If a RIFLE is pressurised with AIR by an external source such as a dive tank, compressor or hand pump, then my reading of the current legislation is that it is an PCP and classed as an 'especially dangerous airgun'.

If the pump is integral to the rifle with no facility for external pressurisation then I would imagine it doesn't fit into that classification whether it is single shot or multi shot.  Just my PO.

The new firearms legislation is currently being drafted.  If you're interested in what;s happening then it's worth paying the $29 annual subscription to COLFO (Council of Licenced Firearms Owners).  You don't think you need to have a FAL to join and they are the main body interacting with the Government on this matter.

https://www.colfo.org/news-and-pr

The cartridges or capsules contain liquid CO2 that vaporizes when released. Working pressure is @ 850psi and muzzle power 4 - 8fpe.

This is not the case with many MSP's. Even the common Crosman 760, 1377 etc.

if you pump more than the recommended strokes you get enough air for a weak second shot.

Or they have a half-cock position where you can fire a dozen or so weak shots from

the recommended 10 pump strokes, even if it wasn't intended to fire that way.

So even with accepted factory MSP's there's no clear line with how the stored air is used.

And with a simple mod, some MSP's can be made to hold air for two good shots.

At some point the forums were calling these ACP's, Air Conserving Pneumatics.

When I presented these facts to an arms officer, and the fact that MSP's could reach PCP pressures

and power levels, his response was along the lines of: that's how the current law is written.

They did not want the complication of power testing airguns for a power limit, so they

simply decided that PCP's as a class are more dangerous and the rest are less dangerous.

Bottom line is, if you can fill from an external air source its a PCP. If you can't it's not.