Precision Air Rifles

[dcali]

I have a walther I got about 20 years ago. A lot of fun, and cheap to shoot. I use it in the basement. The "bicycle pump" is quite a beast to fill it up, but it's not to bad to pump up. Might be a bit much for someone with health issues. But it lasts a while, and if you have someone to do it for you that would probably work fine.

 

[dcali]

Dusty, I agree with you on the Aliuminum Scuba tank. Most fill to 2200 PSI or so. My dive shop can fill to 4500 PSI provided the SCBA tank is still in Manufacturer 15-year date and still has a current 5-year cert.

You sure about that? Most aluminum tanks are designed for around 3000 psi. I've never heard of a shop willing to put 4500 in one. Sounds potentially dangerous.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

You sure about that? Most aluminum tanks are designed for around 3000 psi. I've never heard of a shop willing to put 4500 in one. Sounds potentially dangerous.

Hes talking scba not scuba. Scba tanks are 4500psi carbon fiber

 

[dcali]

Hes talking scba not scuba. Scba tanks are 4500psi carbon fiber

AHH. Now I get it. That's what I get for being barely literate. Carry on.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

AHH. Now I get it. That's what I get for being barely literate. Carry on.

I think alot of folks get confused on the airgun folks talking scba tanks their mind goes right to scuba so they start down that path.

 

[7315br]

You sure about that? Most aluminum tanks are designed for around 3000 psi. I've never heard of a shop willing to put 4500 in one. Sounds potentially dangerous.

I stand corrected on the SCUBA tanks. I wasn't aware there were 3000 PSI SCUBA tanks.

That's still not a 4500 PSI tank and for sure the dive shop I use will put 4500 PSI in a SCBA Fire Fighter tank which are designed for 4500 PSI. It's my understanding some dive shops won't, but this one does. I understand also some Fire Stations will charge a SCBA tank for a donation, but I never tried that personally. This dive shop has refilled my SCBA tanks for four years as long as they are still certified.

My FX rifle is a 230 bar tank on a 300 cc reservoir.

 

[jccinohio]

FX Dreamline
View attachment 1424522

Smackin starlings & grackles.. nice...

 

[dc.fireman]

I'm sure a lot of us had BB guns as a kid. For most of us, air rifles lost their appeal once we were old enough to start using "real guns" - firearms.

I'm way too far down the rabbit hole of things that go bang to ever have a spring or gas-driven projectile ever be my main thing. But I'm sure air guns for adults have come a long way. And I wouldn't mind dipping my toe in the water of those distant cousins of ours, if truly accurate air rifles are out there.

With that in mind, can anyone point to resources, or actual models, that they have experience with, or that they might recommend?

First, I would identify what you want to do with it, and then decide what you'd need. Are you interested in Field Target shooting? Summer Biathlon? Varmint Control? I shoot 10M Precision Air Rifle - 60 shots standing, to hit a pencil dot @10M, with a non-magnified iron sight. If that's in your wheelhouse, I'd recommend checking TargetTalk.org and finding a decent used air rifle from a retired college athlete. Modern competition air rifles can cost upwards of $4k. A decent used one can cost a quarter of that. My current version is the Anschutz 8002 S2 model.

I'll warn you up front, that this is definitely a rabbit hole that can be gone down, and it's fairly habit forming...

-tc

 

[dc.fireman]

What kind of gun are you talking about? An aluminum tank from a dive shop wont even fire an upper end airgun. And 4500psi in a scba tank dont last a very long time, maybe one good shooting match or session

Dusty - I use a retired scuba tank for 10M competition. The pcp tube is rated for 200psi, and will last me about 150-160 shots. My local dive shop guy fills my scuba tank to 3200 psi. I'm trying to locate some older Scott SCBA tanks (4500 psi) from work, when the department I worked for switched over to the new 5500 psi system.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Dusty - I use a retired scuba tank for 10M competition. The pcp tube is rated for 200psi, and will last me about 150-160 shots. My local dive shop guy fills my scuba tank to 3200 psi. I'm trying to locate some older Scott SCBA tanks (4500 psi) from work, when the department I worked for switched over to the new 5500 psi system.

The place i linked to above, air tanks plus, sells life extended scba tanks, and if you have your own compressor or if your shop wont care about your expired tank you can get them off ebay reasonable. I have a small one and a huge one, both from ebay.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Dusty - I use a retired scuba tank for 10M competition. The pcp tube is rated for 200psi, and will last me about 150-160 shots. My local dive shop guy fills my scuba tank to 3200 psi. I'm trying to locate some older Scott SCBA tanks (4500 psi) from work, when the department I worked for switched over to the new 5500 psi system.

If you can get some retired tanks be sure to remember your buddy down here

 

[dcali]

I think alot of folks get confused on the airgun folks talking scba tanks their mind goes right to scuba so they start down that path.

I stand corrected on the SCUBA tanks. I wasn't aware there were 3000 PSI SCUBA tanks.

That's still not a 4500 PSI tank and for sure the dive shop I use will put 4500 PSI in a SCBA Fire Fighter tank which are designed for 4500 PSI. It's my understanding some dive shops won't, but this one does. I understand also some Fire Stations will charge a SCBA tank for a donation, but I never tried that personally. This dive shop has refilled my SCBA tanks for four years as long as they are still certified.

My FX rifle is a 230 bar tank on a 300 cc reservoir.

