PCP Air Rifle Questions

leupold90

I'm looking at maybe getting a PCP. It'll be mainly used for target practice with the odd bit of vermin control around sheds & yard. I'm leaning towards a Weirauch. Most dealers here seem to have the ones that are greater than 12ft/lbs. Makes sense I guess as you'll need a licence either way.

From what I read however, I'll probably be only getting around 28 shots from the model I'm looking at (HW 100 Carbine) before I need to refill. Not a show stopper but I don't fancy having to keep bringing bottle with me for refills.
Does anyone here use one of the 12 ft / lbs+ rifles with a higher shot count? If so what make / model? I've also see AirArms rifles on which you can dial up and down the power - anyone any opinions on these?

I could just order a 12 ft/lbs model and get much more shots per fill but I'm wondering would this be a difficult thing to trade in it it ever came to it? Does anyone here use a 12 ft/lbs rifle?

extremetaz

We've had two, the .22 KT and the .177 T-FAC.

The latter has a larger bottle, but runs at higher power so the two work out to about the same shot count.
We used to get 3 magazines or so, to a 200bar fill.

That give you 42 shots between visits to the dive bottle/hill pump.

If you're on the range, then the bottle is no more than a few meters away from you so it's largely irrelevent, and if you're in the field and you can't get it done with 40 shots, then you need to go back to the range.

So in short, and being honest, the shot count they provide is plenty.

lefthooker

Sorry Taz but I see the low shot count as being a real PITA as I don't fancy lugging an air tank around with me. 40 shots per fill is too low for me.

I have a Daystate Airwolf running up to 36 ft/lbs and getting a couple hundred shots between fills. I can't be certain of the number cos I dont have the patience to fill and count off the shots till she gets low but I can take it out of the safe, fire off 100-150 pellets in a session and put it back in the safe.

leupold90

Thanks for the replies.
I'll have to do some more reading on this, the low shot count on the Weirauch isn't a show stopper as I said but it would be a nuisance to be limited to it between fills.

extremetaz

That's fair enough LH, I remember looking at the Daystates back when I was buying, but there were things I didn't like about them too so personal taste will always be a factor in these things. Don't forget though that unlike the Daystate, the Weihrauch tank can be filled in place, so it's not as big of a deal as it might seem. It's literally a 20second job. Granted, you do need to have the dive cylinder with you yes.

lefthooker

Think you're getting confused Taz, the Daystate can be filled in situ, the charge point is on the underside of the fore end. Was it the price and Daystate's poor customer service that put you off?

I'm not saying she Daystate is better than weihrauch and I didn't specifically go looking for a Daystate, it just happened that a local dealer had one in store. It's just nice to have a large shot count.

minktrapper

Is there much to go wrong with PCP,s.Which is the least trouble free.

amadablam

lefthooker wrote: »

I have a Daystate Airwolf running up to 36 ft/lbs and getting a couple hundred shots between fills. I can't be certain of the number cos I dont have the patience to fill and count off the shots till she gets low but I can take it out of the safe, fire off 100-150 pellets in a session and put it back in the safe.

That's fair going but there is no way that the rifle is giving anywhere near a couple of hundred full power shots to a fill. Daystate say 65 shots at 40fpe and 95 at 30fpe and even that is impressive and and it would be interesting to see how many are full power. It would be worth sticking a combro mk4 on it for the craic sometime and see what it's giving in full power shots per fill.

leupold90

I heard from a guy who has the Weirauch carbine that I was looking at that he gets approx. 26 shots from a fill, maybe a couple more depending on pellet weight.
Does anyone here bother with a 12 ft/lbs rifle? They seem plenty capable of vermin control at sensible ranges and have a decent shot count per fill - but again I'm just wondering would it be hard to trade in down the road..

skipking

the air arms s510 has adjustable power setting you can set power anywhere between 6 and 30 ft]lb. also some fx
air rifles have 3 power settings 12. 24 and 34 ft/lb depending on the model.

amadablam

leupold90 wrote: »

I heard from a guy who has the Weirauch carbine that I was looking at that he gets approx. 26 shots from a fill, maybe a couple more depending on pellet weight.
Does anyone here bother with a 12 ft/lbs rifle? They seem plenty capable of vermin control at sensible ranges and have a decent shot count per fill - but again I'm just wondering would it be hard to trade in down the road..

Looking at your original post you are looking for target practice and some vermin control. If you just mean informal plinking and vermin, id go with an FAC as it will allow you push the range of your plinking and also give you more range on vermin.

