YouTubers Are Dropping Support For Byrna And Here’s Why! 

Thank you for sharing this! I am not as knowledgable as many of you with the less lethal information, but when I see I now received virtually the exact same response you did from the company (word for word), this is a problem for the company and frustrating.

I was pretty close to buying the Byrna LE on a couple of occasions, now Im not even considering it. Theres just too many launchers out there at this point and Byrna is no longer the only game in town. Sorry your having such a hard time with your launcher! Thanks for passing your experience along to us.

I've had my LE for almost a year and it's still great. I've done plenty of videos with it and even made it a compact by swapping barrels with the SD. I really believe that the 1st few shipments that left the manufacturer were good. All the batches after that were built like dog crap. They were just trying to pump out LE to fulfill orders. They've probably just been putting the SD valve in them. Sucks you're dealing with that. Great video 👊 💯

Byrna must be trolling you. I had to watch a Byrna ad before this video played. But seriously, you are doing some good work on this. False advertising is the biggest issue in the Less Lethal field. I have always been skeptical of all the chemical round ads regardless of the company. Now it's an issue about "power". That size launcher will never be powerful. It's just the physics. Hope they will just come clean about this one. Too many people calling them out on it now.

So I had a problem with the delay as well on my LE with the trigger to hear that click the way I fixed it, not my taking it apart, but by completely lubricating, the whole thing submerged.

People should build up a class-action...anyone have one that failed critically in a dire situation?

Thanks Scott for the honest review of your Byrna LE. Sorry you have had issues needing repairs leading to some quality issues. Overall I still think Byrna has very good quality launchers and an impressive lineup that is hard to beat. Definitely we all need to weigh the pros snd cons before committing to purchasing any particular brand. For me it’s still Byrna. Although I am also impressed with some individual offerings from Tipmann, PepperBall and Umarex. I have several different launchers so am confident with protecting me and my family with them. Hope to rival your collection in the future. Looking forward to your additional videos.

According to a Byrna catalog, they only intended the LE to shoot up to 20 J at max power. They never intended for the gun to go above 20 J. The higher powered LE do tend to fail for that reason where it was out performing its intended max power output.

Thank you so much for sharing your finding. I was going to purchase the Byrna for my wife. After watching your video and seeing your test results I will be going a different route. What good is a self protection device that does not stack up to what it is advertised to do. Whats even more alarming was the trigger issues you have. Add to that the way the company just brush you off this is totally unacceptable. This product is just sub-standard and not ready to protect our loved ones. When your life depends on it might just leave you dead. 💩

I like my Salt Supply S2. I even like my $150 Sabre. It looks like my First Strike FSC but better because it uses 12 gr CO2 and holds 8 rounds.

Unfortunately where I live Byrna is the only pepper ball launcher, within my budget, that is available. Also, launchers are only available through local vendors and may not be shipped to my location/state. I was beginning to lean towards the LE mainly because of the sights, but there seem to be many videos showing reliability issues with the LE. I might reconsider the SD over the LE as I have seen only one RU-vid video where problems were presented. Effectiveness and reliability are my priorities. High power is great, but only if it is dependably and consistently available.

There appears to be a trend in issues with the LE as I have had similar trouble at least with consistency. Mine has also been back and repaired etc. Certain things you mention I agree with, my biggest issue is consistency. My SD is spot on consistent every time, my wifes SD is spot on consistent every time. My LE since returning from repair hits like a hammer the first few shots and drops off dramatically after. Its rare it averages 330 let alone 340fps. Its more 300-315 and occasionally 320. I love the feel and weight of the LE and when its right it hits hard, 400- 420 or more the first few shots is great. Id be happy if like the SD it was consistent at 380, 390 with a graduated fall off to get the stated 330 or 340 ave. The question is what to do.

I found your videos after experiencing what I now know to be an LE “seal failure,” while attempting to protect my dogs from a coyote attack - not a great time to learn that the “protection” on which I rely is useless. I’d really like to return my LE to its original potential, but I understand, from your videos and comments from others, that asking Byrna to repair it may not yield that result. Can a user replace/repair the seal, on their own? Other suggestions?.

thx for the link to the chrono! It looks much better than the one I was looking at.

I always like watching your videos, and I currently have the Byrna EP (which they don’t make anymore)! I thought about upgrading to the LE, but after seeing the problems you’ve had with it, I’m going to pass. Instead, I bought the salt supply s2.

For what the Byrna costs, they should just have sent you a new launcher for replacement. Your experience tells us that Byrna is not a company that stands by their product. Perhaps a boycott is in order? We cannot allow corporations to dictate to consumers, the very people that keep them in business, to treat us with sustained and disregard. Accountability is a must.

The Byrna LE you shoot 10shots it’s actually 340 fps 60 feet the Byrna hd sd ep shoot 10shots average should be 260fps effective range not 60 feet at about 30-40 feet whitch is plenty as self defense is up close. Also keep in mind the LE is labeled as max FPS 400 average 340. And for these chronographs if there not level they will miss read fps all my Byrna’s are operating as should be

I’ll make a video tomorrow of what I do to my LE

Their long launchers aren't great values either. The Mission 4 is a modified Tippmann TMC and the TCR is a modified Tippmann TCR. The only "unique" product they have is the SD/LE and the LE is proving to be a poor value proposition especially these days.

