Charging a CO2 PCP pistol?

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roostonu
Posts: 33
Joined: Wed Oct 21, 2009 5:10 pm
Location: Nor-Cal

Charging a CO2 PCP pistol?

Post by roostonu »

I'm still researching the different Pneumatic air pistols and I can find lots of info but no specifics on charging CO2 pistols.

I have found full tanks at Pyramid Air for $30 but is that suitable for charging the cylinders on the pistol? Will I also need a regulator/gauge set up? Will I need adaptors for the tank? What pressure are the tanks filled to? At what pressure do the tanks/pistols need to be refilled? How many shots do you get out of a single charge? How many cylinders can you fill from one tank? Will I be able to fill my tank from a CO2 welding tank?(easy access at work). Also leasing a tank from our gas supply would be easy.

Also, can a charged CO2 pistol be stored for short periods or must they be drained if not used for a couple days?
GaryN
Posts: 637
Joined: Mon Mar 01, 2004 4:57 pm
Location: California

Post by GaryN »

Here is one link that I found.
http://www.pilkguns.com/co2.shtml

co2 and CA/PCP are different. CO2 fill is determined by weight, not pressure.

You will need an adapter that converts the fitting on the valve to your guns cylinder. I then screw in my guns cylinder (Walther CPM-1) to the adapter. I do not use an intermediate tank, such as used with the TAU-200 co2 air rifle.

On my Walther CPM-1, I can easily get over 100 shots from a fill.
How many fill can you get from a tank depends on how full the cylinder is when you refill it. I don't always let the cylinder go down to empty before I refill it.

I would not bother with the 20oz tank from Pyramid. Get a 5 or 10 pound tank. Refilling the larger tank would be cheaper. And I have run into places that will NOT refill any tank smaller than 5 pounds.

Yes you can refill from a co2 welding tank, BUT, you want the LIQUID co2. And to do that you need to invert the source tank to get the liquid, probably not a safe/good idea based on how heavy it probably is. I would recommend having a syphon installed on any tank 10 pounds and heavier. This is to get the liquid co2 from the bottom of the tank w/o inverting a HEAVY tank.

The other problem w refilling from the tank at work is, you want to prechill the target tank, per the linked article above. If you have a refrigerator nearby then you can do it.

When I store my co2 AP, I simply unscrew the tank just enough to release the pressure, and that is it.
yana

Post by yana »

Dont forget to cool the cilinder. I always put my steyr cilinder in the freezer. A warm cilinder will nót give you a full fill.
As said, you fill on weight. It probably states on the cilinder. Tara weight and co2 weight. If you overfill, just bleed off a tad. You shóuld have a tool for that.
I always keep my cilinders pressurized of both the Tau 7 and steyr.
This míght be not the best thing for the seals(the swell cause of the cold) but never had a problem with either and the steyr is already 13yrs old.
Non-target guns can have rust problems if you leave the co2 in.
I dó advise you to shoot lubed pellets to avoid rust in yr barrel.
How many shots depends on what pistol, power setting, what cilinder fitted..
CO2 is actually a very nice propellant; as long as there's a tiny amount of liquid co2 left, pressure will remain constant. My Tau doesnt show ány drop or maybe last 2 shots. Than its REALLY empty. Thats about 120 shots, but velocity is set quite low. The steyr does about 100 shots I recon.

Welding gas isnt real co2. Its called CO2 welding, but it actually is a mixed gas iirc.
Best is to hire a gascilinder with syphon tube.
David M
Posts: 1676
Joined: Wed Mar 24, 2004 6:43 pm

Post by David M »

For a small CO2 tank, some people have used a larger CO2 fire extinguisher, change the hose to a adaptor and get it refilled when empty.
Check the type to see if it a liquid supply tank.
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