 Welcome to the Pyramid Insider, I'm Tyler Patner and today we are going to give you seven things you didn't know about air guns. Now if you're a frequent flyer here on the Pyramid Air YouTube page, this video is probably not for you. This is for the new air gunners. 2020 was a crazy year, we had a ton of new customers come through. So if you are one of those new people to air guns, this video is pointed at you my friends, let's get into it. So the first thing you may not know about modern air guns is that they can hunt, and I'm not talking about small game pest control, I'm talking about big game. We're talking deer, we're talking like Cape buffalo over in Africa, feral hogs, coyotes, pretty much anything you can legally hunt with an air gun, there is an air gun capable of taking that game animal. And as evidence to that, I present you the Texan LSS CF. Now this guy in either a 45 or a 50 caliber, you're talking 700 foot-pounds and 800 foot-pounds respectively. And this isn't the only pre-charged pneumatic out there that's producing those kinds of numbers. You have the hot sump pile driver, you have the Umarex hammer, and a handful of others that are going to be capable of taking truly big game. So that's something to keep in mind, you know modern air gun is not what your grandfather had as a BB gun that you were plinking around in the backyard. These things can do some serious damage and be a great tool in the hunting woods. Number two, air guns can go full auto without the paperwork. If you're familiar with the firearms process for purchasing or obtaining a fully automatic firearm, you will know that it is a long drawn out arduous process that costs a considerable amount of money. When the air gun world, not so much. The AK-1 from Crossman is the only AK variant in that full auto or with that full auto capability rather on the market right now. And this thing can be had for under 200 bucks. There are a bunch of AR replica BB guns that'll go full auto as well. And you even have some PCPs that'll do full auto as well. So there's a ton of different full auto stuff without any of the paperwork, without any of the hassle. Definitely something to check out. They are a great time. We have full auto pistols as well. There's tons of stuff out there that is going to scratch that itch if you like full auto. One of the common misconceptions still to this day is the entry level or barrier to entry from a price perspective for PCP guns, pre-charged pneumatics. Now that's come down considerably over the last couple of years. Four or five years ago, really the entry level starting price for a gun was 500 bucks. Now we're seeing guns in that two to $300 range all over the place. Guns like the Umarex Gauntlet, the Umarex Origin, you have the AirVentury Avenger, which this is the new Woodstock variant of, going to come in just over $400. So very, very cool there. You have the Benjamin Fortitude, the Hotshon Flash, you have the Beaman Chief. There's so many entry level options that are right in that two to $400 range that really offer you a lot of bang for your buck when we're talking about getting into the world of PCPs and really getting your fingers on the potential that a pre-charged pneumatic gun gives you. Now of course that is still withstanding, you know, your way that you're going to fill the gun, but you'll find that a lot of those prices have come down as well. So there are hand pumps and tanks and of course compressors as well available too. So all of that stuff is really at your fingertips and it has never been a better time to get into PCPs than right now. Next up, replica air guns, right? Most people are aware of the firearms replicas that are on the air gun market, you know, out there and available now, but really I don't think a lot of people have a good grasp of how broad that has expanded to. This SIG M17 is a great example. This is actually a pellet firing replica. Can also shoot BBs. This is the first replica that we've seen that has red dot capability, you know, that optics ready feature that we're seeing become more popular on the firearm side, but whether you are a fan of SIG, Glock, Springfield Armory, Walther, HNK, CZ, like the list goes on and on. There are replicas of those firearms out there and even further on the rifle side, you have a lot of your popular rifles, whether it's an AR or AK platform like we showed you before, those are out there as well and the functions have never been more realistic. You can get great practice in with these at home for pennies on the dollar and that's really the important part with, you know, ammo availability, which we'll get to in a second and not only the availability, but the cost as well and even the scarcity of being able to purchase some firearms right now. These are great training tools to get those maybe that are unfamiliar with firearms, more familiar with the handling and the function of guns and also get yourself, you know, keeping that knife head sharp, getting you some good practice, whether it's in your basement or backyard. Now, next up is something that personally I'm not happy about, but we have to highlight it. It's ammo cost, right? This is a box of 9mm, 50 rounds. If I was to walk down the street asking to buy this, I'd have somebody buy this for me in about five seconds, probably for like 40 or 50 bucks, maybe, I don't know. But in reality, you walk into a store and if you can find 9mm ammo, you are talking about $30 to $40 for a box of 50 and it used to cost 10. All right? That's ridiculous and we don't know when those prices are going to come down. And that's what makes airguns a great alternative to firearms right now. You can get yourself 6,000 BBs for 10 bucks. Let that sink in for a minute. $10 for all these BBs. That's a ton of shooting you can do. You can buy yourself a tin of 500 pellets for plinking in the backyard or pest control or small game hunting, whatever you want, for under $20 for 500 rounds. 