Any of you guys shoot PCP?

supercorndogs

supercorndogs

Ham Fisted Gorilla
Full Member
Minuteman
Feb 17, 2014
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Colorado
#1
Any of you guys own PCP air rifles. I have been looking at bench top compressors. Anyone know some good brands, or places to learn a little more about them. Must have equipment. This is my first PCP air rifle, and I bought a hand pump with it. I bought it get more trigger time in my garage, with something more accurate than my springer, and I think a compressor will be inline soon.
 
#2
When I was looking at them, I was told to "just get a scuba tank" as the local scuba shops will fill it to 'that' high of pressures.

The problem for me, up here in Canada, is it'd be near easier to buy a belt-fed uzi than one of those beautiful (read: sinister and evil) devices. So it seems, anyways. Maybe things are easier now, I dunno. But some years ago.... nossir.
 
#3
My boss is big into air-guns. He used to rent HPA tanks from air-gas for I think it was 30 cents a day or something. They'd refill an SCBA tank 8 or 9 times up to 4500PSI.

He recently ditched that, because those tanks weigh like 600lbs or so, in favor of a chinese HPA compressor that works pretty well. I think it was a few hundred dollars he spent on it, but it works great. It'll get that SCBA tank up to 4k PSI in about 20 minutes, which is good for half a dozen or so refills of the tanks on his 40 cal and 30 cal airguns.

I'll ask him tomorrow what the model is.
 
#5
There are a handful of them listed from over seas. I worry about the quality and safety of a 4500psi pump. But I also understand in that area of the world air gunning is very big. So maybe they are cheaper from there because of supply and demand. Or maybe its cheaper cause its built like a knock off piece of shit clone atlas.

Is the scuba almost a must have with the bench top compressor?
 
#6
6pt5Rookie said:
I'm no expert, but from my reading, most people prefer the carbon fiber tank. Easier to haul around to where you shoot. Less recharges though. You could fill directly to the gun, but even less shots. More of an issue with those slower models that might take a while. The older ones you'd leave over night and take the tank with you. Maybe get 3-4 refills.

I would go carbon fiber rather than scuba unless you were only shooting on your property and left the tank in the garage. I do think the carbon fiber tanks have a slightly lower psi rating that the scuba.

But damn, hand-pumping sucks. (Get your minds out of the gutter.)
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Kinda incorrect there, Carbon fiber tanks are usually good up to 4500PSI. Your average full metal scuba tank or welding gas tank is gonna run ~3k PSI.

With a normal aluminum or steel tank, as long as it can pass a hydro test it's good to go. CF tanks are usually expired after 15 years. I don't know of a limitation on how many times you can refill either type of tank.

CF is definitely the way to go. A 98 cubic foot tank charged to 4500 PSI will refill a small cylinder on an airgun (i'm guessing it's like 25 or 30 cubic inches or something) from 3500PSI to greater than 4350PSI about half a dozen times, and it only takes a few minutes to fill the tank from < 4300PSI to 4500PSI with the compressor.


 
#7
There's some overhead to get into it, but some of these guns can take down hogs reliably and work great with bulk lead bullets in the 12-18Bhn range.

 
#8
6pt5Rookie said:
I guess the real question then is what is the service life on those compressors. They are all sorta new so not a long track record.

I picked up a Benjamin Marauder .25 cal and it is a lot of fun to shoot, but after about the 4th time pumping it up, the fun starts wearing off. LOL.
Click to expand...

Well, Ive avoided this thread cause I thought PCP was some shit hippies in Berkley smoked.

That said, 6pt you just need build up your stamina.
 
#9
6pt5Rookie said:
I guess the real question then is what is the service life on those compressors. They are all sorta new so not a long track record.

I picked up a Benjamin Marauder .25 cal and it is a lot of fun to shoot, but after about the 4th time pumping it up, the fun starts wearing off. LOL.
Click to expand...

I went with the benjamin armada. That 1800 doesn't look too bad when I look at a years ammo bill. vs 1000 pellets for 30 bucks. I shoot my springer in my garage a lot, but it is not very accurate.
 
