PCP airguns.. besides price, what's the catch?

manbearpig

manbearpig

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Like most of the unwashed masses I know absolutely nothing about these elusive beasts.
But I've been looking at some of them lately and they seem to tick a lot of boxes for me:

  • .22 cal
  • ~1000 fps
  • No loud/annoying twang sound
  • No wonky recoil so I can mount any optic
  • Oldskool wood & metal construction
  • Proper triggers
  • Proper stocks
  • Proper picatinny rails rather than 11mm dovetail
  • Follow-up shots
  • Decent-looking offerings under $800


So besides the insane prices for equipment (>$300 for an entry level hand pump, the 'cheapest' option.. wow) what's the catch? Why aren't these more common?
Are they finicky and high maintenance? How much does pumping one up with a hand pump suck? (I pump up a small fleet of SUPs and other crap at the cottage so I'm no stranger to hand pumps -- although I prefer to sit back and watch my gf do it in a bikini :p).

I also have to admit I had a momentary misgiving about putting something 3000+psi and "Made in China/Turkey" mere inches from my face.. do these ever catastrophically fail?

cheers
 
The big advantages of PCPs over springers is that PCP rifles, unlike springers, have neglible recoil, they can generate a lot of energy, which is especially good for larger caliber (heavier) pellets or slugs, and they can be repeaters (springers are one shot and recock). It should be noted that most PCP rifles are not especially quiet.

The main drawback is, as you note, the high prices for good quality PCP rifles. Inexpensive PCPs are like a lot of other low cost versions in that you get what you pay for.

The only other serious concern is a source of high pressure air. Many shooters use carbon fiber air vessels or tanks that can hold up to about 4500 psi. These are available in various volumes and are used to fill the air reservoir on the PCP. These tanks can be filled by hand (increasingly challenging when higher than 3000 psi or about 200 BAR is required), with a home compressor, or at a facility such as a paint ball shop with the appropriate compressor.

Alternatively, scuba tanks can be used for PCPs that don't require more than about 3000 psi. Here the larger the vessel (e.g. 100 cu. ft. vs 80) the better as the pressure capacity is typically about 3400 psi for a steel tank. Some scuba shops may refill uncertified user tanks, while others may require scuba certification.

If a PCP shooter uses his rifle a great deal, he will be unlikely to be satisfied for long with a hand pump. A CF or scuba tank or a home compressor invariably follows.

High pressure vessels, like the tanks or the PCP air reservoir, can be dangerous, especially if misused. Generally, however, they are safe and accidents are not common.
 
I have a PADI scuba cert so refilling at a dive shop would be an option if there were any nearby. That's part of my wariness: scuba tanks are overbuilt, manufactured to rigorous safety standards and inspected each time at the dive shop before/after filling. I'm far from an expert but I know just enough about 4 digit PSI pressures in metal tanks to worry about putting an uncertified one made in China next to my face.
 
PCP’s will still have their own ping, don’t believe they’re whisper quiet to the shooter or others. Some are quieter than others in both regards. The 1000 fps you quoted is achievable with most pcp’s but you’ll be filling the tank quite often, my .25 marauder gets about 20 shots before I have to recharge it, which is about half of a properly tuned balanced one.

At $1500 is when you get into the high quality ones

You can find cheap Chinese hand pumps for under $100 but I can’t comment on their quality, when I got into it I spent $300-400 on a Hill mk4 and I have no regrets as it’s all I use for my pcp’s. It can be a bit of work but it hasn’t been enough for me to go buy an air tank or compressor yet and I fill from 0 after I do mods with it.
 
Any PCP that makes power will sound like a .22 rimfire.

They have their place and my friends use their .25 Condors on everything up to Coyotes with slugs up to 90 grains.

I prefer simple PCPS with lifetime warranties as leaks and indexing of magazines can be a problem and if the warranty ends and their is no support in Canada shipping back and forth for repairs can be troublesome.
 
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If you think PCP's are quiet you have been watching video from the US.
There are no moderators or baffles on PCP guns sold in Canada.
Like a previous poster said, they are going to sound like a .22 lr if you are sending a pellet out at 1000fps.
 
How bad is the "wet air" moisture issue? Is a dry air filter enough to completely eliminate it, or is it just delaying the inevitable? (I'm assuming with the dry air filters you're pumping through a canister of silica gel?).
I read an article about how "Long-term, after 3 years, corrosion will be the cause of failure for most PCP airguns". Is 3 years "long-term" to the typical ADD millennial now or did they miss a zero??
How is this not a problem for regular pneumatics but such a problem for PCPs?
 
Did some extensive research made my own filling stn with a canister of silica gel.
Use a Young Heng 4500 psi pump for a 1hr rescue scba.

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I bought my pcp rifles used and they’re over 3 years old and corrosion isn’t an issue, if you have crazy high humidity it might be a problem but there’s inline filters you can get if it’s a worry
 
I recently received one of these in .177cal and really like it. This guy's videos are pretty good.



The HW100 would be a good option also.
 
