Lets talk tanks pop

Jump to latest Follow Reply
F

Fly

Member
May 20, 2018
386
114
Oklahoma, United States
Well I have been thinking about a tank to fill my air rifles in the field or at the range. I mostly shoot at home with my .22, & 25 cal rifles.
I have a tuxin home compressor. But I also have two AEA rifles .30 & 35 cal that both use a lot of air. I m thinking bottle instead of
A remote compressor. I do not trust a remote compressor to hold up with the high pressure to fill those guns. Now I know zero about
Bottles so be easy on me. My questions to you guys what all do I need for filling from a bottle other than just a regulator? I know biggest bottle
I can afford but what would be the smallest I could get by with. Again i,m on a budget as always. You guys have been here as me so you
Know what I need for supporting these two rifles at the range.

Thanks Fly🤔
 
IMHO a LARGE SCBA tank (or tanks) is the best way to go especially if you have a compressor. The ease of refilling a gun's bottle or air tube is essential for me being that I mainly hunt. I have 4 SCBA's (15, 30, 45 & 60 minutes). I can't imagine hunting & having to run back to my vehicle & run a noisy compressor (noisier than using tanks). Your mileage may vary if you're just shooting paper.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DarkWolf and Ezana4CE
Upvote 0
@Fly I fill guns from a bottle most days. I do not use a regulator. If I’m understanding your use of the word “regulator” correctly it sounds like something that is integrated into a tethering system used to keep a SCBA tank connected to an airgun when a shooter is testing a gun that is an air hog or an unregulated gun. Good to use when shooting across a chronograph at a specified output pressure for various reasons. If you were speaking in terms of something like a Regman (as seen in this link https://airtanksplus.com/product/regman2-external-pcp-airgun-regulator/) then I would say it isn’t absolutely necessary, but can be very beneficial. If you’re talking about something else please let me know. I’ve been filling guns directly from a SCBA tank without a regulator. In my experience doing so has only cause issues with PCPs with short and narrow tubes if I open the valve too wide too fast after topping off a tank or if I had a regulator in an airgun with a creep issue.

To fill from a SCBA tank, foremost a fill source is necessary (a compressor built to and capable of filing larger SCBA tanks or access to a dive shop). A quality valve and gauge assembly are desirable are and you probably want a system with an additional gauge to let you know how much HPA remains in the SCBA tank. Also you will need a fill whip with the necessary fill adapters (foster fittings work for me) that can fit on to your fill nipples and fill probes one one end and into your SCBA tank on the other end. Purchasing a SCBA tank setup for PCPs usually saves you the trouble of shopping for these components piecemeal. If you can speak to a customer service rep from the company you order from, be sure t let them know which type of fill ports you have on your guns so you can order the necessary fill accessories. I hope this helps. I may have left something out, but I think this covers the basics.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Healthservices
Upvote 0
@Fly That I don’t know. But if you know the volume of the reservoir on your .357 AEA I’m sure an equation can be formulated to provide you with an answer to give you a better idea. Let me review my log and see how many fills I was getting on my Bulldog from a 74 cuft SCBA tank. Not sure how much it will help to answer your question, but it may give you a roundabout idea. Off the top of my head I want to say I can get 15 full fills from tank to rifle, but it’s been a while since I shot that gun exclusively on a SCUBA tank from full to around 2200 psi. After filling around 15 times I would then fill it to 2800-2300 psi before taking it to the shop to get topped off. Give me a moment to consult my log and I’ll get back to you with a solid number.

Edit: looks like I’m seeing 13-14 fills to starting from a minimum range of 1400-2200psi and back to 3000psi, then I began filling the rifle to around a max of 2800 psi (due to a loss in SCBA tank pressure) which naturally get lower with subsequent fills. I recorded approx 11 more fills, the final fill was a max output pressure of 2200 psi for a total of 25 combined top-off and partial fills. At that point I took it to the dive shop get refilled. 25 is the most that I see in my records and that is using a 74 cuft (45 min) carbon fiber SCBA tank filled to around 4500 psi.

