Spring powered airguns can be incredibly rewarding, but many of us opt to shoot pre-charged pneumatics or PCP’s, for the obvious reason that they are so much easier to shoot. With almost no recoil to worry about, the PCP is a devastatingly effective tool, yet their Achilles Heel is their reliance on that external power source!
It can be a source of irritation, but with all options covered in today’s market, it really is no big deal.
Dedicated airgun pumps such as the quality British made Hill design, make the user properly independent, but again, many airgun enthusiasts prefer to take the rather more civilised route of an air cylinder or divers bottle.
This makes the task effortless. Just connect up to the gun’s inlet valve, slowly open the airline, charge to the prescribed pressure, bleed the airline, and disconnect.
Job done!
Safety Considerations
Storage
However, we are talking high pressure air here, and that requires a safe approach to keep things ticking over nicely. If young children are in the house, then the air cylinder needs to be either stored high up and out of sight, or if necessary, locked away in a cupboard or gun safe. The age of any children under consideration dictate this one – just to guarantee little hands can’t play with dangerous valves etc. If the kit’s locked away, or properly out of reach, it becomes impossible for a disaster or nasty accident to occur, and that’s exactly how it should be, when high pressure air is concerned. Take it seriously, take precautions, and put a safety regime in place, and as always, the sport will be all the more enjoyable for it.
Transportation
Transportation of divers bottles to and from our shooting venues in a car, requires care and attention too.
It may be stating the obvious, but it’s imperative that we don’t allow the bottle or air vessel to roll about freely in a car boot for example, where it can bang into something and set off the valve. In short, the high pressure air system demands respect, and that means making sure that the bottle is securely held, and prevented from moving about.
Adding some form of padding around the bottle also makes sense, and whilst DIY set ups can be arranged, there are some products available, which can really help in this regard.
The Best Fittings Carry Strap, designed specifically for charging bottles, is a good start. This features a heavy duty adjustable strap, designed to fit most 3litre, up to 15 litre bottles, and whilst primarily it’s to aid lifting and moving the bottle, the large rubber handle will help prevent bottles rolling.
If purchasing a 300 Bar Cylinder there is the option to add the ‘Bling Kit’ specifically for transportation, which is a strap with two soft tubes incorporated, and whilst this is a fairly simple device, it works really well, preventing the bottle from moving in transit.
Dedicated protective bags are now available for airgun charging bottles, and products such as the 300 bar Cylinder Bag, are a great idea to cushion and retard the bottle in transit.
These robust bags are designed to hold a divers bottle complete with the hose and gauge in place, and being formed from waterproof material, will add an extra layer of protection when needed.
A separate end section unzips independently from the main heavy duty zip, and this allows access to the hose and gauge, without removing the bottle from the protective bag.
Overkill makes sense where we’re talking safety, so it still pays to have the bottle wedged snugly between weighty items in the boot of the car, and with some basic cushioning factored in, and the odd bungee strap (ideal for this task, and easily available from the likes of Halfords) peace of mind can then be assured.
DIY
To be honest, it doesn’t have to cost much to create a DIY cradle, which will guarantee an air bottle is held safely and snugly. Purchase a large semi rigid sports kit holdall, fill it with rags, old clothes or foam, and nestle the bottle inside. Again, have a few weighty items in the boot and still wedge them around it, but the resultant ‘nest’ created means you’ll know the bottle can’t move anywhere.
All pretty straight forward, but well worth the effort.
Happy shooting,
Range & Country
