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At the 2026 Extreme Benchrest event in Arizona, I had the chance to meet-up with Tom Costan and discuss his latest project: the American Air Arms GPR. This is what he told me in this exclusive discussion…
American Air Arms fans are going to be excited to hear about this new gun, for sure! It’s the latest air rifle to be conceived, designed and manufactured by Tom – and it’s planned to be available for sale before the end of 2026. The sample displayed at EBR was a pre-production model, but it’s clearly very close to final production configuration.
Note that this gun is still “in the white” and has not yet received its final surface finish coating.
To be completely clear, the American Air Arms GPR is not only designed by Tom, it’s manufactured in-house from locally-sourced materials then assembled by the master and his team. It’s a 100% US product!
American Air Arms GPR – Concept And Background.
Tom explained the thinking behind the GPR to me this way. The HAM Gold Award-winning AAA EVOL has, he said, morphed over time into the HPS (High Performance System) model.
So there was an opportunity for a simple, straightforward new model to fill the market space vacated by the original EVOL.
This strategy continues American Air Arms mission to build precision airguns in the USA, emphasizing in-house CNC machining and clean-slate designs.
Tom’s aim with the GPR is to create a robust, reliable precision air rifle that is simple and – for an individually craftsman-made, hand-built product – attractively priced at $1,995.00 retail.
As indicated by the name, the intention off the GPR is that it is suitable for small game hunting, plinking and general airgun shooting. For that reason, it’s available in .22 and .25 calibers only – at least initially.
American Air Arms GPR – Design.
In precision engineering, simple is almost always reliable. It’s also really tough to design to a low parts count. Adding parts to achieve additional functionality is much easier…
That’s why Tom spent most design time on the “front block” of the GPR. This single CNC-machined part (below) is home to not only the regulator, but also both pressure gauges, the HPA tank and fill nipple.
Tom is most proud of the fact that the parts count for the GPR is lower than that of the original EVOL. Amazingly, there are only seven O rings in the major systems components of the gun. Including minor O rings, such as the one in the fill nipple for example, and that total still only reaches 10.
As every O ring in a PCP air rifle is a potential source of leakage – and as some well-known PCP designs include more than 40 O rings – that’s a remarkable achievement that bodes well for long-term GPR reliability.
Yet Tom views his latest creation not just from a mechanical engineering perspective. He’s pleased with the aesthetics of the gun and feels happy with the ergonomics, too.
And yes, the GPR is a fine-looking air rifle, in my opinion!
American Air Arms GPR – Features And Specifications.
A major difference between the GPR and EVOL is that the new design uses a 300cc carbon fiber bottle for its High Pressure Air supply. This is a distinct difference from the HPA tube system of the previous design.
Combined with a 17-Inch barrel, the GPR has externally-adjustable regulator and hammer spring tension settings. There’s also an interchangeable transfer port system for additional tuning capability.
Plus, the unique balanced regulator that gives better consistency to output pressure – and hence FPS, Tom says. The regulator parts are displayed in this photograph below.
“Realistic” performance is around 40 shots per fill at 50 Ft/Lbs Muzzle Energy in .22 caliber, confirms Tom. In .25 cal, you can expect around 30 shots at 60 Ft/Lbs. But obviously the owner can tune for fewer, higher-power shots if required.
In addition to low parts count, Tom also incorporated parts from the original EVOL where it makes sense to do so. After all, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!”
So you’ll find the existing, two-stage EVOL trigger and magazines both also used in the GPR. The barrel mounting system is also the same as in the EVOL and HPS models, so existing barrels can be used in the new gun, if desired.
Talking of barrels, the American Air Arms GPR will be fitted with a Sub-MOA barrel. This will be a “pellet barrel” for initial production with a “slug barrel” available in due course. In either case, the muzzle is threaded to the 1/2-Inch x 20 standard.
However Tom stressed that the GPR will be “caliber agile” with a new bolt change system that’s faster than that of the previous EVOL.
The stock is Aluminum, with AR-style pistol grip and Aluminum/carbon fiber buttstock. Overall, this is clearly a modular air rifle design.
In the cause of simplicity, cocking will be right-handed only. However Tom says that he may make some dedicated left-handed versions in future is there is sufficient demand.
So that’s it! You will be able to buy the GPR from Airguns of Arizona very soon…
The post First Look At The American Air Arms GPR – General Purpose Rifle appeared first on Hard Air Magazine.
. I'm envisioning how nice that'd make barrel cleanings, simply unthread the barrel and the moderator, clean the barrel, rethread them both. POI should be the same, scope didn't have to come off, shroud didn't have to be disassembled. Beautiful.
. Hopefully not. Myself I’d love to see beautiful deep bluing., if that’s even possible on aluminum. If it lives up to his reputation, I’m sure it’s a winner in any finish.
