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PCP air rifle on a budget

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North Country Gal
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Re: PCP air rifle on a budget

Post by North Country Gal » Fri Jan 04, 2019 11:30 am

Good video, for sure. Thanks for posting it.
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Re: PCP air rifle on a budget

Post by daytime dave » Sun Jan 06, 2019 7:49 am

That was a pretty good review on that rifle. I liked the way it was done.
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Re: PCP air rifle on a budget

Post by Henry88 » Sun Jan 06, 2019 3:01 pm

Good video, but it sure raises a lot of questions for me. I know they are a first rate company, there is no doubt, but how do those small rings stay in place on a springer? Unless there's a pin or dowel holding them in place; at least the rear one.

I notice that front ring is flush with the start of the bell, so it couldn't slide back :D (edit to add he left a fraction of an inch :D )
ag1.jpg
And the rear is pretty well against what looks like an adjustment ring (edit to add he left very small space)

Good video though despite the fact I think those rings are a little under rated.
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Re: PCP air rifle on a budget

Post by North Country Gal » Sun Jan 06, 2019 3:58 pm

Most spring piston guns have a recoil stop hole in the receiver to accommodate bases designed with a recoil stop pin. As you've noted, too, he setup that scope with the rings to best reduce any movement of the scope.

Speaking of scopes for piston guns (spring or gas), you must use what is referred to as an air gun rated scope. That unique double spring piston recoil can destroy a standard, non-airgun rated scope in short order. Even with an airgun rated scope, I've seen my share bite the dust on the more powerful piston guns. Note, however, that you do NOT need an airgun rated scope for any other type of air gun, only the piston guns.

The one feature that you will need on all types of airguns, though, for serious target work, up close at 10 meters or so, is a scope with an adjustable objective. Even a standard 22 scope has considerable parallax at 10 meters. An AO or SF parallax adjustment feature is pretty much standard on all scopes used on air rifles.
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Re: PCP air rifle on a budget

Post by BigAl52 » Wed Jan 09, 2019 10:27 pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PprI9is2WBY

Here is another video I found interesting. This rifle looks really good to me. The only thing that I didnt like is where its made but you gotta admit this company packed a lot of features in this rifle for the price and I found it also very tempting. I still havent pulled the trigger on one but Im still looking. Doing my best here to keep some air gun chat going.
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Re: PCP air rifle on a budget

Post by North Country Gal » Thu Jan 10, 2019 10:38 am

Thanks for the video, Al, and I do appreciate keeping the air gun thread going, too.

For those of you contemplating shooting air guns, that rifle is a good example of why PCP rifles are considered state of the art in the airgun world.

For you hunters, especially, take note of that 28 plus pounds of energy. That's actually twice as much or more than you need to hunt rabbits and squirrels with an airgun. People have been doing it with 10 to 12 fpe air guns and even less for many years. Note, too, that there is NO piston gun that will get you those kinds of energy numbers and the ones that even tickle that 20 ft pounds of energy level number have a horrendous cocking effort and equally nasty recoil, making them difficult to shoot, not to mention noise, not to mention being very hard of scopes. A PCP gets you all that fpe with no recoil, no special technique needed to shoot, can use any scope, and are typically the quietest class of airgun.

Note, too, the regulator feature. This used to a feature found only on high end PCPs, but now is becoming standard at all price levels. A regulated PCP compensates for drops in pressure as the reservoir empties to keep velocity constant. This gives you more useable shots per fill. On my non regulated PCP guns, I'll have an ideal range of pressure where the velocity stays fairly constant. On either side of that range, though, I'll have enough difference in velocity to affect point of impact, so I'll have to watch that gauge and fill before it gets too low or count shots to stay in the optimum range. My Discovery is a good example. If I fill it to the max and then let it fall to the minimum, I can usually get about 26 shots. Of those 26 shots, though, only 18 of them are useful for the sake of velocity staying constant, so for the sake of accuracy, I have to fill before I get to the minimum.

Also note the repeater feature. These PCPs are the only field/hunting rifles that have repeater capability and it's now pretty much standard on PCPs rifles. Maybe no a big deal for target work, but from experience hunting, I can tell you that cocking a springer or pumping up a classic pump is noisy, sometimes enough to spook game.
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Re: PCP air rifle on a budget

Post by Henry88 » Thu Jan 10, 2019 11:52 am

Yeah, looks like a winner Al, and thanks NCG for that excellent explanation.

Another entry level gun from Diana also caught my eye and that is the Chaser. At $70( single CO2), I like the feature set a lot more than the Crosman 2300 at a lower price. This gun seems very well thought out, even keeping a spare CO2 in the handle, a small rod for leverage unscrewing the cap (like a drill), window to see the CO2 refill, 11mm rail, optional rotary mag, etc. It also morphs into a rifle (which I'm not interested in) and comes in a nice big pouch.

My beleaguered point here is that someone at Diana is thinking things out. Maybe NCG has a new job :D
chaser.jpg
While it is definitely made in China, I couldn't find anything that stated where the Outlaw was made, but certainly the assumption is wide spread.

I went to the Diana website, and also searched the net for HQ pics of the gun, but couldn't see anything that said made in China.

What concerns me more than the Chinese labor (by far) are the Chinese materials. Those container ships don't go back empty :lol:

You may meet up again with your old 2003 Chevy in the form of your new airgun :lol:

And NCG, what a compelling argument you make for PCP. You honestly make me want to go out and buy one. But there is also something about just grabbing your springer and a tin of pellets and just shooting w/o pressure gages and so forth, but I think you've changed my mode of thinking on airguns moving ahead..............
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Re: PCP air rifle on a budget

Post by North Country Gal » Thu Jan 10, 2019 12:06 pm

While I'm not crazy about things made in China, not all things from China are necessarily cheap or made in the same way. As always, it's matter of how the manufacturer specs the amount of QC they want on the product when they go to China to have a product made. The Chinese manufacturers usually offer menu options as to features and QC when contracting them to make a product for you. You decide how much or how little you want to spend. Then, too, a lot depends on the management of any given factory. For instance, Nikon makes some of their products in China, but they staff their Chinese Nikon plants with Nikon managers and use the same QC as in their Japanese plants. Whole different ball game than the cheaply made in China stuff.
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Re: PCP air rifle on a budget

Post by BigAl52 » Thu Jan 10, 2019 12:23 pm

The Outlaw is made in China by Snow Peak. There are several other reviews on it but Airguns of AZ in one of the only places you can buy the gun. Its a lot of gun for the money when you consider that the FX and Daystates are double the price.
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Re: PCP air rifle on a budget

Post by Mags » Thu Jan 10, 2019 2:04 pm

Thought Diana's were made in Germany. I couldn't find any web references to them being made in China.
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