The Joys Of Hand Pumping

[chasdicapua]

I left my air tank at our last match and so I'm without it for a couple of weeks. Today I took out the Hill pump and pumped the 220cc tank on my RAW up to 230 bar. I won't go into the proper technique of pumping and how it reduces the number of strokes significantly. Many threads have covered that. What I will say is,

There is something very satisfying about pumping up ones rifle with just the effort of your body. No fancy equipment, just you doing the work. I really enjoyed it. Will I keep pumping once I get my tank back?... No. But I think I will pump up the rifle every now and then because I actually like it, and enjoy the freedom from excessive equipment. 

Chas

 

[vmaxpro]

Somedays its very satisfiying, mostly when im camping and hunting. But, when your doing testing and tuning....it just plain sucks lol. I cant tell you how many times I degassed a 480cc and charged from empty. Its great cardio so thats a plus atleast! 

 

[hitech]

I have a Guppy tank and a Shoebox F10. I keep my tank filled, however, since my airguns have relatively smallish tanks 163cc and 230cc, I usually hand pump. I have a Hill MK2 and a import inexpensive pump, both work well. I don't mind pumping at all. I pump 25 strokes (after valve is open on airgun) and then let rest a few mins. Never been an issue for me. Also, I used to have a HIll pump when they first came out, I used it to fill my AA S400 for years. I shot the crap out of that gun. Never once did I ever have an issue with the pump or gun (moisture or debris).

 

[Frank d]

I agree hand pumping most guns from 100 bar to 200 bar is not that hard just take your time. But if you are working on a gun and having to dump all of the air out that is a different story. I shoot indoor indoor silowet and some pinking I tune my rifle to just under 12 fpe and I get plenty of shots. I believe to that many people think they have to have way to much power. Its a pellet gun. PS I am 73 years old.

 

[bandg]

Didn't know there were any "joys" to hand pumping but congratulations on a good attitude about it. Having a hand pump could certainly come in handy in "extreme situations".

 

[MrP]

I don’t have a choice... so maybe I fool myself into having fun. I wish I got about 2x as many shots on a fill though. Since I tend to shoot for brief periods of time, usually a single tank full is all I end up shooting, the pump isn’t onerous. It’s a TalonP so only 75-100 strokes to fill and I can refill at my leisure. it just feels like doing a brief calisthenic workout, a handful of pushups, which I also have the ability to enjoy and honestly probably something I could use a lot more of.


The thought of completely emptying and refilling one of the tanks though... that does not appeal. 


Edit: I just verified that it is 80 pumps to top off from around 1600 psi. I had 30 shots all a bit over 40 joules so that’s between 2 and three pump strokes per 30fpe shot.