Well every gun he was sent to test had probably been checked & double checked to ensure it was perfect, so they probably were brilliant, as are probably 3/4 of all guns sold.
I can only remember having 1 duff air rifle "out of the box", a few issues with used rifles but they aren't the fault of the manufacturer.
I imagine the changes are the new owners trying to increase the readership,
but in reality there's only so much information to give before it's the 'same old, same old', one hunting trip write up, is much like another,
& of course all the content is 2-3 months old by the time it lands on the door mat.