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Airgun Hobbyist
purchased it. Val explained that leasing would have been a
lower cost initially, but over time it would have been more
costly. As I thought about it, I realized that P/A is really
focused on the future.
At the time of our visit, Val said that P/A employs 58
people and will be hiring more people in the future months.
Before the end of the day, we returned to see Gene
Salvino who asked if we’d like to assist in a gas spring
conversion on a customer’s order of a Hatsan airgun.
The first step in the process was to take the air rifle
to P/A’s indoor range to get a baseline velocity of the air rifle
before it’s disassembled.
The conversion
consists of disassembling the
air rifle, removing the coil
spring, and installing a gas
spring. While that may sound
simple, we observed it to be a
detailed process that requires
care with the springs being
under tension.
After observing
the process, I’d say this is
definitely something you’d
want an expert to do.
When the conversion
was complete, Gene took that
airgun back to the indoor
range to check the velocity and functionality.
Then back at the bench, the coil spring internal parts
replaced during the conversion were packaged up and put
inside the Hatsan’s box along with a certificate he signed
being the technician who did the work.
At the beginning of the article I stated that we
didn’t know how long our visit would last. In total it was
6 hours that passed too quickly. What we saw was an ever
expanding business that’s in it for the long haul. The people
we met were not just employees, they were also true airgun
enthusiasts.
He told us about the humble beginnings of his
company and the ethics he holds dear that has grown it
into what it is today. One conversation with Josh was about
honesty, integrity and his belief that by taking care of his
customers, they’ll become repeat customers.
Josh mentioned that he was born in Ukraine and
speaks numerous languages including Russian, German, and
Polish. He talked about his time in the military and how guns
are simply tools that are neither good or evil. And that any
object, including a fork, could be used as a weapon.
We also pondered, if
other countries in the world
had an equivalent to the USA’s
second amendment, would it
still be possible for cities in
these countries with millions
of residents to be taken over by
just a few thousands who were
armed.
We could tell just
how Josh liked his job as he
recounted a prank he played
on Rossi Morreale during
the filming of an American
Airgunner TV episode. The
prank was that Josh had both
a firearm and airsoft replica and
convinced Rossi that he could hit an apple with his airsoft gun
(in reality the firearm) at an extremely long distance.
After our conversations, Josh showed us around
other areas of the P/A facility. I believe
that one of his favorite areas is where his
big bore pellet press is located. He has
designed several speciality-use pellets.
Some of the pellets just looked brutal as we
could imagine the damage a target would
sustain after being hit by one.
After viewing these big bore pellets,
Josh asked if we’d like to try a few. Of course we said “yes”,
and Josh retrieved a few his personal airguns and guided us
to P/A’s indoor range.
At the indoor range we made some serious noise
between the report of the airgun and whack of the pellet on
the backstop. When I asked Josh if the noise we were making
would bother the employees, he smiled and basically said that
they are used to it.
The next
stop was to see Val
Gamerman, the
President of Pyramyd
Air. Val talked to us
about the move to the
new 70,000 square
foot building. When I
asked if the building
was leased, I was
somewhat surprised
to hear that they had
Gene Salvino using a spring compressor.
Indoor range.
Pellet press.
Speciality Pellet.
Workbench ready for the next repair.
This Steyr belongs to Tyler Patner. He is a P/A CSSR and shoots Field Target.
(Cont. from page 27)