is it just me or do the people that write these reviews have rose tinted eyeballs!
Out of two dozen reviews in three different publications not once has a rifle been slated or even had bad comments made about it!
Now I have to say a few of the rifles I read about I have had the chance to shoot, and in no way are the rifles perfect in every respect. So why is it that the mag reviews write them up as gleaming examples of the art of air rifle manufacture?
I thought a review was supposed to give a true representation of the item being reviewed, and not just arse lick the manufacturers.
Going years back I can remember reading reviews that laid out the good and bad points about the rifles being tested, this all seems to have changed.
OK maybe its me becoming old and miserable... Who can tell.

[raygun]

The magazines are without doubt part of "the Trade". You don't get to advertise unless your in a Trade organisation and the mags themselves are in the airgun trade organisation. It could hardly be any more incestuous.

They can no longer do articles on PCP's because they've fitted AT. A few airgun Boards will not allow discussion of repairing/tuning PCP's because of AT. Poor old Phil Bulmer is redundant
I expect they will appeal to some but as you gain more experience the need for the mags is reduced. You far better of asking about a particular rifle on a Board as you will get a much more realistic view. It's also cheaper

ATB
Ray.

[eboswan]

the mags are utter tosh...bunch of liars the lot of them..its the same with a lot of youtube vids the rifle on review could fall apart in their hands and they would still tell you how good it is

[Blackbaronfish]

The riffle that they are testing may have been fettled to the ninth degree

BBF

[billywhizz]

this kind of leads on too the current fiasco/discussion about semi autos!!!,why the said person /persons are keen to see a stop to the semi auto being imported(you think).

[wastrel]

wish I`d come to the AAOC BEFORE I bought a Raider 10 for my late father, right after I did (join) I bought an S200 for myself & haven`t regretted one penny of the 300 quid it cost me, ask on here first would be my advice, then any other forum you trust isn`t gonna slate or abuse you for your thoughts,
just give you good honest advice (& if you`ve 2k burning a hole in yer pocket, buy a Pulsar-Nigel Allen thinks its gods gift to airguners )
out of interest, wotcha got in mind?

[Zeewulf]

Because ANY magazine or reviewer that slated an Air Rifle they were given to test would never again be given another one.

[roadrunner]

The riffle that they are testing may have been fettled to the ninth degree

BBF

This happens in the car world aswell,but in fareness,if youve got 10 rifles and 9 shoot spot on, the 10th spat pellets everywhere, you wouldnt send the 10th gun as its not a true reflection
iam saving for either an r10 mk2 or hw 100, the hw's arent as good as i first thought and loose bits and leaks seam the norm,never read in any mag

[granville]

i have mk 1r10 and hw100 ks they will both shoot more accurate than i can .
but no one in the mags will give you a compaision .
you need to shoot them and find which one you like no mag can tell you that.

[Phil B]

This comes up time and time again; the press is the press be it an air gun mag or one of the car magazines. Find out form actual users what they think - even then one man's meat is another man's poison etc etc. I don't buy the mags but sometimes have a browse of one on the rack. Frankly I get bored with pictures of someone standing with a line of dead pigeons or squirrels; to my mind they look very similar to the dead creatures that someone else was standing by the issue before. And before someone say, that does not imply that I am anti airgun hunting - its just a bit boring.