Pump vs Compressor on a Zelos?

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Krawl

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Aug 22, 2025
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Newbie still narrowing things down but leaning towards a Zelos after feedback, and trying to plan the budget.

From my searching, pretty clear a compressor is the recommended.

With that said, I tend to adhd things and would like to make sure going to stick with things before spending a whole bunch.

How doable is enjoying a Zelos with pumping?
(I hope this is the best place for this one. )
 
Cam Armstrong said:
If you plan on shooting a lot definitely get a compressor. A hand pump will make you not even want to shoot.
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Oof, is it that bad? Or THAT bad?

I'm used to the add ons being equal or more than the main, but was really hoping I could manage a summer of fun on a pump 🤣🤣

Between the nutria destroying garden and missing the fun plinking, my hope is for more than occasional.
 
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I would group hand pumping right up there with running back and forth to the dive shop to fill tanks. I have 2 of them that I bought as back up and a back up for the back up. I pumped them with a dead head when I got them to make sure that they worked then put them back in the boxes. I've only had them out of the boxes once since then... to rob the hose whips, fittings and gauges off of them.
 
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Well I will offer another point of view. I received a air venturi gs7 hand pump from a very generous member of AGN as a gift to get me started on my pcp journey. I've used it every single day for the past 7 months sometimes multiple times a day. I have gone from a chuncky 215lbs. to a much healthier 185lbs. You are reading that correctly . I've lost 30lbs in 7 months. Some of that is just eating less because I have a hobby now that consumes my time. But pumping that pump is giving me a very decent physique for my older age.

I appreciate each shot a little bit more because of the effort that I had to make to get to the hole in the target.

Just another POV.......and,

Happy Saturday

Life goes by too quickly.

So laugh, love and try new things. Forgive, forget and don't hold grudges.

Choose to be HAPPY 😊

Mike
 
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Krawl said:
Newbie still narrowing things down but leaning towards a Zelos after feedback, and trying to plan the budget.

From my searching, pretty clear a compressor is the recommended.

With that said, I tend to adhd things and would like to make sure going to stick with things before spending a whole bunch.

How doable is enjoying a Zelos with pumping?
(I hope this is the best place for this one. )
Click to expand...
You should absolutely purchase a compressor. An air cooled compressor with auto stop would be a decent 1st compressor to get you going without spending too much. Also get a water separator filter to keep the air dry
 
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airgunutty said:
Well I will offer another point of view. I received a air venturi gs7 hand pump from a very generous member of AGN as a gift to get me started on my pcp journey. I've used it every single day for the past 7 months sometimes multiple times a day. I have gone from a chuncky 215lbs. to a much healthier 185lbs. You are reading that correctly . I've lost 30lbs in 7 months. Some of that is just eating less because I have a hobby now that consumes my time. But pumping that pump is giving me a very decent physique for my older age.

I appreciate each shot a little bit more because of the effort that I had to make to get to the hole in the target.

Just another POV.......and,

Happy Saturday

Life goes by too quickly.

So laugh, love and try new things. Forgive, forget and don't hold grudges.

Choose to be HAPPY 😊

Mike
Click to expand...
Mike , Your not any crazier than I am ! I try to pump up at least one of my tube guns every day or so, part of my exercise ( & I'm hedging on 68 yr.s old !) . I've had both shoulders & hips replaced , I top off the guns about 1/3- 1/2 in the green. Over that the GX4 does the work !
 
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Krawl said:
Newbie still narrowing things down but leaning towards a Zelos after feedback, and trying to plan the budget.

From my searching, pretty clear a compressor is the recommended.

With that said, I tend to adhd things and would like to make sure going to stick with things before spending a whole bunch.

How doable is enjoying a Zelos with pumping?
(I hope this is the best place for this one. )
Click to expand...
While hand pumping takes effort, if you are reasonably fit it’s not so bad. I started with a handpump with my first PCP, a Gamo Urban .22 and it was all good. Only after I acquired more PCPs did handpumping become a chore. Start slow, spend wisely, if you like what you experience? Proceed further down the rabbit hole. Once I tallied the costs of all my PCPs? The price of a high quality HPA compressor became moot… I would suggest you read through many of the threads on HPA compressors here. Many of the less expensive Chinese HPA compressors are disposable, or require cobbling, tinkering, troubleshooting, etc. After my first HPA compressor crapped out for the second time though I babied it and only filled my SCBAs to 4000 psi. I bit the bullet on a Daystate Super Legerro it fills both my SCBAs back to back and begs for more.
 
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All seven of these HPA went bad within a short time. Multiplying the seven x $s would yield a lifetime HPA compressor. I cannot afford to replace one every few years. And refuse to have to cobble and enhance HPA compressors. So I bit the bullet on a Daystate Super Leggero …
IMG_2071.jpeg
 
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I got my first PCP in 2020 after I retired at almost 64 in 2019. It was a Prod which only stores about 60cc of air at up to 3000 psi. I hand pumped it with a pump my kids got me for Christmas in 2019. I was happy hand pumping. I went to a neighborhood fun shoot and got teased some but it was a couple pumps per shot or something like that to pump it up so maybe a maximum of 50 strokes of the pump for a normal refill. No big deal.

Then I bought an Avenger. Almost 200 cc at 300 bar. I only pumped it to 300 bar once to prove I could. Stopping at 250 bar or even 200 bar kept it livable but I started looking for a compressor. I bought a Yong Heng I still have. I use it to fill my expired Scott Air Pak. I had to put a piston in it to restore the bottle fill time last year at the whopping expense of $20. If you use good oil in it and use good cooling to avoid going near the maximum 75 C temperature I think they can last a significant amount of time. Only real drawback is they are loud. More recently I added a GX CS2 which I use for gun fills. Takes a few minutes but it works great and is much less noisy. Good first compressor in my opinion.

I mentioned my age to suggest that if you are in good health hand pumping is not a great big deal. It might make you want to shoot less, especially if your gun stores a significant amount of air. But if you buy a hand pump and later decide you want a compressor you have not wasted anything. I have two hand pumps and two compressors because I never want to be without high pressure air. If you try hand pumping and it is not bad in your opinion you can save several hundred dollars.

I would not buy an expensive hand pump, however. My kids bought me a Benjamin and the cheapie I bought from Amazon actually works better. I saw a youtube that came to the same conclusion. Similarly, while I respect everybody's right to spend their money the way they want, I don't think it's necessary to spend thousands on a compressor. I would not suggest anybody buy a $100-200 compressor but a Yong Heng or GX compressor for $300 or so will give you a lot of high pressure air without a lot of hassle. But if you cannot add a little grease periodically or change a gasket or seal occasionally then maybe a more expensive compressor would make sense. But I would also wonder how you will maintain a PCP. They need new O-rings periodically too.
 
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L.Leon said:
All seven of these HPA went bad within a short time. Multiplying the seven x $s would yield a lifetime HPA compressor. I cannot afford to replace one every few years. And refuse to have to cobble and enhance HPA compressors. So I bit the bullet on a Daystate Super Leggero …
View attachment 593328
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Wow Luis! Had no idea you'd gone through so many compressors. Why? Are you that hard on them? Not pointing fingers, just curious.
 
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