Air Gun Home :: View topic - Could you introduce some high quality pellets to me?!

AirGunEric · Site Admin

So how might a dealer get samples of your products to find people to test them for feedback?

sam0728 · Member

AirGunEric · Site Admin

fritz · Silver Status Member

If you have samples... send some my way Laughing

sam0728 · Member

fritz · Silver Status Member

Sam, you need to personally go out to local dealers and show off the product. You have to prove to people that it's worth buying. Any experienced airgunner knows that quality pellets don't always work in every gun. The best you can do is offer a highly consistent pellet.

Take the owners out to the range with a couple different guns (that shoot the pellets well). You will do best with a wide range, like cheap gamos to BSA, to Daystate. Shoot some nice groups yourself, then offer them to test. Maybe even go to some airgun ranges and give out 25 count samples to people. Set up some measuring tools and let people have a look for themselves.

Make sure the pellets are packaged nicely. Airgunners appreciate a clean, lightly lubed, highly consistent pellet that is not deformed during shipping. We really love screw top lids (the cheap slide on lids com off too easily, resulting in many a spilled pellet tin). Offer pellet statistics on the tin, weight, caliber, ballistic coefficient, actual size of pellet. Don't give them stupid names like Raptor or some bullsh_.

Offer up different head designs, like wadcutters, hollowpoints, pointed, and domes. Don't feed people stupid facts like increased velocity (using our super lightweight, inaccurate pellets). The bottom line is sell a quality product at a reasonable price, package it properly, give the user accurate statistics.

rsterne · Moderator

In addition, serious shooters like to be able to buy their pellets in various diameters, because a change of just 0.01 mm makes a big difference in some guns.... The top manufacturers offers their .177 cal pellets in 4.49, 4.50, 4.51, 4.52, 4.53, and 4.54 mm.... and their .22 cal pellets in 5.50, 5.51, 5.52, 5.53, and 5.54 mm.... Shocked

This wide variety is usually only available in target quality wadcutter and round-nose (field target) pellets.... Wink

Bob

fritz · Silver Status Member

Ahh, yes, I didn't mention that because this is early in production- we didn't need to get that complicated.

Sam, have a look at these: http://www.vogelusa.com/pellettesting.htm

sam0728 · Member

sam0728 · Member

fritz · Silver Status Member

Yes. For some unknown-to-me reason, noone can manufacture a barrel that is the true bore diameter. This is why there are 4.47, 4.48, 4.49, 4.5, 4.51, 4.52mm pellets that are supposed to be 4.5mm. Those pellets that are bigger or smaller than the caliber are to accommodate for different bore sizes.

AirGunEric · Site Admin

I think these suggestions for pellet sizing and testing are all very good, but we may be putting the cart in front of the horse.

Sam0728 is producing pellets, perhaps only in limited sizes for the moment- but he needs to get them out there and sold. The problem is that this is going to cost his company money. No one is likely to purchase the pellets (at least not as a dealer) if they are unknown- there are many many pellet manufacturers already, at least a couple of good-quality European manufacturers are not even sold in North America because of the market saturation.

There may very well be a place for Sam's product line in Europe and/or North America- but a more definitive marketing plan, resources and dealer incentives to try their products are required in my opinion. Perhaps offering to send samples to dealers where the dealer only pays for (part) of the transportation would be a good first step to get the product 'out there' for people in different areas, geographically and demographically, to test/try. Everything else is, at least in my opinion, going to be a waste of time and not advance product movement.

fritz · Silver Status Member

Well said Eric. We were mainly talking about the product, not distribution yet.

Sam needs to get a couple small batches produced and get product out to some stores and online retailers. His best bet for online would be Pyramyd Air, Adventures in Airguns, Archer Airguns (maybe), Cobra Airguns, and Straight Shooters. I don't know many stores, but ones in like the San Fransisco area, because of the large airgunner population.

Maybe giving out some samples to custom tuners like Mike Melick, and Richard Imhoff (Rich in Mich). If they test guns with those pellets (and they go through A LOT of guns), you should see a pattern of which brands/models perform well.

You (Sam), should also go locally to shooting ranges and sporting goods stores to see what your local market is like.

A major thing that would sell is to have a few guns that really shoot well with those pellets, that are of different makers. Like have a Gamo, Beeman, Crosman, Techforce/Xisco/Bam/ Chinese cloners, and a Diana. Let people shoot off a few rounds with each and display nice groups in paper. In this game your best friend will be word of mouth.

AirGunEric · Site Admin

I think this somehow keeps getting missed- Sam's 'local market' is irrelevant if he wants to export the pellets. He is in China and the typical airguns found in Europe and North America are not widely available, so his testing abilities with a wide variety of shooters and guns that would be found in the target markets are not that simple.