Got the PCP bug

[August]

Should get my 2nd PCP rifle tomorrow. Bought a Hatsan AT44, and now I'm adding a Marauder .22

Need to pony up for a compressor now. Hand pumping is gawd awful. No tanks for me as my nearest filling station is about an hour away.

[FrogEyes]

I have an old Marauder 0.177 that is so quite and accurate. If I read the wind right and place the pellet correctly then it's lights out for the pests. The nice thing about m-rods is that you "can" use a hand pump to fill them up but I broke down and got a tank. The compressor and tank is the way to go.

[Jwalt]

You're still going to want a tank. Last thing you want to do is have to fill the gun from the compressor.

A full large tank, you can get by for a loooong time. You've got it covered for long range days or if your compressor needs repair.

[CVShooter]

I have an AT-44 and a P-rod. Love them both but for different reasons. The AT-44 is a good "long range" rifle for things like ground squirrels or if I want to put some power downrange at turkeys. It's a fairly simple adjustment to boost the power on the shot. But my go-to gun is still the P-rod with the stock. Easy to fill, easy to shoot, easy to carry. My AT-44 is my heaviest gun at around 12 lb -- outweighing even my .308 with its med-bull barrel. So it gets left behind a lot.

[hermosabeach]

The lower pressure PCP can easily benefit from a cheaper SCUBA tank
An Aluminum 3,300 80 cubic foot tank or the steel tanks that are good to 3,500 or so - available in 80 CF to around 130 CF


Years ago I worked in a dive shop… the burst PSI for tanks was crazy - something around 16,000 PSI

The burst disc safety device I seem to recall were 5,000 psi on the 3,000 and 3,300 psi tanks

So if you filled the tank to 4,500 you were fine…. Unless you left the tank in the sun and the internal pressure went over 5k.

Then the burst disc popped and the air hissed out.



While we screwed around a lot at the dive shop- we accepted responsibility for our actions.

Same with you - if you get a compressor and a steel 80 - it’s high pressure. Safety is key.

The SCBA are lighter and go higher pressure and have a limited life span

The steel 80 will last an easy 25 years.

[August]

M-rod came in today. Couple of little things not done right from the factory, but easy fixes.

I'd like a tank but I'm not gonna pony up for a new tank or even a used certified tank because I simply don't use the air guns all that much. 100% used here around the house. I've got dog kennels, horses and a few bottle baby calves sometimes here at the house and they go all nuts if I squeeze off a powder burner.

[Jwalt]

SCBA only have a limited lifespan in legal terms. They expect them to get knocked around on fire rigs and battered in training and actual firefighting.

In practical reality, people with their own compressors are filling 30 year old tanks regularly. They're perfectly safe.