Hello, like the title says, I'm new here. I'm currently living in So Cal. I've been shooting firearms since about 1976 and casually shooting/plinking/hunting small game with air guns since about 1980. I've been involved with 1000 yard benchrest .50 cal matches since 2006. I finally took the PCP plunge a few days ago and ordered an Avenger X in .22. I feel completely lost right now but, hopefully my rifle, optics, compressor, CF tank, etc. will be here this Friday and I'll be more comfortable once I have them in hand. As soon as I learn a little more, I'm sure I'll end up with a .30, .38, .50 and probably a Seneca shotgun within a year or two. Of course, I'll probably end up with a higher end .22 too. The Avenger X is going to be my go to EDC on my side by side and ready for Euroasians, quail and cottontails at all times (during the appropriate seasons). I'm assuming I should run a couple patches down my barrel prior to shooting it. Is there anything else I should do with a brand new setup? Do I need to purge a new tank like I do when filling a LP tank for the first time? Am I just being a wimp by being scared of the high pressures associated with PCPs? I'm excited and nervous about getting into PCPs.
N/A New to the Forum and new to PCPs
- Thread starter CSACANNONEER
- Start date
It sounds like you’re doing everything right. I don’t own one, but the Avenge X is pretty well regarded by the community here in general and a CF tank is a really good way to go when it comes to charging things, particularly if you’re driving to the location where you’re going to shoot. They can charge the gun fast and easily, hold a lot of air and are generally much lighter and smaller than scuba tanks, and hold more air too.
There shouldn’t be any need to purge one providing you don’t allow any moisture to get in when you fill it.
There shouldn’t be any need to purge one providing you don’t allow any moisture to get in when you fill it.
Upvote 0
Welcome - We left SoCal a little over a year ago for SC. Instead of Earthquakes, we have a hurricane coming north. Been raining for the last two days, over 4 inches of water - I love it.
Careful where you shoot, in every city I lived during my 40+ year stay in SoCal it was illegal to discharge even pellet guns in city limits.
John
Careful where you shoot, in every city I lived during my 40+ year stay in SoCal it was illegal to discharge even pellet guns in city limits.
John
Upvote 0
PCP airguns are amazing.
Enjoy your journey!
And yes - take care around HPA (high pressure air)
Enjoy your journey!
And yes - take care around HPA (high pressure air)
Upvote 0
I live on +600 acres in the Santa Monica Mountains (LA and Ventura). I teach CCW classes and qualify my students right at home so, I know it's legal to shoot and hunt here. But, yes, I have to constantly tell people that discharging an airgun, casting an arrow or even using a slingshot is often covered in the same law as discharging a firearm.
Upvote 0
Welcome to AGN ! lots of good people here
Stan in KY.
P.S. run patches from the breach to the muzzle Eliminates the chance of some gook falling into the trigger and other areas .
Upvote 0
Welcome to the best dang forum on the internet. Tons of knowledge and generally friendly folks here.
Yes, definitely make sure that the barrel has a patch or three run through it just make sure there's nothing in there and clean any manufacturing gunk out.
You sound like you're well adept at scope mounting at 1000 yards, so that's good.
Buy some decent pellets from the major manufacturers such as JSB, H&N, JST, FX, AA, etc and go to town.
I highly recommend reading all that you can on High Pressure Air (HPA) as it can be very dangerous if not knowing. Buy quality HPA products too.
Start off slow and work your way up with a lot of practice. Don't fall for the high velocity hype if shooting pellets, the magic number is usually in the mid to high 800FPS range.
Enjoy the crap outta your new hobby, it's really got a strong hook!
mike
Yes, definitely make sure that the barrel has a patch or three run through it just make sure there's nothing in there and clean any manufacturing gunk out.
You sound like you're well adept at scope mounting at 1000 yards, so that's good.
Buy some decent pellets from the major manufacturers such as JSB, H&N, JST, FX, AA, etc and go to town.
I highly recommend reading all that you can on High Pressure Air (HPA) as it can be very dangerous if not knowing. Buy quality HPA products too.
Start off slow and work your way up with a lot of practice. Don't fall for the high velocity hype if shooting pellets, the magic number is usually in the mid to high 800FPS range.
Enjoy the crap outta your new hobby, it's really got a strong hook!
mike
Upvote 0
We'll pray fro you as you begin your journey down the Rabbit Hole® Hopefully you have a heck of a credit card limit. If you have a good dive shop close by or get ready for lots of bucks for a good compressor. Personally I'm going to recommend simplifying your pellet selection, I'm absolutely in LOVE with AEA's, all of my guns just adore them.. I you decide to jump into the slug branch of the Rabbit Hole, well...good luck.
Upvote 0
Welcome.
A Carbon fiber dive bottle to fill from dont have to be small, you can get them the full size of a diver / smoke diver would prefer.
