Help. Please. Sell a new TX200 Walnut and take a bath on the loss of$$ or keep and tune it up and shoot that thing!?! I appreciate any advice and comments...

I find myself in a bit of a quandry….

I currently own a TX200 .177 that I have had for about 8 years+. It has been tuned (by me) with the vortek 12 fpe kit and proper amount of lube. Sweet shooting rig that I absolutely love. Here it is in a case next to the new kid on te block....

In an effort to trim down my very modest collection last November I purchased that TX200 Walnut in .22 from Straight Shooters. It is beautiful. I have shot it about three sessions for about 150+ rounds. Bone stock ie: not tuned.

I shoot mostly HPA rifles and have a fill station using Nitrogen so with the twist of a few knobs I am topped off and ready to shooot some more.

My problem is I am thinking of just selling the TX200 and have found another .22 HPA rifle for a great price. Problem is the market seems plenty saturated these days and I am currently listing the rifle at about a $225 loss over what I paid for it new. I know you lose when you sell fromm buying new, but how much is too much right?

Some pics of the Walnut grain:

So I love asking co-workers who are not into airguning what they would do. For me it is refreshing to hear someones opinion if they are not in the sport as they might have a different point of view.

I asked Amber and explained the concept of tuning and that the .22 would make it so I could have one springer in each caliber etc. I asked her if I should sell at a loss or keep the TX. She said “Why not tune the .22 yourself and then shoot it some and see if you end up liking it more tuned than stock. If you do not you can sell it then.” Brilliance I thought.

So question is – should I sell the TX200 Walnut .22 at a big loss or buy a readily available tune kit and tear down, clean, deburr, clean, rebuild and shoot that thing?
If the answeris to go tuned what kit should I try?
 
Thank you in advance for your help!
 
~GOD BLESS~
john

Pic of the new one in case..... To sell or to tune??

It all depends if you are going to use the gun or not.  If you see no utility for the gun in the coming years, then chalk the experience up as a loss, and move on.  You can always buy another TX.  If it makes you feel better, buy a second hand TX knowing that the original owner took a bath just like you did.  Maybe that might cancel things out in your mind as time goes on.

Thank you! Buying a used gun is usually what I do but in the case with this one I conducted a "fire sale" and in a matter of two days sold off a great many of my lower end guns, parts and bits and even a Boyds stock. All to raise the cash to buy this beauty.

I do see myself using it if I put some sweet equity into it. I know the simple reason I do not shoot it now is that it is almost "crude" compared to shot cycles against the tuned .177

That may not be fair to comare it to a smaller and a tuned action, but it is the truth. I even purposed myself to "get back into shooting springers at least once every shooting session!" That is where my other problem comes in.

I am a lazy shooter. Simply turning some knobs and carefully watching guages is so much easier than actually having to cock once for each shot. I used to own a real nice B40 in .22 that I had tuned myself with the Vortek SHO kit. It shot  better than the stock TX does now. So I do know what a tune would do. I would also like to tune it down in power as I have plenty of guns to hunt with. And who knows, if I  keep it and tune it, and get good at shooting it, Proper shot placement when huntingsmall animals within range could still be acheived.....

Food for thought for sure...

~GOD BLESS~

john

pt and tuned do I decrease the power or get a custom, well done tune and keep it as powerful as a quality tune would yield???

Found these pics from the day I unboxed it! 

~GOD BLESS~

john

You might look at it this way:  The HPA rifle seems to be discounted so it will kind of offset the discount you will have to give the buyer of your walnut TX.  It will kind of be like you never bought the TX but paid full price for the new HPA.

I use that approach buying and selling airguns at Airgun Shows.  I have to sell for less but at the show that money will buy me more too, so it kind of balances out.

David Enoch

David - That is some interesting thinking. The rifle I am looking at is at a discount, however, it has had some tuners hands on it so that is bumping up the  price a bit. I have had the TX listed for only this week and , aside from scammers, only one person was interested so far. They were definitely low balling me. I can't say I blame them for asking as they were nice about it. 

I spoke to a tuner about the TX (several today) if I decide to keep it and do a tune I have two ways to go about it - either do it myself or have it done. The cheaper route is doing it myself and that  brings with it a satisfaction of I did the work. I appreciate that about my .177 TX. I will say one of the tuners I spoke to today stood out above the rest by leaps an bounds. Both with product knowledge, their reputation and proven experience in the industry.

What he recommended was a tune and not to drop it to say what a vortek 12 fpe kit would do to the .22 but rather combine the right mix of custom made parts with proven performers to get a tuned and smooth .22 TX that you could still hunt with if the need arose. 

I think (at this point at least) I am going to monitor the threads I have asking for help as they have given me some great insight and not "bump" or reduce the price on the TX at this time. I am too emotional and need to remember that if you remove the emotional component it is really wood and metal..... Finding the pics from the unboxing brought back great memories - hence being too emotional right now.

I like what you are saying - if I can convince the seller to reduce his price might have a winner there if the TX sells.........

Thank you and great to hear from you by the way!

~GOD  BLESS~

john

Hi,

Tough call, that thing is sharp.  I had one in .22 and it was a hammer for hunting.  Ended up selling all my .22's (springers) and tried simplifying my life with .177 cal.  Mine had the Vortek SHO with ARH seal.  It was shooting 720 fps, and would take heads off birds out to 45 easy standing.  It was not as accurate on paper as my .177 TX on paper.

I usually regret selling things, but sometimes it is hard to shoot them all.

?

Jason G 

sometimes it is where you sell the gun, Gun Broker has good viewing and it is an auction you can control and Ebay is another that I have seen prices that seller have gotten that are absurdly high and seeing you are a seller absurdly high is a good thing

if the rifle doesn't eat too much and you don't really need the money keep it for a later sale

jumping one way or the other, being in a hurry isn't always the best way

here you have to put a price on it and the people buying, shopping are in the know for the most part and they are looking for steals and deals and there is nothing wrong with that as a buyer but your a seller

and as a seller you want a nice fair price where you don't take a bath, loosing money as a seller is never a good thing loosing some might happen but loosing lots shouldn't

in any case my 2 cents and old man that will buy 5 of something to bring the average cost down because I made the first seller happy and then bought another because it was cheap, I didn't say I was smart

take care

mike

Great points - well made. I have decided to keep it and get it professionally tuned. I'll also take some time to work that wood in order to both preserve it and bring out the grain more. 

Thank you to everyone for the replies. I'll re-post once completed as a follow up.

Any thoughts on what to do with the tune are appreciated as I do know as of this morning I am keeping it. 

~GOD BLESS~

john

   IMHO, you have made a wise decision. The .22 TX is a real jewel for a hunter. It is quiet for a springer and has great accuracy even out to 50 yds. Mine does 750 fps with 14.3 gr. Premiers (brown box) and the same weight JSBs are a tad faster. It is reasonable in size and weight, and will accept a carry sling on the cocking arm. Plus you can feel pellet fit while loading.

   Have a custom, .22 TX Hunter carbine that was hand selected for me by Nick Jenkinson for wood, accuracy, fit and finish etc. It is a fine rifle, but the bog standard TX gets a lot more use.

   Get an optic worthy of the rifle (like a Leupold EFR) and you will never look back.

   Enjoy!

Thank you for a nod that it was the right thing to do - Once I made the decision last night I had no "regrets" if you will. Instead I am now excited to get it tuned and take care of that stock. I agree with you that the glass it wears should be worthy of the rig. My .177 has the old school Elite 4200 24X mil dot w/bell focus. Nice scope even with a 1" tube it is bright and clear and gets the job done. 

Your custom .22 hunter carbine sounds very interesting..... Post a pic if you have the time would love to see it. 

More to come on the .22 of mine I am certain.....

~GOD BLESS~

john

   Happy to hear you are not second guessing your decision. Also agree that the 4200 is a fine instrument and superior in many ways to the clunky "tactical" scopes which are all the rage. Made in Japan; great glass; repeatable clicks; light weight; and, an AO (which means one less lens to look through and a more robust build). Have several as the 24 and 32X models were FT favorites in the 90s. 

   Regret I am old school (just old) when it comes to computer skills, but will try to get some pictures of the HC. It is L/H and has one of the nicest, burled, walnut stocks I have ever seen. Over the years have noticed that L/H stocks often have nicer wood - probably because the blanks have to be sorted to be worked.

                                  Blessings to you, as well.

Thanks for the reply. I am super happy with the .177 TX200. Funny you mention that the old 4200's were FT favorites in the 90s. I think I purchased that one used on another forum in about 2005. I had bought a 32X power one that I had sent to Bushnell for the mil dot conversion. I did sell that one when we lost the club we shot monthly matches at. Oh well, gone now. It was nice. 

I am now excited about the .22 TX I need to reach back out to the tuner and let him know that I am going to be shipping it to him. He has about a 9 week wait, however, that just means in August I will have something to look forward to! I   most certainly will update here when I get it back. 

I found a few pics of my .177 when I was mounting the 4200.....

And finally on the TX200 .177

I am old school myself - so no worries about posting pics.....

Take care and interesting point about left hand stocks having better grain/wood. Hmmm...

~GOD BLESS~

john