50 for 40, 500 for 20. It's a no-brainer, guys. The economics there behind why you should go to air guns or why you should be using more air guns is really a no-brainer. Like I said, something to keep in mind when you're out there browsing, you know, it's really ammo's out there. It's available and it's inexpensive. It's why you should be using air guns. Next up, we're going to talk a little bit about multi-shot spring guns. Now, a lot of people have gone over to pre-charge pneumatic guns because that cost of the guns themselves has come down so much. But for those out there where that barrier to entry is still too high, the multi-shot springer is absolutely something you should consider. This gives you a quick follow-up shot, runs off of a 10-round mag. This is the Crossman Mag Fire mission in .22 caliber. And this is going to be a great gun for just shooting targets in the backyard, as well as hunting small game, you know, out to 40, 50 yards, assuming you can hold good enough accuracy. And that's another reason why I actually like going the springer or gas piston route quite a bit is that it teaches you to be a good shooter. If you can shoot a springer or a gas piston air gun well, you can shoot anything well. And those are very transitional skills. So whether you're going over to firearms or you eventually step up to PCPs, what you've learned shooting one of these air guns, one of these brake barrels or under levers or side levers is going to serve you very well moving forward into your shooting life. Now, again, we have a number of manufacturers that have come out with multi-shot brake barrels and specific over the last few years. You have Gammo, Crossman, of course, as you can see here, Hotson's got a few as well. There's an air venturi out there, you know, you got a bunch of different options when we talk about those multi-shot spring and gas piston guns. So something to keep in mind if you are on a bit tighter of a budget, but you still don't want to have to deal with the hassle of reloading the gun after every single shot. So definitely something to check out multi-shot springers. Last, but certainly not least, we're going to talk about air independence. Now, this is important for those of you that want to get into PCPs, but maybe you're out in the boonies or you don't have a place that can refill a larger tank near you. You don't want to deal with the hassle of a hand pump. Enter the personal portable compressor. Now, this is the air venturi Nomad. We have done a review on this. If you want to go check it out, this is actually the Nomad 2, so second generation, but you just plug this guy in. Now, this will run off of a 110 volt outlet, or you can hook it up to your car battery. So it is there for you, ready to go and fill your PCP guns on the go as well as at home. And this is a great alternative to a tank. It fills relatively quickly. It's not going to be as quick as a tank, but within a couple minutes, you can top off your Avengers, your Texans, whatever gun you got at home, PCP wise, this is going to be able to fill it in just minutes. And the beauty is there are a number of these units out there. So you have the Nomad 2. If you want to spend more money, you have the Hill EC 3000, which is a phenomenal unit. You also have the Benjamin Traveller Gen 2, and you have the Umarex Ready Air as well. So there are tons of great options when it comes to portable personal compressors that'll fill your guns. Now these aren't going to be great for filling those larger tanks, and that's okay. You just need them to keep you shooting, keep those guns aired up, topped up, and really they're pretty low maintenance. A little bit of lubricant every now and again, depending on your unit, you change out your output filter every so often, and you're good. These are awesome units and very comparable to the prices of carbon fiber tanks. Those larger ones, of course, that you're going to get filled at a local fire department or something like that. Now, of course, we do also sell larger compressors as well. If you do want to become truly air independent and you already have tanks, those are great options. We have the air venturi compressor. We have Benjamin's recharge compressor and a few others on the website as well that are going to be capable of filling those larger reservoirs if you need that also. But the great thing about this, and the whole reason we can have the conversation is because they are readily available now. That's something that just a few years ago, we did not have in our industry and has really changed the game when it comes to making pre-charged pneumatic guns accessible and reasonable to own for everyone. Hopefully, that gives you guys seven things you now know about air guns and the air gun world that you may not have known before. Again, not a video for our loyal fans that have been there all along, but for those of you that are just finding us or have just come to air guns in the last year or so. Hopefully, this has helped guide you into the future and has left you with maybe the inspiration to go check out some other facets of air guns, whether you're a Springer guy looking to get into PCPs or you're a CO2 pistol guy that needs to get a CO2 rifle for training, whether you shoot BBs exclusively and now you want to go to pellets, whatever the case may be. Hopefully, this gave you some good information to get started and continue on your air gun journey. For The Insider, I'm Tyler Patner. As always, don't forget to like, comment and subscribe. We appreciate it a ton. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram and we'll see you next time.