MountainSportAirguns
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The first time I met Tom Costan was through a friend of mine, we went to his shop way up in the mountains and for me it was like Disneyland for Airgunners. At the time he was building a large caliber big bore as a hobby and I don't think he really understood how amazing this gun was. After spending a few hours with him I told him he should consider selling them because they were much different than anything available. A few weeks later I got a phone call from Tom letting me know he decided to take the step to actually produce his Slayer line of rifles. Tom and I became really good friends, went on camping trips, hunting trips and I even helped him from time to time at his shop building guns. As someone who spends a ton of time in the outdoors hunting, he loaned me a few guns to use in order to give feedback for improvements, and to vigorously test them. Here is a photo of the first prototype Slayer that Tom produced in .357 caliber, a pretty "BLING" looking gun without paint or anodizing. This was the first leap, this gun was serialized on the GTA forum and was met with great enthusiasm from the community as you can imagine.
After some revisions and changes he finally produced a few variants of this design, one of the shorter versions (below) was what I spent a good amount of time with.
This large caliber Bullpup produced a ton of power and was a repeater, built like a tank so could handle repeated abuse in the field. Tom wanted his products to survive falls and things that can and do happen in very rugged environments. Below is the longer version that Tom had taken a nasty tumble with, later that day I took a Jackrabbit with it at just over 300 yards on the run.
The demand for these big bores took off pretty quicky and he got a ton of orders, unfortunately being a one-man show made fast production near impossible. Tom would spend weeks and months at a time in his workshop machining parts with no sleep, assembling, tuning and shipping. This was a rough time for him and I think to be expected trying to do all that work by himself, stressful on his family as well with him spending so much time alone working in his shop. I would have liked to help him more but being hours away made it difficult for me to commute. After a few years of struggling and almost giving up, Tom decided to start looking at producing some smaller calibers that were a bit less labor intensive and much more in demand. He started with everything he had learned from the Slayer design, but scaled things down a bit to create a smaller .30 caliber PCP. What we know as the EVOL is actually LOVE spelled backwards, or Evolution depending on who you ask. haha
The first prototype EVOL was actually a hybrid Evanix Rainstorm that Tom has modified to test his valve design. After some time spent testing that as a prototype, he started plans for what we know as the EVOL line of rifles. Below is the first rendering along with my 1st prototype that Tom ultimately gifted me.
This is a one-of-a-kind rifle, custom walnut stock created by Michael from Airgunstocks, produces about 90 fpe with 50gr JSB's along with a TJ enterprises barrel and some custom regulator work done by Doug Noble. This is hands down my most prized gun in my collection and holds sentimental value making it priceless. As time went on Tom continued producing large calibers at a much slower pace, putting more effort into the smaller calibers. Soon Tom realized the benefits to a more tactical style small bore that was similar to the Armalite design. Here are a few of the first prototype EVOL TAC's that Tom came up with, lightweight, durable and precise.
As some time went on Tom decided he wanted to produce a Mini version of the EVOL TAC, a small caliber .22 version that could be carried easily for small game hunting. This is the point where I think the industry started taking notice because I could see that other brands were starting to come out with very similar designs.
The thing Tom has going for him is he is able to design, test and manufacture these products all in house so any changes that need to be made can happen quickly. Many other brands might have separate designers, engineers and testers, so it takes loads of time to make even a slight change to a product. Here is one of his prototype Big Bores in .452 caliber that we had some fun with. I believe these are still being produced in very small quantities as near a full custom.
The American Air Arms brand has definitely made a name for itself not only out in the field but on a professional competition level. For me it has been exciting to see the progression of Toms products from the beginning and always enjoy reading others experiences using them. I own several models of Toms guns and find myself reaching for them every chance I get between my reviews of the many different brands I use. These guns are all built with attention to detail, essentially semi-custom as Tom has his hands on building every aspect of them before they get shipped off. I look forward to what Tom comes up with next and appreciate everything he does to support me and Airgunning as a whole.
Cheers,
Dana
After some revisions and changes he finally produced a few variants of this design, one of the shorter versions (below) was what I spent a good amount of time with.
This large caliber Bullpup produced a ton of power and was a repeater, built like a tank so could handle repeated abuse in the field. Tom wanted his products to survive falls and things that can and do happen in very rugged environments. Below is the longer version that Tom had taken a nasty tumble with, later that day I took a Jackrabbit with it at just over 300 yards on the run.
The demand for these big bores took off pretty quicky and he got a ton of orders, unfortunately being a one-man show made fast production near impossible. Tom would spend weeks and months at a time in his workshop machining parts with no sleep, assembling, tuning and shipping. This was a rough time for him and I think to be expected trying to do all that work by himself, stressful on his family as well with him spending so much time alone working in his shop. I would have liked to help him more but being hours away made it difficult for me to commute. After a few years of struggling and almost giving up, Tom decided to start looking at producing some smaller calibers that were a bit less labor intensive and much more in demand. He started with everything he had learned from the Slayer design, but scaled things down a bit to create a smaller .30 caliber PCP. What we know as the EVOL is actually LOVE spelled backwards, or Evolution depending on who you ask. haha
The first prototype EVOL was actually a hybrid Evanix Rainstorm that Tom has modified to test his valve design. After some time spent testing that as a prototype, he started plans for what we know as the EVOL line of rifles. Below is the first rendering along with my 1st prototype that Tom ultimately gifted me.
This is a one-of-a-kind rifle, custom walnut stock created by Michael from Airgunstocks, produces about 90 fpe with 50gr JSB's along with a TJ enterprises barrel and some custom regulator work done by Doug Noble. This is hands down my most prized gun in my collection and holds sentimental value making it priceless. As time went on Tom continued producing large calibers at a much slower pace, putting more effort into the smaller calibers. Soon Tom realized the benefits to a more tactical style small bore that was similar to the Armalite design. Here are a few of the first prototype EVOL TAC's that Tom came up with, lightweight, durable and precise.
As some time went on Tom decided he wanted to produce a Mini version of the EVOL TAC, a small caliber .22 version that could be carried easily for small game hunting. This is the point where I think the industry started taking notice because I could see that other brands were starting to come out with very similar designs.
The thing Tom has going for him is he is able to design, test and manufacture these products all in house so any changes that need to be made can happen quickly. Many other brands might have separate designers, engineers and testers, so it takes loads of time to make even a slight change to a product. Here is one of his prototype Big Bores in .452 caliber that we had some fun with. I believe these are still being produced in very small quantities as near a full custom.
The American Air Arms brand has definitely made a name for itself not only out in the field but on a professional competition level. For me it has been exciting to see the progression of Toms products from the beginning and always enjoy reading others experiences using them. I own several models of Toms guns and find myself reaching for them every chance I get between my reviews of the many different brands I use. These guns are all built with attention to detail, essentially semi-custom as Tom has his hands on building every aspect of them before they get shipped off. I look forward to what Tom comes up with next and appreciate everything he does to support me and Airgunning as a whole.
Cheers,
Dana
with all that you do, from reviews on airguns to hunting video trips that get people charged up to get their own airgun and get outdoors.
loving the dedication!!
keep on keepin' on!!
I've been deceived 
