Why is Pardini K12 unpopular

[Ziperix]

I’ve watched some competitions on YouTube and all i can see are Steyr and Morini, Pardini K12 is very rare - is there any particular reason for it? Is there any “fatal flaw” in the gun?

It’s surprising to me considering how dominant their rimfire pistol is

[william]

I can't explain it other than to observe that it's been the case for 30 or more years, long before the K12 was introduced.

[Gwhite]

To echo what William said, the Morini came out in 1992, the Steyr LP10 in 2000, and the Pardini K12 in 2012. The Morini & the Steyr have a very well established track record at the highest levels, and the design changes have been pretty minimal over time. Shooters at that level took a while to get that good, and they (and/or their coaches) know that the Morini & Steyr can deliver gold medal performance. It may also be partly that people starting out bought used Morinis & Steyrs, and don't want to jump ship.

When it first came out, the Pardini recoil eliminator was also untested, and people probably shied away from that for a while. I know some people have had issues with that feature, but I have no idea if that is common, or had been fixed. The folks shooting Morinis will tell you it's unnecessary anyway...

[Kowal_1986]

Hmm, sorry for the interruption but I think it is the same case with FWB P8X. They are known for the excellent rifle quality so I assumed that their air pistols are very good as well, but they never managed to appear in world class finals.

Back to Pardini K12, Italians use them with great success as so Germans do (Christian Reitz).

[thirdwheel]

If pistol X is seen to be winning and you can afford it that is what you buy. Pardini do not give pistols to use and get their name out there unlike others, absorber only gives problems if you use cheap dirty pellets and don't cheap out and why would you with an expensive target pistol. Felt cleaning pellets are a no, no as the absorber is air driven unlike the Steyr and how many times have you had your recoil absorber to bits on your Steyr because it is not working as it should. Lots of top pistol shooters use them, it is just that they don't get seen apart from the above aforementioned athletes, I have an electronic Steyr, Titanium and a K12 and guess what is my main competition pistol, the others are for backup and coaching. I let one of my club members use my K12 for a session and he ended up with a silly grin on his face and the words "that pistol is almost like cheating" he is now looking out for one to go with his up to date Walther. Get your hands on one and give it a try.

[Grippy]

I'm honestly not surprised that people don't land on the K12. Not because there is anything wrong with it. There just isn't anything special about it either. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing. It's great in every way that counts I think. But it does nothing to set itself apart.

All the current top level pistols are great and your individual setup of said pistol will be more important than the choice of model. I tested this over the last two years by indulgingly acquiring all the top level air pistols and fully setting them up for me. Including customizing the grips etc. The result was almost boring since no clear winner emerged. I can basically use them interchangeably and achieve the same results.

However, in my opinion the K12 does the least to sell itself. As people pointed out, the Steyr and Morini pistols have the track record, medals and superior electric trigger. The Feinwerkbau and Walther sell themselves on innovation and adjustability. The K12 does neither. While Pardini dominates international 25m competition it has no preexisting foothold in 10m. It has some of the lowest adjustability. The grip angle is fully fixed, it has the highest "base weight" out of these models etc.

So I guess it's "unpopular" not because anyone specifically decides against it. But most people end up deciding for something else because other brands have more "things" to base a decision on.

[Airist]

I can’t speak for its overall unpopularity but the reason I did not get one was because I found it to be too loud compared to the other options I had access to. I know an air pistol being too loud might sound a little ludicrous but I was specifically looking for a quieter setup.

[Arcturus]

In my opinion it could be the lack of support. In my country the official dealer of Pardini told me, that there could be some problems with spare parts and even with the delivery of the whole pistol - delay time, comunication problems, etc.. Which is realy funny because I am from the Czech Republic and Italy is really relatively close.

In my country the best support has Tau Brno, Steyr and Feinwerkbau and bacause I like electronic trigger I shoot with Steyr EVO 10E.