One thing that seems to have been a so far unstoppable trend in airguns has been the ever increasing maximum pressure used. Antique pneumatics operated at pressures under 1000 psi and while CO2 might exceed that on a hot day it was mostly under 1000 psi too. When more modern PCP's came out their maximum pressure was largely capped by the pressure of scuba tanks and the work of hand pumping. Because scuba tanks typically only held 3000 psi when full and the early guns were unregulated, this resulted in a typical gun being fully charged at 2700 psi or less. Of course most were rated for 3000, but their sweet spot was typically lower than that.
With the advent of carbon fiber tanks, affordable compressors and regulated guns it seems the new standard is 4500 psi. Sure some guns still do fine with less, but when you've got a regulator and your compressor can give you 4500 psi every time more pressure means more power and more shots per fill.
Things don't really stop at 4500 psi though. Hubens have a max fill of 5000 psi and the new AEA air cartridges actually fire at 5000 psi and AEA also has a new big bore that's designed for 6000 psi.
This makes for some interesting possibilities and potential hazards. What happens when we start working with 10,000 psi? At that point airgun performance will actually be on par with many centerfire powder burners. I can't help but think they will also be inherently more hazardous than powder burners due to the reservoirs and valves always being under pressure. There will also be the obvious hazard of people overfilling their older guns. For decades now I've heard fear mongering about coming regulation of airguns. 20 years ago it was because of powerful big bores. These days it's because of full auto. What seems far more likely to me however is if we have a rash of deaths and injuries due to 10,000 psi cylinders and overfills that the various regulatory agencies will step in and regulate us from a consumer safety standpoint.
For those of you with an engineering background, what's holding us back from a physics standpoint? Is there a maximum practical pressure that we will reach simply due to the molecular properties of air or the physical complications involved with compressing it?
Edit: After typing this all out I discovered that there is a very similar recent thread already on the forum. I'm going to leave this up as I probably brought up some stuff that isn't present there, but here is the link to it and I'm definitely following it as well.
www.airgunnation.com
With the advent of carbon fiber tanks, affordable compressors and regulated guns it seems the new standard is 4500 psi. Sure some guns still do fine with less, but when you've got a regulator and your compressor can give you 4500 psi every time more pressure means more power and more shots per fill.
Things don't really stop at 4500 psi though. Hubens have a max fill of 5000 psi and the new AEA air cartridges actually fire at 5000 psi and AEA also has a new big bore that's designed for 6000 psi.
This makes for some interesting possibilities and potential hazards. What happens when we start working with 10,000 psi? At that point airgun performance will actually be on par with many centerfire powder burners. I can't help but think they will also be inherently more hazardous than powder burners due to the reservoirs and valves always being under pressure. There will also be the obvious hazard of people overfilling their older guns. For decades now I've heard fear mongering about coming regulation of airguns. 20 years ago it was because of powerful big bores. These days it's because of full auto. What seems far more likely to me however is if we have a rash of deaths and injuries due to 10,000 psi cylinders and overfills that the various regulatory agencies will step in and regulate us from a consumer safety standpoint.
For those of you with an engineering background, what's holding us back from a physics standpoint? Is there a maximum practical pressure that we will reach simply due to the molecular properties of air or the physical complications involved with compressing it?
Edit: After typing this all out I discovered that there is a very similar recent thread already on the forum. I'm going to leave this up as I probably brought up some stuff that isn't present there, but here is the link to it and I'm definitely following it as well.
The limiting factor
As an engineering student its so cool seeing the complexity in airguns, especially what is to me a doing more with less feeling. I’m not an expert in fluid dynamics, physics, ballistics, or anything like that but I see the difference in working pressures between airguns and powder burners as the...
www.airgunnation.com Last edited:
