Heavy Metal

Time Well Spent June 15, 2022

The editor reviews a substantial PCP pump from Hatsan

Pre-charged pneumatic airguns have many advantages over the more well-known spring/piston guns, including recoilless firing and near silent shots. However, not everybody wants to pay £250 to £300 pounds for a diver’s tank to get those benefits. This is where the manual pump comes in and there are many to choose from on the market today. They’re also highly appealing to people who don’t live within practical distance of a dive or gun shop to fill their tank.

If you only shoot a few shots, as most hunters do, the physical effort to fill your PCP with a pump is nothing, so the cost saving and convenience are too good to ignore.

Hatsan airguns and accessories from Turkey are imported by one of the stalwarts of the UK shooting scene, Edgar Brothers; a company that has worked with the Turks to offer a line of airguns that suits the British market very well indeed.

Hefty

Their pump has a welcome heft that lets you know that this is a substantial chunk of engineering. PCP pumps get worked hard, so they’d better be solidly engineered if they’re going to last, and the Hatsan pump weighs some 8½lbs, which is a lot of steel.

I was intrigued to see that the inlet for air is through the rubberpadded handle on both sides. The tubular design has filtration packs which capture both moisture and dirt particles that could damage your PCP’s delicate internal parts.

These filters are in screw-in cartridge form, so replacement is child’s play. The pressure gauge inhabits the large metal block that sits at the base of the pump. It shows that the pump is capable of delivering 300 BAR, which means it covers just about every airgun sold today. The display shows a green zone that stops at 200 bar, the most common fill pressure for most airguns, making it quick and easy to see the pressure as you’re filling.

Technique

All pump manufacturers claim superefficiency, but the trick to using a pump well is a slow and steady pace. The correct method is to use your body weight, not muscle strength. Lift the handle as far as it can go, then lock your arms and bend your knees. Let your body weight and gravity do the work. This is a substantial pump, supplied with spare ‘O’ rings to keep it in service, and at a price that’s very appealing. If I have a criticism, the hose is rather short and stiff so attaching some connectors was a challenge, but a little intelligence and practice found ways around it.

RRP £147

www.shootingsports.edgarbrothers.com