That makes complete sense. He did not have a large reservoir and was around 900fps. I think it was his first time out and it seemed he didn’t know how to zero, but by the time I asked his velocities were already going down. He did not have a compressor or a tank, so he went home.
It's a long explanation but as short as I can...
PCP's;
A 12 fpe .177 you can get hundreds of shots per fill using a mid sized bottle like a 480cc, and if you have say a 700cc bottle on the gun you could shoot more than a 500 count tin of pellets before filling that resevoir again. For shooting in the back yard this is a great power level and it's surprising what you can do with that low power.
I've been planning to get one of these someday just to plink in my yard with.
A 19.5 fpe .177 FT rifle you only get 60-70 or so shots from say a 480 cc bottle.
Compared to 12 fpe that's a huge difference in shot count per fill isn't it!
A 30 fpe .22 you'll get around 50 shots with a 480cc.
I have a 580 cc bottle on my 99fpe 25 cal and I get 16 shots out of it before it falls off the regulater.
This is generally speaking because the tune of the gun affects the numbers greatly. Things like how long the valve stays open, etc, etc, and optimal as far as air consumption is basically the smallest blast of air to do the job.
Those 80-ish fpe FX Panthera's with the small bottle at the rear of the gun barely get 12 shots per fill so every stage it must be filled again. This same gun can be configured with bottles at the front and the rear which changes that equation a lot but that makes the gun a lot taller.
Pcp's are interesting to say the least!