PCP has gradually saturated !

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What is scary will be when people make PCP guns with 3D printers and the wrong material is used or there is flaws in the process and the average person does not have the equipment to inspect for the flaws. They end up having a catastrophic failure. It ends up injuring them or some one else. The kind of pressures PCP's have is nothing to toy with and a lot of engineering and testing goes into the valve system. I worked in the hydraulics area and have had reports of people making a mistake and putting on a incorrect fitting which increased pressure so much the cylinder blew apart and killed a person. Hopefully people will realize it is not simple and it is complicated.
 
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What is scary will be when people make PCP guns with 3D printers and the wrong material is used or there is flaws in the process and the average person does not have the equipment to inspect for the flaws. They end up having a catastrophic failure. It ends up injuring them or some one else. The kind of pressures PCP's have is nothing to toy with and a lot of engineering and testing goes into the valve system. I worked in the hydraulics area and have had reports of people making a mistake and putting on a incorrect fitting which increased pressure so much the cylinder blew apart and killed a person. Hopefully people will realize it is not simple and it is complicated.
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Is there a mistake? Using 3D printers To manufacture compressed air tanks? You are right, there have been very bad cases that have happened, there are cases of losing their lives, because they have overlooked the safety issue and have no necessary understanding.
 
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On some level, you could make the argument no advancements have been made since the Girandoni carried by Lewis and Clark in 1803, in terms of the fundamental operating principles of a PCP. Just depends on what each individual sees as significant.



Materials science, for example, has advanced leaps and bounds in 200 years. Narrowing it to the last 10 or 20 years, the available operating pressures have shifted up and the vessels have become more affordable. That seems to me significant in the capabilities of big bores and also the viability of regulated “medium” bores like .30 cal.



Most of the advances as I see them are in the realm of better part precision and the ever faster adoption of yesterday’s premium features like regulators and repeaters into the low price segment. And the support equipment has absolutely plummeted, both hand pumps and compressors.



But to your point, I don’t see anything revolutionary possible in a system where air is the propellant other than the obvious of increasing pressure. Making any vast increases in efficiency seems unlikely because the mass of the air itself is significant compared to the projectile.



Meanwhile I want to recognize the closer you are to a technology, the closer you follow it, the less significant those advancements will appear. It’s easier to pinpoint them if you turn your back for 10 years.
 
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Seems to me the advancement is in the ammo. We are seeing more and more bullet like projectiles. FX has that smooth twist barrel and sleve system. Barrels designed to shoot bullet like projectiles.The Diabolo shape was the greatest thing since sliced bread. The shape causes a fair amount of drag, which stabilizes the projectile. Making it more accurate.That limits its range. So now what. Make the projectile go faster to increase range. The problem is the projectile can only go so fast. It must remain sub sonic to have any accuracy. The diabolo shape has been regarded as having the best ballistic coefficientcy. It only keeps that efficiency in spin sonic flight. Even at super sonic speeds it slows down so fast the sonic boom it creates eventually over runs the projectile, and causes it to tumble. A boat tail projectile has an even greater ballistic coefficientcy, and will fly much better at super sonic speeds. So it would only make sense to peruse a different shape and velocity range. Lots of people, even on this forum have stated bullet shape projectiles travel flatter and longer in general, and seem to carry more energy to the target. 
 
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I suspect it'll be refinements in both mechanical and electronic systems to provide better accuracy, power and shot count.

Styling will be another big plus. The Dreamline is an example where one gun can be many depending on how it's configured.

I hope a revolultion in the support systems comes soon. Compressors, tanks, hoses, and such are cumbersome. Maybe a battery powered compressor in the butt of the gun? (OK fantasy, I know)

Mature technologies rarely have major leaps, mostly it's incremental. I like incremental. Even the "Revolutionary" FX Impact Gen 1 compared to the current Impact X with AMP regulator, X-Barrel, high capacity magazine, and more internal improvements. Looks the same, but better gun.
 
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On some level, you could make the argument no advancements have been made since the Girandoni carried by Lewis and Clark in 1803, in terms of the fundamental operating principles of a PCP. Just depends on what each individual sees as significant.



Materials science, for example, has advanced leaps and bounds in 200 years. Narrowing it to the last 10 or 20 years, the available operating pressures have shifted up and the vessels have become more affordable. That seems to me significant in the capabilities of big bores and also the viability of regulated “medium” bores like .30 cal.



Most of the advances as I see them are in the realm of better part precision and the ever faster adoption of yesterday’s premium features like regulators and repeaters into the low price segment. And the support equipment has absolutely plummeted, both hand pumps and compressors.



But to your point, I don’t see anything revolutionary possible in a system where air is the propellant other than the obvious of increasing pressure. Making any vast increases in efficiency seems unlikely because the mass of the air itself is significant compared to the projectile.



Meanwhile I want to recognize the closer you are to a technology, the closer you follow it, the less significant those advancements will appear. It’s easier to pinpoint them if you turn your back for 10 years.
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More and more manufacturers are involved in the pcp battle. You're right, I'm a technology enthusiast, but I don't like electrically-controlled air guns like Daystate and a few others. I did not want to charge my gun, I did not want to wait for it and of course I did not want an incident by the circuit. You can buy reg, airtube, ..... and then design yourself a gun as you like. Because of that, I just said that pcp is saturated. As for "hammerless system", it is really different.
 
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Seems to me the advancement is in the ammo. We are seeing more and more bullet like projectiles. FX has that smooth twist barrel and sleve system. Barrels designed to shoot bullet like projectiles.The Diabolo shape was the greatest thing since sliced bread. The shape causes a fair amount of drag, which stabilizes the projectile. Making it more accurate.That limits its range. So now what. Make the projectile go faster to increase range. The problem is the projectile can only go so fast. It must remain sub sonic to have any accuracy. The diabolo shape has been regarded as having the best ballistic coefficientcy. It only keeps that efficiency in spin sonic flight. Even at super sonic speeds it slows down so fast the sonic boom it creates eventually over runs the projectile, and causes it to tumble. A boat tail projectile has an even greater ballistic coefficientcy, and will fly much better at super sonic speeds. So it would only make sense to peruse a different shape and velocity range. Lots of people, even on this forum have stated bullet shape projectiles travel flatter and longer in general, and seem to carry more energy to the target.
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I do not have much knowledge about ammo but I feel there is nothing to complain about the accuracy that the ammo are available on the market. Recently, slugs are of great interest, I think JSB is also studying it, how to make it most effective. I also know that a Chinese person has created a type of mold called H.MHEN very accurately, and surprisingly, it defeated big names like JSB.
 
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