Airgun Depot's Airsenal News

When you bought your first PCP tank and used it to fill your PCP airgun, the world got a little bit easier, didn't it? No more hand pumping, plenty of air at your fingertips....you know, airgun nirvana!

At least until the air ran out, and then you had to go and get it filled again. And each successive fill after that was somewhat lower than the first once you got below the gun's peak pressure, right?

If you are lucky enough to have two airgun tanks, let me suggest a better way to stretch the interval between fillups of your air supply.  It will save you money if you have to pay for a fillup, and time if you get your air for free. It's called cascading....

Designate one of your tanks as Tank #1, or "Initial Fill Tank". This is the tank you always use first. Attach it to your gun, and fill up the gun as far as the needed fill pressure that the gun calls for. Even when the tank drops below the peak pressure, USE IT ANYWAY. That's right, continue using the first tank for as long as you can, getting the majority of your air from that first tank. Eventually, you will drain Tank #1 down below the lowest pressure the gun will use, at which point you will need to have it filled back up. But in the meantime, what you've done is allow your second tank, Tank #2, to be the "topoff tank", and you actually use very little air from it until Tank #1 is way low on air.

This stretches the usefulness of the tanks because you aren't draining both tanks for complete fillups. You are just using the first tank, then "topping off" with the second tank. Your second tank will last a long time if you only top off the fill with it. 

It takes a few extra seconds, maybe minutes to do it this way, but no one likes spending time at the fillup station....we'd rather be shooting!

I hope this little tidbit of advice will help you enjoy the sport of airgunning even more! And since you'll be shooting more with all that extra air, why not drop into the retail store here at Airgun Depot and pick up some more of your favorite pellets while you're here?

Posted by Randy Mitchell at 03:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The utility of a modern handpump for PCP's is one of the items every PCP airgun shooter needs to have, if for no other reason than to have it as a backup. Air tanks cost as much or more than some of your guns, they occasionally leak, and sometimes getting them filled can be problematic.

Enter the modern PCP handpump. This little marvel of engineering allows you to pump up your PCP airgun with little more cost to you than the original purchase price and a little sweat equity. And now Airgun Depot has made the Axsor/Logun Pump available, complete with the correct fitting for the PCP airguns sold by Airgun Depot. Let's take a look:

Here you see the Axsor/Logun pump setup

The Axsor/Logun pump is made in Sweden, and comes ready to use, complete with a moisture trap. Simply attach the hose to the DIN hole at the base of the pump, and with the correct adapter for the probe you are using for a particular gun, you are ready to go. Airgun Depot sells the Axsor/Logun pump setup in one of two ways....for the Shinsung series of air rifles, and for the Sam Yang series of air rifles. The pump, however, will work with any PCP rifle as long as you have the correct adapters for the probe of each gun you wish to fill. And it will fill your gun up to 3000 psi, enough for most major brands of today's PCP air rifles.

In the event you own an Aeron or FWB match gun, you can disconnect the hose from the pump, and attach the gun's reservoir to the DIN hole at the base of the pump. This stretches even further the usefulness of this handpump, making it useful for more than one series of air guns.

Having a handpump is very handy. I've found myself turning to my handpump during the hunting season when I'm traveling by air. It is a lot easier to get a handpump through the airport security than it is a tank. The TSA authority will not let a sealed, pressurized tank on board and aircraft....period! And in a hunting scenario, you aren't firing lots of shots, so pumping up a gun for a hunting session isn't all that strenuous.

When using a handpump, be careful not to overheat the pump. Steady, slow pumping allows the pump to not overheat, and when you get the gun to the desired pressure, you can bleed off the pressure by using the bleedoff screw on the pump. This has an added advantage of removing moisture from the pump's system as well. The pumping effort will get harder as the pressure rises, and it is okay to take a break during a pumping session if needed. It will let the pump cool off anyway, and might let your heart rate go down a little!

Pumps are pretty maintenance free if you take care of them. I've never had mine apart, and according to some other airgun writers, there are LOTS of o-rings on the inside of a pump. The grease is a special brand of lubricant, and it is a good idea not to remove it and just let it do its job. 

If you are a smaller person of light weight, the pumping effort at the end of a fill session might be more than you can handle. I use my entire body weight when getting near the end of a fill, and I weigh 180 or so. If you aren't near 150 lbs. to begin with, you might find the final few strokes a little more than what you bargained for. I have to lock my arms and really bear down once I've got the pressure in my gun up to a certain level, and it can be difficult without gravity's help!

So as a backup or a main source of air for your PCP, the modern-day handpump will let you enjoy your PCP in more places, with less concern on how you are going to supply air to your gun once you've emptied it. It frees you to go places where fill stations are not readily available, and also is allowed on more means of travel than the air tank.

The Axsor/Logun pump is currently selling for $245.00 and change at Airgun Depot, your place for airguns and airgun suppliers.

Posted by Randy Mitchell at 05:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

To me, one of the most interesting things I do with an airgun is to show others just what can be accomplished with one. Since I hunt a lot, I carry a photo album with me (a small one) with pics of some of my hunts. Seeing big game from Africa, and North American deer and hogs killed with an airgun sure generates interest! That might be one idea you want to try.

Another idea would be to go to the local firing range, and after having setup your shooting lane with a competition spinner or similar target, challenge another shooter who has a rimfire to an impromptu match. If you've done your homework, and aren't shooting against a competition shooter or some guy with a totally tricked out rimfire, odds are you will either win or at least do such a good showing that the other person becomes intrigued with your air gun. Then you can introduce them, if they aren't already familiar, to the joys of airgun shooting!

If you have the airguns on hand, volunteer your services to a local Cub Scout group, 4-H group, or any other young-person oriented club that could use the services of a dedicated shooter. Keep safety in mind, approach the session with seriousness in mind so that the kids know they have to be careful, and introduce a young person to the joys of shooting.

Do you know someone with a pest problem? Volunteer, free of charge, to solve their problem quietly and efficiently with your airgun as long as it is legal. Removing feral pigeons and rats, starlings and sparrows.....it can generate good will and further interest in the sport you love so much.

Now, to brag about your airgun, I would be interested in hearing from those of you who are willing to share about how you did something unusual (and legal) with an airgun. Maybe you've got a target with unbelievable accuracy displayed.....let us hear about it. Or perhaps you've used your airgun to help someone out. I helped the little town I live in remove skunks with my airgun.....and no one even knew we were shooting! (Yes, the police knew about it and were present during the shooting).

Whatever the brag, don't hesitate to share it with us here on the blog. I try and check every day for responses, and will do my best to post your comments for everyone to see.

Thanks again for dropping by Airgun Depot.....let us know how we can serve you in 2009 with guns, ammo, and gear. 

Posted by Randy Mitchell at 08:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)