PCP air rifle stirrup pump

For 12 fpe rifles I think a pump is a very practical device. Learn the technique, us body weight, bend ze knees, don't try and pump it with your arms.However for FAC and/or large buddy bottles, I would be looking at compressors nowadays.

I have a Daystate XLR which has a very small cylinder capacity which gets used regularly on rats under the bird table....but also an Air Arms FAC which the 22LR has largely replaced...

Decisions, decisions...

I do not have the Dry-Pac system on mine, it was is an optional accessory. I have noticed no problems with moisture in my rifles, one of them has been apart a couple of times to work on the regulator and there was no report of any moisture or rust inside

I have been havering about a regulator for the S410 FAC Extra for 20 years! Any advice or experience or recommendation as to which is best?

Decisions, decisions...


Sounds like a scam. You can buy direct from Hill, with free postage, be assured it is the latest version, for £170 Mk5 with Dry-Pac, £150 Mk5, £100 Spartan (no pressure gauge, unnecessary if you have one on your rifle instead).

Honestly, if you get to compare such things in a shop you will see the differences between a Hill pump and the others. And maybe be able to wheedle a slightly lower price than list.


I did find the Hills direct site and have a shopping basket for 188.77 with a 5 pack of the granules and a tube of grease...

Decisions, decisions...

Alan
 
I have a Daystate XLR which has a very small cylinder capacity which gets used regularly on rats under the bird table....but also an Air Arms FAC which the 22LR has largely replaced...

Decisions, decisions...



I have been havering about a regulator for the S410 FAC Extra for 20 years! Any advice or experience or recommendation as to which is best?

Decisions, decisions...




I did find the Hills direct site and have a shopping basket for 188.77 with a 5 pack of the granules and a tube of grease...

Decisions, decisions...

Alan

Also consider the latest FX pump. Similar price. I have no experience of them, but being FX made I'm sure they of good quality. Novel feature is they are switchable between 2, 3 and 4 stages by turning a knob, so you can work up as the pressure increases, like changing gears on a car. Possibly added complexity, more to go wrong, and not sure of easy access to service parts in the UK.

They claim that their moisture trap eliminates the need for Dry-Pac etc. Which as said I am still a little skeptical about anyway.

This thing: FX Four Stage Hand Pump

Re regulators, I am not so sure. My HW100 is regulated and has been utterly reliable. Can be taken to bits and completely re-sealed with just a few allen keys, (not had to yet but have a seal kit just in case, inexpensive) and has a sublime trigger and magazine system. My first PCP was a BSA Ultra, one of the first batch ever made, which in a fit of enthusiasm I took to a chap called Tweaky (or Tench), Rolls Royce engineer in Derby, who fitted his then novel regulator whilst I watched. That certainly improved it, but has needed attention a couple of times to re-seal it. XTX Air used to supply seal kits but are no longer trading, so I'm not sure what happens next when they go again.

It upped the shot count in this tiny reservoir from maybe 30 to 50 shots, which were also noticeably more consistent. However after re filling I had to dry fire it a few times for the regulator to settle down again, which was/is a nuisance.

Perhaps newer designs are better.

The concept of regulation seems attractive, but the reality is that they work by running the rifle at a fixed low pressure, maybe 90 BAR or so. All the extra energy in say a 200 BAR fill is wasted as it is dropped in the regulator. Nevertheless you can possibly cram in a bit more air volume at pressures which would not work properly in a simple unregulated design.

For an FAC rifle like your S410 I would resist adding one, as designed it should be pretty good, if you keep it in the sweet spot of fill pressure range.

As said, regulators add cost and complexity, unreliability and require setting up, or at least checking, when fiddled with. At some point they will require maintenance, which if you have to pay someone to do for you will cost. When mine failed it was sudden, which could have been a real nuisance if I had to rely on only that rifle.

PS: how are you filling your rifles at the moment ?
 
Also consider the latest FX pump. Similar price. I have no experience of them, but being FX made I'm sure they of good quality. Novel feature is they are switchable between 2, 3 and 4 stages by turning a knob, so you can work up as the pressure increases, like changing gears on a car. Possibly added complexity, more to go wrong, and not sure of easy access to service parts in the UK.

They claim that their moisture trap eliminates the need for Dry-Pac etc. Which as said I am still a little skeptical about anyway.

This thing: FX Four Stage Hand Pump

Re regulators, I am not so sure. My HW100 is regulated and has been utterly reliable. Can be taken to bits and completely re-sealed with just a few allen keys, (not had to yet but have a seal kit just in case, inexpensive) and has a sublime trigger and magazine system. My first PCP was a BSA Ultra, one of the first batch ever made, which in a fit of enthusiasm I took to a chap called Tweaky (or Tench), Rolls Royce engineer in Derby, who fitted his then novel regulator whilst I watched. That certainly improved it, but has needed attention a couple of times to re-seal it. XTX Air used to supply seal kits but are no longer trading, so I'm not sure what happens next when they go again.

It upped the shot count in this tiny reservoir from maybe 30 to 50 shots, which were also noticeably more consistent. However after re filling I had to dry fire it a few times for the regulator to settle down again, which was/is a nuisance.

Perhaps newer designs are better.

The concept of regulation seems attractive, but the reality is that they work by running the rifle at a fixed low pressure, maybe 90 BAR or so. All the extra energy in say a 200 BAR fill is wasted as it is dropped in the regulator. Nevertheless you can possibly cram in a bit more air volume at pressures which would not work properly in a simple unregulated design.

For an FAC rifle like your S410 I would resist adding one, as designed it should be pretty good, if you keep it in the sweet spot of fill pressure range.

As said, regulators add cost and complexity, unreliability and require setting up, or at least checking, when fiddled with. At some point they will require maintenance, which if you have to pay someone to do for you will cost. When mine failed it was sudden, which could have been a real nuisance if I had to rely on only that rifle.

PS: how are you filling your rifles at the moment ?

MY S410 does the classic...starting with a full charge 12mm low at 50metres for 10 shots...cock on for the next ten...and then 12mm high for the last 10...Fine as long as I remember how many magazines I have put through....but if they all went to the same place it would be better.

Fill both from a dive bottle at the moment which will need an inspection before the next fill...certification and fill was in the order of £70 3 years ago. Plus two round trips to the dive shop which is only 10 miles away...but it is still a couple of hours knocked out of the day each time.

Alan
 
It would be cheaper to get a steel 10 or 12 litre steel one and get it filled to 300 bar. Yes some dive shops are crap and I insist they fill it up to max. Get it filled up in the winter and pref get it cold before you do. Mine tend to go out of test before I need to refill them. However some dive shops are really clued up to PCP users and so no issues.

D
 
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