Bullpups – Why Don’t They Give Us a LONGER Air Tube?
This is a part 3 in a series on bullpups.
The others are here:
Part 1:
https://www.airgunnation.com/topic/to-some-size-does-matter-and-looks-bullpup-photo-comparison-chart-2/
Part 2:
https://www.airgunnation.com/topic/bullpup-buttstocks-cut-them-off-why-are-they-not-shorter/
I try to be understanding when they tell me they think bullpups are UGLY. They are entitled to their opinion (just like I have opinions of my own.... Like, that their opinion is seriously mistaken – but that’s not the topic of this post, so you may as well allow your blood pressure to go back down to normal levels for now).
However, most bullpup haters, the lovers, and the in-betweeners probably would agree that the looks of a bullpup design break with many rifle design traditions:
• Bullpups don’t really have a buttstock worth looking at (semi-bullpups try to keep some butt, somehow).
• Bullpups often come in the violently detested black synthetic, that together with a few other non-traditional features gets viciously denounced as the “tacticool look.”
• And most relevant for this article: Airgun bullpups are 99% PCP’s, meaning that they have to have a second “barrel” or bottle to store the air – certainly NOT what a traditional rifle looks like, no matter if AG or PB.
Ergo, for many traditional gun-design lovers, a bullpup makes their eyes bleed. Or at least gives them a case of pupil rash.
So, if the airgun bullpup looks so non-traditional because of the air tube...:
Why do many manufacturers make the air tube shorter than necessary, as if trying to not have “too much of it”?
Can there even be a “too much air tube” on a PCP?!? Because if I’m going to have an air tube hanging under my barrel and mess up traditional rifle looks, then I might as well get it all they way out there to the muzzle, and get myself a load of power, or a load of shots per fill!
I first noticed this air tube stinginess while I was comparing 40 bullpups for the previous posts in this series.
Full Air Tubes
There are some generous manufacturers who give their customers “full length air tubes” that extend almost all the way out to the muzzle. This is one way to maximize air supply.
Also, a full air tube is a protection of the barrel against getting hit when handling the gun in confined spaces or in the woods. I rather have the air tube taking a hit than the sensitive barrel, which would likely change my POI.
By the same token, the really short air tubes make it hard to rest the gun on sandbags as resting the gun on the barrel is not recommended – again for the inadvertent POI change.
Anemic Air Tubes
Then there are some manufacturers who seem to be a lot more stingy when giving their customers air....
The air tubes of their bullpups are short in comparison to the barrel (which is short to begin with on a bullpup, at least the ones under 31" / 81cm). I call those the “anemic air tubes.” Why not help the shooter out and give him/ her more air?
(Sure, for sub-12FPE countries, or those suffering under the inhumane 6FPE restriction in Germany, this isn’t much of an issue.)
Bullpup Photo Comparison Chart – Air Tubes
To illustrate this curious anemic air tube phenomena, below is a sampling of 40 bullpup photos (also as Hi-Res photo for download at the link).
See for yourself how some generous bullpups give you a full air tube, while others are more stingy providing you only with an anemic air tube.
Happy shooting,
Matthias
NOTE 1: Now, please note that I’m not comparing total air capacity in the tube/ bottle. That’s a related but different issue – here all I’m saying is: I can always use more air – so which bullpup is stiffing me on not extending the air tube all the way to the muzzle?
NOTE 2: As in the other posts, I have not included every bullpup in the airguniverse. Excluded were:
• Bullpups 31" / 80cm or longer (there are a couple of exceptions)
• Evanix Rainstorm 3D Bullpup (even my eyes bleed looking at that one) | Walther Reign (not moderated; with moderator too long) | Leshiy (technically not a bullpup)
The photos and measurements are for .22 bullpups with either shroud or silencer (“moderator”).
LINK for Hi-Res Photo:
https://www.mediafire.com/view/3uy25bev7ns1zdl/Bullpups._Anemic_Air_Tubes._06._HiRes_11.2Mb.jpg/file
Lo-Res:
This is a part 3 in a series on bullpups.
