PCP failures you've experienced

[WillM]

Something I've gotten in the habit of doing is wearing safety glasses …

Two thumbs up for this. I’m a long time competition shooter; pistol, rifle, shotgun and shooting glasses are second nature to me, but I’m amazed at the number of air rifle shooters I’ve seen who don’t wear them. I’ve seen ricochets from every angle and every shooting surface.
- I’ve seen the copper jacket from a pistol round come straight back 15 yards from a steel plate 

- I’ve seen steel shot ricochet off a duck (flying) and hit a guy nowhere near the line of fire

- I’ve been hit by shot (lead trap load) that bounced off a clay target on the adjoining trap field 

- I’ve had numerous items bounce, rebound or just jump up and hit me in the face at the workbench 

ALWAYS wear safety glasses when shooting, around people shooting and when working with tools (my list of what I’ve seen is way longer than I’ve written (I’m old and have been shooting over 60 years, I’ve seen a lot)

 

[Scotty1]

I made up a check valve with male and female foster fittings. I put a dead head in the female fitting and pressure tested it with a bottle at 250 bar, it held and I bled and removed it, then realized I had no way to bleed the pressure between the check valve and dead head. I had created a tiny little pressure vessel! I used a couple sockets and a hammer to “fire” the dead head out….quite a bit of energy in less than a cc of air at 250 bar!

 

[cosmic]

 Hammer hanging up in the tube...

 

[bxcornw87]

Valve failed to close/seal when filling. Followed manufacturer instructions and got high pressure air injected into my thumb resulting in shattered bone long recovery

 

[Triggers and 4X4s]

I failed to declare the actual price I paid for my FX M3 to my Wife. She blew an o-ring at extremely high pressure that unsettled my world for at leat a week.

 

[Deltaman]

I did the stupidest thing when I first tested my Tuxing 033. The hose had a capped fitting that you use to check pressure in the compressor when new, I removed that fitting while it was under pressure, without bleeding the line, well it shot across the shop floor and to this day I've never been able to find it. Had it been pointing at me well I'd been seriously injured.

 

[RM100GUY]

In 19 years of PCP shooting...one probe o-ring failure on a newer probe and gun...THAT will get your attention! Fill whip failure at the base from bending back and fourth for years, that wasn't too dramatic, worst was firing a Taipan Veteran with the cocking lever open with a pellet on top of the single shot trey...got distracted by a phone call...no idea where the pellet went but must have been mms from my eye...no safety glasses...I know better...the breech o-ring ended up on the pellet probe, reinstalled it still ok almost 3 ys ago. Don't get in a hurry keep your mind on what your doing stay out of the line of fire with probes and fill fittings. Keep this stuff clean...had an o-ring cut by a cat hair one time on a freshly resealed PCP.

 

[RM100GUY]

I'm trying to understand the type of stuff that can go wrong/what to plan for. I'm assuming seals and stuff will fail eventually, anything else? There is the mental hurdle of having a ton of compressed air near my face with PCP. I'd assume most failures regarding air is just leaks and not going boom.



Just trying to get a feel of what to expect as a PCP owner coming from the spoiled world of rimfire.

Great question...We all need to reflect and revisit safety issues from time to time!

 

[Scouty]

Old thread but I'll reply anyways.

I was filling a PCP which almost certainly had a broken valve stem. I was new & didn't know any better. Filling it took it from broken to shattered along with a horrible cracking sound. The stem shot out about 5/8" & got stuck. Breech o-ring went flying. It was scary.

Valve seat got damaged & I eventually had to order parts to fix it.

Before I sourced & ordered those parts I found an identical rifle with a stuck hammer & bought it. Made one working rifle out of two.

After sourcing the parts needed for first one I decided to tackle the stuck hammer on #2. I didn't know what to expect when I punched the trigger/sear pins with it cocked but I was certainly on high alert after my filling incident. It was uneventful & I got it working, but I do try to avoid taking trigger & sear assemblies apart as much as possible.

Back to the first one. I bought it used & had noticed some damage to the valve seat. Damage wasn't as bad as after the filling incident but it was holding air so I didn't give it much thought. Makes me wonder about its history. Still have it & it is my most used airgun.

 

[jmohme]

Just oring failures, I wouldn't consider a double load a failure.

Sure it is. Operator failure. Most of us probably are guilty of this one at least once.

As far as failures go, the only one I have had was a leak that drained the tank after a weak shot.
Granted, I have only owned PCPs for about 2 years, but I have shot a lot of lead in that time and only one problem out of the three guns I own Is not a bad average.

 

[Centercut]

Slow leaks are the WORST!!! When you have a 20 bar decrease overnight, you probably won't see it with soapy water spray. Most of the time it has been the gauge connection for me especially with those hand tight Xrings that have replaced Orings in some guns.

 

[Stan’s boy John]

I'm trying to understand the type of stuff that can go wrong/what to plan for. I'm assuming seals and stuff will fail eventually, anything else? There is the mental hurdle of having a ton of compressed air near my face with PCP. I'd assume most failures regarding air is just leaks and not going boom.



Just trying to get a feel of what to expect as a PCP owner coming from the spoiled world of rimfire.

Never ever apply or allow oil to contaminate or get inside your pressure vessel. Under pressure oil will diesel and cause a potentially deadly explosion.