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[7bru]

I have been thinking about getting an air rifle . Can't decide what style of air gun . Pcp or Springer. I shot a friends Marauder and really liked it. I saw on YouTube where a guy had rigged up an electric motor and a gearbox to a handpump to pump up his rifle automatically. Here is the link. If u could find the motor and gearbox cheap . Anyone try this ?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qxjq4ZR ... ata_player


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[7bru]

Wow this must be a really bad idea Or everyone has switched to shoebox.

Pump reliability must be horrible.

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[deeze]

Ok I'm 100% happy with marauder .25 I love it this gun is awesome.... the pump that's a different story I've had the pump 2 weeks replaced the oring twice#30 or 31 on the pump Diagram because of extreme vacuum on the up stroke it worked for a while now is down again no pressure on the down stroke haven't figured that one out yet sucks because I can't shoot I've been in the pump so much I think I could tear it down in bad conditions blind folded if i were to do it again I would go with the Hill pump but at this point in the game I can't see another 300 for a hand pump

So Yea the pump is horrible that's my opinion

[woodchuckssuck]

This is why anyone who has owned a Hill will tell everyone to buy a Hill from the get-go. I was considering a Benjamin, read all the negatives (o-rings going seemingly all the time) and decided an extra $100 was worth it. That extra $100 also got a desiccant air dryer.

Pumping alone is not for everyone, but with my shooting, its all I need right now. I'll always have my pump even if I get a tank/shoebox. I know the pump will work when everything else might not.

Benjamin needs to address their pump issues. However, I will still recommend Hill. They have a long-standing reputation. Sure, seals go on them as well, but it seems to be very rare in comparison.

[7bru]

I hear that about the Benji pump so most people apparently go with a shoebox
That's to bad. I thought I had found a Better way without breaking the bank

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[AlanMcD]

You could do this with a Hill pump for better reliability, but either way you are limited by heat buildup. The way these handpumps are designed, the really high heat that builds up by the end of the third stage of compression is buried deep inside the pump (see separate post on how the hand pumps work). Since the pump can't easily reject the heat, we have to take frequent cool down breaks for the pump to get back to ambient or it will fail prematurely (also the hotter air as the pump keeps running will carry more moisture into your gun).

So even if you hook up a motor, you still have to stop the pump and let it cool down for 10 to 15 minutes after approximately every 50 cycles. In the end, you save yourself the pumping work, but not much time.

[NeuRon]

Take a long velcro strap and use it to wrap flexible icepacks around the pump. Using the normal slow-pump method, it might keep it cool enough to last a while.

When I had to use my SB compressor to fill my tank on a 105F+ day last summer, I had every icepack from the freezer between a fan and my SB to try to minimize heat wear.

It's silly, but it might be a low-cost inconvenience if you need to rely on the hand pump.

[AlanMcD]

The problem is that the hottest tube is insulated by the other two tubes - the inner tube is where the most heat is, and it is buried deep inside the pump. You can put an ice pack on the base and that will help, but the transfer of heat from the inner tube to the base is not very fast. Ice packs on the outer tube will help cool the charge air some, so that can help too, but we still would need to pause for cool down breaks - maybe we could get up to 75 cycles before we needed to pause for a break, and the ice packs will help shorten the break time.

The shoebox has it's two stage separated, so they can both be directly cooled by airflow from a fan, and the first stage is a totally separate pump and the air from that pump cools as it travels through a hose.

[7bru]

In the long run its really hard to beat a shoebox / scuba tank. Only problem I see is 1200.00 of support equipment to shoot a 500.00 gun.

If I only shoot 100 times a week then all I would need is a hand pump.......but after the addiction goes over the top a hand pump seams ridiculous. Why pay 200.00 for hand pump only to upgrade to scuba/shoebox later on. Thanks for all the input.
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[NeuRon]

In the long run its really hard to beat a shoebox / scuba tank. Only problem I see is 1200.00 of support equipment to shoot a 500.00 gun... ...Why pay 200.00 for hand pump only to upgrade to scuba/shoebox later on.

So true! The $550 SB model is an alternative, as well as a cheap SCUBA tank... ...but when I add it up I did eventually spend about $1,100 for a SB, Guppy tank, Harbor Freight hoses & booster compressor (because I didn't already have one). That $200 for a hand pump will get you 2/3 of the way toward a Guppy tank. You're even further along if you see that you'll have to buy the better Hill hand pump to replace the Benjamin pump.

The key in all of this is knowing that you'll eventually put at least $1,100 into PCP guns and mods, so it all works out.

It's a hefty cost, unless compared to other 3500/4500psi compressors. It's a luxury if you're near a fill station. It can be a real need if you're not near one and the hand pump isn't working out for you. I'm in the middle of those two scenarios and the choice was pretty hard to make. Adding the .25 to the .22, and going on my second Benji pump failure, helped make that choice. Now, even with only a Prod and infrequent fills, my SB/Guppy combo is a purchase I'm still extremely happy with. I know I'll eventually get another PCP gun or two. Guns have come and gone but the Shoebox/Guppy package never will.