My first purchase! Need opinions!
- Thread starter AirgunnerMike
- Start date
I've never owned one personally, but I dont think it will be any more difficult than filling similar rifles. It just gets old when you have a gun that only gets say 20 shots on the fill because it's a higher caliber powerhouse. Then you have to go pump it again another 100 pumps or whatever. I hand pumper for the first 4 years I owned pcp rifles, then I got a gun that had a 300cc 3600 psi tube and I quickly realized I needed a compressor lol.
The flash is a 2900 psi fill on a 165cc tube, the bt65 is 2900 psi on a 255cc tube. More effort but more power so thats entirely up to you.
For your goals of wanting to make ethical kills on medium size game like yotes, the bt65 would probably be the better choice. Hand pump til you save up for a bottle or compressor. You can always have a dive shop fill the bottle, or sometimes fire depts will do it for you.
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I've heard nothing but good stuff about thammer's guns. Having been a Hatsan owner, I think I would have been happier with one of his had I known of him at the time. Check it out, more to ponder.
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Okay yeah that makes a lot of sense, I wasn’t even thinking about tank size. I live in NW Ohio so I doubt there’s any dive shops nearby. I see some compressors for about 200 which for my budget isn’t too bad. I think I may have to go with the BT65 and just tough it out with the hand pump for a little while.
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Hand pumping isn't THAT BAD. When you are doing tuning and sighting in it can be a pain because of the waiting and labor to do it then wait some more to get your heart rate down lol.
After that is out of the way, you only need to fill when your power curve starts to drop off. You won't be plinking or punching much paper with the cost and availability of those 30 cal pellets!
Also, get a chronograph if you don't already have one so you know when your velocity is dropping off and where the sweet spot is in your shot string.
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That was one of my main concerns about getting the .30 was availability of pellets. Not only will I be getting significantly less bang for my buck but there’s a lot of .25 pellets that I would love to use such as hornets and poly mags, what I’ve seen online is that polymags can only be single loaded into the BT65 because they’re too long for the mag.
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Could save up a bit more and get a 30 caliber Gauntlet 2... if you can stand the looks of it 
I dont like it much obviously. I have a 25 gen 1 gauntlet and it's looks are tolerable at best! It's huge too.
I dont like it much obviously. I have a 25 gen 1 gauntlet and it's looks are tolerable at best! It's huge too.
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I CANT stand the look of the Gauntlet! Thats funny you say that. I had the same idea, but aesthetic is a big thing for me and thats why the Wood version of the Flash was so enticing.Could save up a bit more and get a 30 caliber Gauntlet 2... if you can stand the looks of it
I dont like it much obviously. I have a 25 gen 1 gauntlet and it's looks are tolerable at best! It's huge too.
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I'm more of a hunter then a target shooter. I got a used bt-65 .25 qe several months ago and it's an ok pcp for hunting. The positives I would say is power, accuracy is good enough, and comfort. The negatives I would say is it's way too long, very loud, you can't add a moderator, very heavy, and hatsan's picatiny is weird.
Years ago I used to own a .25 mrod and it was tuned about 43 ft-lbs. I was able to head shot a coyote about 30 yards and the coyote went went down like a sack of potatoes. If a flash can get 42+ ft-lbs and group under an inch at 50 yards, I would suggest the flash.
Which ever pcp you choose, I would suggest getting a chrony. After shooting the bt-65 over the chrony, I knew I only needed to fill the tank up to 172 bar to get 11 shots that group under an inch at 50.
Years ago I used to own a .25 mrod and it was tuned about 43 ft-lbs. I was able to head shot a coyote about 30 yards and the coyote went went down like a sack of potatoes. If a flash can get 42+ ft-lbs and group under an inch at 50 yards, I would suggest the flash.
Which ever pcp you choose, I would suggest getting a chrony. After shooting the bt-65 over the chrony, I knew I only needed to fill the tank up to 172 bar to get 11 shots that group under an inch at 50.
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A rifle I just picked up a month back, if you can find them, would fit the bill perfectly. A sam yang sumatra carbine in 25 cal. Can dial it down for 20 fpe all the way up into the 80 fpe and they are just friggin cool guns. I found one new in box from a member on GTA for $600.
Thats only a 36 inch long case, to give you perspective. This thing will kill a hog, and i can fit 47 grain slugs in the cylinders. It takes a 6 round rotary mag, they look like a cylinder from a revolver.
They also came in a full length rifle size, but this one could be hand pumped easy, its only 180cc vs the rifle is 500cc.
Thats only a 36 inch long case, to give you perspective. This thing will kill a hog, and i can fit 47 grain slugs in the cylinders. It takes a 6 round rotary mag, they look like a cylinder from a revolver.
They also came in a full length rifle size, but this one could be hand pumped easy, its only 180cc vs the rifle is 500cc.
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Thank you for sharing your experience! If a .25 can take out a yote at sub 50 FPE than i think the Flash is the way to go!
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My 45 fpe hydra was stacking 26 grain polymags at 50 yards for 20 shots. It would give dime sized groups with baracudas at that distance too. My 22 flashpup I just sold was just as accurate and would do 42 fpe fully cranked up but only about 20 shots that way. The flash platform is totally underrated.
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Thats an awesome looking rifle! I think my mind is made up on the Flash! I gotta give respect to the lever action but I personally prefer a bolt
I appreciate the convo and I will be back to show off everything i get when I get it!Upvote 0
Yeah, I was after one for a couple years and finally got one in new condition. Hoping to take some hogs and armadillos with it soon!Thats an awesome looking rifle! I think my mind is made up on the Flash! I gotta give respect to the lever action but I personally prefer a bolt
Let us know when you get the flash, im sure we can point you in the right direction to get it tuned running hot!
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I guess one could add a moderate but look at how long the BT65 already is:
And with it scoped and full of air, it's a pig
Some crony numbers:
Fill to 170 bar, JSB 34 grains, 25 shots
Hi - 855
Lo - 841
Av - 848 54.3 ft-lbs
ES - 14
SD - 4
And this is factory tune which is awesome. No need to figure out increasing the power out put.
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I see that Vulcan .25 in suggested often. I have a 3 gen Vulcan 1. Dam nice shooting airgun. Have never had an issue. I actually just took it out a shoot it some the other day. It has been sitting for a few months. Having several airguns this happens. Still held zero and was still full on air. If you want something reliable Its gonna be hard to beat anything AGT.
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AirgunnerMike,
Interesting post, I've two comments that may help. One, last November, ZANS Projectiles (Netherlands), an AGN sponsor, started offering JSB pellets, I, and others, haven't had any availability problems with .25 or .30 pellets since. Buying in bulk, 4 or more tins, helps offset DHL International shipping costs. Product arrives fast and well-packaged. Two, an authentic Yong Heng water/oiled cooled compressor, Hardcover Model, can be bought from best-homepro, on eBay, for around $250. Free, fast shipping included. Our AGN archives are full of additional information on both topics, use SEARCH function to access. Best of Luck, WM
Interesting post, I've two comments that may help. One, last November, ZANS Projectiles (Netherlands), an AGN sponsor, started offering JSB pellets, I, and others, haven't had any availability problems with .25 or .30 pellets since. Buying in bulk, 4 or more tins, helps offset DHL International shipping costs. Product arrives fast and well-packaged. Two, an authentic Yong Heng water/oiled cooled compressor, Hardcover Model, can be bought from best-homepro, on eBay, for around $250. Free, fast shipping included. Our AGN archives are full of additional information on both topics, use SEARCH function to access. Best of Luck, WM
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