Regulated or unregulated?

Jump to latest Follow Reply
I appreciate all the follow up suggestions on the two types of PCP’s, ie; regulated vs unregulated.

Watching YouTube videos can be either informative, confusing and or frustrating, depending-

But, I’ve quickly learned which folks are the “learned” ones and which are just looking for subscribers.

As a lot of you have mentioned, the higher end ones have the features I would need.

For refills, where I live, I would have to do the compressor along with a fill bottle that I can fill from a compressor.

I talked to the local fire chief as he is a friend a d due to liability concerns, they do not fill any outside air tanks, period.

No dive shops here either-

I have found that this may be as expensive as my precision powder rifle for cost layout.

The Air Venturi in .25, being regulated looks pretty good too me, but then I look at the Brocock Commander Sniper Magnum and drooling sets in.

I will go read about compressors and tanks.




 
Upvote 0
I have one unregulated PCP and two regulated. The second regulated one I have had less than a week so we are still getting acquanted. I've had the unregulated Prod the longest. I did a Bstaley mod (O-rings around the valve stem) to flatten out the velocity and it is a great backyard 25-30 yard squirrel slayer. It is tuned to 16-17 fpe. When it was lower power it didn't kill them as quick as I wanted with body shots. I like 14-15 fpe at impact. Once I tuned to this level, I have not lost a squirrel.

My regulated guns are both 25s. I got an Avenger first and it is my most powerful at this point. The regulator is at about 2100 psi and it will shoot FX 25.4 grain at 930 fps for over 45 fpe. I've only shot it at two squirrels so far but it blew through them easily. I've shot it at 100 yards target shooting and it went through 1/2 inch plywood at that distance. Plenty powerful for squirrels but the issue would be hitting them. 100 yards is a long way for an air rifle.

My newest is a Artemis (aka Snow Peak) P35. It is still on it's stock tune and it's favorite pellet seems to be H&N FTT which it is pushing at 850 fps. About 32 fpe. It also shoots H&N Slug HP, 34 grain 250 diameter, well. Velocity is only about 650 but energy is about like the FTT. JSB Kings and King Heavies have more energy but it doesn't seem to like them as well. I only have about 200 shots through it, however, so I'm not totally sure exactly what it likes. It is not much more than half the length of the Avenger and a lot quieter. As received it was about 85-88 db at 15 feet. With a simple shroud mod, it can be as quiet as 70 db. My Avenger has an empty shroud and was about 110 db before I put a moderator on it and it is still about 95 db. My P35 is my most expensive gun and it cost about $500. I ordered it from Krale. The regulator of the Avenger is right on the bottom of the gun but the regulator of the P35 is inside the air chamber - a lot harder to get to. The manual of the Avenger is pretty good, the manual of the P35 is pretty bad. If you are not mechanically inclined and are new to PCPs, I wouldn't recommend the P35. You pretty much have to figure it out yourself. There is a Facebook group, however.

My main criteria are price, weight, and power capability. I prefer regulated but if Kral and Hatsan rifles were not so heavy I would have purchased one. They know how to get a nice shot curve without a regulator. I shoot from the left shoulder because I am left eye dominant (but right handed). I wanted a bullpup and I'm glad I got one. But a lot of bullpups put the sidelever way at the back of the gun which would be in my face. They hang the magazine off that side too - also in my face. The P35 had the lever in the middle and the magazine sits flush. If you shoot right handed, the Benjamin sold, Turkish built, rifles look really nice and are mid priced like my P35. They are not regulated but that would not stop me from buying one. I thought they were a little heavy and the bullpup has the issues I described. The bottle gun or the regular rifle would work for me except they are a bit heavy IMHO. My P35, with scope is 6 lbs 6 ounces. My Avenger is about the same. Prod is lighter, it's only 5 lbs including scope.
 
Upvote 0
Ah, the age old debate of regulated vs unregulated, since i'm waiting for my 3D print I'll play. Let me see if I can put it a bit simpler:

- Unregulated is best at lower power, find a ammo it likes at the speed you want and don't touch it again. 

- Regulated is best at much higher power, much easier to tune and play around with.



There are high powered unregulated guns that are very good at hunting, but I don't do big game hunting so they don't appeal to me at all. 
 