If you are old they are very nice, but if you dont really have to lug the thing around much, a regular steel bottle will be fine too
If you are going to get the tank filled at a dive shop now and then, i would recommend a full size one.
I use to shoot my .177 rifle for a month using a 12 L bottle, and that is full power .177 and many many thousand of shots.
Of course a larger caliber will give more smacking power but also use more air, so it depend on what you are going to do with the rifle.
i have around 30 food pound of power, which is fine for most small things, even bigger with good shot placement.
A Carbon fiber dive bottle to fill from dont have to be small, you can get them the full size of a diver / smoke diver would prefer.
If you are old they are very nice, but if you dont really have to lug the thing around much, a regular steel bottle will be fine too
If you are going to get the tank filled at a dive shop now and then, i would recommend a full size one.
I use to shoot my .177 rifle for a month using a 12 L bottle, and that is full power .177 and many many thousand of shots.
Of course a larger caliber will give more smacking power but also use more air, so it depend on what you are going to do with the rifle.
i have around 30 food pound of power, which is fine for most small things, even bigger with good shot placement.
Upvote 0
Welcome to AGN
Beutiful area you live in..I grew up in the San Fernando Valley
Took a lot of hiking trips through those mountains
Loved catching horney toads, but you don't see them that much anymore
If you need help with your rifle...this is a very informative video
Mike
Beutiful area you live in..I grew up in the San Fernando Valley
Took a lot of hiking trips through those mountains
Loved catching horney toads, but you don't see them that much anymore
If you need help with your rifle...this is a very informative video
Mike
Upvote 0
I’m an engineer and I’ve been programmed to consider risk in everything I do.
Yes, these air cylinders need to be handled and treated with care. If maintained properly I believe the risk of failure is near zero. These same cylinders get used every day by firefighters all over who don't pamper their gear and don’t seem to have issues.
I do believe in throttled fill hoses because they won’t allow an overly powerful transfer of pressure from the full tank to the bottle. The extra 30 seconds to fill my gun is perfectly tolerable knowing that if the lock ring on my foster fitting isn’t clicked in place, it might be scary but I won’t get hurt.
Know the pressure rating of your gear and never exceed it. There is plenty of performance operating your PCP within its design limits.
The actual risk of high pressure air rupturing something important is very low. Respect it and you should have no problems. There was a recent failure of a large fill tank with pretty ugly consequences. The lessons learned on that event are still being evaluated and I hope the greater community gets to learn from it. With legal liabilities being what they are that may not ever be released.
Yes, these air cylinders need to be handled and treated with care. If maintained properly I believe the risk of failure is near zero. These same cylinders get used every day by firefighters all over who don't pamper their gear and don’t seem to have issues.
I do believe in throttled fill hoses because they won’t allow an overly powerful transfer of pressure from the full tank to the bottle. The extra 30 seconds to fill my gun is perfectly tolerable knowing that if the lock ring on my foster fitting isn’t clicked in place, it might be scary but I won’t get hurt.
Know the pressure rating of your gear and never exceed it. There is plenty of performance operating your PCP within its design limits.
The actual risk of high pressure air rupturing something important is very low. Respect it and you should have no problems. There was a recent failure of a large fill tank with pretty ugly consequences. The lessons learned on that event are still being evaluated and I hope the greater community gets to learn from it. With legal liabilities being what they are that may not ever be released.
Last edited:
Upvote 0
I agree with all of this, but want to add one area of caution that we need to be aware of: the potential impact of not properly managing water vapor during compression, leading to the build up of liquid water in reservoirs.
Up until fairly recently, almost all of the filling and most of the use of these high pressure cylinders was done by what I will call the "professional class" - fire fighters, dive shops, the Navy etc. These professional users all followed strict protocols around filling with respect to drying air. The small number of personal users of the expensive fill equipment (the large dive compressors) all did the same. This is the history we see as we look at how safe the category really has been.
Now we have the explosion of inexpensive compressors used by what I will call the "amateur class" - mostly air gunners that use the cheaper compressors that do not come with any system to prevent condensation of water vapor in the air charge, and users that know nothing about what is going on in this space - and really don't seem to care. The first of these compressors came on the scene about 15 years ago with the original Shoebox from Tom Kaye - these had no moisture management in them, but the need for it was talked about and all users were at least aware of it - and most took the steps needed to deal with it, as it was easy to do with these compressors. But that is not the case anymore.
Bottom line - in the past the history of these cylinders and most gun reservoirs was one in which none of them had been exposed to water (except by handpumpers with poor technique), but that won't be the case going forward. Many guns and tanks will be out there that have had water in them most of their life, and that changes their safety profile. So be aware of what you are buying and do the right thing with your own stuff you might acquire new.
Upvote 0