Why did you get into PCP airguns?

[madmunki]

When did you get your first PCP high? What made you try it?

I’ve always been a pellet gun owner since childhood, started with a Benjamin-Sheridan Silver-Streak in .20 cal. I eventually moved onto firearms. I saw the AirForce Condor in magazines and online, and it sparked ghat childhood love of pellet guns, and it just had an iconic look. It was one of those things in back of my mind that “one day I’ll get one”. That one day came, and I called up an online store and ordered it, pellets and a hand pump. Been strung out on PCP ever since. I moved on to FX guns and have passed my Condor down to my brother and he is starting to really enjoy PCP guns as well. 

 

[Odoyle]

Needed the cardio excersise (started PCPs by hand pumping)... That got old real quick then bought 2 huge tanks.

 

[madmunki]

I hand pumped my AirForce. It was single shot, so air lasted longer. When I got my Wildcat, it was 8 shot, but only 230cc. More pumping, but not bad. When the 480cc impact with 28 shot mag arrived, took one range session and by the end of it, I was ready to put the hand pump down range. Bought a compressor when I got home..

 

[Enkey]

Hi

Since childhood I have always been with .177cal springers until one day I decided that I wanted to buy something of a higher caliber and I started researching online what options I had and an AT 44 appeared and I discovered that the PCP world existed. I immediately aborted my goal of a .25 springer and then I started researching PCP and the winner that came home was the Airforce Condor which years later was replaced by a Royale 500

Regards 

Enkey 

 

[bucketboy]

Needed the cardio excersise (started PCPs by hand pumping)... That got old real quick then bought 2 huge tanks.

To the OP.........Theoben Rapid, I visited the factory, had a shoot in their range, instantly knew I needed one in my life, I ended up with 5 and a RAW.





Bb

 

[JoeKool]

Gradual Graduation from bb guns as a kid, to multi-stroke pellet guns, to box store springers, to mid-range springers (online), to high-end springers (online), and lastly PCP’s. The love just grew! You have a certain type of airgun and you like it a lot, but you learn that there are other types that can do even more. So, a guys like, shiiiiii, man I want that!

 

[Jammin22]

Quiet, more Accurate than a rimfire, great trigger, cheap shooting and the list goes on.........

 

[cstar]

Competition. After a sixty year layoff from air rifles I researched the competitions available for air guns. Needed something closer to home to take the place of NRA smallbore silhouette. Now I compete in field target, bench-rest and ,soon to be, pistol silhouette. That should hold me for a while. 

Corky

 

[RM100GUY]

I bought a breakbarrel .177 to defend my bluebirds from sparrows and learned about the term "hold sensitive" and didn't like missing shots because of it, I learned about PCP's and like bucketboy I ordered a Theoben Rapid in 2004, it was sub 1/2" @ 50yds out of the box, been hooked on PCP's ever since.

 

[goodoldbvc]

Never shot a gun, powder or pellet, until I was 34 years old and got into building birdhouses on my new 1 acre property. I saw invasive birds were chasing away the native ones.....a youtube search led me to Mr. Ted Bier. My bank account has not recovered.....but what did recover was the population of bluebirds, wrens, tufted titmice, downy woodpeckers, hair woodpeckers, red headed woodpeckers, bluejays.....

 

[Long_Gun_Dallas]

 

[ctshooter]

I actually kinda fell into PCP about three years ago. I enjoyed playing airsoft in my late 30s and early 40s, got into HPA replicas and trips to the scuba shop got old so I already had the gear to fill a Guppy tank. Curiosity over the Benjamin Bulldog 357 got me searching for reviews and it wasn't long until I owned a P-Rod and about 2 months later a Veteran .22 Shorty and I was hooked. Still am. 

 

[Pale_Rider]

Curiosity got me. Wondered how much better a pcp would be than a Walmart springer(didn’t even know about HW or Diana springers). I soon found out, a hell of a lot better. After my curiosity got me to dip my toe, my passion for guns made me dive head first. 

 

[IcySwan1]

A friend was concerned about mucking up the nice wood on his Huntsman. I bought it and he bought a synthetic stocked nice rifle. I also bought an Alpha compressor from Joe B. But the most use of PCP equipment, by far, is shooting a Steyr LP10 at 10M and a LP5 at 50' indoors. I have 5 compact cylinders for the Steyrs and use about a cylinder a day. I also shoot a FWB 602 inside, but that is SSP and doesn't need a compressor - just some grunt. Which leads me to say that if i found a PCP 10M rifle for the right price I probably would buy it because, as an ancient shooter, cocking the 602 effectively limits me to about 30 shots. For some reason my wife won't charge it for me.

I know the focus of this thread likely was on rifles, but PCP pistol use has been great, particularly since is is already dark, cold, and the ground covered with snow here in the Great White North.



Mike

 

[Uglyjohn]

I started with a PCP then a tank then a compressor then another PCP and another PCP etc. All of this before I discovered how much fun could be had with a tuned 12fp HW97. Uj

 

[jafco]

Have always had some sort of airgun since I was a kid. The only one I have kept over the years is my blue streak .20 cal. I also have a GAMO swarm maxxim so I have planned to sell it and buy a PCP. Keeping an eye on the classifieds.

 

[cea1960]

I had been hunting with my NP2 and missed on a second squirrel in the same tree because of the time it took to reload. Rushing to get a pellet, I dropped them on the ground while removing a glove. I never could seat the pellet with gloves on, and that day was below freezing and I said enough. I wanted something small and bought a Brocock Contour. (my avatar) It's still my go to squirrel gun. Already had a dive tank from my diving years, so I only needed the K valve adapter.

 

[madmunki]

I know the focus of this thread likely was on rifles..

Not at all. Most of us were children when we started air guns, and with rifles we were less likely to shoot our eye out. This thread is about anything that got you started and how and why you went PCP. Just fun to share our stories. I really enjoy reading them. We have such similar, and also quite different backgrounds. For example the guy that was 34 before ever shooting his first gun, I was like 6 shooting my dads 12ga out in the desert. 

 

[mtnGhost]

I was hooked when I discovered that it was a lot more discrete to hunt with a PCP than a rimfire.

 

[Parrotculler]

I started out looking forlornly at the neat Diana springers in the shop window as a 10 year old. Those beech wood stocks were so well cut ... Fast forward 40 years -- looking for a tool to put paid to the drones that started buzzing over my property. Crossbows and arrows wouldn't do it. So I began researching pellet guns again. Got myself a couple Gamo magnum springers, ended up mastering the artillery hold fairly well. But they kept killing scopes, even with bullseye mounts. Didn't care for the action noise either. Yet resisted PCPs for a while because of the ridicule of pumping up a gun ... But now I own around 20 PCPs of different stripes

Love the utilitarian aspect of PCPs: they help me keeping those invasive shrieking parrots (psittacula kramerii, a rapidly expanding international pest) in check. Also love getting to know the features of each gun: the power, accuracy, and first and foremost the improvement potential! Yes, I am a tinkerer. The technical aspect of tuning cheap and rough shooting guns into refined, efficient, accurate and consistent shooters is extremely gratifying. The wood improvement on some of them is amazing as well. Plus I enjoy the research and the deals.

There is a lot to be learned every day. Not only about the guns, regulators, hammer weight, different hammer springs, plenum size, valve spring preload, SSGs, barrels, silencers, o-rings etc. But also about pellets, scopes, and bipods. A lot of creativity and problem solving are being exchanged generously -- what a great international community to be part of. And last but not least, there are a lot of frustrations to wrestle to ground around accuracy and air leaks in particular ! Never boring ...