Best air source now that I am ready to enter the pcp air rifle game.

Thought my journey down the path that is before you now might help a bit.

I started out with a hand pump and filled some some 13ci tanks to 3000psi and a couple of guns to 2000psi. It was a lot of werq to fill several guns and several tanks as well.

Then I bought a 90ci 4500psi tank and found that I could only get it filled to 3600psi at the local paintball shop. When I got my Impact and SK-19 I started using quite a bit more air and my fills at the paintball shop started costing me $30-$40 a month.

Bought the Yong Heng compressor shortly after the spendy guns were purchased and air costs went up. But found, even though I could now fill my little Ninja tank to 4200psi I still ran out of air while at the range, now and then.

So I purchased a big Great White tank so I would not be running out of air any longer and I haven't yet so I am good for now.

Now at the range I can fill my guns a time or two with the little Ninja tank and then tether to it when the pressure comes down a bit so I get several hundred shots. Then when the small tank gets low I can fill it or my guns from the USA made Great White and if it ever gets low enough I could tether to it as well but that does not happen very often cuz that is allot of shooting.

http://www.airtanksforsale.com/

Other than being heavier there is no downside to a large tank. Get the biggest 4500 psi tank with valve and hose included. Buy new from a reputable dealer and the fitting quality will be ok and it should not have aged much (need to be tested every five years).

Buddy just Google ALIBABA 4500psi & buy a Daystate Coltri copy if you can't afford the $3250 + shipping for a higher end compressor.

I have owned 4 high end compressors but I still prefer to shoot refined springers. Even though I have a dedicated safe slug area with visual splash report. Slugs are only fun to me if I can see my called hits strike & correct my hold off & over, click moa or mils correctly in judging.



https://m.alibaba.com/product/60595012535/High-Pressure-Gasoline-Air-Compressor-for.html?__detailProductImg=https%3A%2F%2Fs.alicdn.com%2F%40sc04%2Fkf%2FHTB1P7pFjJbJ8KJjy1zjq6yqapXaJ.jpg_200x200.jpg








Pellets anywhere around house Slug backstop a good alternative 



It's up to you pcp wannabe. I still personally love springers as they are the absolute best form development a target shooter can engage in. Out of 150+ Airguns I miss the springers I sold more than any of the PCP's.

Realize this. I shoot for groups and developing my abilities. I don't care about hunting or power anymore. So I HAVE a big Alkin because I am willing to shoot tethered with a step down in-line reg. I sight in at optimum pressures 2050-2300psi and run at that exact same pressure throughout. No reservoir flex, no need for restriction of onboard reg, I like simple and built tank like. No complex builds for me thank you.



So ask YOURSELF what type of shooting you'll do most. 9/10 I'm grabbing a springer and sticking around here. Once in awhile I film some far shooting with .22 or .257

Get a carbon fiber SCBA tank. There are hundreds of posts here about tank & compressor options (vs no tank & hand pump). Everything about pcp airguns requires research & the big "learning curve". A large SCBA & a Yong Heng compressor will give you a lot of "air independence" & save money in the long run from filling at a shop (don't forget your gas & time driving to a fill site! )

First, as mentioned, you need to figure out what/why/how you're going to shoot:

- if you're always in your backyard, a small compressor that fills your gun directly might be just the right thing. If your reservoir is small enough and/or you don't shoot much, a hand pump might do (at least until you're truly hooked...)

- if you're going to take your guns places, you'll probably want the biggest tank you can get and maybe (just maybe) a portable compressor - those get pretty mixed reviews right now though, so research carefully if you consider that route.

- if you go for a large tank, you'll need a way to fill it: the local fire department, a dive shop, paintball store or your own compressor. Consider things like the hours a place is open, how often you'll need to fill, and the cost of fills. I got cheap scuba fills for a while, but the shop was not open regularly and it was inconvenient, so I eventually got a compressor, then upgraded to a better one later.

Personally, my sequence went: handpump, small tank, medium compressor, big tank, big compressor. In hindsight I could have saved a couple thousand by skipping to the big tank and big compressor. 

Tanks are a pretty safe investment. Compressors are a minefield of uneven quality, varying support, and huge cost differences - research carefully before purchasing any compressor.

GsT

Best depends on what your wanting to achieve, and first of all I think having a handpump just as a backup is a prerequisite .. its gonna cost money to get a certified tank to be filled for you that comes with a basic pcp fill setup and then you'll want various hoses and other things as you go along ... size, well, bigger is heavy and requires more space but will last longer, simple as that ...for me shooting several pest guns and zeroing guns on an intermittent basis I can suck off a little 3L tank for a month lol ... but a bigger tank is needed for those multiple 500 tin shooting sessions for sure ...

I can only splain my experiences. I couldn't stand hand pumping, or traveling to a dive shop to get my tanks filled on their schedule with their limited filling rules. So, I picked up an Air Venturi 4500 psi compressor some four to five years ago. The compressor is still going strong without issues and has been used regularly to fill a 60 minute and a 45 minute SCBA 4500 psi tank. I now shoot .22, .25, .30 and .357 calibers. These take a lot of air. I couldn't imagine now how I would keep these tanks going if I didn't have a decent compressor to do so. I also picked up a Stikman fill assembly for the tanks. It is probably the best decision of all. A little pricey, but well worth it in so many ways.

Have fun and get what you need to begin with. It will be well worth it and will save you some coins in the long run, and will allow you to enjoy this sport so much more.

