A Pump or a Diving Bottle.
A modern pre-charged gun needs to be charged with clean and dry compressed air and there are only two ways that this can be done, with either a pump or a diver’s Bottle. The choice is yours to choose.
PUMPS
The pumps that are available need to be capable of supplying air at a much higher pressure. The best pumps in the UK are made by Hills. The Hills’ pump Hills Air Compressor Pump MK4. is a three stage, high volume pump and a Dry Pac fitted, it will take one pump of the cylinder on average per shot. All the pre-charged rifles are filled to the required pressure before leaving the shop so from there, every time the rifle is used just top the gun up. This way it will save you a lot of time and effort; the air is filtered as it goes in to the rifle and an extra Dry Pac can be fitted to make it even better. Hills Air Pump MK4 Dry Pac.
The main advantage of a pump over a cylinder is the weight. The only maintenance it will require is keeping it clean and replacing the crystals in the Dry Pac filter. You are totally independent for air wherever you go shooting. This will save you having to call to have a diving bottle filled. There is no test requirement on a pump whereas there is one on a bottle.
The only downside to a pump is that it can be hard work. As the gun builds up more pressure it becomes harder to pump. A pump can be hard work. As you start to fill your gun, it will be fairly easy, as the pressure increases it will become harder to pump.
A DIVER’S BOTTLES.
The diver’s bottles are the easiest way to fill your rifle without a lot of hard work. The first thing you see when considering a diver’s tank is the pressure rating. They are either 232bar or 300bar. With experience we now only sell the 300bar bottles. Most modern pre-charged rifles fill around 190-200bar so a 232bar bottle will only give you 32 bar of pressure. Whereas a 300 bar bottle will give you a good 100bar of pressure to use. All the air does not completely get used, it is only the pressure. The pressure has to be greater than the requirements of the gun to allow it to decant over. The bottles listed show how many shots a specific size of bottle will give you.
7 Litre Air Cylinders 300 Bar Filling Kit.
The maintenance side of having a cylinder is to keep it clean and dry. They do need to be tested every five years for land use. This will cost about £40 – £50 and it will include a visual test and possibly a pressure test. A bottle is retested and a date stamp is etched on the neck allowing the bottle to be filled. We have a high pressure compressor on site therefore we can fill a bottle whilst you wait.