Man if you think 22rf's are zany then just own a pcp air rifle for a while and you'll learn what finicky really is. Though some pcp's are just about trouble free and others can be a PITA.Lets not forget that 22lrs are just fun to shoot
and putting up with their zany behaviour....
Lets us say...builds character...
I doubt popularity of pcp's in PRS or NRL will ever catch up to that of rimfire.
Sometimes we’ll have 4 or 5 at our monthly matches. Don’t think they’re listed there…
It's my 4 year old Thomas HPX custom and set up for 65-ish fpe.
That is a pretty stock, in a very utilitarian modern style.
Thanks Lash.That is a pretty stock, in a very utilitarian modern style.
And the groups don’t suck either.
Actually the NRL have updated the air rifle rules to make air rifles competitive with rimfire rifles. .30 caliber or less slugs or pellets, 110 FPE muzzle energy or less.
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.
Way back I'd just go to the dive shop to get my tanks filled but most of my pcp's were 30 fpe or less so I didn't need to go back to get them filled but once a month in the summers. Fills back then were $5.Yep. I need to do some testing of my own, but I’m debating if I should buy another case of low-grade match ammo (Wolf MT/ME, SK+, etc.) or throw that money into a compressor. I’ve got enough match .22LR to last me ~two years at a brick a month (WAY more than I currently shoot, I’m afraid), but enough pellets to last me well over a decade. So do I stock up on more .22 because it’s only going to go up in price, or make my life easier by becoming self sufficient with air? I’m kinda leaning towards the compressor, honestly. Quality pellets are still about half as expensive as low-grade .22LR, and about a quarter the cost of higher-grade stuff. If I focus mostly on airguns, I should be good for a long, long time. Decisions, decisions…
It's a long explanation but as short as I can...
Way back I'd just go to the dive shop to get my tanks filled but most of my pcp's were 30 fpe or less so I didn't need to go back to get them filled but once a month in the summers. Fills back then were $5.
That all changed when I started to buy more powerful pcp's, meaning fills were now $10, and I'd need a fill every week or more. These were 50 plus fpe guns, one being 99 fpe. These consume quite a bit of air.
Pretty much took me 20 years of pcp shooting before I finally bought a compressor and I bought a Yong Heng copy for $300. It was very noisy which made it hard to find leaks, not a few, lol, and would tend to get hot so we'd turn it off for a while all which was a PITA. I didn't like it all that much so I gave my part of it to a friend, the half owner.
Then I came into some money so I bought a light commercial compressor, a Coltri MCH6. Yes it is nice and will last me until I die. Only takes 6 minutes to fill a large tank from 200 bar to 320 bar. Air is almost free now, JK, but it's worth it to me for sure even if only for convenience sake. If I had to go to the dive shop now I'd be spending $100 a month or more to meet my needs so a good compressor was essencial.
They have really good and not very expensive compressors nowadays though.
As to your question. Do both, keep stocking up on decent 22rf ammo, and put funds towards getting a compressor too.
But since you are pretty well stocked for now lean towards the compressor. I found myself not shooting my airguns as much in that transition zone of, "crap I don't feel like going into town right now to get air", "or man every time I go to get air with my two tanks that's a $20 spot", so okay I'll just not shoot then and do chores, lol.
That's what I did except as mentioned I stopped paying the high prices for the better ammo's. Yeah sure if I was a top NRL22 or PRS22 competitor I'd prioritise differently but that's not where I'm at in life.
Plus I found out I can afford to miss a few more times for half as much $
Haha! I’m afraid that right now, I’m in worse shape $$ wise than Basher. At some point, I’ll probably thin out my CF rifles and get a decent PCP, but that’s not yet.Lash, which pcp can we sign you up for, lol
I'm needing to sell some stuff I don't use much to fund some other stuff I've been wanting but I've been blowing that off for far too long.
The GX CS4 compressor is a very good buy around $500ish (but may be higher later). I would love to own a $2k+ compressor again, but I don’t shoot enough to justify it (I do like the much faster filling). The GX has lasted over 4 years I think at this point which is what you want with the cheaper compressor. The one reason I would consider upgrading is if I start shooting slugs more than pellets, because the air consumption is so high and then the faster filling would be much better. Like others, I can’t justify that right now and would want to sell some things first.
Because I have no interest in carrying a scuba tank around with me. Also, in most matches in our area, there is usually no more than 1 person shooting air rifle. Lack of competition makes it no fun.
The gun is just half the fight.....then look into a Corbin press to make your own slugs. Then you don't have to worry about ammo supply......you just make your own
What material is used for the slugs? In other words, where do you buy supplies?
Right from Corbin. I am using 100% pure lead in .210 diameter and then swaging to .217 diameter. I can get the weights down to 0.1 grains, and the slugs are more consistent than anything you can buy.
What muzzle brake are you using? And were you able to get the safety to work in that chassis? Thanks.
Yes there's all that.
Make note that Delta has come out with a V2 of that chassis to try to fix some of the things that needed to be improved. I am told that their Facebook page has some info on it, but I don’t use Facebook. No other pages anywhere talk about this.
Well, that didn’t last long…
@ironpony52 yeah, I’ve honestly never been able to just throw money at things. I’ve either saved up, sold stuff, or (when I was younger) purchased on credit to get several items in hand to try and then sold what didn’t work for me to pay things back off. I don’t do #3 anymore, and life’s taken several turns in the past three years that have cut out most large play purchases without some level of planning.
Matter of fact, I only have the airguns I do because I’ve sold almost all my centerfire rifles. Medical issues helped push me in that direction as I don’t think I’d have done it myself otherwise, but with those medical issues came significant medical expenses. Air for airguns isn’t cheap (unless you solely use springers or hand pumps), but if you buy pellets second-hand or on sale (especially from Pyramyd or Utah Airguns and do the “buy X get one free” deal) then shooting them is a helluva lot less expensive overall. Most of my .177 pellets cost me less than a penny a shot, most of my .22 cost me about 2.5¢/shot, and most of my .25 set me back around 3.5¢/shot. It all adds up, but that’s still just a third of what decent (non-plinking, bulk crap) .22 costs these days. So airguns have become a way for me to still shoot often while saving money. There’s no way I can afford to buy factory match ammo or even restock reloading components at current prices, but a few tins of pellets is cake.
Still working towards a compressor, though. I *could* buy a smaller GX model and just fill my guns, but I think I’m gonna hold out for the CS4i or similar so I can make use of my tanks.
And I’m not at the slug level yet, so I don’t worry about making my own. That day may come eventually, but I’ll cross that bridge when I get there. I’m stocked up well enough on pellets and .22LR that I shouldn’t have to worry about that for a decade or two lol.