I have some of the PR900/Diana Stormrider rifles, great fun to work on and shoot. The small 100cc air reservoir is easy to fill with a hand pump, about 75 pumps to refill.
I also have an M11 and it has a 250cc air reservoir, it is not so easy to pump up with a hand pump and I've ended up getting a compressor and air bottle. It was taking me 220 pumps to get it from the bottom of the green on the gauge to the top.
 
I have a FX royale 400. It's .22 cal and has a 400 cc bottle.
I have a Hill hand pump for it which work well if not doing a lot of shooting. Gets tiring if filling the bottle multiple times a day.
I have since purchased a CF tank that a scuba shop can fill to 4500 PSI. I get about 29 refills on the gun per tank.
Have also purchased al Alkin compressor to refill my own tanks to avoid trips to the city and certifications.
Also on high power I get about 60 - 70 shots per 400CC bottle while remaining on the regulator pressure. (about 130 bar)

I shoot at ~850 FPS. You don't want to go over about 900 FPS with pellets as they won't properly stabilize and you'll loose long range accuracy.

For noise levels if you are in the open they're not much. If in the back yard between 2 buildings I would compare it to an air nailer being used.

Good luck with you purchase as they are a lot of fun. Any questions feel free to ask.
 
Without getting into a lot of detail, what you can look for in a pcp is regulation. If a pcp is tuned and regulated, you can have a very small deviation in your shot consistency. Like reloading your own ammunition, a consistent shot string will deliver accuracy.
To compare, it’s kind of like getting a powder burner rifle then reloading equipment and components, not necessarily to save money on ammo but to try and get the best accuracy you can. If you wouldn’t reload ammo, it would be similar to buying a spring airgun which will give fairly accurate shots with no extras needed. It’s just another rabbit hole.
Hope that helps and have fun which ever route you go
 
manbearpig said:
Like most of the unwashed masses I know absolutely nothing about these elusive beasts.
But I've been looking at some of them lately and they seem to tick a lot of boxes for me:

  • .22 cal
  • ~1000 fps
  • No loud/annoying twang sound
  • No wonky recoil so I can mount any optic
  • Oldskool wood & metal construction
  • Proper triggers
  • Proper stocks
  • Proper picatinny rails rather than 11mm dovetail
  • Follow-up shots
  • Decent-looking offerings under $800


So besides the insane prices for equipment (>$300 for an entry level hand pump, the 'cheapest' option.. wow) what's the catch? Why aren't these more common?
Are they finicky and high maintenance? How much does pumping one up with a hand pump suck? (I pump up a small fleet of SUPs and other crap at the cottage so I'm no stranger to hand pumps -- although I prefer to sit back and watch my gf do it in a bikini :p).

I also have to admit I had a momentary misgiving about putting something 3000+psi and "Made in China/Turkey" mere inches from my face.. do these ever catastrophically fail?

cheers
Click to expand...

A good PCP with a pellet it likes is also extremely consistent with velocity, far more than you'll find with firearms, especially rimfires.
One thing that the Pyramyd Air blogger mentions a lot for air guns in general is how useful a chronograph is for diagnosing issues, gauging how consistent muzzle velocity is for a given pellet/air gun/air gun setting, and general troubleshooting. PCPs seem to often have some ability to tweak performance and how much air is released per shot, so the chrony becomes even more important for finding your PCP's sweet spot.

If the gun is regulated, then it will shoot more consistently if given time between shots for the regulator to refill (the time needed varies - see that part about the chrony).
 
Do some research on pellet BC specifically JSB .25 Exact King 25.4 grain. You want to stay around 940 to 960 fps. If you go transonic pellets destabilize. If you can, find someone on the Canadian Airgun Forum and see the difference this combination does at 100 yards in wind on a soup can or plywood, never mind rodents. The sub 960 feet per second some mention is because many airgun cannot fling heavy pellets at the sweet spot, this is a game changer at longer distances in regards to drop and wind deflection. I have only been doing long range real world airgun pesting for 12 or so years so still learning. I can say lighter smaller diameter slower moving pellets pale at longer ranges but hey only been doing this a decade or so hunting gophers.
 
Anything that releases 2000 PSI of air pressure is going to be as loud as a 22LR. That is the down fall.


manbearpig said:
How bad is the "wet air" moisture issue? Is a dry air filter enough to completely eliminate it, or is it just delaying the inevitable? (I'm assuming with the dry air filters you're pumping through a canister of silica gel?).
I read an article about how "Long-term, after 3 years, corrosion will be the cause of failure for most PCP airguns". Is 3 years "long-term" to the typical ADD millennial now or did they miss a zero??
How is this not a problem for regular pneumatics but such a problem for PCPs?
Click to expand...

Compressing air creates heat, and thus moisture. Moisture builds up and corrodes the alum, causing seals to leak.

Regular pneumatics you have coating of oil on the piston seal, that keeps everything with a layer of oil. And C02 you normally lubricate the Co2 before inserting.

Most people store PCP with air in the tube, unlike piston driven, pneumatics or Co2, that doesn't.
 
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