It’s that time of year where we start thinking about what we would like to give– and what we would like to receive. Our loved ones have wish lists and so do we. So whether you are scouring the internet for ideas for your loved ones or scratching down notes for yourself, here’s what’s hot under the Umarex umbrella for the 2024 holiday season.
This is the third and final installment of this Christmas wishlist series. In this edition, we will take you down the path of the hottest PCP air rifles in our catalog, and let me tell you, some of these are red-hot!
Take Not(os) of This One
This bumble bee of an air rifle absolutely defies logic with how well it has been received. And “this rifle” would be the Notos compact PCP. With just 12 inches of barrel, 66 CCs of air capacity and a 7-shot magazine, you would think this would be a product people would just pass over, especially considering that it shoots less than 800 fps with lead pellets. So what gives? Well, it’s accurate, lightweight, and easily customizable. Maybe it’s really cute or something, too, because our airgun customers have been grabbing these things up like they were ribs covered in some popping dry-rub at a family reunion. Seriously. As soon as they show up, they start going out of the door. What with the aftermarket making everything from magazines to grips, to stocks and larger air tanks- the Notos is a winner all the way and it’s way less than 3 bills at check-out, too..
We Still Run the Gauntlet
The first Gauntlet arrived to the world in 2018 and since then we have continually revised the platform The Gauntlet has existed in .177, .22, .25, and .30 calibers and moved from being a bolt action to a side-lever action, the stock has been revised and the air tank has grown in both max fill pressure and volume. We like to think these things have been improvements. The popularity of the platform to this day, we believe, testifies to this. In particular, the Gauntlet 30SL has been extremely popular this year. 2024 has been the first year the side-lever iteration has been available all year. As stated above there are several compelling reasons for the Gauntlet’s popularity, but one area that really stands out is its accuracy at 100 yards and beyond. With a good pellet and a reliable scope, the G30 can do the trick at longer ranges and that makes me and a lot of other G30 fans really happy.
How do You Say it?
Honestly we don’t care what you call it, so long as you love it. And for a rifle that was just introduced a scant few months ago it would appear that you do. The Zelos is available in your choice of .22 or .25 calibers, has a bit 20/18 round magazine and can send rounds downrange as fast as you can work the action– which, if you happened to catch some social media coverage of the Pyramyd Cup, you would have seen an unmodified/factory tune sub-$1,000 Zelos and optic combination squeak past a veteran shooter with a rifle/optic combo that was likely north of $3,000. The Zelos is the real deal in stock form, and it is super easy to tune for even more performance. Not to mention that some shooters are already slapping on larger air tanks, barrel bands, and even pump actions courtesy of very responsive aftermarket manufacturers. For an MSRP of $599.99, the Zelos offers airgunners a lot of potential for their shooting dollars.
Today is an exciting time to be an airgunner. If you are looking at moving into the PCP world, these are certainly worth a look. However, if you aren’t interested in picking up a PCP AND an electric high-pressure air compressor, then we have another rifle that just might be up your ally.
The Komplete Package
While PCPs are taking up a lot of space in the airgunning room, they aren’t the best solution for everyone. They aren’t even the best solution for most airgunners. No, most airgunners are not ready to commit to spending as much or more than the cost of a rifle to purchase a way to fill it up every time they want to shoot. But who doesn’t want a better rifle? One that is easy to shoot, offers the shooter an easy interface, offers the shooter power, and is accurate. Tall order? Well until the Umarex Komplete came around, yes it was.
The Komplete is a hybrid PCP meaning that it shares the same high pressure offered by a PCP air rifle, but in a pre-pressurized nitrogen cylinder. This new, patented technology is called NitroAir. In a special cartridge, Nitrogen gas is pressurized to 3,600 PSI and allows an air rifle to achieve the high power output that PCPs are famous for and their accuracy, too. The Komplete comes as a kit that includes one 32g NitroAir cartridge with it. Additional NitroAir cartridges are sold in a two-pack and a full case pack (24 cartridges). It is also available in .177 and .22 calibers and uses a 10-shot auto-indexing magazine. The Komplete offers an incredible value and performance level for shooters who just aren’t ready to dump a small fortune into getting into the PCP market.
