Pump or Tank

[Lardpuppy]

I am going to buy a LP50.
As this will be my first compressed air pistol
I would like to know the pros and cons of useing
a pump to charge the gun. Will this shorten the
life of the gun? The nearest dive shop is 50 miles
and when I spoke to them on the phone they said
that they must see my dive card to fill a tank.
I tried to tell them it was for an air gun but
they said no card no air.
Lard in Pa.
Must have (Bullseye-L) in subject line to respond.
lardpuppy-at-hotmail.com.44757.0

[JMJ]

Sounds like they made your decision for you. I use a pump, have no problems with it. It doesn't take that long, only takes a little effort as it gets close to getting full. I haven't heard anything about it hurting the gun, you're pumping the air into the cylinder while it's off the gun.
You always have air and you can easily take it with you, I see no disadvantage to the pump unless you're disabled in some way.

: I am going to buy a LP50.
: As this will be my first compressed air pistol
: I would like to know the pros and cons of useing
: a pump to charge the gun. Will this shorten the
: life of the gun? The nearest dive shop is 50 miles
: and when I spoke to them on the phone they said
: that they must see my dive card to fill a tank.
: I tried to tell them it was for an air gun but
: they said no card no air.
: Lard in Pa.
: Must have (Bullseye-L) in subject line to respond.

.44758.44757

[Chris L in NC]

I have a very nice LP10 and since I shoot it at home and in the office (at a pellet trap and after hours, not at clients) and didn't want to haul around a scuba tank, I went with a Hill Pump from Pilkguns. This has worked very well with a little planning. Like Mr. J says, you unscrew the cylinder from the pistol, put it on the pump, charge it, and rescrew it to the pistol or put it in the case. With a pump, you can pressurize it all the way to the redline, whereas with a scuba tank you can't get it quite full. Even that isn't a problem because the LP10/50 cylinder holds more than enough for two full matches including sighters.
What you might have heard of is the pump's more humid output letting moisture into the aluminum cylinders and corroding them from the inside. I can't say I know how long this takes or if it's possible to avoid trouble by only pumping in air-conditioned environments. To eliminate all concern, Hill recently came out with a humidity filter. Check 'em out at www.airriflepump.com.
chrisatty-at-hotmail.com.44759.44757

[Joe Matusic, MD]

I started with the pump and bought a scuba tank after. The pump is good exercise and not for the disabled. I would certainly not expect good scores after jsut pumping up the gun. Make sure to pump it up ahead of time.
Regarding the scuba tank: Try again with the dive shop. There are stickers that you can put on the scuba tank saying not for human breathing (etc). Explain to the dive shop that this is for charging an olympic style target pellet pistol and you will sign a contract promising that it will not be used for human consumption. Most dive shops are not big money makers and them filling your tank can only help their bottom line. They might find several guys in their area that need it. In Charleston WV, the local dive shop fills quite a few tanks. With each fill of the gun, the pressure drops in the scuba tank, so each fill will be slightly less, but you will still get dozens of fills between each scuba tank refill. I only bought the scuba tank after buying a superten with a huge cylinder.
Regarding water in the tank. Tom Gaylord did a article on this. They actuall added water on purpose to the tanks and showed that the gun simply fired the water out. I have hear reports of rusted cylinders too though. I woul check with the experts, the airgunsmiths at PCE or any airgunsmith and see what they think.
Other thoughts,
You can't take a scuba tank on an airline.
Joe.Matusic-at-Camc.org.44761.44757

[smh]

I also recently got an LP50. Got the Hill pump, also. After pumping up the cylinders for a couple of weeks, I went out and bought a scuba tank and a yoke from Pilkington. Much easier, way less hassle, and I don't have to worry about moisture in the cylinders. The water trap being advertised on the Hill pump website is probably a good idea if you're committed to the pump, although I've not had anp personal experience with it.
s.hirasuna-at-verizon.net.44763.44758

[Michael]

I recently went through this. I ended up buying a scuba tank at my local dive shop. I bought a new aluminum tank with "K" valve. I almost made a mistake and bought a used tank rated for 2400 psi. Luckily the shop owner steered me clear of this when she found out that I was going to use it for air pistol shooting. I bought the adapter from Pilkguns. My dive shop didn't even bother asking for a dive card once they knew the tank was for an air pistol. They fill a lot of tanks for paintball, so they are very used to filling tanks for other than scuba. I was prepared as I used to scuba dive and still have my dive card. It's hard to believe that you don't have a dive shop closer than 50 miles. Check with your local fire dept. and find out where they get their Scott packs filled. Make sure that you are talking to the owner of the dive shop when explaining that you want to buy a tank and have it filled by them (money talks). Sometimes underlings will give you a pat answer, because they can't authorize a divergence from the store rules. Were you talking to the owner? I have a Morini 162EI Short and I have to fill it about every 90 shots or so. I'm glad I got a scuba tank, due to the frequency of filling and because I know that I'm filling it up with dry, clean air.
: I am going to buy a LP50.
: As this will be my first compressed air pistol
: I would like to know the pros and cons of useing
: a pump to charge the gun. Will this shorten the
: life of the gun? The nearest dive shop is 50 miles
: and when I spoke to them on the phone they said
: that they must see my dive card to fill a tank.
: I tried to tell them it was for an air gun but
: they said no card no air.
: Lard in Pa.
: Must have (Bullseye-L) in subject line to respond.

.44770.44757