Dive Bottle or Hand Pump?

[Snowblind]

Hi all,

 

I'm fairly new to shooting and have never owned a PCP air rifle before. I'm just about to purchase a PCP and am aware that I need some way of charging the thing. So my options appear to be either a dive bottle & adapter, or a pump designed for air guns.

 

I just wondered what the opinions are on which is the most effective/best for the gun itself, and what I should be looking at paying. A quick google search shows me that pumps can range anywhere from sub £100 to very expensive, and dive bottle adapters seem to be quite pricey also. Is there anything you can recommend? I'll be purchasing a year old AA s510 if that makes a difference to the advice given.

 

I'd just like to have some solid knowledge before I go about purchasing something I might later regret!

 

Thank you for any advice you may offer.

[Luckyshot]

A divers cylinder is far easier and much quicker than a hand pump. It is usually a cheaper option also if you buy s/h and my local only charges £3 to fill the cylinder up. Prices vary but you should be able to pick up a decent s/h cylinder and gauges for less than £100. Money well spent in my opinion.

[Browning]

I agree with Luckyshot.

 

In fact, having just sold my HW100, I have a 12.2litre 232bar dive bottle and charging adaptor, complete with guage and hose,

for sale if you are interested.

[Bewsher500]

pump,

cheap as chips to buy 2nd hand,

takes up no space,

no cylinder tests, no dealers to find when you need a refill on that holiday etc etc

 

I dont charge to refill my gun and it gets my heart rate up!

I have a quick fill adapter on my falcon, taking the pump off the shelf, filling to 190BAR to putting it back probably less than 5 mins

Edited March 18, 2011 by Bewsher500

[Bowen20]

Get a pump if you want to:

Possibly die of a heart attack after the fifteenth time pumping it up because your new to air rifles and have been plinking alot

Miss out on valuable time shooting when ur spending 10 mins pumping it up.

Want to get all sludgy when ur back at the car trying to find somewhere nice and clean to pump the rifle up so you can have a few more shots.

 

GET A BOTTLE IF YOU:

Want easy and simple fills everytime that are super quick and no messing.

And just take the bottle to the shop to get refilled when you go for pellets.

A new pump is about the same price as a second hand bottle with 2-3 years test on it with the hose then all you need to buy is the filling adaptor for your air rifle which mite be Bout £12 quid

In the end it's up to you but I've had air rifles and found the easiest rout being a bottle you won't regret it. Keep your eye on other sales on here or the BBS

[kent]

with the exeption of very small reseviour guns (bsa ultra etc) a bottle is the only way to go for primary filling though pumps can be handy for little top ups as they are way easier to carry than a heavy bottle. However think on it would be unusual for this first gun to be your last so buy the biggest bottle highest presure bottle you can store (a big one will fill a little one but it aint so true in reverse) the test dates on second hand gear should be long- don't buy one out of test as there might be a reason for that!

[jmilam]

With an s510 I think the Ideal charge is around 190 don't quote me on this though,you should be alrite with a pump getting this filled or just keeping it topped up.they do take some effort using a pump but my grandads nearly 80 and he manages to get a charge in it.

If your goin to get a Bottle I'd recommend at least a seven litre 300 bar or a twelve litre,these will viv you the most charges for your money.

A pump is a good start but I'm hopefully gana get a pump soon as well as my bottle so ones for the main fill indoors and take the pump shooting for tops ups when i'm out there.

If it was me though I'd wait until I had enough and buy a good bottle kit.

[sitsinhedges]

What a load of women on here

 

Pumping up an airgun is a piece of cake, it's free once you've got the pump and no driving to the next city to get it refilled. You don't suddenly find the pump is out of date and having to be sent for expensive retesting every few years and if you shoot that much so one cylinder full wont suffice it's a whole lot easier to put a nice light little pump into the boot of your car than a ruddy great 300bar bomb.

 

Well that's my take on it anyway

 

Had the cylinder but the pump is much easier for me, not really hard work at all, self comtained and light and no problems or expense getting it refilled or retested.

[mick miller]

When I had a pcp I used a Hills pump and drypac. It's easy to pump up and takes a couple of minutes tops; convenient as I didn't need a fekkin great bottle dinging around in the back of my motor. I used a rubber car mat to throw down on grubby surfaces. In reality unless your a range saddo that sits and plinks at bells and bits of paper all day whilst sporting camo and a combat jacket like some walting wannabe sniper how often do you need to refill when wandering around doing a bit of pest control?

[jmilam]

That's the thing unless your zeroing or Ledding a barrel of a new rifle you ain't gana use that much of a charge,you will only normally be topping up.

Iv got the the bottle because I went three ways on it with some mates so it worked out cheapand a bloke who works down the rifle range by me takes it to the local fire station when it's empty and they fill it up and will also test it for us so it works out almost cost free now.

 

Some good hand pump deals have been coming up on eBay lately worth keepin an eye out.

[Snowblind]

Thank you for the advice everyone! Certainly something to think about. I think the recurring filling cost is something that almost puts me off getting a tank but I appreciate that it is easy and hassle free for the most part. The testing every few years sounds like a bit of a pain though!

 

I'm reasonably fit so I don't think using the pump would knacker me out too much, though that said I have never used one of course so am pretty much founding that statement on...well nothing! Hah

 

In fact, having just sold my HW100, I have a 12.2litre 232bar dive bottle and charging adaptor, complete with guage and hose, for sale if you are interested.

