Proper reviews

[Theob3n]

I asked on here about some feedback on the rm100 and only got bad feedback about the company

[angrybear]

I asked on here about some feedback on the rm100 and only got bad feedback about the company

Ok well first I'll point out that it's a different company the RM100 being Impact Airguns from the UK, while the HM1000 is Rapid Air Weapons from the USA.

This months (Jul 2015) Shooting Sports has a review of the RM100 by Pete Wadeson, while last month they had an item on a visit to the Impact factory by Mark Camoccio.

[Spewy]

Thanks for the feedback and I did read the review by gunmart it was the only one I could find.i was just impressed by a gun that had my wish list
.20 cal
Full lefty
And cocking on the left side makes a lot of different to me after using my hw100kt
I'd love to do a mini review with pics and hope it helps anyone thinking of buying the hm1000 and thanks for the offer TD

[Theob3n]

Ok well first I'll point out that it's a different company the RM100 being Impact Airguns from the UK, while the HM1000 is Rapid Air Weapons from the USA.

This months (Jul 2015) Shooting Sports has a review of the RM100 by Pete Wadeson, while last month they had an item on a visit to the Impact factory by Mark Camoccio.

Very true, my mistake

[archie]

Do you actually know this for a fact? You see, in the real world, if a review rifle has a particularly nice piece of timber fitted to it, for instance, customers expect that and it causes all sorts of grief if the test sample isn't representative. Another fact is, the rifles we get for test are often those that have been on the test ranges at shows and fairs. To the best of my knowledge,never, in all the years I've been testing airguns, has anyone ever sent me a specially sorted example. As I say, if the test rifle doesn't represent what the customer gets, there will, quite rightly, be all sorts of trouble.

Final fact. If I get an airgun that isn't in my opinion fit for sale, I won't test it until the required changes are made to bring it up to spec. Hope that helps.

So if an airgun submitted for review is not up to scratch you send it back to be rectified. However this would seem to indicate that in theory you will never print a bad review.
If this rifle had been sold through a retail outlet to a customer they would not be too happy and immediately distrust your reviews, unless of course you receive a rogue gun for test.

[SuffolkRifle]

Do you actually know this for a fact? You see, in the real world, if a review rifle has a particularly nice piece of timber fitted to it, for instance, customers expect that and it causes all sorts of grief if the test sample isn't representative. Another fact is, the rifles we get for test are often those that have been on the test ranges at shows and fairs. To the best of my knowledge,never, in all the years I've been testing airguns, has anyone ever sent me a specially sorted example. As I say, if the test rifle doesn't represent what the customer gets, there will, quite rightly, be all sorts of trouble.

Final fact. If I get an airgun that isn't in my opinion fit for sale, I won't test it until the required changes are made to bring it up to spec.

Hope that helps.

As you've stated above, all teething problems sorted, rough edges 'knocked off', any issues with power sorted & NOT an item pulled at random out of stock, which is what the customer gets. Q.E.D.

[longsider]

Final fact. If I get an airgun that isn't in my opinion fit for sale, I won't test it until the required changes are made to bring it up to spec.

Hi Terry .
I know we have been here before and I understand your explanations as to how you personally go about reviewing rifles . The thing that worries me is that unless the manufacturer provides you with a rifle that is on top of its game you won't review it until they have changed whatever you didn't like . The other side of that coin is that your readers can save 5 minutes of their lives by looking at the make of rifle you are reviewing that month and then move on safe in the knowledge that you think the rifle is good . The fact that you don't review rifles you have issues with won't always stop them going on sale and it won't stop your readers buying a rifle that lets them down . Sometimes I think your readers , and I'm one of them , need to know what not to buy just as much as they need to know what is going to take the air rifle world by storm . As I said at the start of this thread you've previously taken the time to personally explain to me your methods of reviewing rifles and I was grateful for that but imo and indeed by your own admission any rifle you review is a rifle you feel worthy of that review . in my mind that makes your review more like just another advertisement / endorsement on behalf of the manufacturer . I think your extensive knowledge and years of experience in your field would be of more use protecting your readers from the poor rifles that a lot of dealers will swear blind is a excellent purchase . Feel free to comment Terry but that's my personal opinion and I think we will just end up agreeing to disagree . on a brighter note I'm not knocking your magazine , I'm just saying that particular aspect of it never gets read by me for the above reasons . atb Ricky

[neil180]

Terry D - would that be Terry Doe??

Guidedog for the thick - still my favourite book ever!!