There are other factors to consider. This Bulldog is unregulated and I figured out the minimum pressure I could comfortably shoot down to, from what distance, and which holdover marks to use. I don’t want to complicate things any further, but this info is just to give you a ballpark figure. I don’t know the volume of my Bulldog’s stock reservoir off the top of my head.
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0
Well after investigating maybe the scuba tanks are a bad idea. Reason is most are not rated for 400 bar (4500 psi). I would think the steel scuba tank
would stand up to that pressure if a avenger or some of the other pcp like my AEA air tube will. The scuba steel tank seems to be made from heavier
gauge steel. Maybe i,m wrong can some one correct me if indeed i,m wrong?

Fly🤔
 
Upvote 0
@Fly The previous information I provided was based upon a 74 cubic foot carbon fiber SCBA tank (aka a 45 minute tank). A steel SCUBA tank would be wayyyyy too heavy. To attempt to transport for shooting purposes. My carbon fiber SCBA tank is rated for 4500 psi. When I paid for fills I wanted it filled to 4500 psi and I had no issues. The dive shop usually filled my little tank from a series of pretty tall tanks that I assumed were made of steel. I believe that steel SCUBA tanks are made to withstand internal and external pressure. Their weight is less of a factor in water. Carbon fiber SCBA tanks are lighter and smaller and are used by a lot of fire departments for breathing air apparatuses to be worn on the firefighter’s back so the can breath clean air while fighting fires due to smoke and fire rapidly consuming available oxygen. For this purpose carbon fiber SCBA tanks cannot be so heavy as to impede a fireman from performing his/her duties. Carbon fiber SCBA tanks are the way to go to supply HPA in air gunning.

I take mine hunting and out target shooting, but I don’t carry it around as I have never shot so much on a hunt that I empty the reservoir to an unusable level. If you’re pesting birds, ground squirrels, or prairie dogs you may have to consider how many times you’ll need to fill a rifle on an outing. For target shooting it sits in a cart or bag until I need to top off a rifle.
 
Upvote 0
Ezana when I was a young man I did some suba diving & most tanks back then were steel. Yes they were heavy but not crazy
heavy. No I would not carry one hiking threw the woods or across pastures. But would not be a problem in my Polaris 4 wheel
drive. my concern is will they handle a 400 bar psi. I have a dive shop down the way from me in our state park. I may go down
And talk to him

Fly
 
Upvote 0
An aluminum scuba tank can still be useful for folks just using a Benjamin Discovery, Maximus, or Challenger 2009 that only fill to 2000psi, although I agree that the weight of the tank makes it difficult to take to shoots or the field. Their low cost and ability to fill at any dive shop can lower the cost barrier for new PCP shooters. But for just about every other airgun I can think of a 4500psi carbon tank is worth the investment.
 
Upvote 0
Fly said:
Well after investigating maybe the scuba tanks are a bad idea. Reason is most are not rated for 400 bar (4500 psi). I would think the steel scuba tank
would stand up to that pressure if a avenger or some of the other pcp like my AEA air tube will. The scuba steel tank seems to be made from heavier
gauge steel. Maybe i,m wrong can some one correct me if indeed i,m wrong?

Fly🤔
Click to expand...
Many of us that use steel scuba tanks fill to 4,000 or so with no problems. It is generally called a "cave fill" and has been done for decades with LP (Low Pressure) steels. I know of folks who fill their HP steels to 4,000 or a bit higher. I do not know if they still do, but Luxfer used to guarantee their LP steels for 10,000 fills to 4k.

Having said all that, the CF tanks are very nice. I am currently using a 60 minute SCBA tank.

DW
 
Upvote 0
I would love to buy a cf tank but my better half has a fit every time I buy anything over $200. Now yes I have 6 PCP
air rifles & two compressors. Also a few break barrels.
I can not off the top of my head tell you how many scopes. Hey she does have a point. So I try and cut corners where ever I can. I think the
Ones here that are married know what i,m talking about.

Fly😘
 
Upvote 0
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back
Home
Forums
Resources
Menu