Spring Piston vs. Gas Ram: Which is Your Preferred Powerplant?

[CharlieF]

Gas Ram, if you get a good quality weapon. My HW 90 is fully tunable and the major difference between spring and gas ram is you can leave a gas ram cocked indefinitely without having to worry about spring fatigue (not really a safe practice to leave it stored while cocked).

 

[.20calguy]

Well, I don't remember having to charge up my springers before a shoot.

 

[Moe M.]

Gas piston and PCP guns are a passing fad, Springers will always rule .

 

[Sqwirl57]

Gas piston and PCP guns are a passing fad, Springers will always rule .

Spoken like a true champ!

 

[uglymike]

springs don't leak

 

[.20calguy]

springs don't leak

Exactly. My Hatsan has a slow leak, so I have to charge it to get a couple days shoot out of it. If parts were easily available I would convert it to a springer.

 

[Shuggoth]

I have gas rams that I had installed in a BSA Lightning xl and it made the gun a much better shooter than the spring. It's lasted quite awhile now 10yrs so far. Also have one in a Gamo cfx with a ram and it's a very nice shooter over the spring. I have one in my Webley .22 tracker but it's an old theoben ram and it's now down to shooting 7ftlbs, so I am going to switch it back to a spring using a Welsh Willy tune kit I picked up. On my tracker it always felt like it overstressed the cocking lever with the ram.

 

[Sqwirl57]

I have gas rams that I had installed in a BSA Lightning xl and it made the gun a much better shooter than the spring. It's lasted quite awhile now 10yrs so far. Also have one in a Gamo cfx with a ram and it's a very nice shooter over the spring. I have one in my Webley .22 tracker but it's an old theoben ram and it's now down to shooting 7ftlbs, so I am going to switch it back to a spring using a Welsh Willy tune kit I picked up. On my tracker it always felt like it overstressed the cocking lever with the ram.

Its really not fair to compare a gas ram to untuned budget friendly coil spring guns. A properly setup coiled spring is smooth as glass with no noise and has a much nicer shot cycle than a ram imho. Gas rams are an easy way to avoid higher quality machining/engineering and the costs associated with them.

 

[Shuggoth]

I agree a spring with a good fitting guide top hat etc that is set up correctly is the best option on a springer. But rams do seem to work well in some guns and can be good shooters. That said I am generally converting my guns with rams back to springs as the ramsp wear out.

 

[Northwoods22]

I prefer springers for a variety of the usual reasons, the ability to tune and tinker being a major factor. That being said, I would consider getting an HW90 with the pump/gauge tuning setup.

 

[Toxylon]

There is really no game that a 32fpe Hatsan 135 will take that a substantially more accurate 16fpe HW95 can't take.

This is true in a way (and a popular way to think), but shooting low power with extreme accuracy is not the only way to go about hunting with springers.

A magnum spring gun takes out even the biggest small game out to springer-limit ranges with simple, easy-to-accomplish body shots with about four-inch kill zones in the chest area for a jack rabbit (about two inches for smaller game), punching a pencil-sized hole through the lungs, breaking ribs etc. With the sub-1-inch head shot, a slight error takes out the jaw or the nose of the animal, for a very protracted death.

Back to the topic at hand, I prefer coilspring over a gas spring any day, all day. Reliability, cost, parts availability, tunability, temperature sensitivity...you name it.

Back in the day I fell for the commercial claims made for the gasram tech, and learned first hand they were lies through and through. Gasrams aren't more powerful, they arent quieter, they aren't more consistent, they aren't easier to cock, they aren't less sensitive to temperature, they aren't more durable (due to leakage), they aren't easier on the scopes etc.

One thing I haven't seen mentioned here is the very different cocking stroke of the gasram guns.

With a coilspring gun, the cocking effort is low in the beginning of the stroke, when the arm is high up, in a weak / vulnerable shoulder position. The cocking only gets hard at the end of the stroke, when you have good, strong leverage down at the front of your torso. But with the gasram, the cocking effort is a constant: you have the same high effort already at the top, where your leverage is poor and joint stress is high.

I have no issues cocking the strongest super mag coilspring guns, but even a 15 fpe Gamo gasram irritates my cocking arm shoulder to no end.

The final proof to me came one day when I felt my shoulder would be actually injured if I continued with the gasram Gamo, but I had ZERO issues continuing to cock and shoot the gun's coilspring brother (with equal ME) for an hour more. Off with the gasram!

Magnum gasram owners have pretty consistently talked about the very hard cocking effort of their guns. And it's not about the peak poundage, but the force curve.

Gasrams are ubiquituous these days, with manufacturers preferring them due to profits. Still, the only gasram gun I would even consider for a second is the HW90. But even if I was offered one for half the usual asking price, I would have to think really hard if I will ever actually shoot the gun for its worth.

 

[jkingrph]

Gas piston and PCP guns are a passing fad, Springers will always rule .

My favorites. I do have a few CO2 pistols, some older Daisy 747 and 777 and a couple of IZH 46m, single stroke pneumatics, all the rest are springers and my go to guns.

 

[beerthief]

I wonder IF you can change a Gas Ram to an inert gas such as Nitrogen or Argon ? I assune that the gamo "nitro piston "is nitrogen but a sealed piston ? ?