Honest review Scott and a passionate response. What Byrna fails to realize is that you are not trying sour the brand, you want it to work as advertised. Question remains is how many others are out there? Yes co2 can be unpredictable but the results i have seen on your channel among others says there is something else at play.

Some thoughts. I bought an HD in 2020, it was mediocre at best, then upgraded to the SD. The SD would fire and then abruptly stop. Sent it for repair, which was a tough one due to me sending it from South Africa. Then I bought the Boost adapter....Eventually I realised I'm dumping more and more money into a ever deepening pit of shit. I've sold all of them, and settled on a Umarex HDP, HDB and a Valken M17. I can fix or upgrade pretty much everything on those.

Man those Byrnas are problematic. 😢

It's how all businesses work today.False advertise get people to buy your product.

Thank you sir, that's why I stick with my old school HD, I heard enough of this LE stuff and believe me., i haven't even purchased it but i already have enough of it and enough is enough...🙇‍♀️

This is so disappointing. I feel like we all got ripped off. The barrel on mine didn't go far back enough and it effected the power. I put an extra o ring around the barrel and this improved the power very well, but the drop off is still unacceptable. Luckily I have a Grimburg Gavle too and that thing is a handcannon, especially with the 16g CO2. I got a 36 J average with that thing on a full 5 round mag.

See Byrna Got on the band wagon of less lethal and making things look good behind a brand for some quick money , But they didn't account fro all these less lethal youtube professions to be managing speed like we do today 👀 ! They got caught up

Well to be fair it does say average fps on the website lol, but yeah it should fire at a relatively consistant fps for at least the first year or so. I have the Hi Viz model and it fires prettry constantly at about 280 average for the first 5-7 shots and then starts going down after than. My LTL Brave which I carry as my EDC says 500 fps and 18 Joules and it fires close to that (475-485) when using the 2.1 gram ammo, but if I use the 2.7 gram ammo it's closer to 420-430 because they're obviously heavier. That being said I've only been using the brand it came with so that it would be a good bore match with the Bravo's barrel so that could be why I get such good numbers. I'm hoping the newly designed LTL Charlie coming out later this month will be even better then the one I have now. I'm sorry that Byrna didn't give you a very warm response since you were just trying to show them an issue that I'm sure a lot of LE users are experiencing. I was actually a little annoyed with Byrna when tney first announced the LE because it was 6 weeks after I'd bought my Hi Viz because it was cheaper and hit harder than the Hi Viz, but now I'm glad I got my Hi Viz as it's been consistent and stable even after 1000+ rounds. Although I am mad at them for releasing the new Hi Viz Pro slide kit because they said the glowing iron sights would only be available on the limited edition Hi Viz model that we paid over $100 extra for. They broke that promise to those of us that bought it. I bought the chrono handheld version like the one you have on ebay lastsummer because a lot of the LTL RU-vidrs use them and I like it 😋

I had a First Strike FSC and loved that gun- Totally bummed when I had to sell it.

So just from the comments: the LE models are having a significant number of issues versus the previous models?

I meant Sterling self-defense. He has a channel. I would send him your Byrna

I would also contact Sterling less defense. And send it to that guy.

My byrna LE gets about 10-11 joules consistently, measured with red button xradar chrono. Ridiculously lower than advertised. I regret buying it. I also have a gavle, FSC and TCP and would advise anyone to go straight to those as a first choice. My gavle has gotten 37-46 joule spread, and my lightly modded TCP with 8inch grimburg barrel and 12gCO2 is getting up to 50 joules.

Can't get them here in the UK. I'm actually glad now 😂

To expensive!

Granted if he mods it, it probably come back shooting 40-50 jewels

yep

Serious? 330 to 340😂

Look like the valves be the problem in them markers !

I’ve never seen a grown man get so pressed over an air gun.

Listen you got a lemon twice that’s not good. They should have sent you a new one. The fps will go down after first or second shot. You’re dealing with air. I have the real guns- it fires the same fps every time. Different firing system. Combustible will always be the same. What you’re right about is that they should not advertise stuff they can’t deliver. In law it’s called puffery. It sucks but it’s legal. Plus getting hit with a 300 fps will hurt your attacker especially if you use chemical. I got my le for an sd price so I’m not complaining about it. But 479. ???

I was a big fan of byrna but not anymore they don't like disabled people...

Used to be 'low powerd but reliable. Now they're reliably low powered. ;-/

I’m so glad guys like you and DK are really questioning Byrna and calling them on their nonsense. As you know I’ve never been a fan of their “scam marketing”. But the two things that upset me so much is. It is unreliable and not as powerful as advertised giving someone a false sense of security if one needed to depend on it. The other is the price they charge for what they give you. I know you’re not a huge fan of the bottom puncture launchers. But the new Salt Supply S2 is really a sweet launcher for the price. Thanks again for the great content and all the work you’ve been doing