Air Arms Pro Sport Stock. Left Handed Conversion. Part Two.

[pianoman 3,587]

Well, this is the Pro Sport as she now looks and shoots. From my usual prone position she is a tack driver with 5.52mm Air Arms Field Diablos. Scope is a beautiful Nikon Fieldmaster 6-18x40mm Side Focus. The pic of the pellet groups was shot at 35 metres range standing. My worst of all shooting position. I have never been able to achieve this level of accurate grouping from a standing position with my Weihrauch springers. Don't ask me why, the Pro Sport isn't a lightweight rifle either. But the balance with a light 40mm scope is spot on and comfortable to control, better than I found with my beloved Weihrauch spring rifles; so maybe that's the answer.

 

From this set up I bagged the first two rabbits of her first evening's shoot last night, 7th May 2017.

 

[pianoman 3,587]

[pianoman 3,587]

DEAR AIR ARMS.

 

Not that you'll be reading this, and even then, you'll just ignore it as always, anyway, but here goes.

 

This thread and others here is displaying the result of what you have to do to your beautiful Pro Sport Flagship rifle, if, like me and many more admiring affectianados of this stunningly beautiful rifle out there, you happen to be gifted with being left handed and you want one for yourself.

 

At present, it's either a case of you having to grit teeth and set to work on reshaping and adapting the grip and butt-stock after forking out over £550:00 or dream on!

 

Not everyone has the will or even the nerve to set to work on that finest-quality Manelli Turkish walnut stock with varying grades of sandpaper and start radically reshaping and remodelling the grip and removing the roll-over comb and reduce it to a perfect eye-line and relief for a low-mounted 40mm scope.

 

I am quite honestly fed up of you telling me for over twenty years now, that the TX200 is the perfect alternative rifle. Honestly? No it is certainly not.

 

It's a great rifle I will admit, I've owned a couple of these in the past. My TX200HC .177 carbine was a stunningly accurate performance hunting gun. Alas my TX200 .22 rifle was not so hot, but, that's another story. But there is one small niggling detail of contradiction you've overlooked here.

 

By your own defence of the Pro Sport whenever it is compared to,the TX200 by people outside your company and, by your own contradictory publicity and advertising media, you claim the Pro Sport is an altogther superior rifle, internally at least, to the TX200 series, even though the exterior appearance of the (same) Walther Lothar barrel and cylinder look virtually the same as eachother. With only the cocking handle design of one being the identifying feature over the other's external bar paralell with the barrel.

 

So by directing us left handed shooters to your TX200 series, you are infact, offering us an inferior alternative? Well that must be true isn't it? The Pro Sport is the flagship of your range of three underlever spring rifles and thus, we are being deliberately denied the right to own the flagship rifle for ourselves.

 

I do not agree with the pathetic excuses you repeatedly trot out, that you would only be able to order a small number of left hand stocks and the high cost these would result in the final price of the rifle, that would put most left-hand buyers off.

 

If this is a sales-strategy to protect and ensure sales of TX200s to left handed shooters... you are doing so at the cost, or actully the loss of sales of Pro Sports to what amounts to a whole third of the shooting community! 1 in three people are left handed. That's the size of the potential market you are losing out on. That's another contradiction in terms.

 

Losing huge sales potential of one product in order to bouy-up sales of another. That is utterly incomprehensible to me as a sound business strategy.

 

If you can at least have Minelli make your TX200 stocks in left hand formats, you can do the same with the Pro Sport. I can assure you there is no issue of any difficulty with loading via the right-hand port, I can load mine with either my left or right, lying prone, standing or kneeling. All we need, is that gorgeous stock of yours to be the right way round,- Left handed!

 

It surely only requires the computer programm that makes the stocks to be symmetrically reversed and a few other bits of minor computer- jiggery pokery and away you go. It's not as if you haven't done this before, with 48 Left handed Pro Sport stocks with right handed actions produced some years past now, so, the pattern programme must surely exist? Or can be made so once again?

 

 

But alas, no. Being a British business brings with it a certain level of inherant incompetence in your business strategies. Like this one, that is costing you one third of the world's air rifle consumer-business market. God knows it's good enough to be a world-class leading product; as your publicity banner so proudly tells us. What a shame your thinking is not on the same scale, alas!

 

Looking forward to improving on another beautiful Pro Sport stock at some future date.

 

Yours very sincerely and in continued hope of a change of heart.

 

SW ATACK.

 

PIANOMAN

[bigmac 97kt 13,821]

All she wanted to do at the show was talk to people in suits or posh shooting gear

 

i was going to put the question to her if you can make a left handed tx why not a left handed pro sport

 

but she just kept turning away from me .

 

she ether did not like the look of me or i was not dressed up enough for her lol

 

if you ask me she is stuck right up her own ass and then some .

 

Now that is some rifle Simon and some thing you should be proud of mate

 

you see its not as hard as you think once you take the plunge and put the sand paper to it lol.

 

Iv had 4 or 5 of these rifles and to me there the best money can buy

 

iv had that many hw97,s iv lost count and iv had some crackers and some not so good but the 97 will all ways have a place in my heart but the pro sport is some thing else .

 

So to the owner of AA when you do get around to pulling your head out your ass take a look at how many lads and lasses that are lefty's and want a pro sport and start making some money becouse at the moment you loosing out

on a very big market.

 

And stop pushing that stupid tx as the best spring rifle you have ever made as ITS NOT.

