Hand Pump Options? Experiences ?

[Shooting Targets]

Hey just had my air compressor go out. I am curious if one was to hand pump a 74 and 98cf tank would hand pumping be ok. I do have some questions. How often does one need to rebuild the hand pumps like a high dollar hill hand pump ? What about water in the tank and how well does the bleed line work to remove water ?

Can anybody suggest the best handpump ? Your experiences , your methods ? Frequent rebuilds of the pump. 

Probably will shoot .177 from an impact with high shot count.


Jay

 

[dizzums]

lol .. if you pumped on it about 20 minutes a day, in about 6 months youd get a 98cf tank fillled to 4500 haha ... you could pump a 500cc gun tank more reasonably, be alot of work still, guarantee you wont do it more than once a week ... but a pump will last a long time if you maintain it, break it down after use dry it and lube it .. i got a benji pump i used for 10 years and its still great, never replaced a seal on it yet ...

 

[John "spysir" Blount]

Sure you can. When they 1st came out Hill said 50 strokes then cool (and leave the handle up). Whatever the number heat is your enemy so just kkep it cool.

No need at all the spend the big dollars on an hill or fx,... Pop on over to https://www.airgunnation.com/forum/accessories/air-tanks-pumps-compressors-filters/ and get the lowdown.

Had thee 1st Hill, 1st FX, 4th gen .... and this one is actually superior to any of those https:/ /www.amazon.com/VEVOR-Airgun-Pressure-Stirrup-4500PSI/dp/B078V1RM4F

Last time I pumped a 500cc bottle from empty it was 500 strokes NOT counting re-filling the hose volume (best guess math) which was another 6-8 pumps after bleeding occasionally. 

Make filling those a regular practice and you'll be wearing guns!

John

 

[Ranchibi]

Better just to fill or top off your guns with a hand pump! 

 

[beerthief]

i weigh 240 and have to use all my weight on the last few inches of pumping to push the air into the tank , it gets harder to do near 300 bar. All that sweat to shoot 13 .25 pellets 

Get a cheap China pump and try it 

 

[Trucker3573]

Just buy a scba tank assuming you have somewhere to get it filled? Kind of a hassle but you know it will last 15 years. The little compressors could be 15 hrs or 15 minutes. It’s a pray while you play every time you turn it on. 

 

[Nomadic Pirate 66]

The one suggestion I have;

don't bother buying a high end pump like HILL or FX ( this comes from me having had 8 HILLs and 2 FX in the past )

Today a 50 bucks pump from Amazon is just as good if not better, also they come with a pretty hefty bag of spare O-rings and parts.

 

[Lightyear68]

I bought this $70 Four Uncles pump which I recommend. There are online videos how to disassemble and repair or rebuild as needed. It have an extension hose on my pump, so it takes 20 easy pumps to fill the air hose before I hear the telltale squeak letting me know air is going into the rifle. It takes an additional 50 pumps to get me from 1500psi to 2900 psi, which is where my Gamo Urban shoots best. After lifting the pump handle, it compresses easily with little resistance until the last four inches which is the part of the pumping cycle that forces the air into the rifle. Then I bend my knees and let my body weight push it to the bottom of its travel. Shooting 20 Pellets reduces my pressure from 2900 to about 1500 psi, and then I refill. I also reduced my rifle's power from the stock 13 screw turns to 11 turns--this video explains how. This reduced power results in less noise and more shots per charge.

I looked into buying a compressor, but I only shoot 20-40 shots per session and that's just one fill. Even two fills wouldn't be that bad. Each fill takes only a few minutes of steady, methodical pumping. If I ever start shooting to the point of needing three or more fills per session, that would be time for a compressor as I see it.

 

[Hw9720]

The one suggestion I have;

don't bother buying a high end pump like HILL or FX ( this comes from me having had 8 HILLs and 2 FX in the past )

Today a 50 bucks pump from Amazon is just as good if not better, also they come with a pretty hefty bag of spare O-rings and parts.

