Air Venturi is the supply side of the largest airgun retailer in the US, Pyramid Air. Air Venturi brings in the products, distributes them to retailers, fixes them, takes care of warranty issues, etc., while Pyramid Air is limited to retail sales.
During my previous visit to the SHOT Show in 2012, the Air Venturi booth was a hot ticket. They had just started getting in the new, big bore, semi & full auto Korean air rifles from Evanix, and these guns were all the rage. In fact, I got caught up and wanted to order one right then and there, just on looks and promise alone. Only my limited budget kept me from jumping in.
Two years have now passed, and Air Venturi is in the same spot at the Show, with many of the same or similar products and product lines. As an importer and distributor, Air Venturi is not responsible for breakthrough technology or product innovations, although I’m sure they give plenty of feedback to the manufacturers. So, not a lot of eye-popping product introductions this time around.
But that doesn’t mean Air Venturi has stood still. In fact, the Pyramid Air side has quietly moved into the match gun segment of airgun shooting sports, and Air Venturi has beefed up their service capability. They’ve even sent their service team, led by Gene Salvino, to Germany for factory training at the HW and FWB plants. They now have the parts and training to do repairs on virtually all match guns, as well as all HW guns. And yes, this includes many of the vintage match guns too, such as the FWB300. I get the sense that Air Venturi is taking the service side the business, both warranty and repair work, very seriously.
I was able to speak briefly with Gene Salvino, but as happened in several cases, my interview audio is unintelligible. Too bad, Gene is a great interview, and Air Venturi has plenty of great products to talk about. I can tell you that Gene likes the Stoeger X5 and the Air Venturi Bronco as low cost introduction guns for younger shooters.
Here’s a brief overview of the Air Venturi booth.
You can find more information about Pyramid Air at their web site here;
http://www.pyramydair.com/