Only A 2 Year 'Veteran's' Suggestions for Newbies

Jump to latest Follow Reply
J

Jim81

Member
Nov 2, 2017
550
33
Wa, United States
It has to do with filling your PCP. Your PCP will become immeasurably more fun and captivating if you have your own air supply and it doesn't involve a pump. If you live within a few miles of a SCUBA shop that has compressors that go to 4500 PSI you already have it made. My experience was most don't go that high. 

I had a really nice SCUBA shop who happily filled my tanks but it was an hours drive. I mentioned tank. You will eventually probably get one so get it early into your exploration of PCPs. Even with a tank I would find myself calculating how many more fills I would get before I had to go find a place to fill my tank and that limited the freedom to really practice a lot without a 'refill' hanging over my head.

I did go buy a compressor and now I fill my own tank. I shoot more often by about 50% than before I had my own air supply. That's actually why you got the PCP was to enjoy shooting it wasn't it? There are many choices for air supply. Some folks lease very high pressure nitrogen tanks. That means you have a pretty large volume of air strapped to your garage wall and no need to drive to a shop. There are lots of debates on here about the advisability of that. I don't want to get into that.

I've been through this whole process except for the nitrogen system. I guess what I am trying to say is consider your own air supply the next most important item to have for your PCP because it will increase your love and pleasure of shooting a PCP a whole lot. At least it did for me.
 
I second that. I was pumping too, (sucks) then I had an old scuba tank hydro tested and bought a carbon tank too. I cascade with both tanks and now my boys and I shoot 10 times as much.we never have to worry about air! I know it's not an option for everyone but if you're on the fence, buy a tank or compressor. You'll be glad you did! Have a great day! Stoti
 
Upvote 0
Yup, after getting two PCP as my first Pellet Rifles, Air is an issue. My buddy has a "Great White" Tank, and I can get it filled at work to 4500 PSI in nitrogen or air. So that's a plus, finding him home to get his tank is a negative. I just purchased a Clone and started breaking it in before use, so I can fill my guns. I'll probably get a tank as well, makes it easier to go out and about.

Good advice,

Smitty
 
Upvote 0
When I started with pcp guns in 2008 I bought a hand pump , I think I got my tank and scuba shot to fill it in around 2009 , I got my first Modair compressor in 2013 uggg what a junk but I managed to use it Till , 2016 I then bought a real commercial compressor , which was in 2017 and now I shoot a whole mot more , So yes I think we all started with hand pump but as we shot more and guns became bigger bores , the pump was not enough and with scuba shops if you do not shoot much they work , but with big bores and If you shoot alot , then a compressor becomes a part you need to shoot , I remember when I had 1 22 cl in begining I would fill a 97 cu in tank and it would last 3 months now I top my tanks and guns daily , and I would also like to say my first pcp gun the fill was 200 bar , today most of my guns are 300 bar I cant imagine hand filing to 300 bar , if you did you would be in very good shape it is difficult LOU
 
Upvote 0
I started off with a Hill pump and it sucked. After purchasing a new Great White CF tank about a year ago, shooting has definitely been more enjoyable. I have 3 dive shops in my area that are within a 5-10 minute drive that can fill to 4500 PSI and charge on $3.00. I don't shoot as much at home because I'm limited to a max of 25 yards and that gets boring shooting one holers with my pcps'. I envy some of you guys here with big yards and minimal neighbors who already have a shooting bench set up on their patio and can just wake up in the morning and start shooting. 
 
Upvote 0
The thing about having pellets on hand after you get a HPA set up rings a bell for me. I just bought 3 JSB Diablo in .25 where its buy 3 and get one free for a total of 12 from Pyramid Air. Pellets are heavy and buying that many at a time beat the shipping charge. If a couple people lived pretty close they could double up on an order and beat the shipping.
 
Upvote 0
Hand pumps provide a workout, probably good for me, but do not provide dry air for you airgun. The higher the pressure the more moisture is squeezed from the air, hand pumps with a moisture remove from the incoming air do not remove water from the high pressure side the pump generates. I don't want water causing problems inside my airguns. Most compressors remove moisture from the high pressure side, a good thing! I currently have a tank which is filled by a friend's compressor which uses two means of removing moisture from the high pressure air. 
 
Upvote 0
Hand pumps provide a workout, probably good for me, but do not provide dry air for you airgun. The higher the pressure the more moisture is squeezed from the air, hand pumps with a moisture remove from the incoming air do not remove water from the high pressure side the pump generates. I don't want water causing problems inside my airguns. Most compressors remove moisture from the high pressure side, a good thing! I currently have a tank which is filled by a friend's compressor which uses two means of removing moisture from the high pressure air.
Click to expand...

Hello- this is so true. I have gone through two Hill pumps. I was able to rebuild them, each, once- maybe twice on the second one. The problem was always moisture that collected in the micron filter, and that also corroded the piston seal. I found that if one used the pump weekly, it was less likely to corode shut. Any lay off, for an extended period, and the pump would stop working. The dry pac was essentially worthless, as well. Both became $250 hammers, after this. SCUBA, or SCBA is definitely the way to go- to save money and to save your high dollar rifles and pistols from corrosion.

Kind regards,

641
 
Upvote 0
Good words of wisdom. Started with a 6K tank and was always ticked off when the new one came and it would only have 4200 psi. They always had some lame excuse why it was low. So finally I just bought my own AirTex compressor. I have 2 very nice CF tanks and plenty of air. I don't have to worry about shooting a full string over the chrono and wasting air. Having to purge the tank to do some repair on the gun was painful. Now, I just crank up the compressor and I"m good to go. 



Crusher


 
Upvote 0
I am fortunate. There is a scuba shot only 3 miles away and he tps off the tank to 300 BAR for $5. The local club also has compressor and charges club members $7 per fill.
Click to expand...

Same boat, I wanted a PCP but the air supply issue had me reeling when I saw the price of a reliable compressor. Finally made a call to a local dive shop and they were like "Sure! We do that a lot, 5$..." Bought a 66 CuFt Air Venturi LE (Life Extended) Carbon Fiber Air Tank and here we are...Maybe a compressors in my future, but for now I'm pretty happy with my current situation.

I'd simply add that there seem to be several tank refill calculators out there intended to give you a pretty good idea of how many re-fill's you'll get for a given rifle from a given tank...but perhaps not so helpful when you have several rifles using different fill pressures. 
 
Upvote 0
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back
Home
Forums
Resources
Menu