[Spewy]

Reviews?
Mmmmmm
My first post I think on forum
Helpful informative airgunners
Sence of a darkside on my post
Kindly asked to write a mini review with pics which was kind and welcoming.
Do posts start innocently then turn into something unsavoury ?.
The main thing for me is I'm surprised that I have a hens tooth gun good or bad,no one has said yes I had one there great or there rubbish.so I will to the best of MY ability as a airgunner give a honest review.this review by looking at my thread be possibly pulled apart piece by piece but it's my review of my gun.
Thanks
Hope you liked my first review🙈

[Gwylan]

Here we go again..! I don't think reviews are deliberately misleading, but I'd like them to be brutally honest about the type of buyer the gun is aimed at. I've had a newbie turn up with a B2 expecting to hit targets at 70 yards, I would have advised them that, "This is a budget rifle, may be poorly built, with a very heavy trigger, which makes it difficult to shoot accurately. You may be put off air gunning, I'd recommend something a bit better, perhaps a Hatsan or Gamo." etc. Similarly, if a guy turns up with a top of the range FT rifle with a £30 scope on top, and wants to plink, I'd probably say, "This is one of the best air guns made, but it has many features you will never use. The guy next to you has an S400, (or similar,) which cost 1/3 of the price, I'd sell yours, and get something more suitable to your skill level, you could invest in a mid range rifle, and a better scope." I know this isn't a review, but you get my meaning.

Gus

[Hombre]

Realistically, all print media needs advertising not only to survive but to prosper and grow.
This has been the way of things for a very long time. The cover price simply isn't going to cut it.

Strong content is probably the single most difficult commodity for any publication to come by.
Good writers are difficult to find, excellent writers are both like gold-dust and frequently expensive. Hence the necessity to fill pages with professionally shot, high quality photography already paid for by advertisers. Which of us does not appreciate that gloss?

So, magazines get a large slice of pretty content and essential revenue to go with it. The quid pro quo, albeit sometimes tacit in nature although certainly not always, is that the magazine provides those advertisers with 'advertorial' - in other words editorial coverage of their products in the form of reviews, teasers, etc. I appreciate that 'advertorial' is not strictly correct in this context but it's close enough for jazz.

Much horse-trading goes on between advertisers and advertising space sellers and within this environment rates are negotiated for space, the positioning of the advertisement and so on. Product reviews can often come before any advertisement is placed with a publication and this process can be instigated by either the magazine as a come on or the would-be advertiser as a tester of market relevance.

All of this is everyday stuff in the publishing world as is the considerable additional content that product reviews provide and given that publications cannot sensibly exist without this symbiotic relationship with its advertisers and hoped-for advertisers it would be entirely unreasonable for any intelligent person to expect an editor to commit financial suicide by publishing a damning review of any product. I think the lesson, if there is one, is that we should, as readers, expect to see this type of coverage as a 'review' and not a critique. This type of content hopefully brings product to our attention in a positive and interesting fashion but we should always bear in mind the fine line being walked by those behind the writing. Also, well-written reviews may not come right out and say bad things about a product but where faults are to be found there is nearly always subtle and oblique terminology sufficient to alert most readers.

In short, read between the lines and for the real dirt look to the concensus of those who have bought and used the product but don't take that at face value either!

As always just a personal and completely unbiased perspective

ATB
Hombre

[longsider]

[QUOTE=Spewy;6728023]Reviews?
Mmmmmm
My first post I think on forum
Helpful informative airgunners
Sence of a darkside on my post
Kindly asked to write a mini review with pics which was kind and welcoming.
Do posts start innocently then turn into something unsavoury ?.
The main thing for me is I'm surprised that I have a hens tooth gun good or bad,no one has said yes I had one there great or there rubbish.so I will to the best of MY ability as a airgunner give a honest review.this review by looking at my thread be possibly pulled apart piece by piece but it's my review of my gun.
Thanks
Hope you liked my first review🙈[/QUOTE
]I don't think their was any bad intent . if you had said "has anybody seen anything written about my rifle " you might have had a few good replies and off you could have gone . Your only mistake was to mention the words "review" and " airgun mag" in the same sentence . atb Ricky

[SuffolkRifle]

Reviews?
Mmmmmm
My first post I think on forum
Helpful informative airgunners
Sence of a darkside on my post
Kindly asked to write a mini review with pics which was kind and welcoming.
Do posts start innocently then turn into something unsavoury ?.
The main thing for me is I'm surprised that I have a hens tooth gun good or bad,no one has said yes I had one there great or there rubbish.so I will to the best of MY ability as a airgunner give a honest review.this review by looking at my thread be possibly pulled apart piece by piece but it's my review of my gun.
Thanks
Hope you liked my first review��

Please. give a review on how you find your gun I (at least) am always interested in a real-life experience with any airgun, be it good or bad. As it's a 'hens tooth' all the more interest (I like 'odd' things!)

[snock]

Here's a novel idea; why not put your own reviews together and offer them to the magazines (any of them) for consideration.

[Spewy]

Lesson learned can't stop laughing
Don't mension review and airgun mag in the same thread👍
Thanks for showing a interest guys