Can you increase foot pounds of energy by 60-70% on your big bore air rifle for $100? Helium may be the answer! I call this the AirForce Texan HE Experiment!
I have been reading about the potential performance increases that helium can have over regular compressed air. I have seen reports of 30% and higher FPS increases which would give significant amount of additional foot pounds of energy at the point of impact on big game. I have also read arguments that the cost of helium isn't worth the performance increase (it cost $100 to fill my 75 Cubic Foot 4500 PSI tank vs. $10 for Compressed Air). So after this test you will see that increased my FPS from 880 to over 1100 FPS! That game me an additional 200 foot pounds of energy! WOW! I had also read that helium can escape past seals and potentially won't hold pressure. I tested this in my AirForce Texan .357 and after 24 hours, the helium pressure only dropped a small amount from 3000 PSI to 2950 PSI on my bottle gauge. Not bad at all.... So here is my take on this topic.
There are people out there dropping $500+ on 4500 PSI carbon fiber on-board bottles with extreme valve and heavy spring set ups to get additional power from their guns. Personally - I like to shoot a ton with my gun and like the option that I can shoot it in stock form and get 6-10 shots per fill on regular compressed air regulated at 2900 PSI. My plan is that I will keep the fill bottle of helium separate for when I want that extra power when hunting deer and just shoot stock equipment and HPA for punching paper (and golf balls). BAM! In a later test I got up to 1143 FPS! Increased FPE by 70% for $100!
I have been reading about the potential performance increases that helium can have over regular compressed air. I have seen reports of 30% and higher FPS increases which would give significant amount of additional foot pounds of energy at the point of impact on big game. I have also read arguments that the cost of helium isn't worth the performance increase (it cost $100 to fill my 75 Cubic Foot 4500 PSI tank vs. $10 for Compressed Air). So after this test you will see that increased my FPS from 880 to over 1100 FPS! That game me an additional 200 foot pounds of energy! WOW! I had also read that helium can escape past seals and potentially won't hold pressure. I tested this in my AirForce Texan .357 and after 24 hours, the helium pressure only dropped a small amount from 3000 PSI to 2950 PSI on my bottle gauge. Not bad at all.... So here is my take on this topic.
There are people out there dropping $500+ on 4500 PSI carbon fiber on-board bottles with extreme valve and heavy spring set ups to get additional power from their guns. Personally - I like to shoot a ton with my gun and like the option that I can shoot it in stock form and get 6-10 shots per fill on regular compressed air regulated at 2900 PSI. My plan is that I will keep the fill bottle of helium separate for when I want that extra power when hunting deer and just shoot stock equipment and HPA for punching paper (and golf balls). BAM! In a later test I got up to 1143 FPS! Increased FPE by 70% for $100!