Upvote 0
I will probably go with a regulated rifle, as for the brand, model, caliber, etc, I’m still undecided.

However, that being said, I had the chance last Wednesday to shoot a Brocock Sniper HP XR and the Daystate Red Wolf, both in .22.

The Redwolf is beyond my pay grade, but is a nice rifle and with the electronic trigger and the Hawke Sidewinder, it prints same hole every time at 25 yards.

The Brocock is more my speed, but not sure I need the longer magnum version, but it too had the Sidewinder optic on it.

It shot very well also, same hole every time at 25 yards.

But, as I keep looking about, I see the Uragan, Evanix, Karl, etc.

So……..the research keeps on going…and going…and going.




 
Upvote 0
I've had regulated and unregulated prefer regulated I would start out with some thing like a marauder can still get alot of modifications for them not as many as before but you could start with it and add a regulator later . The cheaper ones are good starters but once you get into something like a raw or fx impact or Maverick the accuracy and quality is a step above that's for sure makes shooting farther easier 
 
Upvote 0
Ah, the age old debate of regulated vs unregulated, since i'm waiting for my 3D print I'll play. Let me see if I can put it a bit simpler:

- Unregulated is best at lower power, find a ammo it likes at the speed you want and don't touch it again. 

- Regulated is best at much higher power, much easier to tune and play around with.



There are high powered unregulated guns that are very good at hunting, but I don't do big game hunting so they don't appeal to me at all.
Click to expand...

I think you got it upside down brother :) :) 
 
Upvote 0
Welcome to the sport! I've owned.......geez I forget lol. A lot of guns from a lot of different brands. I remember being new to the sport and feeling overwhelmed with all the info out there, a lot of it conflicting. I'm grateful for the experience I've been able to aquire having been able to own and shoot such a variety of guns. That being said, I'll never buy an unregulated gun again. If you are shooting 75 to 100 yards you are going to want all of the "consistency" you can get. Accuracy is something different, but you are simply asking regulated or unregulated. Go regulated. If you have a hard budget of $1500, look at the FX Dreamline. You are not going to want to skimp on the gun and be disappointed. The Dreamline is as capable and has as many features as quite of few guns costing much more. You also may be able to pick one up on the Classified section here at a discount. 

https://www.airgundepot.com/fx-dreamline-air-rifle.html#AGD-48009611

You can start off with a Yung Heng air compressor, I've been running one now for a few years with zero issues. Nothing like this for even close to this price was available when I started in the hobby, it's an amazing value provided you pay attention when you are running it and follow the directions to a "T".

Also look around, you may have shops near you that can fill your tank for a few bucks per fill and would eliminate your immediate need for a compressor. 

You can pick up a used air tank for now, they are rated for 15 year life span, here is a link to one with 5 years left on it that can be had pretty cheaply. It will get you by for a while until you decide you want to stay in the hobby. If you don't end up needing a compressor, you can splurge and get a brand new tank.

Theses items will put you very slightly above your $1500 range but will give you a complete and very capable setup that will put a smile on your face. Don't take my word for it though, keep researching and watch a lot of youtube videos. There is so much great content out there from some really great people in the community.

Welcome again! Cliff

P.S. Don't worry about whether regulated or unregulated guns have more or less power. Due to the nature of airgun pellets you can (typically) only shoot them at a certain speed (~900 to 1000 fps) before they destabalize and become inaccurate. Almost all modern regulated guns will push a pellet faster than the point at which they will be accurate. Also, longer barrels will tend to be more powerful than shorter barrels due to the pellet having compression behind it longer and thus being able to gain more speed.


 
Upvote 0
I also recommend a Yong Heng compressor. Budget for good high pressure compressor oil (I use Nuvair 751). I bought a quart and was surprised how much it cost to get it shipped. Next time I will buy a gallon. A quart will fill the compressor and even do an oil change, possibly two. I only change it about once a year. To fill my 45 minute SCBA tanks without a break, I added an 11 tube radiator sold for computers. I have it mounted on the lid of my drywall mud bucket with two 110V fans mounted to it. I can now fill the tank from a little over 3000 psi to about 4300 psi without exceeding 60 degrees C. Most of us also add an extra dryer to the output of the Yong Heng which can add another $100 to the cost. I am liking the smaller black filter with color change dessicant, however. I have the big one but haven't installed it yet because the little one is working so well. I'm mentioning all this because the extras will push up the cost of getting a Yong Heng. I've probably spent at least $500 on my setup. But I don't see a cheaper/better way to have a compressor to fill tanks.