#10
I haven't owned a PCP since I was about 12 or 13. It was called the Career 707. No clue what it's called nowadays. It came to me fully charged in .22 caliber and definitely was NOT a backyard friendly sounding gun. I bought a high pressure hand pump with it which I still have. I got rid of it because it was just too much of a hassle to deal with because the charging system was defective and the probe just wouldn't fill the gun. I bought 2 extra probes and all 3 didn't work and the only way it could be filled was taking it to a SCUBA store that was like 30 miles from me and after a ton of gerri rigging it managed to charge up. I really wasn't all that saddened when I got rid of it because I wasn't expecting it to be as loud as a .22LR. I do wanna get back into the PCP scene and since the big bore models are becoming popular, maybe I can get a .44 caliber version to use for my .451 ball molds.
 
#11
I have been shooting PCP for a long time now. I got a compressor, works great but it was about $3500. It will fill a 4500psi CF tank in about 10 mins from empty. The problem with the shoebox or some of the other compressors is it takes over night to fill a tank, that and you need a shop compressor to supply the air to it. If you have a welding shop not far from you check into the 6K nitrogen tanks. You can rent them pretty cheap and get a ton of fills off of one of those tanks.
 
#12
Drumie said:
I have been shooting PCP for a long time now. I got a compressor, works great but it was about $3500. It will fill a 4500psi CF tank in about 10 mins from empty. The problem with the shoebox or some of the other compressors is it takes over night to fill a tank, that and you need a shop compressor to supply the air to it. If you have a welding shop not far from you check into the 6K nitrogen tanks. You can rent them pretty cheap and get a ton of fills off of one of those tanks.
Click to expand...

The fill time on the cheap compressors is something else I was worried about. I was wondering on some of the pumps, what the extra lines were for. Probably to hook up shop air like you say.
 
#17
Maser said:
I haven't owned a PCP since I was about 12 or 13. It was called the Career 707. No clue what it's called nowadays. It came to me fully charged in .22 caliber and definitely was NOT a backyard friendly sounding gun. I bought a high pressure hand pump with it which I still have. I got rid of it because it was just too much of a hassle to deal with because the charging system was defective and the probe just wouldn't fill the gun. I bought 2 extra probes and all 3 didn't work and the only way it could be filled was taking it to a SCUBA store that was like 30 miles from me and after a ton of gerri rigging it managed to charge up. I really wasn't all that saddened when I got rid of it because I wasn't expecting it to be as loud as a .22LR. I do wanna get back into the PCP scene and since the big bore models are becoming popular, maybe I can get a .44 caliber version to use for my .451 ball molds.
Click to expand...

The armada has a baffle pack in the barrel. You can turn down the air pressure also. It is supposed to be very quiet. My gamo whisper is quiet for a 1000fps springer.
 
#18
I love this quote, from the first ad: "PCP electric pump can be used for fire fighting, air soft, paintball, leakage detecting, pressure-tight test, automobile tyres, etc "

It was the "automobile tyres" that I thought especially enticing....
 
#20
Just saw this post now.

FYI, if the compressor doesn't already have a moisture filter system attached then you'll need to buy one and install it, otherwise the inside of your rifle will get rusted up. Yes if you get a cheap compressor you better buy extra rebuild kits and it's not a bad idea to put a fan blowing onto the pump to keep it reasonably cool. I saw where sometimes they put the compressor on a timer so it runs for a period of time, stops to cool, then restarts....

Nitrogen isn't a bad way to go if you do most of your shooting at home. Just rent a tank which will last a long time.

I'm lucky because our club has a industrial level compressor so I get a free 4350psi tank fill once a month or two. So I never needed to buy a compressor.

And welcome to the word of PCP airguns! Congrats on your new Armada.
 
Last edited:
#21
steve123 said:
Just saw this post now.

FYI, if the compressor doesn't already have a moisture filter system attached then you'll need to buy one and install it, otherwise the inside of your rifle will get rusted up. Yes if you get a cheap compressor you better buy extra rebuild kits and it's not a bad idea to put a fan blowing onto the pump to keep it reasonably cool. I saw where sometimes they put the compressor on a timer so it runs for a period of time, stops to cool, then restarts....

Nitrogen isn't a bad way to go if you do most of your shooting at home. Just rent a tank which will last a long time.

I'm lucky because our club has a industrial level compressor so I get a free 4350psi tank fill once a month or two. So I never needed to buy a compressor.

And welcome to the word of PCP airguns! Congrats on your new Armada.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I hope this turns out to be a cheaper hobby than centerfire. I had to sell off a lot of stuff over the last couple years. Hoping to get my round count back up.
 
#22
If you happen to have a friend or relative that works for a fire station then you might be able to get tanks filled there. Sometimes a paintball club will have a compressor too.

