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Afraid of the power

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buzzman

Member
Mar 25, 2022
32
18
california, United States
I have powerful big bore air guns that I purchased and never used. Never even filled them up with air. I bought a carbon fiber tank, that I never even opened from the box as well as a Chinese compressor from Ebay. I also bought a nice aluminum dessicant that attaches to the compressor to prevent liquid from building up in the tank. I also bought high powerful scopes for all my guns. I was all set to go.

Then before I got the chance to start setting things up, I saw a video on Youtube where somebody really hurt themselves with one of these guns when working on them. A part went through their leg from one side and came out the other like a real bullet. WTF. They got lucky it was only their leg and not through a essential organ.

I then read horror stories of these high power compressors blowing up with shrapnel flying around, and the dessicant blowing up and causing similar dangers. Since then I have not touched my guns. They are in their cases and never been used. I'm going to post them for sale here when I am granted access (I'm a new user).

Has anybody had any scary moments with their pcp air guns? I'm terrified that a malfunction can happen since these are really powerful rifles/machines. For me it's not worth the potential risk when I have a young son who will eventually want to get into air guns as well.
 
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Anything happens day to day. Do you drive a car? Have you seen gruesome car wrecks? Did you still drive after seeing this? Like anything else in life, operate on the side of caution. When doing work,do it on an empty rifle, degas appropriately. Treat them like real guns because they are, just a difference in projectile pushing force.
 
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Here we go again with the fear factor. Yes, these unfortunate accidents are documented but are they a NORMAL or even LIKELY event to occur? The answer is NO, by a huge percentage of the odds! Is there a risk involved? Of course there is but the same type of risk as being struck by lightning, dying in a plane crash, slipping on a banana peel & dying from a broken neck. We all play the odds EVERY DAY of our lives. If these odds SCARE you away from airguns then by all means, sell your stuff & get a Nerf gun but don't forget about the guy who choked on the nerf bullet accidentally shot into his open mouth!
Note: As a matter of reference I've worked with very high pressure air tanks & compressors for over 30 years. NEVER had anything happen to me, NEVER known anyone in this field it happened to & NEVER heard about anyone they knew that had it happen.
 
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that is an old video that show what happen when you work on a gun charged up with HPA and the gun was never made and converted right
i believe that is the video where two guy are working on a 2240 that is set up with HPA and the valve was never pined correctly and when they took the back end of the pistol apart the pressure shot the valve through the guys thigh
PCP guns made for that purpose are safe as they can be when left together under pressure
 
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If you look at the stats, i am pretty sure you will find many many more powder burner " things " that blow up or at least cause bodily harm to the shooter.
I have never heard anything, but my friend say he seen a car where a dive bottle inside it cracked dramatic, i would assume all the glass was gone and the roof at least had a severe outwards bulge.
 
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marflow 777 said:
that is an old video that show what happen when you work on a gun charged up with HPA and the gun was never made and converted right
i believe that is the video where two guy are working on a 2240 that is set up with HPA and the valve was never pined correctly and when they took the back end of the pistol apart the pressure shot the valve through the guys thigh
PCP guns made for that purpose are safe as they can be when left together under pressure
Click to expand...


this!! user error
 
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Treat these guns with reverence—the same way you treat PBs, automobiles, heavy machinery, etc—and they will treat you well. Non-user-error/catastrophic failure-related injuries are so rare they’re essentially nonexistent. That video you referred to was the result of user error.

The only PCP i was ever afraid of was my Umarex Hammer. It has what i consider a major design flaw, namely that it fires its projectiles directly from the breech, which is right in front if the cheek pad, resulting in a monstrous blast of air to the face. I’d read about it before ever shooting it, and was prepared for it, and it still caught me off guard. It was worse than i imagined, and i believe, at the right angle, and without proper eye protection, that blast of air could do serious harm to a shooter’s eye. Anyway i sold my Hammer and got three other .50s. Which is the REAL danger of PCPs, Buzzman. That they multiply.
 
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I've used firearms a little for about 50 years but got into PCPs in 2020. So I'm relatively new at it. I am a retired mechanical engineer. The pressures involved In definitely deserve respect. Most electricity is generated using steam at 2400 psi or less. There are only a couple plants worldwide that have used 5000 psi and they have been downgraded. But steam is also a lot more dangerous than air. But still the pressures are not anything to treat casually.

The worst incident I have had was from disconnecting the air hose from my SCBA tank after a gun fill without bleeding the air. Didn't hurt anything but scared me. This is actually hard to do. The foster fitting does not want to come open. The fitting just whipped around a bit when it came off. Could have hit something and done damage but it didn't.

I have had leaks, those are not anything at all violent. Typically an O-ring just needs changed. That airgun part in the leg was an example of somebody trying to make their own gun and messing up. No reason to be doing that (make your own gun, everybody messes up at least a little).

All guns, airguns included, deserve respect. Big bores are more powerful but are relatively low on fpe compared to common powder burners. My 30 06 has about 3000 fpe at the muzzle, for instance. No airgun is close. There are also much more powerful powder burners. Airguns are less powerful than powder burners but they are still not toys and all the same rules apply. In addition, you need to be careful with high pressure air. But there are safety rules with just about everything. Follow them and you don't get injured. Ignore them and maybe you get lucky, maybe not.

I think you need somebody to shoot with, at least at first. If they really bother you too much, however, you probably should get rid of them. Being afraid could make you somewhat distracted and that could contribute to an error.
 
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Respect the power, don’t fear it. Those characters that had the gun blow up did not degas the gun prior to disassembly- violated rule number 1. Compressors are to be operated behind a wall as a general principle for safety in the event of failure. But by and large, you will find user negligence behind 90% of these accidents. Learn the protocols and enjoy the hobby. 👍
 
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Thankyou for all that responded. Maybe I will give this another chance. My experience was very limited so probably I got too caught up on the risk part rather than the logical part.

Anybody live near San Diego that would want go help me get these setup and go shooting?

My Gear:

1. Benjamin Bulldog .35​

2. AEA Zeus .72 Caliber Airgun (Gen. 2)​

3. AEA Challenger Bullpup Airgun – Big Bore - .50 cal​

4. AirForce Texan LSS, Carbon-Fiber Tank - .50 cal​

​

 
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