If you wanted to shoot something like HFT competitions, which I am not sure are that plentiful here, then the 12fpe rifle makes sense.

If you are not going to be shooting competitions then a full power might be more practical in the long term.

As for resale, the market is small so I wouldn't let it be the ultimate deciding factor.

I have an S410 xtra fac and its shooting over 32fpe with the jsb jumbo heavies 18.13 gr. These seem to work best in my rifle at full power a day anything below 15gr is not as accurate so the jumbo heavies are all I use as I am fully familiar with their ballistics from my rifle.

Yeah it's adjustable which might be useful if you wanted to set it at 6ish fpe for around sheds but I would generally leave mine on full power as I don't want to be changing and rezeroing that often. Also, its not a precise adjustment so you would need to chrono to check the power and unless you disable the adjuster, its liable to move and with no indicator settings, you are back to the start so full power or min are easier maintain.

Ive take vermin out to 100yards on occasion. The rifles are very capable and shot count isn't as much of an issue when hunting or plinking. When hunting, if you can't make the shots count, you need practice, plus you can buy a smaller top up bottle or something. Plinking, well you are never too far from the tank anyway.

Many lads buy them and never chronograph them so have no idea of the actual power at times.

I'd definitely try and buy the rifle you like most rather than obsess on shot count. They are great fun and you can always upgrade if you like them.

Best of luck with it and most of all, have fun

finnan1

i currently use a AA s200, .177 flavour,it is actually made in conjunction with cz, the rifle was initailly 12 f/lbs, but i have it tweaked to 15 ft/lbs, it will shoot approx 60 plus shots with no impact on POI, I do use a combro mk4, highly recommend both the combro and the aa s200, extremely accurate air rifle, simple to maintain oneself

cheers

extremetaz

lefthooker wrote: »

Think you're getting confused Taz, the Daystate can be filled in situ, the charge point is on the underside of the fore end. Was it the price and Daystate's poor customer service that put you off?

Wasn't aware of the refill option, makes it much of a muchness on that front so. I handled both and found the balance and trigger better on the HW, also preferred the magazine and loading mech on the HW.

Customer service didn't even come it to it as it's so hard to get anything over to Hull Cartridge from here in any case that it's largely a moot point once you're outside the UK.

minktrapper wrote: »

Is there much to go wrong with PCP,s.Which is the least trouble free.

The seal at the interface to the bottle is the main weakpoint, and will need occassional replacement, but it's literally a 2 minute job so that's not a big deal.

Other than that, they're pretty much hands - our HW's never gave any hassle over year of use beyond that interface seal.

I've changed regs on a few older rifles in the club(FWB's) but they'd given *years* of service and TENS of thousands of shots, and that's not even a big job either.

leupold90 wrote: »

I heard from a guy who has the Weirauch carbine that I was looking at that he gets approx. 26 shots from a fill, maybe a couple more depending on pellet weight.
Does anyone here bother with a 12 ft/lbs rifle? They seem plenty capable of vermin control at sensible ranges and have a decent shot count per fill - but again I'm just wondering would it be hard to trade in down the road..

If you've the FAC carbine the shot count can be that low yes, but I think that model chucks them out at about 35J or something like that.

12ft.lb here is actually what a great number of imports come in at, you'd need to chrono them this side to ensure that they're at their full spec in the first place regardless of what they're advertised at.

Having said that though, you're right - taking sensible range to mean <40 meters, using a lighter pellet will give you a plenty flat profile over that range. The extra power in diabolo pellets really just means you get to use a heavier round before you ballistic profile turns into something resembling a rainbow.

The really high power ones (35J+) are better served by solids I believe (I've never shot one mind, so this is only from what I've read) as the diabolo's can't be driven fast enough and still stay stable in order to make effective use of the extra power.

As to trade in, won't make any difference. They're all pretty configurable, and to be honest, anyone looking for more than 30J would be better served by a 22LR and CB-Longs or Quiets.

skipking wrote: »

the air arms s510 has adjustable power setting you can set power anywhere between 6 and 30 ft]lb. also some fx
air rifles have 3 power settings 12. 24 and 34 ft/lb depending on the model.

As was said farther on, there's a great sales pitch in being able to do this, but realistically, it's not something that you'll actually use dynamically. You'll play with it early on, and then set it and forget it once you've found the drop rate and ammo you're happy with.