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''All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to glaze over and resume scrolling''.
Slightly confused.
You get a bog standard rifle to test and write a review on as this will be the same standard as the punter is getting.
But
"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."
So in your own words you send one back to be put right then do a write up on it when its running perfectly
I personally read Terry D''s post to mean that he wouldn't be happy to review when the end product as a whole, the one that will be eventually sold to the consumer, is not up to spec, and not that he expects the individual rifle he's reviewing to be tuned up to perfection before reviewing.
No.
When I get a new rifle for testing, if it's not fit for sale to 'the punter', then I make the points I believe are valid, send it back, and test it when the design/production changes have been made to that model. I believe this benefits everyone involved.
Hope that clears things up.
If you don't know enough to judge - don't judge
Terry d
Do you have a link to your review on the hm1000?
Thanks
I accept that's the way you do things and that you believe that you are doing it that way with the best intentions but imo a manufacturer has sent you a product that they believe is ready for sale to the public . if they didn't think the rifle was ready it wouldn't arrive on your desk . I believe that all of the points you pass back to the manufacturer regarding negative aspects of the rifle should have gone in to print as part of your review of it . No manufacturer in his right mind wants his product crucified in a national magazine and if they thought that would happen their products might arrive at your door after they had taken more care to iron out any problems in their production stage . The way you have described is like a teacher marking a exam paper sending it back to the student with a note reading " you failed your exam but here is a list of the correct answers , please rectify your paper and send it back " . if you want us to believe you are conducting independent reviews then the first rifle you received should be the rifle we read about . After you have made your suggestions to the manufacturer and they have taken them onboard and altered their original design you are no longer reviewing it impartially . you are then reviewing a rifle you have been involved in the manufacture of and imo even less likely to score badly. Atb Ricky
Surely Terry if as you say you receive rifles for testing which have been used at shows or suchlike, these must be the products which are available over the counter to the customer.
I agree, if the rifle is a brand new product and not yet on sale, you are quite correct in pointing out any failings in that product, and I am sure your observations prior to a written review are taken in to account by the manufacturer before release to the general public.
I still maintain that dealing with reviews in the way that you do it is almost impossible to pen a bad review.
That's how it works, Archie. Some rifles I get, usually variations on an established theme, have been 'trialled' on public ranges, most are simply taken from stock, and others are new, yet-to-be-released guns that are sent to me for final evaluation.
The important point is, I don't get 'specially sorted' guns for review, and neither to my knowledge does any other reviewer. As I've said, ethics aside, that really isn't anyone's interest at all.
If you don't know enough to judge - don't judge
This is not rocket science.
If a magazine is doing a review, then they have to bear in mind that the product they are reviewing is likely to be advertised in the magazine/s.
They cant turn around and say this rifle is a "bag of s***e" as a loss of business often offends.
There are plenty of reviews on here and threads that can be searched for if you want to find out the wrinkles.
Some guns are just not common and the number of shooters that are prepared to get off their bums and do a review is limited.
If you want a review and there isn't one then hey ho.....maybe its telling you that it is niche or just doesn't sell or it is so new to market that nobody has got one or had time to assess it.
If you have a rifle - then do a review.......
The more peeps who do, the more information there is out there.
I view reviews as a very important aspect. Especially on forums that do not have any financial considerations.
Mag reviews will give you a perspective. The degree of accuracy depends on the reviewer but the warts will be on places like this.
In a battle of wits I refuse to engage with an unarmed person.
To one shot one kill, you need to seek the S. Kill only comes from Skill
At least 15 such rifles 'arrive on my desk' every year, Ricky. The manufacturers and importers genuinely want to find out what needs to be done to make their products marketable. Others provide the same service, I assure you. I get to see prototypes at all sorts of stages, again as do others, and 'ready to go' is one of those stages.
If you don't know enough to judge - don't judge
There's never any meat on these review-knocking posts, but you do get to see who's David Niven - from who's David Icke