Hand Pumps

[sht2kll]

Howdy all. I am in the market for a .22 Cal airgun I have been looking at springers and pcp's, which brings me to my question. I was wondering if any of you use a hand pump only with your pcp? Where I live have a dive shop, but they were not too interested in filling a scuba tank for airgun use. That leaves me with to option of buying a compressor and hand pump. I am not sure if I want to make that much of an investment on a first time airgun. I was wondering if people are using hand pumps for full fills or if they are getting tired of them quickly and using compressors and tanks? Any info you have that might help my decision would be greatly appreciated. Tom

[Geoff]

I have a hand pump I have been using for a couple of weeks.  After the second day I knew I wanted a tank however I am not one that does a lot of physical activity.

If you are young/strong/in shape, pumping will not be a major issue.  I only pump to 2kpsi and from 1k to 2k on a 250cc tube it takes over 100 pumps with the one I have.

My wife had difficulty pumping once the pressure hit about 1800psi when I showed her how difficult it was.  She had to throw her entire 140lbs into it.

If you do not plan to get a tank, I would spend more on a Hill MK3 pump ... if money is short Mac1 sells the benji for 135$ (this is the one I bought)

and welcome to GTA

[RatRacer]

Don't tell them what you are using it for, or educate them.
I've hand pumped for several years, and while being somewhat fit, it became a tedious  and monotonous task after a while. I found it detracted the joy from the experience of larger volume guns and tuning, that I finally bought a tank and just pump the Disco and P-rod because they're easy and quick.
It is a dedication test, if you will.

[breakfastchef]

I've been using a Hill pump for two years. Works fine for me. Rebuild kit and replacement desiccant is widely available. I fill my AA s200 and a 13 ci regulated Ninja tank with the pump.

[Nomadic Pirate]

Been pumping for years

[Gus]

I bought the disco and pump combo. Pumping to 2000psi ain't that bad. I m 6 foot tall and 200 pounds. I pump the gun daily. Not planning on getting tank till I own a 3000psi gun.

[lastedtiger]

Not planning to get a tank ...EVER

[Ribbonstone]

+60, 5' 10" (shrunk an inch somewhere along the way), 165 pounds.   I'll get a tank when I'm old and feeble.

[drewciferpike]

As long as you're not trying to win a race, just about any hand pump will do well, especially because all of them can be rebuilt. Regarding that, it's a question of "when", not "if", for all of them.

While playing with my dad's bottled QB (for a year... shhhh... don't tell him!) and my S510, I've been only hand-pumping. I use the pumps from Mike at Flying Dragon. I pump around 60-70 times right out of the gate, let the pump sit for a few (5-15 minutes... depends on ambient temp and what else I'm doing), and continue pumping in sets of 50 pumps, letting the pump cool for 10-15 minutes; rinse and repeat until everything is full.

As long as you go slow and steady, and bend your knees (not your arms or back), it's no biggy.

[Nomadic Pirate]

+60, 5' 10" (shrunk an inch somewhere along the way), 165 pounds.   I'll get a tank when I'm old and feeble.

love that.


I'm 5'6" and 155# never found the pump to be hard to use.