General questions before decision
Hi everyone,
Long time shooter, but new to the realm of airguns (outside of my Crossman when I was a boy). Shoot lots of centerfire (heavy reloader) and rimfire, but want to get into air rifles. I don’t own a springer, but may get one down the line. I figure coming from LRP centerfire/rimfire going PCP would be an easier transition. I’m looking for small groups at 50-100yds, but who isn’t right. This will be mostly a bench/prone rifle for target. I’m looking at .25 cal to better buck the wind with the higher BCs.
I’ve been doing research but have a few questions I want to run by everyone so I get on the right path.
1. Quiet is always better, but doesn’t trump range and accuracy. Would I be better off getting the 24″ vs the 18″ and getting an aftermarket shroud?
Are gains from the 24″ going to make much difference to the 18″?
2. Filling this sucker.. I’m going to get a hand pump (Hill) and I’ve had a hard time understanding the effort that is going to need to be put into this system.
I’ve heard that after a 5 power setting you really don’t get anymore velocity, so I won’t be running at max power.
a. How Many?: How many shots can I plan to get out of a charge before I should fill?
b. How Hard?: Is it going to be a PITA to fill this tank?
c. How Often?: When hand pumping, is pumping more often easier than pumping all at once? Say after 10 shots, pump back up, vs 40 shots?
3. Out of the box, are these things ready to roll or are there any recommended mods?
I’m a big guys 6’4″ 235 with with high cheek bones and a long neck and have heard about risers being needed in some situations for some shooters to get proper eye relief. I’m sure this is impossible to answer as it’s person and dependant on optics and how you mount the rifle. But what the heck, I’ll ask anyway.
Thanks for everyone’s assistance.
Back to reading/researching..
Hawk
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Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)
Good information, thanks Gene.
Welcome to the mix! I’m a mostly-powder guy as well, but have been having a lot of fun with the airguns – especially my Condor. How often you have to fill, and how many rounds between shots is very much dependent on which pellet you shoot, at what range, and what accuracy is acceptable to you. Ironically, figuring all that out will make you want a scuba tank. Once you have the hundreds of rounds down range in ‘load development’ you could probably get by with a hand pump for most of your shooting. I started with a hand pump and it’s a good few minutes of effort (not taxing, but it’s a long few minutes) to pump a gun from, say 2000 – 3000 psi. In my testing, the heavy pellets really like the higher pressure, but even the lighter pellets (so far) perform best starting at around 2850psi. I just installed an o-ring (mod – see elsewhere on this forum) and I’ll see if that makes any difference. I’ll publish some results here, perhaps as early as tonight. For peak accuracy, plan on pumping every 10-15 shots. For pest control or casual plinking you can probably go 20-25 with satisfactory accuracy, depending on pellet weight. Tune the gun down and you can get even more.
Can’t comment on different length barrels in the same gun – I’m running only 18″ at the moment. I’m very satisfied with the quietness of the Condor SS (2nd gen, with baffles) after tuning it down from the factory settings.
Out of the box a (stock) AF gun is ready to do reasonable service. However, you can _dramatically_improve it with just a few mods. I highly recommend the Talon Tunes “Quick Change Top Hat” – literally a 400% improvement in extreme velocity spread in my testing. (Also my factory hat was set to ridiculous air-wastage and loudness – something you can adjust even if you don’t take my advice and grab the TT tophat). The sight height is quite high. The only disadvantage to me (also 6’3″) is that the offset is going to make extremely close shots harder. However, I whacked a starling at probably 10′ just by holding at the top of its head – not a big adjustment. (FYI – a EunJin 43 gr. pellet at 850 fps is adequate for starlings…).
GsT
Hello, new here too. Cant really help with too much except the hill pump. I am 6.1 215 lbs just yesterday filled my tank to 2800 psi from 2000 psi in about 5 to 8 minutes no problem at all. from an empty tank it will take longer because you need to let the pump cool down after about 5 minutes of use, then do another set of reps. I own a condor ss 18 inch with 6 inch shroud ,not had the chance to really bench shoot yet but am getting minimum 1 inch groups at 50 yds free hand. hope this helps good shooting. Duane
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first off, :tag: ! These questions are asked by everybody when diving in to precharged guns, so I will do my best to answer your questions, in a strait up manner. 1. For punching paper, the 18″ should have no troubles at 100 yards with the right pellet and power setting. If you intend to hunt coyotes or similar sized quarry, you might think about the longer barrel, but for paper, no problemo. 2. The dreaded pump. You will probably want to refill that sucker every 0 or so shots, because when I first got mine I shot it around 50 or 60 times on low power(1-0), and it took my 30+ minutes to get that tank up to 2500 psi. The easiest route: spend the money and get a scuba tank. It’s just the hard truth. 3. As a 6’4″ 16 year old, I have no issues shouldering the gun, or shooting. It came pretty naturally to me, but for others I’ve heard they need to get an angled adapter, or raise the scope with spacers. The rings I have on my ss are made so you can look under your scope and see your iron sights. I got them for under $10 at cabelas or bass pro, and never had a problem with them.
I can tell you one thing, everybody on this site loves their gun. Doesn’t matter if they modded it, or they keep it stock, it suits everybody here very well.