Here's my solution for compressed air

2

22BR

New member
I have looked high and low for a convienent source of compressed air and found zip. Local Fire Dept. wont fill it a tank for liability reasons. Dive shop 45 miles, one way.......have to leave the tank overnight. No paint-ballers in the area. Even looked into a compressor as Don suggested. This was turning out to be real difficult.

Called the local AirGas co. and here's what they have. One 442 Cu ft @6000 psi compressed air cylinder that rents for $20 per month. That would be a years supply at least. Get a fill hose from Joe here: http://www.hamcontact.com/airgun/HoseAssembly/

Fill your scuba tank and go to a match, or fill the bottle on your gun and your good to go.

Now all I have to do is decide on which gun. I'm lookin' at a .50 cal...........that's legal, right? I need to read the rules again.



just kiddin'
Jim
 
Could one of you experienced airgun guys please comment on this? Seems to me Mr Jim has a killer idea.........but then the sum total of my airgun experience involves one Beeman RX-1 that my wife got me for Christmas years ago. Will Jim's idea'r work?


Or is the man playing with fire?


:)



al
 
Called Airgas myself

22BR said:
I have looked high and low for a convienent source of compressed air and found zip. Local Fire Dept. wont fill it a tank for liability reasons. Dive shop 45 miles, one way.......have to leave the tank overnight. No paint-ballers in the area. Even looked into a compressor as Don suggested. This was turning out to be real difficult.

Called the local AirGas co. and here's what they have. One 442 Cu ft @6000 psi compressed air cylinder that rents for $20 per month. That would be a years supply at least. Get a fill hose from Joe here: http://www.hamcontact.com/airgun/HoseAssembly/

Fill your scuba tank and go to a match, or fill the bottle on your gun and your good to go.

Now all I have to do is decide on which gun. I'm lookin' at a .50 cal...........that's legal, right? I need to read the rules again.



just kiddin'
Jim
Click to expand...

Hey Jim,
I have an Airgas within site of my office. I just talked to the manager there and he confirmed the availablity of compressed air (clean breathable, certified dry) apparantly they supply these large tanks to the local hospital.

The hoses and tanks in your website look usable. I think if I went that route that I would buy a regulator to go on the 6000psi tank and set it about 5% less than my small carry tank rating . There have been hundreds of tanks filled without a regulator but you certainly have to pay attention and watch your pressure gages when filling. The regulator would help you ensure that you did not over pressure your small tank.

As to 50 cal pellets, yes they are available but I doubt that they shoot as well as the smaller sizes. We shall be shooting 17 cal up to 22 cal pellets at 25 yards. Probably shoot 50 cal's at 100 yds in 2010:rolleyes:
 
Ron,
I agree with your regulator suggestion. My local AirGas dealer is looking into pricing on a suitable reg. I'm thinking about one of the 4500 PSI tanks from Joe, which I would fill from the large 442 cu ft @6000 PSI tank. I could take the smaller tank to the matches and fill my AG cylinder many times.

Actually, depending on the size cylinder on the AG, arriving at the match with a full charge would probably get me through a match with three targets. Either way, I think the tank from AirGas will be my solution.

With the cost of a compressor, as Don has suggested, at $2,700, for a single user like myself, the math doesn't work. At $20 per month rental on the tank from AirGas and maybe two refills per year at probably $20 per fill, thats less than $300 per year. A compressor would require periodic maint. such as oil and air filter changes, which probably run over $100.

Now.........this question is out of the way, got to decide on an AG. All I have decided so far is .177 cal.
 
Fellas, unless you shoot about 1 card per match you're gonna need to refill at the range and it's gonna suck towing that bottle on a trailer. You're also going to go nuts looking for hardware to hook up to your guns which are designed to mount to an upper unit of a SCUBA tank. Buy it or a carbon bottle, both are transportable.
 
Spare Cylinders

Back when my Grandson was shooting Airgun in BR50, I carried three cylinders. I refilled them at home before the next shoot. He never ran out of CO2.
 
CO2 and compressed air are two different animals. The CO2 is liquid which converts to gas as it is depresurized. A small volumn of liquid goes a long way as a propellant. The disadvantage is a little lower presure, (not much effect on lower velocity guns but a problem on high power guns) and temprature sensitivity. You lose velocity as the temprerature get lower. For scuba, you will need to refill your gun at the range so a small tank will be required as a take along. This can be filled from a big tank at home if you have the right hardware.
 
Before you rent ask Airgas how much to buy the cylinder out right. Renting only makes sense if you are a business and can write off the rent as a biz expense.
 
Can anyone tell me the answer to this question? First here are the assumptions:

442 cu ft tank @ 6000 psi (main tank)
88 cu ft tank @ 4500 psi (portable tank)

minimum usable tank pressure- 3000 psi (portable tank would be refilled when the pressure drops to 3000 psi)

all tanks are filled

Now for the question:
How many times can you fill the portable tank from the main tank before the main tank reaches minimum usable pressure.

I hope I framed this in a way that everyone can understand.
 
This calculator should do it if you make the proper unit conversions.
http://www.airhog.com/tank.htm

Sorry, that don't work.

Giving this a bit more thought, 88cu/ft and 442cu/ft is not true volumn. Using their true volumn may work with that calculator.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
with the 88 footer @ something over 4000 I'd guess you'd get over 100 fills easy for a std rifle reservoir filled to just over 3000.
 
DonMatzeder said:
This calculator should do it if you make the proper unit conversions.
http://www.airhog.com/tank.htm

Sorry, that don't work.

Giving this a bit more thought, 88cu/ft and 442cu/ft is not true volumn. Using their true volumn may work with that calculator.
Click to expand...

Don,
I tried that calculator before I posted the question, and you're right.......it didn't work. I haven't been able to find anything on the web that answers the question.

I guess I'm not smart enough to figure it out. I know that a cubic foot takes up less volumn at 6000 psi than it does at 4500 psi and I'm sure there's a math expert out there that can figure it out. I'm just not up to it myself.

How about a best guess estimate..................anyone?
 
I've got an email into THE airgun math geek. He will get back shortly I'm sure. He enjoys a challenge.
 
The answer is 4 fills to 4500 lbs from 3000lbs. The same calculator will tell you how many gun fills you will get from the 4500 lb tank if you know the volume of guns tank.
 
I'm just browsing your forum this afternoon, I'm usually in the Rimfire forum. I'm confused by your problem with getting compressed air at the range. I understand it probably needs to be dry, but can't you just get a Craftsman compressor from Sears for $99 and then add an air dryer to it? What am I missing?:confused:
 
You're missing about 2900 lbs. Shop compressors work at about 100psi and we are talking about 3000psi.
 
:eek: WOW. I had no idea airguns had that kind of pressure. SCUBA tanks can handle that kind of pressure?
 
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