TargetTalk

Looking for comments on the latest and best options for setting up a new club or replacing gear in an older club.Most of the top level pistols and rifles have new models with features that would be useful in making decisions for buying these items.For example the fwb 500 rifle was cheap but had a lot of plastic and developed some sight issues.Anschutz has a new 8001 junior rifle that seems to be doing well.What about Walther and Tesro quality and maintainance?Is there a trend after 10 years that seems to be choosing better durability coupled with a better shooting platform in either rifle or pistol.TKS.

Hi TKS,
10 years is a long time looking from perspective of how fast the market is changing and the rate of new equipment being introduced. However for a club 10 years is usually the rate at which equipment gets updated or even longer then that. That being said, without being biased, I would recommend always going for simpler models for the club as they usually have less adjustments and parts and would be better fit for a club equipment. Next, look at the service offering from the local dealer/importer. Do they have parts in stock? Do you need special tools to take it apart and do routine maintenance? Most manufactures keep the stock of the parts for quite a while(years or decades) so it really boils down to what you can get locally, rather than trying to import directly from the manufacturer. Talk to other people and see what their experience was and call up your dealers and test their knowledge. Look for quality always, not just the price. Just like with everything else, you get what you pay for most of the time, so getting a cheap used air rifle for example might be tempting until you realize that you need to wait for 6 months to get replacement parts.
Modern air rifles at the level you are looking at are all very accurate and if maintained well will all shoot quite small groups with good pellets, so at least that is one thing that you do not need to worry.

Happy hunt for new gear!
Always fun