I did save some money by buying a just expired SCBA tank instead of one that was still certified. I will not be taking it places to fill it and I don't see why a visual inspection of the condition of the carbon fiber supporting the aluminum liner isn't sufficient to tell me if the tank is safe to fill. I might regret this but I like my "old" tank. My cheap amazon fill set for it leaked terribly, however, so I ended up spending well over $100 for a much better one. I would budget about $250 for this if you go with an expired tank. More if you want one "with life left".

That leaves you about half your money for the gun and scope. I think that leaves you enough to get a gun you can enjoy (but not a FX). If you do not care about length and noise, an Avenger would be a good choice. I have a West Hunter scope on mine but I can't really recommend it. The POI jumps on it an inch or so at 30 meters occasionally. It has nice features, especially for the price but it's frustrating when the scope moves. The Hawke 2-7 on my Prod does not do that. I haven't shot with my Primary Arms 4-14 as much but it does not seem to either. Athlon scopes are highly rated and they have not terribly expensive models. The scopes in Hawke's "Vantage" line are all reasonable. I would definitely look at the Turkish made guns Crosman offers. They are not regulated but they are nice looking guns and have good shot curves on the reviews. They are also rumored to be accurate. Crosman gives them a 5 year warranty and is good about service/parts although it is not yet clear if the parts inventory will be there for these Turkish guns. If you like the idea of a bullpup, there is the Akela but I really like my P35. It has my Primary Arms 4-14 on it. It's about 28 inches long, 6 lbs 6 ounces with scope, and just put 3 FTT pellets into a 3/16 group at 30 meters for me this morning. I'm still working on consistency but it seems capable of some very good shooting. I thought seriously about a Kral (Crosman's turkish built bottle gun) before finding a bullpup I can shoot. Somebody took one to one of the benchrest competitions and did pretty well with it. The bottle gives you more shots per fill (but I get 70 shots out of the 265 cc tube on my P35 so it isn't bad).

The low velocity and poor BC that comes with airguns (even slugs are poor compared to powder burner bullets) means there is a lot of drop to deal with. I have Hawke scope shims on my 3 PCPs. I can sight them in without the shims but if I want to shoot at 100 yards or more I think I need the shims. They aren't expensive other than they get a lot for little pieces of plastic. 2 of my 3 PCP scopes have 30mm tubes for more adjustment range. I'd also buy a manual pump for backup. The cheap one I got off Amazon for about $60 works fine. I pumped my Prod and Avenger for months before getting my Yong Heng. It is easy to pump up the Prod but it's a lot more work to pump up an Avenger. A compressor/tank setup is definitely a lot nicer.
 
Upvote 0
Regulated for me is a no go, I wish brands like Edgun, AGT, Kalibr, Taipan would offer an Unregulated version too and I would buy immediately,

as is, I think those guns are wonderful but the regulator will keep me away from buying them.

Click to expand...

Then you no longer have to wait for these makers to do so because virtually all regulated rifles can be easily converted to nonregulated ones. Here’s the way to go about it: remove the regulator, or if you want to keep it, set it so that it isn’t regulating air, both of which are simple tasks. 😉 
 
Upvote 0
After looking at everything, regulated vs unregulated, what types of air rifles, brand, caliber, air capacity, compressors, etc, etc, I’ve come to a conclusion…..

I’m not confused anymore, I know which rifle in which caliber I want and which compressor to fuel the rifle.

The cost won’t cause me any grief, the weather will.

I know that sounds odd, but where I live, we are going into a dark winter and I would not have a place to go shoot, at all.

Based on that niggly little issue, I am going to wait until March to buy the gear.

I am going to stay on here, read, reply, and discuss things, but winter time air rifle usage will be minimal, no matter what I do. The snow gets too deep, there is limited access off the main roads and there is no place to shoot indoors.
 
Upvote 0
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back
Home
Forums
Resources
Menu