Gotcha. It’s been a while since I was diving regularly (used to do it for work) but a 3000psi aluminum tank was the standard. They also had steel tanks if memory serves that were a little lower. I know some people filled the 3000 psi tanks to about 3300 but i that always made me nervous. I think they had some higher pressure tanks too, but nothing close to 4500.

Of course I was too thick to read what you wrote and thought you were talking scuba tanks. I don’t know much about scba tanks so I’ll take your word for it.

 

[7315br]

Gotcha. It’s been a while since I was diving regularly (used to do it for work) but a 3000psi aluminum tank was the standard. They also had steel tanks if memory serves that were a little lower. I know some people filled the 3000 psi tanks to about 3300 but i that always made me nervous. I think they had some higher pressure tanks too, but nothing close to 4500.

Of course I was too thick to read what you wrote and thought you were talking scuba tanks. I don’t know much about scba tanks so I’ll take your word for it.

No problem. I was going back a few years to a friend of mine who had a Scuba tank that I thought went to 2250 PSI. He was okay with his first FX until he bought his second FX (a Wildcat .25). Wouldn't air the rifle up worth a flip. I let him have one of the Scba tanks I had. All the difference!

Talking about safety...when I first got into these higher pressure PCP rifles a guy told me to always keep the filler hose as short as practicial between the Scba (4500 PSI) tank and the rifle tank. He said a 3' or 4' hose "until" it cracks or breaks is nice to use...but will beat you half to death before a person can get away from it. Soooo mine hose is 12"...Lol!

 

[dcali]

No problem. I was going back a few years to a friend of mine who had a Scuba tank that I thought went to 2250 PSI. He was okay with his first FX until he bought his second FX (a Wildcat .25). Wouldn't air the rifle up worth a flip. I let him have one of the Scba tanks I had. All the difference!

Talking about safety...when I first got into these higher pressure PCP rifles a guy told me to always keep the filler hose as short as practicial between the Scba (4500 PSI) tank and the rifle tank. He said a 3' or 4' hose "until" it cracks or breaks is nice to use...but will beat you half to death before a person can get away from it. Soooo mine hose is 12"...Lol!

2250 sounds like a steel tank. I think I’ll stick with my bicycle pump lol.

 

[LeoHuhta]

Alum tanks can go to 3000 psi
We use it for target rifles not magnums
If I’m not mistaken my PCP gun redlines at 2800
That’s how we get them to last so long.

Let’s start the thread over with are we talking
Target rifles or magnums ?
The original post didn’t qualify that

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Alum tanks can go to 3000 psi
We use it for target rifles not magnums
If I’m not mistaken my PCP gun redlines at 2800
That’s how we get them to last so long.

Let’s start the thread over with are we talking
Target rifles or magnums ?
The original post didn’t qualify that

The daystates and fx we’re talking about are not magnums they are typical benchrest quality target rifles. They are the most common ones seen at an air rifle match

 

[Silo1616]

Whats the scoop on caliber? Many on this thread seem to be advocating .22 over .177.
I get that the 22 is superior for small game but for target shooting the 177 seems to dominate.

My club host a monthly Field Target match that typically draws 20 plus sooters - all of them 177's.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Whats the scoop on caliber? Many on this thread seem to be advocating .22 over .177.
I get that the 22 is superior for small game but for target shooting the 177 seems to dominate.

My club host a monthly Field Target match that typically draws 20 plus sooters - all of them 177's.

22 and up for paper shooting 50yds and out. Lots of times folks use what they got

 

[Jager]

Wow, lots of great information here. Just what I was hoping for. Thanks guys! Spent a few hours yesterday reading and researching and watching videos, based upon your input.

For context, I'm fortunate to be able to shoot (firearms) on my own property. And a box of .22 Hornet handloads lives permanently on a bookshelf next to the wood stove in the living room... there so I can grab a round or two if a fox threatens my chickens and needs killing, or a groundhog is getting in my wife's vegetable garden. If I want to hunt squirrels I'll use one of several .22 rimfires. So an air rifle for me wouldn't be for hunting or pest control.

But it would be cool to have an air gun analogue to a centerfire benchrest rifle. So I guess making little, tiny groups on paper would be its primary purpose. Frankly, if it's not very, very accurate it holds little interest for me.

Cost is what it is. I'm not eager to throw a lot of money into something that I expect will ever remain a sidebar to the main act (firearms) for me. And looking at the price of something like the Daystate Red Wolf - a beautiful rifle - that Dusty mentioned kinda gives you pause. But then you put that into context... even something that expensive isn't that much more than a Nightforce 15x55x Competition scope seen up and down the line at lots of benchrest matches. Shooting is expensive and I never had an expectation that air guns would be any different.

Springer vs. PCP is an interesting divide. I watched one video yesterday where a guy was running a PCP gun very much like you'll often see at a centerfire benchrest match... fast, with minimal movement, and without breaking his position. I'd very much like that sort of thing. But the notion of dealing with a bunch of critical accoutrements like Scuba/SCBA tanks and compressors and such has me squinting my eyes. The simplicity of a springer - something I naively thought applied to all air guns - is very attractive. We shall see.

I'd love more input on .22 vs. .177. My starting bias was (is) .22. But most of the guns I've looked at seem to spec .177 for target use and .22 for field use. Are .177's inherently more accurate?

Thanks again. I'm finding your input really helpful.

 

[Mark611]

If I can get my pix to post? I have lots of pix, all shot with spring guns!