Even though I live up in the mountains we actually have a dive shop. It only costs $7 to get a tank filled but his compressor only goes to 3150 psi so I'd only be able to fill the reservoir on the rifle 10 times or so before it got down to 2800.

The initial investment into PCP can be a bit stiff but after that shooting becomes cheap. At some online stores if you buy 3 or 4 tins of pellets they'll throw in another tin for free. Your best bet on a pellet shooting good is JSB brand. The Crosman Premiers quality control is poor but you can sort them. Beeman isn't too bad but often they won't shoot well, just depends on what your barrel and power level likes. I try to stick with the 10.3 to 10.5 grain in 177 if the rifle is at 17 ftlbs or more.

 
#23
steve123 said:
If you happen to have a friend or relative that works for a fire station then you might be able to get tanks filled there. Sometimes a paintball club will have a compressor too.

Even though I live up in the mountains we actually have a dive shop. It only costs $7 to get a tank filled but his compressor only goes to 3150 psi so I'd only be able to fill the reservoir on the rifle 10 times or so before it got down to 2800.

The initial investment into PCP can be a bit stiff but after that shooting becomes cheap. At some online stores if you buy 3 or 4 tins of pellets they'll throw in another tin for free. Your best bet on a pellet shooting good is JSB brand. The Crosman Premiers quality control is poor but you can sort them. Beeman isn't too bad but often they won't shoot well, just depends on what your barrel and power level likes. I try to stick with the 10.3 to 10.5 grain in 177 if the rifle is at 17 ftlbs or more.
Click to expand...

I will try out the hand pump. I have one, but after my injury I don't know if I can do it. My father in law welds, and so do I for that matter, but he owns a welder and rents nitrogen tanks. I need to sell some more stuff before I can grab a shoe box compressor. I got several different kinds of pellets with it. I think three tins were JSB its 22 cal so I went with 20 grain plus. I liked the crossman 10.5g domed pellets in my gamo whisper. Its fully adequate for shooting grass hoppers.

I thought I had seen both you and 6x47steve talk about shooting PCP. Scrounged enough to throw the 4-14 athlon on there, and check it too. Ammo cost was a big motivator. Something stupid quiet to shoot eurasian doves out of the mulberry trees wasn't far from the front of my mind either.

Thanks for giving me some leads guys. I am sure this will be another learning and humbling experience.
 
#25
steve123 said:
Just so you know I'm also 6x47steve from the scout site.

Try 22 cal JSB 18 grainers when you get a chance.

Ah, that's a good scope for PCP's.
Click to expand...

LOL. I wondered where you went. I was wondering about you the other day. Didn't know you were here all along.

I am trying to push too much weight with not enough rifle?

I will have the H&N barracudas 21.4, beeman kodiac 21.4, JSB monster 25.4 to start. I will try out the 18s also. Thanks
 
#26
Just an FYI, your local fire dept has above and beyond anything you would need and the norm is 4500 psi bottles. Maybe you know somebody there. Also they have to rotate out used SCBA bottles based on date, not use or condition, that get sold off dirt cheap.
 
#27
steve123 said:
Just so you know I'm also 6x47steve from the scout site.

Try 22 cal JSB 18 grainers when you get a chance.

Ah, that's a good scope for PCP's.
Click to expand...

Any experience with the trigger debouncer. Looks like it would absorb some of the power from the hammers initial strike also. Would that mean people get more shots because their gun is less powerful?
 
#28
supercorndogs said:
Any experience with the trigger debouncer. Looks like it would absorb some of the power from the hammers initial strike also. Would that mean people get more shots because their gun is less powerful?
Click to expand...

I'm not real familiar with your rifles system so not the guy to ask. Though a airgunsmith friend thinks highly of the design.

Just thinking to myself that doing the mod would make the valving stroke more efficient.

Tons of videos on youtube about mrod tweaks so in a hour you'd have a good idea about the in's and out's.
 
#29
steve123 said:
I'm not real familiar with your rifles system so not the guy to ask. Though a airgunsmith friend thinks highly of the design.

Just thinking to myself that doing the mod would make the valving stroke more efficient.

Tons of videos on youtube about mrod tweaks so in a hour you'd have a good idea about the in's and out's.
Click to expand...

Yea, I watched a couple videos, The debouncer looks like a pretty easy upgrade. I need to watch and learn some more. I am sure a lot of learning will be done once it gets here.
 
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