 

[Springer8]

Spring piston. More tunable and more reliable. I have never shot a gas ram that outshot my better coil spring guns and I really don't expect to. I hear the Sig ASP was pretty solid as far as magnum gas rams go but I've never had the pleasure to try one.

I have always preferred spring pistons. The idea of a gas ram intrigued me and I did try some out but they seemed to have more violent recoil, in my experience. Also, I agree with Sqwirlfugger57 that I enjoy the tunability of spring pistons.

 

[.20calguy]

Gas Ram?

 

[beerthief]

so your saying the gas ram is a quicker less friction power plant so that makes it a more violent shot cycle ?

 

[KWK]

I wonder if I could take those two no good Theobens I own and make a good motorcycle fork out of them?

 

[Moe M.]

As airgun enthusiasts, we've all experienced the distinct characteristics that different powerplants bring to the table. Today, let's focus on Spring Piston and Gas Ram systems.

Spring Piston airguns have been around for quite a while, and many swear by their tried-and-true technology. Meanwhile, Gas Ram (or Gas Piston) airguns bring a new flavor to the mix, with claims of greater consistency and lesser recoil.

Let's dive deeper:

1. Do you have a preferred powerplant between Spring Piston and Gas Ram, and why?
2. What are the main differences you've noticed in terms of shooting experience between these two systems?
3. Do you find one or the other to be more reliable or durable in the long run?
4. Which brands/models stand out for each powerplant?
5. How do the maintenance requirements differ, in your experience?

Looking forward to your insights.

Since you asked, when I renewed my interest in air guns after 50 + years of shooting powder burners, I read all the misinformation about the differences between Gas piston, coil spring, and PCP air rifles, there was the typical lauding over the gas piston and PCP guns and the usual negatives about Springers, I certainly didn't want a Springer for hunting because they can't be left compressed for very long or risk causing a spring set, and I didn't want to suffer the occasional broken coil spring, and lastly there's that violent recoil issue that eats up scopes so rapidly.
So, I chose to go with gas ram power systems, as it turned out I was pretty happy with my decision until I shot a Springer for the first time, a HW-30S .177 cal. air rifle, the accuracy between the Springer and my gas piston guns was night and day, the recoil was nowhere what I had been expecting, so some more research was in order.
I found that, the spring set issue was myth, that with proper care a coil spring lasted as long or longer than a gas piston, also learned that gas pistons actually failed at a greater rate than coil springs, and there are other positives about coil spring powered air guns, my last four air rifle purchases are three Weirauch built rifles, an R-7/HW-30, an R-9/HW-95, a HW-80K, and one Hatsan mod. 95 in .22 cal. Springer, all have been 100% reliable, wonderfully accurate, and not one has destroyed a scope over the last few years.
Clearly my choice of air rifle power plant is coil spring, I have also had good luck with my Variable pump pneumatics and my C02 powered rifles, I have nothing against PCP guns, I just don't need to complicate my life any more than it is.

 

[Maker's Marksman]

No. 51 puzzles me a bit. The spring cocking effort should be linear to the stroke while the gas spring should be must resistant at it's stroke end, more than linear. It should be rather along 1/stroke+x-cocking length.

In general the hype on ras rams seems to fade. Don't know exactly why. Diana for example don't sell them anymore due to lack of attention

They can be power altered (HW 90). Something to play with. But any gun does best at a certain power setting depending on it's general design and pellets used. I'm pretty sure even a HW 90 used frequently will not be altered at power once the optimum is found.

Reduced lock time, yes
more recoil, no, the piston usually weighs less, so less recoil
harder slam, YES in many cases the gas ram is a scope eater, I own only one 15 fpe gas ram gun and it destroys scopes, as well as their fixing bolts and holes.
This may even be bad to the bones. I think that I lost a crown at my right above No5 tooth by ultrasonic shock waves through the jaw.
No twang or spring vibes, sure of that.
Durability, I don't know. My gas ram lost about 2 fpe within 10 years.

Specially the combination of low recoil and short lock time is supposed to make them little hold sensitive, say easy to shoot (compared to a low sprung, long stroked springer with a heavy piston like the Diana 52 sprung for 5.5 fpe)

All in all, I was really after them with all the hype around. But now my springers do so well that my seeking for them has faded out like the general hype.

 

[kingfisher61]

Having both is my compromise.

Finding a Theoben is difficult these days....but if you are fortunate enough to do so, send it to Dave Slade. He recently did a Theoben Eliminator for me. The power settings he chose allows for an easy cocking effort (for me) and a cycle which isn't violent. I have no trouble getting one hole results using an old Beeman 66R. Plus the trigger is set for a very crisp and predictable release.

Yet a well tuned spring rifle is hard to beat. All of my R1s are laser accurate and deadly. But for plinking it's hard to beat an R8, R7 or an HW55. They are all super accurate and easy to cock.

So, I guess it all comes down to opinion here. Both spring and gas guns have their positives and negatives. What really counts is which one do you reach for regularly when you shoot. Personally, it's usually one of my old lower power sprngers....especially my R8s and FWB 124s.