I'm considering getting an Air Venturi Avenger in .22 caliber. It has a 180cc air cylinder that can take 4,351 PSI of pressure. How annoying is it to use a hand pump to keep it full?
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I'm considering getting an Air Venturi Avenger in .22 caliber. It has a 180cc air cylinder that can take 4,351 PSI of pressure. How annoying is it to use a hand pump to keep it full?
I do not even own a hand pump as a back up. Yesterday I fired 250 pellets out my .22 PCP. If I was hand pumping I might have shot 100.
Find some YouTube videos of young guys pumping up a PCP rifle and decide for yourself. That made me realize a hand pump was not going to cut if for me and my needs.
For what it's worth, I'm a few months short of being seventy-five years old and weigh in at about 95kg (210 U S pounds). This said, I can keep arms fairly straight and use my weight to depress the handle on my Hill Mk V pump. I do not find it an "annoyance" -- but, it shortly became enough of a pia to prompt (BEST thing I did!!!) my purchase of an electric air pump -- I got the Nomad II from Pyramid Air.Quote:
Originally Posted by Don1357
Shortly after I purchased my Air Arms 10meter target rifle I realized that the, "You only get a 'work-out' for the first fill, and then thereafter to it takes but a few strokes to get air in cylinder back up to the 'sweet spot' shooting pressure" is, to me, more than a wee exageration! My whole purpose of shooting, not limited to air-propelled devices, is FUN. Pumping is NOT fun!
Re your cylinder being rated for 4,351 psi is its RATING -- not necessarily the top limit you (probably will find) you wish to fill to! I gave several pneumatic devices, and each has a "optimal range" -- much below rated max fill pressure. E.g., one I have I fill only to about 2,300psi and accuracy is top-on down to about 1,500 +/- a few psi. When my pressure drops to the 1,500psi range is when I add air -- again, up to but 2,300psi. This cylinder is rated for 3,000 psi!
Unlike Don (dverna) who is an awesome poster/guru :) -- I keep my Hill pump in truck when I do go shooting. It is my back-up for the 12V/110V Nomad, and on one or two occasions it seemed easier for me to do manual pumps than hook up the Nomad while at camp... Interestingly, on one of these I re-thought ;) -- perhaps I should have hooked up and used the Nomad. BUT -- it is easier (again, the "fun" aspect) to have a 1.3 kg. (~3 U S pounds) air pump to move/carry about than the quite heavy compressor.
My thought -- note the word, "thought", is the best all-around way to go is with a large air tank one gets filled at, say, a SCUBA or welding supply shop. However, in my area, the closest to fill such a tank is roughly 286 km distance (~178 U S miles) -- too long a drive for me. Plus, the tanks have a finite life before requiring hydrostatic testing...
Nothing is a free lunch...
BEST!
geo
I’m seventy-three years old and I started with a Daystate and a hand pump (a Hill…great pump). I can fill my gun in around three minutes with the pump and it’s not a killer job….but, it’s not a lot of fun either. If that’s all there was to get one filled, I’d do it and just make the best of it. I like to shoot. The joy of shooting is…well, shooting. I ended up buying a SCBD tank and it’s probably the best move I made regarding PCP air guns. It fills the cylinder in about two seconds! I get thousands of shots on a tank fill, and it costs around twelve bucks to get the tank filled. I’d buy a compressor, but I’m pretty close to several dive shops that are affordable and do it right away. So, yes you can get by with a good pump, but both a tank or a compressor would add a lot of fun to your shooting. Good luck.
I started with a manual pump. Then it got modified to take 80psi dry air on the intake to reduce the number of strokes required. Then I fiddled with a well known but slow electric pump. Very quiet but slow. Now I am using the same chinese ebay pump as a lot of other folks and it is fast but noisy. I will keep a functioning manual pump around for emergency use only.
I recommend that you save all of the above steps and get an electric compressor.
I'm hand pumping and will eventually get a compressor or tank but in no hurry. As stated above, the real work out is the initial fill.
Once you're up to pressure, depending how low you shoot it, you can get it back up to the "sweet spot" without too much work.
When I'm at my "sweet spot", I get 30-40 shots before it needs a refill. For me, it isn't the work out that is a pain as much as the time it takes.
Normally I pump two sets of 35 strokes to get back up to pressure with a 15 or more minute cool time between sets. Your pump will get
hot and can be damaged if you over heat it.
Now that I've settled on a pellet, I don't shoot a lot. It's mostly a squirrel dispatcher so only needs a fill once a week or two.
If you plan to use it like some the other folk here and shoot shoot shoot, then the hand pump will get old real quick. I would recommend having a hand pump at least as a back up so just get one to get started. Worry about a tank or compressor later.
At 79 and 155lbs, I settled on a Benjamin Discovery 22cal just to have an air rifle around that I can use as a squirrel dispatcher if necessary. Keep it at the lowest pressure recommended for storage. A few pumps from my Hill Pump gets the pressure up a little more for my use. It is sighted in at that pressure range.
A compressor or tank is definitely recommended it you plan on much shooting.
I gave my son-in-law one springer and plan to sell the other two I have. Too much effort on my part to cock them for more than one shot.
If you are fat and out of shape, definitely get yourself a compressor.
I am 71, I couldn't get up off the floor without grabbing something for support.
This was about 4 months ago, perhaps five.
I started working out on a Total Gym (of Chuck Norris fame) I have it set about halfway up, I work up about 20 minutes a day.
I feel better than I have for years. I have done this for about 5 months every day.
I absolutely hate it, but I do it.
I bought my first PCP and a hand pump and figured I would eventually buy a compressor.
Pumping up your air gun with a hand pump is good exercise.
As long as I am working out on a Total Gym, what the hell am I'm doing thinking about a compressor?
I still have a spare tire around the middle, but I am working on it.
Problem is I love to eat, I inherited that from my dad who once said, "If I can't eat what I want I might as well be dead".
If I had a full auto PCP, I would probably get the compressor, but for anything under .25 caliber I really don't see the need.
I have a couple of pumps and I use a dive bottle. Going past 2000psi was hard work. It would probably be easier if I was heavier, but at under 11 stone, I couldn't compress over 2500psi.
At some point I may buy a compressor but at the present the hand pump has worked out for me.
Like I said before, I need the exercise.
With some of the bigger air reservoirs and larger bore air rifles a compressor or bottle would be a must.
For the little piddly stuff I have, a handpump is working out ok for now.
I weigh a little better than 12.6 stone and my air guns have a max of 3000 psi, I do puff a bit after pumping them up.