PCP start up questions

[Mike B]

Still relatively new to airgunning, learning since feb. of this year. i now have 2 co2 guns & am not all too impressed with them. i want something with more power. what i would like to know is, what kind of start up cost am i looking at for hand pump, tanks, regs, & all that which would go with a pcp. any & all help will be greatly appreciated.

[Avox]

First thing you do is get on a phone and find out what kind of air pressure you can get a tank filled to in your area for a reasonable price. Some places will only fill to 3000 while others will go to 4350 or 4500 psi. Scuba tanks, which only go to 3000psi, you can find used ones for under a hundred dollars in some areas. For higher pressures you will want to go with glass or carbon fiber. Older glass fiber tanks with only a few years left can be had for a couple of hundred dollars. A carbon fiber tank say 88 cu.ft. that has most of it's life left for around 600 dollars. You can get by with a hand pump if your rifle already has some charge to it. There are problems with using a hand pump and they are expensive as well like a couple of hundred dollars for a good one. For one the physical exertion, and like one guy told me your over 50 and have gray hair save your self from having a heart attack. The other air quality, yes you can get a filter and collect moisture for a hand pump, but they are your enemies and breathing air from a scuba shop or fire station are of a higher quality than you can get from a hand pump or paint ball store. Well that's the advice I received and took when I bought my Sumatra at the Little Rock show. Oh! A regulator is not really necessary if your willing to fill and not let anything distract you. Regardless if you are using a reg or not you need to fill SLOWLY to prevent overheating o-rings. A pressure gage on the tank is a must and one on your rifle, as far as I am concerned, necessary. The one one the rifle will usually read in bars and the one on the tank in PSI.

[daved]

Not easy questions to answer, Mike, there are a lot of variables.  You CAN spend a lot of money, but there are ways to avoid it.  I'll assume you've already done some research on the rifle you want.  

Some is easy, a decent hand pump will run around $250.  Depending on the rifle you decide on, a regular scuba tank might work, most are 3000 psi, I believe new ones run $2-300.  A carbon fiber tank of the same size can be filled to 4500 psi, that means a lot more air, they run $3-600.  Depending on where you live, they can be a hassle to get filled.  From what I've seen, most guys don't use regulators ( myself included), just pay attention to the fill pressure guage and go slow.  If you do go with a reg, expect to pay $250-500, again depending on the rifle you select and your air source.  Not needed with a pump, of course.   What ever you use for an air source, you'll need a way to get air from the source to the gun.  Filling assemblies vary a lot in price, and are gun specific, figure another $75 plus or minus.

Pumps can go anywhere and never need filling, but can pump moisture into your gun.  And if you shoot a lot, you pump a lot :-)!  Scuba tanks are heavy and bulky, and with some guns, don't offer that many fills.  Some of the high pressure guns can't use a scuba tank at all.  My Talon takes a 3000 psi fill, an 88 cubic foot scuba tank would only net me 6 or so fills.  Since I do virtually all my shooting in my back yard, I avoided a lot of hassles and expense by renting an industrial nitrogen cylinder.  443 cubic feet at 4500 psi nets me at least 150 fills, gas was about $60 and tank rental is $10/mo.  The closest dive shop is a 100 mile round trip, and they want $12 a fill.  I modified a standard scuba yoke to work with the cylinder, that cost me an additional $30.

Obviously, what you spend will depend on what you shoot, and where and what you shoot at.  If you're like me, and mostly punch paper in the back yard, you can get by for a lot less.  My setup isn't very portable, but the Talon gives me lots of shots per fill.  I plan on getting an extra tank eventually, just in case I decide I need more capacity.  If I anticipated lots of time away from home, I'd probably invest in a medium size 4500 psi CF tank.  Hope this helps, and if you have more questions, don't hesitate to ask.  And let us know what gun you have in mind, too.  Later.

Dave