Let's Talk About Air Guns

[Mortblanc]

I have not checked but I am pretty sure the PCP rifles in GB are contained to their sub-12 power level by using a "regulator".

Said regulator is a simple chamber between the pressure tank and the firing port that holds the exact amount of air that will be released at the pull of the trigger.

Over here we have many rifles that come in both regulated and unregulated forms, the difference being only the addition of the regulator. This is done in order to smooth out the performance of the rifle from shot to shot and gives us a decision to make, since the regulated rifles are always weaker than the unregulated rifles. On average a .22 unregulated rifle might shoot a 15 grain pellet at 900fps while it regulated counterpart might only shot 700.

The faster shots will be part of a bell curve of performance and one must study their own rifle to discover where those "top shots" come in. In my case they fall between shots 9 and 21 after a full pump up of my rifle. To adjust for this I only pump the rifle to 17 bar, fire my 10-11 shots and refill the pressure. That gives me top power and top accuracy without waste. I can go for more shots, but they will fall off in both accuracy and power for the next 20 shots.

I will just about guarantee you that there is a You-tube video showing you how to remove or adjust the regulator in your rifle. Just stay away from the British air gun channels and you will find it. We Americans are obsessed with MORE POWER!

In many cases it is the simple act of drilling out the "air chamber" to allow a larger puff. Some folk even add an outside accessible power adjustment screw, so you can dial in the power level you desire from outside the gun, and unless TPTB take the gun apart they will never know the feature exists.

Springers are much easier, especially the actual metal spring models. Your springs are simply shortened or made from smaller gauge wire to control the power level. It is just a spring, and it can be strengthened, replaced or doubled up.

Over here we have companies that do nothing but make springs. They do not make "air gun springs", they just make springs. You look in their catalogs and find a spring of the same diameter, wire gauge and length as your air gun spring, then you order one two inches longer than what you have. I have seen people increase the power of their spring guns by 75 fps with the simple addition of a spring one coil larger than the original.

Gas ram guns are different. With them you just have what you have due to the sealed system.

It does not mean that you have to perform the modification, just that you know how to do it if it is ever needed in a situation where you really don't care what anyone thinks of your power level!

Those squirrels, pigeons and bunnies are not going to kill themselves you know.