 

atvbjimmy :thumbs:

[Jonjon79 13,358]

You should have slapped her on the bum Jimmy - I bet she would have span round pretty quick :laugh:

[Rez 4,961]

Great post Simon. Proper. And great "dear air arms..." it's about time someone who can put there words in order said what us left handed shooters think.

 

And what's better than that... is that DAMN SCOPE PORN you've added to that PS.

[mark williams 7,563]

Should have been -

 

 

 

bigmac pro t then instead of bigmac 97kt.

 

Professional and King

 

 

and what did T stand for ?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

" Twat" ! x

[philpot 5,062]

Excellent letter

 

I hope you are sending that off to them Simon and if they are showing at the South Yorks show, arm me with what you would like me to say and I will talk to her with pleasure. although hopefully you will be there yourself mate.

 

Phil

[just-A-snap 1,269]

A good post with good images.

Let us not make a left handed stock, no money in it and while we are at it let us not sell to women any more. All a load of BS Air Arms. Me thinks that you have a hole in your bucket Claire West.

 

All the very best for you and Helen Simon

[stecorr 75]

Great shooting that 'doffs hat'

[pianoman 3,587]

Thank you for the positive comments and likes fellas.

 

That is a draught of the letter I wish to send.

 

Jimmy.

I reckon the woman in question, you tried to engage with on the Air Arms stand was either in no position to answer your questions or was just an ignorant cow with the manners of a chav and no bloody idea what to say to you. I can assure you she would not have turned from me!

I get the feeling the people in suits were other reps and the others in posh country shooting clothes were likely to be people who are curious about air rifles but, happy to continue on with .223/.243 rifles and shotguns. Or, they just like poncing about at country shows pretending to be born and bred gentlemen farmers, who wouldn't know a shot from shit.

 

An everyday lad who shoots an air rifle? Well the posh suits abd the Country Casual lot may be nice and pleasing to look at and to talk crap with. But the ordinary-looking airgun lad is the one who BUYS THE GUNS AND KEEPS HER IN A FECKIN JOB! It seems British Air Gun companies have a talent for employing !

 

I wouldn't have anyone like that working in my business. They ain't good enough with the clients and customers who keep us alive and afloat.

 

RWS were like that. Some good rifles sold by ignorant thick b*****ds. Where the hell are they now?!

 

I can wear a posh suit and speak very nicely any day of the week. It's just a friggin' nice wrapper for meetings at the end of the day. Out on my Perms though, I'm just an ordinary lad who loves his air rifle hunting, same as anyone else here!

 

Who is Claire West Renos? If she has a key influence position in Air Arms then that's who I will be sending it to, as well as the company chairman/MD.

 

Nothing will be getting done, if nothing is brought to their attention with some positive voice behind it. There's Rez and Vizlauk here as well as myself that I know are left handed shooters. And there will be others too here, I'm certain.

 

REZ/Jamie.

You are right my bonnie, that Nikon is TOTAL SCOPE PORN. It's got an amazing reticle. Imagine the finest thin cross hairs meeting into a little dot in the centre. No mill dots, no cluttered sight-picture and a bang-on-the-dot zero. If you are used to shooting and range-estimating accurately with a 30/30 reticle scope, you'll love this one. And they are amazingly recoil tough. I use it on my HW80 .22 which will break a less than able scope.

 

I'm going to be looking to buy more Nikon scopes for my collection. They are incredibly well made and brilliant on spring rifles.

 

Phil

You can see the basic tone of my letter and what should be pointed out to them one way or another. If I can't make it to Doncaster, you'll know what to say to Air Arms when you get there!

 

Thanks again lads, you are bloody brilliant all of you!

Simon

[philpot 5,062]

Clair West is the MD of the company and I believe she took over from her father who founded the company if I have my facts straight.

 

http://www.airgunshooting.co.uk/news/video-air-arms-meet-the-boss-1-4064216

 

Hope that helps Simon.

 

Phil

[mattwhite 1,993]

Bloody stunning pro sport Simon and stunning standing groups too....great shooting.

I have a feeling that when the lady in question receives and reads your letter and is made aware that it is also being agreed with on public forums that something may well be done about the pathetic excuses they keep giving.

Really well done Simon???

[pianoman 3,587]

Bloody stunning pro sport Simon and stunning standing groups too....great shooting.

I have a feeling that when the lady in question receives and reads your letter and is made aware that it is also being agreed with on public forums that something may well be done about the pathetic excuses they keep giving.

Really well done Simon

Thank you Matt most kindly for this.

 

It really is a stunning example of the breed and it is a sheer joy to shoot with. I have no second thoughts about adding another Pro Sport or two again and reshaping them to fit me like this. I know a chap who collects nothing but Remington 700D cartridge rifles in all manner of calibres and stock options. I feel I could do the same with a few Pro Sports. And no two would ever be perfectly alike. But this one of mine is every bit as good an air rifle as I've read about and believed them to be.

 

It's not that difficult a rifle to shoot really well with.

 

If we can put reasonable points of objective, positive argument for this case, we might actually affect a positive result. Who on earth makes a flagship product, the absolute top of the range...and then, bans a third of the market from owning and buying it? No, that cannot be right. Not for Air Arms, or us, the customers.

 

I'll edit out the sarcasms but, there are points raised in my letter which are pertinant and they need to hear and be made aware of them. Thanks again Matt and the very best to you and for your shooting with your new HW80.

 

Simon