My experience has mirrored many others. Had a hand pump for my first PCP, the Benjamin Maximus, for half a summer and then realized I "needed" a Marauder. That pump lasted 1 week with the Marauder and I realizes I needed a Compressor. That was 3 years ago and many air rifles later and the Benjamin Traveler Compressor has not let me down. I have endless air wherever I am, DC or AC. I do have a 95CF SCBA as well that I fill from friends Big Boy compressors too. An Alkin or Nuvair is on the horizon for me.

Patrick

Get a carbon fiber SCBA tank. There are hundreds of posts here about tank & compressor options (vs no tank & hand pump). Everything about pcp airguns requires research & the big "learning curve". A large SCBA & a Yong Heng compressor will give you a lot of "air independence" & save money in the long run from filling at a shop (don't forget your gas & time driving to a fill site! )

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Not to mention you won’t have to mask up by going to the fill shop, lol.

Great advice given by all. Don’t listen to JamesD about his suggestion to get a hand pump. Have you seen him? He, like all who suggest the hand pump is all that’s needed, have arms, shoulders, and lumbar muscles that look like boulders! Even if you were fit up like Lance Armstrong heart wise, if you have any signs of low back issues, shoulders and elbows that ache, don’t let your old high school ego get the best of you and get a hand pump. You’ll regret it, and it’ll cause you to shoot less, or shoot crappy from you huffing for air while looking thru a scope after a pump session. I know all of this from experience. I have a near new Hill pump I spent $365 on with all the accessories, o ring kits, filter media packs, longer micro Bore hoses, etc., only to “try” pumping my 3000 psi fill marauder. After halfway thru the second session of pumping, I said FFF this out loud, burnt my eye balls with salty sweat, caught my breath, and drove to my AirHog dealer and bought their 88 cu ft. Tank kit.

The first time I opened up the valve knob on the Airhog tank to top off my marauder, my words were “this is what I’m talkin’ about!”.

Hey, JamesD, nice set up you have, both in your pcp arsenal equipment and your place! Looks like a pcp owners dream place!

Yeah, been there done that, and recently. Started down the PCP path in December and went from hand pump to SCBA and a Yong Heng. Skip the hand pump. I'm just filling Marauders (rifle and pistol), but the hand pump got old really fast, and one day it had issues with a sticky valve and wouldn't pump. Then ordered the YH pump from an ebay seller ($240 shipped) the same day and haven't looked back. With just a 30 minute tank I won't stress the pump for a 1k psi refill from time to time as I don't shoot anything but a few targets and a lot of pigeons. I did splurge on a Stikman refill station and that works great after a leaky version from Amazon (since returned). 

I've been a PCP shooter since March of 2017, before that, I shot springers (and still do) - and still like a springer's simplicity (especially my TX200), but found that their accuracy can't rival a PCP (even, my TX200 can't). Like many, my first PCP with an M-rod. Then, I bought an FX Royale 400, wow, what a shooter.

Anyway, with the m-rod I used a hand-pump. But that got old fast, so I went looking for something better than a hand pump and ended up buying a Shoebox 4500 compressor that used an auxiliary compressor to help it and took hours for it to do its thing, but at least I wasn't the one doing the work, but didn't like having to wait so long before I could shoot again.

So, I went looking again, now, I have what is the best thing I've come across, so far. It's a 4500 psi Air Venturi HPA compressor. I use it to fill a 66 cu-ft SCBA tank that I bought from my go-to air stuff guy - Joe Brancato.

My last purchase was a smaller, portable 4500 psi compressor made by Air Venturi, called the Nomad II. I can run it off my car's battery or from a wall socket. It takes 1 or 2 or 3 minutes for a fill-up a PCP (not for a SCBA tank), depending on how low the PCP's air tank is. Of course, it only takes the SCBA tank matter of seconds to top off a PCP's tank - I have a regulator I bought from Joe Brancato to prevent the SCBA tank from filling too fast and damaging the PCP's air tank - and though I never have, I could use the regulator to tether a PCP to the SCBA tank if I wanted to.

I am ready to enter the pcp game. So that I may share my rifle-Very nice of you- with others for target and plinking I would like a large capacity bottle gun-Excellent choice-. I would be looking for a large capacity fill tank-Yes you should be-. I want an efficient set-up-Of course you do- for filling. Would there be an advantage to purchasing a 4,500 psi fill tank-Might be- even if I had a rifle rated for 300 bar-Game changer- but I would be looking for a pellet/slug that gave good energy and accuracy filling only to 250 bar?-This is the current norm- That is, compared to a fill tank rated at a lower pressure. Would I be getting enough extra fills with the same size fill tank to make, say, an extra $130 or more-Yes you would- over the cost of the smaller capacity tank? What would be a good set-up as far a hose size-Hose quality is most important- and fittings is concerned? If I pay $15.00 per fill of either size fill tank, then does that lean toward the decision to buy the larger capacity tank?-Buy the largest.- Is buying a tank set-up with good fittings-No compromise here best, or would it be better to buy just the tank or one with only average fittings-Don't even think about it and up-grade to premium fittings. Yes, I know it's late, but sometimes we need to strike while the fire (thoughts) are hot!

Thank you in advance for your replies.



Sincerely yours,



pcpwannabe

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wannabe, your questions indicate you have a good understanding of what it is you need to make this work for you. Buy the best you can and enjoy the time with your friends.

Patrick