Hammerli 480 losing air pressure?

[ScottT]

I purchased 2 brand new Hammerli 480 air pistols yesterday.

After filling the pistols with a FX air pump, they both shot perfectly.

Later in the evening, approx 4 hours later I tested the cylinders with the manometer. Both guns had very little pressure left in them.

Is there anything different that needs to be done to fill the guns with air instead of C02?

Are there know leaking problems with these guns or is this normal?

Any hints or tips would be much appreciated.

Cheers Scott

[JoeG]

Hi Scott, you mentioned that both of the 480's were new so I would guess the model would actually be 480K2. The original 480 had a somewhat large fixed tank and was filled via a connection at the the front of the tank just below the muzzle. This version was able to be used with either CO2 or scuba air without any change of any parts. These fixed tank versions did often develope a leaking problem. Eventually Hammerli came out with the 480K which featured a smaller removable cylinder. Original 480's could be converted over to the newer 480k configuration. The 480K2 was a later version of the 480K and the last in the series. Larry's Guns in Maine is a Hammerli distributor and could probably service any problems with the K and K2 models. If you have the earlier fixed tank 480 most people will not attempt to fix the leaking problem but I do know someone who is successful most of the time. I am including a photo of my fixed tank 480 which was repaired by Anthony Storey a few years ago and has been fine ever since.

[ScottT]

Thanks for the reply Joe.

They are both the same as your pistol.

They are the 480 with the fixed cylinder.

I am in Sydney, Australia, and am currently waiting on the local distributer getting back to me so I can discuss the problem with them.

Larrys Guns replied to me and suggested fitting a cylinder from an AP40 to fix the problem. I will ru this past my local dealer to see if they are interested in fixing it.

Cheers
Scott

[JoeG]

I don't know for sure if Anthony Storey (who is here in the U.S.) still does service on these but I might recommend you think about that as a possibility for at least one of yours since they are certainly unique and interesting guns. I am pretty sure I have his contact info and could send it along to you via a PM if you like. Btw, the recommendation on these seems to be to decide if you are going to use either CO2 or Scuba air and just stick with that one, not to switch back and forth between them. I use scuba air in mine, another buddy (who also had his serviced by Anthony) uses CO2. Good luck, keep me posted. Joe G.

[ScottT]

I havent got an export licence to get the gun to Anthony for repair.

I just have to hope that the local dealer wants to play the game to fix it for us.

Thanks for your help Joe.

Cheers
Scott