I have an FX pump I bought new in 2000 it has never been rebuilt and still works today.
tim

 

[JimD]

I have a Benjamin hand pump and a much cheaper chinese pump. I think the chinese one is a much better buy. It has a little cotton filter providing some moisture collection. I think it is OK for filling a gun (although with a big carbon fiber tank you might need to check it while filling). The Benjamin has no moisture filter. I was OK with hand pumping my first PCP, a Prod. About 30 strokes would fill it. But my second was an Avenger. It only stores 180cc of air but that is almost 3 times as much as the Prod and it can store it at higher pressure. So it took hundreds of strokes to fill the Avenger which was not much fun. Very doable but I only filled to ~4000 psi once or maybe twice. Mostly I filled to 3000-3,500. It takes increasingly more effort to make a stroke as the pressure increases. I would not even think about filling my 45 minutes SCBA tank with a hand pump. It would take practically forever.

If my Yong Heng fails I will try rebuilding it and will hand pump my guns while I am doing that. If it gives indications of failing I will buy the parts ahead of time. But if it fails without warning I'm not sure I will be patient enough to wait for Alliexpress deliveries of the parts. I may just buy another YH or maybe one of the little more portable pumps. I can hand pump, I have done it. I still have my pumps but I know from experience that I do not enjoy hand pumping.

I see hand pumping as not at all useful for filling a bottle. I think it can work for filling even a larger air capacity air gun but only if you are pretty patient or determined. It works best IMHO for smaller air capacity guns that do not take hundreds of pump strokes.

 

[Nomadic Pirate 66]

I have an FX pump I bought new in 2000 it has never been rebuilt and still works today.
tim

23 years no re-build ?.....My man you got the magic pump

 

[Nomadic Pirate 66]

I have a Benjamin hand pump and a much cheaper chinese pump. I think the chinese one is a much better buy. It has a little cotton filter providing some moisture collection. I think it is OK for filling a gun (although with a big carbon fiber tank you might need to check it while filling). The Benjamin has no moisture filter. I was OK with hand pumping my first PCP, a Prod. About 30 strokes would fill it. But my second was an Avenger. It only stores 180cc of air but that is almost 3 times as much as the Prod and it can store it at higher pressure. So it took hundreds of strokes to fill the Avenger which was not much fun. Very doable but I only filled to ~4000 psi once or maybe twice. Mostly I filled to 3000-3,500. It takes increasingly more effort to make a stroke as the pressure increases. I would not even think about filling my 45 minutes SCBA tank with a hand pump. It would take practically forever.

If my Yong Heng fails I will try rebuilding it and will hand pump my guns while I am doing that. If it gives indications of failing I will buy the parts ahead of time. But if it fails without warning I'm not sure I will be patient enough to wait for Alliexpress deliveries of the parts. I may just buy another YH or maybe one of the little more portable pumps. I can hand pump, I have done it. I still have my pumps but I know from experience that I do not enjoy hand pumping.

I see hand pumping as not at all useful for filling a bottle. I think it can work for filling even a larger air capacity air gun but only if you are pretty patient or determined. It works best IMHO for smaller air capacity guns that do not take hundreds of pump strokes.

Handpumps where never ment for filling bottles, they are slow and tedious but they also are a sure thing when everything else fails.

 

[nervoustrig]

23 years no re-build ?.....My man you got the magic pump

There's an O-ring in this pump that won't seal on one side. So I'm taking it home to my workshop, my dear. I'll fix it up there, then I'll bring it back here.

 

[MikeVV]

ONLY...been a coupla years, and pumping mostly pistols (topping off a few rifles here and there) only, but so far, My Hill is still making pressure just fine.

And yeah, watch for heat near the bottom of the pump tube. Normally about 40 to 45 strokes, then about a ten minute cooling off period, then back at it.

Mike

 

[Filnez]

I got a four stage off of Ebay a couple of years ago. I pump slowly and never noticed any heat buildup. I would never try to pump large tanks, hand pumps are for filling gun reservoirs.