The others are here:
Part 1:
https://www.airgunnation.com/topic/to-some-size-does-matter-and-looks-bullpup-photo-comparison-chart-2/
Part 2:
https://www.airgunnation.com/topic/bullpup-buttstocks-cut-them-off-why-are-they-not-shorter/
I try to be understanding when they tell me they think bullpups are UGLY. They are entitled to their opinion (just like I have opinions of my own.... Like, that their opinion is seriously mistaken – but that’s not the topic of this post, so you may as well allow your blood pressure to go back down to normal levels for now).
However, most bullpup haters, the lovers, and the in-betweeners probably would agree that the looks of a bullpup design break with many rifle design traditions:
• Bullpups don’t really have a buttstock worth looking at (semi-bullpups try to keep some butt, somehow).
• Bullpups often come in the violently detested black synthetic, that together with a few other non-traditional features gets viciously denounced as the “tacticool look.”
• And most relevant for this article: Airgun bullpups are 99% PCP’s, meaning that they have to have a second “barrel” or bottle to store the air – certainly NOT what a traditional rifle looks like, no matter if AG or PB.
Ergo, for many traditional gun-design lovers, a bullpup makes their eyes bleed. Or at least gives them a case of pupil rash.
So, if the airgun bullpup looks so non-traditional because of the air tube...:
Why do many manufacturers make the air tube shorter than necessary, as if trying to not have “too much of it”?
Can there even be a “too much air tube” on a PCP?!? Because if I’m going to have an air tube hanging under my barrel and mess up traditional rifle looks, then I might as well get it all they way out there to the muzzle, and get myself a load of power, or a load of shots per fill!
I first noticed this air tube stinginess while I was comparing 40 bullpups for the previous posts in this series.
Full Air Tubes
There are some generous manufacturers who give their customers “full length air tubes” that extend almost all the way out to the muzzle. This is one way to maximize air supply.
Also, a full air tube is a protection of the barrel against getting hit when handling the gun in confined spaces or in the woods. I rather have the air tube taking a hit than the sensitive barrel, which would likely change my POI.
By the same token, the really short air tubes make it hard to rest the gun on sandbags as resting the gun on the barrel is not recommended – again for the inadvertent POI change.
Anemic Air Tubes
Then there are some manufacturers who seem to be a lot more stingy when giving their customers air....
The air tubes of their bullpups are short in comparison to the barrel (which is short to begin with on a bullpup, at least the ones under 31" / 81cm). I call those the “anemic air tubes.” Why not help the shooter out and give him/ her more air?
(Sure, for sub-12FPE countries, or those suffering under the inhumane 6FPE restriction in Germany, this isn’t much of an issue.)
Bullpup Photo Comparison Chart – Air Tubes
To illustrate this curious anemic air tube phenomena, below is a sampling of 40 bullpup photos (also as Hi-Res photo for download at the link).
See for yourself how some generous bullpups give you a full air tube, while others are more stingy providing you only with an anemic air tube.
Happy shooting,
Matthias
NOTE 1: Now, please note that I’m not comparing total air capacity in the tube/ bottle. That’s a related but different issue – here all I’m saying is: I can always use more air – so which bullpup is stiffing me on not extending the air tube all the way to the muzzle?
NOTE 2: As in the other posts, I have not included every bullpup in the airguniverse. Excluded were:
• Bullpups 31" / 80cm or longer (there are a couple of exceptions)
• Evanix Rainstorm 3D Bullpup (even my eyes bleed looking at that one) | Walther Reign (not moderated; with moderator too long) | Leshiy (technically not a bullpup)
The photos and measurements are for .22 bullpups with either shroud or silencer (“moderator”).
LINK for Hi-Res Photo:
https://www.mediafire.com/view/3uy25bev7ns1zdl/Bullpups._Anemic_Air_Tubes._06._HiRes_11.2Mb.jpg/file
Lo-Res:
