TargetTalk

I have made a decision that I am getting a pcp AP
Not sure on witch one yet
However I do need to get something to refill the tank
So what do you use for refilling your pcp tanks
Hand pump? Or scuba tank?
I do live in Norfolk Virginia and have plenty of diving businesses around so having a tank refilled is no big deal
Pros? And cons?

For one or two shooters a couple of times a week a 5 or 6 litre pony bottle (200 bar DIN fitting)
will last about 3-6 months.

Just so you don't have to make these expensive decisions:

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=50891

Big advantage with SCUBA air is that it is clean and dry.

I use a Hill pump. It's extremely convenient as long as you remember to fill your cylinders after a shooting session. Also provides a bit of exercise.

I used to have a CO2 pistol. The filling & hydrotesting was an annoyance, and an added expense. Also, depending on how long a hydrotest takes, you can be out of business for a week or more. Some large SCUBA places can do same day testing on site (figure two trips), but others have to send them out. At least there are usually lots of options for SCUBA filling. With CO2, you need to find an industrial/medical gas supply house that can give you DRY CO2. Lots of places that fill CO2 tanks for soda fountain use don't care about water in the system.

One advantage of CO2 is that you can get a "full" cylinder fill as long as there is liquid in the tank. With PCP, by the time you decide it needs filling, your cylinders will also be low on pressure.

The third alternative is one of the new cheap compressors:

http://shoeboxcompressor.com/shoebox-ma ... essor.html

Gwhite wrote:The third alternative is one of the new cheap compressors:

http://shoeboxcompressor.com/shoebox-ma ... essor.html

My understanding is that you would also need an 85psi compressor to feed the Shoebox.

David Levene wrote:

Gwhite wrote:The third alternative is one of the new cheap compressors:
http://shoeboxcompressor.com/shoebox-ma ... essor.html

My understanding is that you would also need an 85psi compressor to feed the Shoebox.

Yes, but the requirements are pretty minimal. They claim you can get an adequate first stage compressor for ~ $80.

My concern would be moisture, and I'd definitely want to put some sort of dryer device between the two compressors. That might cost more than the compressor:

http://www.mcmaster.com/#5163k17/=109ja41

You could probably pick one up cheap on eBay, but you'd still need to supply it with desiccant at ~ $17 a refill.

jerber wrote:I have made a decision that I am getting a pcp AP
Not sure on witch one yet
However I do need to get something to refill the tank
So what do you use for refilling your pcp tanks
Hand pump? Or scuba tank?
I do live in Norfolk Virginia and have plenty of diving businesses around so having a tank refilled is no big deal
Pros? And cons?

I've been using a Gehmann floor-pump since I started using a PCP gun back in February. I do have a small SCBA tank with the DIN adapter, but I haven't even taken it out of its box or had a valve screwed onto it; I get about 150 shots from each of my cylinders filled up to 200bar, and it only takes about five minutes to fill up a cylinder with the pump - easy enough to do once a week. I even flew out to the Winter Airgun Championships in Colorado Springs with my pump a couple weeks ago so I could re-fill my cylinder in my hotel room without needing to fill up on-campus.

The pump's been pretty decent so far, though the manometer/pressure gauge is not very robust - the casing is just very thin metal, and doesn't stand up to un-protected travel very well. I took the pump (and my air pistol) with me on two car vacations this Summer (Camp Perry, and then to the Outer Banks), and the manometer's case got pushed into the metal face of the gauge along the way somewhere, bending the face and causing the needle to stop reporting any pressure increases after about 160bar. My cylinders have their own manometers so it wasn't too much of a problem, and it was a simple matter to fix it by unscrewing the gauge, removing the casing, and unbending the dial to allow the needle to move freely again.

I did get to try filling from a tank while at WAG - filling to 150bar in a couple seconds was indeed nice, as opposed to three or four minutes with a pump. I might go ahead and get my tank set up and filled at a local dive shop after all.

Rover wrote:Just so you don't have to make these expensive decisions:

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=50891

Yes I know
I did noticed it
But I'm sold on the pcp
Thanks

With a tank you get a lot of refills for zero effort. But each time you do, you loose a bit of pressure (for example 200bar, 199, 198...).

With a pump you can always get your cylinders to the full 200 bar, but you need to work for that.
The fill to 150 bar is very easy. From 150 to 200, it gets a little bit heavier, not much just a little.
Use your upper body weight to push the handle down. It helps a lot.

A pump is easier to store and to move around.

I got a pump when I bought my LP10, because I didn't want 6 litres of compressed at 200 bar in my house. They cost about the same then.
Now I would do the opposite. A tank is far easier and just as safe.
If you can, buy both. A tank for normal use, and a pump for filling to 200 bar when you need it (before a match for example), or if you take your pistol on a trip.

Hope this helps

I always fill my cylinders at the club/shooting range ... For free. All the ranges I visited had this service (I live in Belgium). Even on competitions.
Just wondering...You don't have this possibility in your club?

NosfyBe wrote:I always fill my cylinders at the club/shooting range ... For free. All the ranges I visited had this service (I live in Belgium). Even on competitions.
Just wondering...You don't have this possibility in your club?

Speaking for myself, I don't belong to any shooting clubs here in northern Virginia, USA; I shoot air pistol in my house. The only times I have access to a tank for filling is at the local matches, which occur twice a month at two different shooting ranges/clubs, neither of which are within convenient driving distance (one is about 30 minutes away, the other is 70 minutes away). I usually shoot more than a single cylinder's worth of shots practicing between matches, so I need some way to fill up at home - thus the reason I have a pump.

So I went with the scuba tank
I also decided to get the FWB P44
All of that are coming Tuesday

It's my Christmas gift to myself!
Thank you all for your replies