 

Thank you for the offer Browning. I think what I am going to do is a quick search around the area for places that might do bottle refills and see what the usual charge is. I'll PM you at some point! I'm sure you aren't planning to, but don't keep the bottle for me if you were, if you're planning to sell it and have a buyer take it!

 

In the mean time I did a quick google search for pumps and came accross this one by Hill with a built in moisture remover. The reviews seem to be quite positive (aside from the price which is criticized): My link

 

Has anyone got any experience of it? Or can anyone recommend a decent pump that I should have a look at?

 

Thanks!

[Luckyshot]

Try filling a 400cc bottle on a rapid 7 in a few minuites I would like to see that. The test on a cylinder lasts for 5 years and costs £20 which includes a full tank of air not expensive at all. Each refil costs £3 again not expensive. You can pick bottles up very cheap if you settle for a 232 bar bottle. I know which I would rather have.

[olly321]

dive bottle every time bud

[Snowblind]

Well, you've all convinced me to go for a bottle. Just need to find one now!

[rabbit.slayer.no.1]

well ive got the webley/bsa hand pump for my ultra and only takes 1 or 2 mins to fill saves running down the shop every other day paying £3 a time. but the thing is you have to have some weight behind you to get it up to the 190 make as after it hits 150 its as if the hand pump sticks off the pressor

lol

[SteveoM]

Get a bottle I'll swap you for my pump

[jackinbox99]

I use a pump. Easy as pie. Those people who say pumps are hard work, i think must have broken pumps. Ive had 2 pumps now. The first nearly killed me, turned out it was faulty. Second is an FX pump, cost around £120 new. It really is a piece of cake. Takes me about 3 minutes to pump the gun up, hardly any effort at all.

[the_haganizer]

Bottle every time mate, people complain about it 'clanking around in the back of the car' but if you tuck it to one side and secure it then it's no problem at all!!

 

Also far easier if you turn up at your permission and spot a rabbit in range straight away only to find that the gun in running slightly low on air. Nothing worse than having to stand there for minutes pumping it up whilst watching Mr Wabbit hop slowly away!!

 

Robo

[Luckyshot]

I use a pump. Easy as pie. Those people who say pumps are hard work, i think must have broken pumps. Ive had 2 pumps now. The first nearly killed me, turned out it was faulty. Second is an FX pump, cost around £120 new. It really is a piece of cake. Takes me about 3 minutes to pump the gun up, hardly any effort at all.

 

All depends what gun you have. If you can pump my rapid bottle full in 180 seconds you are just as fast as a 232 bar divers bottle give or take a few seconds

[slugger]

sfunny, i have an old version s410 with the non quick fill end [at least i assume it is seeing as my gun is so old?] and i can fill it from empty in under 4 seconds lol

[kdubya]

its not simply a case of brawn when considering a pump as opposed to a fill from a dive cylinder? you forget that you cant compress water and when you charge your gun up via a hand pump, the moisture in the air you are compressing drops out as water, water that is now inside your gun cylider and then blasted through all the working parts of your gun,doing it no good whatsoever.

 

KW

[dougall]

Posts like this make me so glad I have break barrel airguns!

When I want to load I break barrel down ...no pump/no dive bottle/no regulator/no testing/no worries about running out of juice...total independence!

Yes PCPs are deadly accurate machines with no recoil...but thats more like a computer game than sport.

Often fancied HW100/AA 410s as great machines but never will cos of all the hassle

[Deke]

I've used both - a big 300 bar bottle and a Hills Mk2 hand pump. The bottle wins hands down for ease of actual filling - a no brainer as they say. But consider the total cost in time, effort and money to get it refilled. If you have a dive shop (or friendly Fire Service mates) near you, all well and good, but many people would struggle to get a bottle refilled anywhere close to where they live.

There is a definite technique to using a hand pump and if you do it right it's not a strain. Pyramid Air (USA) had a video clip of the correct technique on their web site and hopefully they still do. As an aside, I'm 60+ and not particularly physically fit. I pumped a career Carbine and a Sumatra to 3000 psi in succession from empty. It's technique buddy - otherwise I'd be under the sod by now!

You should have enough info now to make the best decision - for YOU.

Cheers, Deke

[terrior]

Hello putting the cost aside.

do you realise when you compress air you force water out of it,

so using a hand pump you are putting dampness into the rifle cylinder ,

this can't be good long term.

Dive bottles are filled with dry air so are safe'

Getting back to cost , yes bottles are slightly more expensive over all ,

But keeping youre rifle tip top has got to win.

Bonus its much more convenient.

Thanks.

[Blunderbust]

The best way to look at it is decide which gun you are going for and then work out what will be best. In your case a 510 will pump up from near empty in 5 minutes using a stirrup pump. If you were thinking of going for a larger bottle fed type gun (R10 type) then I would recommend that you go for a diver bottle fill system and as has been stated get a 7 or even better 12 litre job at 300bar. You of course have to consider the initial cost of both units then other outlay, for example, the location and distance to your nearest fill station and the cost of a fill. One other thing is, ask yourself which is the most convenient for you.

 

Enjoy your shooting.

Edited May 2, 2011 by Blunderbust