TargetTalk

I got invited for 10m air pistol in the Jr. Olympics this year and was about to catch the long flight to NY to CO and received an email from USA shooting about the relatively new air cylinder/tank age limit. They have to be under ten (10) years old for them to be allowed onto the range or to be filled.
Now this was really a problem, I shoot a Tau 7 (match?) with the bulk fill attachment. The tank was 15 years old! So we had to find a new air pistol....fast! Luckily we had some friends here from last years JR.O that was able to loan me a Steyr P10.

To me this is a almost stupid regulation. I get it's for safety, but how do they expect everyone new to the sport (including clubs!) to drop $2000 on new air pistol(s), when their old ones work perfectly fine? It discourages newbies to the wonderful sport.

Thankfully this worked out for me, and even got a major upgrade for the match. But some may be stuck in the mud. I just wanted to let everyone know of this regulation in case some have not heard about it yet.

Any thought/opinions welcome.
Good luck, and shoot straight!

Hi Andre

This topic has been debated to death and far beyond on this forum.
Do a search and you'll see...

All the best for your competition.

Andre
I don't think you would have been allowed to take a charged bulk fill tank onto a flight anyway.
On the plus side the Tau-7 also uses the easily purchased anywhere 12.5 gram "Powerlets" that have enough juice for even a 60 round match + sighters, unless the power is set too high.

JMHO John

But those powerlets don't have a manufacture date on them! They may have been sitting around for over ten years (HORRORS!). According to the USA Shooting rules, he couldn't use them.

I'm completely fine with 10 years if the product keeps being supported beyond that.

I think the real problem is manufacturers changing their standards every few years for the sake of "novelty". Of course, manufacturers opting for that kind of marketing lost a big chunk of their user base.
Grips, cylinders and accessories being non-retrocompatible and unsupported after 5-10 years is not acceptable. I'd argue that's it's a reason most people go for the same 2 brands.

Just a point of fact for the group here. This is not a USA Shooting rule originally. This is an ISSF rule. USA Shooting takes the ISSF rulebook in its entirety and, with a few minor addendums, uses it for the USA Shooting rulebook.

USA Shooting didn't just make this up to irritate US shooters. They are conforming to rules that you will have to conform to if you win the JO's and are sent to another country to compete.

As has been stated, yes the rule is marginally insane. A well taken care of cylinder can last for a long time. One that is owned by an idiot will not last as long. As with all rules and regulations, they are made because of, and for, idiots. The rest of us have to live with them.

We actually shipped the tank ahead of time UPS.

Just a point of fact for the group here. This is not a USA Shooting rule originally. This is an ISSF rule. USA Shooting takes the ISSF rulebook in its entirety and, with a few minor addendums, uses it for the USA Shooting rulebook.

Oops, my mistake. Thank you for the correction.

But those powerlets don't have a manufacture date on them! They may have been sitting around for over ten years (HORRORS!). According to the USA Shooting rules, he couldn't use them.

Hmm, true. When I went last year with a different TAU a range officer walked me off the range to change cartridges. He didn't even look at it, no question asked. [/quote]

There are several things going on...

Based on various sources & rumors:

1) At least in the US, the requirement for dates & such only applies to gas containers above a certain capacity, and the small CO2 cartridges are under the limit.

2) I think the ISSF requirement applies to gas storage devices attached to the pistol while shooting. The assumption is that bulk fill cylinders are covered by other regulations, like hydrotesting of SCUBA tanks. The CO2 bulk fill "bottles" that the Tau-7 can use do not have an expiration date because the manufacturer considered them "good for life". They are smaller & lower pressure than SCUBA cylinders, and probably met the Czech regulations in the past. Tau Brno is now wrestling with new EU regulations, which I suspect are behind the new ISSF rules. They currently are not selling the "bottles" anymore.

3) Because the gas-storage-on-the-pistol can be interpreted to apply to the steel cylinder in the grip of the Tau-7, some officials in Europe are interpreting this to mean that you can't shoot a Tau-7 if the pistol is more than 10 years old, and they are requiring proof of the manufacture date. Given that the cylinder is brazed onto the frame of the pistol, they can't be swapped out.

4) Apparently EU regulations also require some sort of over pressure relief valve, and Tau Brno is in the process of figuring out how the heck to add one to their design.

I don't know how many thousands of Tau-7's have been sold, but I would bet money that no one has ever been injured by a failure of the pressure vessels of any type. As usual, the bureaucracy has come up with a one size fits all solution to imaginary problems.

I'm waiting for the rumored adapter that will place a new tank on my 480k2