fill air tanks

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   Gday metallicsting,
I would suggest you look at a compressor. A decent one will completely fill your gun each time, where a dive tank will loose headpressure after each fill and then of course need a trip to the dive shop to get filled. Then there is the testing fo rthe tank that will happen every year that costs around $70 -$90. Some people think you don't need a test if it's not for breathing use, but it does need to be in test to be legally filled.

Get a compressor that works on 12 v and it means you can fill it in the field off your car battery. I have a GX CS4. Paid around $900 landed, but I see Hunting and Fishing might be selling them under Gamo label with their new PPCP 
(plastic precharged Pneumatic) 

I also have an earlier Airbow compressor as a backup, and haven't used my dive tank for a few years now.

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Pauly5 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Forum Moderator Joined: 11 Mar 2013 Location: Titahi Bay Status: Offline Posts: 1593	Post Options Post Reply Quote Pauly5 Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 15 Aug 2025 at 11:11pm
	Gday metallicsting, I would suggest you look at a compressor. A decent one will completely fill your gun each time, where a dive tank will loose headpressure after each fill and then of course need a trip to the dive shop to get filled. Then there is the testing fo rthe tank that will happen every year that costs around $70 -$90. Some people think you don't need a test if it's not for breathing use, but it does need to be in test to be legally filled. Get a compressor that works on 12 v and it means you can fill it in the field off your car battery. I have a GX CS4. Paid around $900 landed, but I see Hunting and Fishing might be selling them under Gamo label with their new PPCP (plastic precharged Pneumatic) I also have an earlier Airbow compressor as a backup, and haven't used my dive tank for a few years now.

J-S Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Visit Members Homepage Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 20 Oct 2014 Location: Auckland Status: Offline Posts: 464	Post Options Post Reply Quote J-S Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 18 Aug 2025 at 11:02am
	PPCP
	J S Airguns Air Arms TX200('s) Theoben Sirocco HW77 FWB 300s Webley Patriot One or two others... Current projects: Too many..

Grey Kiwi Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Groupie Joined: 09 Jan 2022 Location: Richmond Status: Offline Posts: 50	Post Options Post Reply Quote Grey Kiwi Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 18 Aug 2025 at 11:48am
	The Gun City pump (GX CS2) is OK, but air cooled and heats up quick. Heat kills those wee pumps. Be prepared to pump for maybe 10 minutes, and allow to cool. Pump for another 10 minutes. Can get tedious. The next step up is the CS3 which has a fully enclosed case but the same guts as the CS2...so not much better at all. Better of the lot is the CS4. It's water cooled (has a built in radiator). I sold mine recently for $1000 to give you an example. They are rated to 5½ hours continuous running. I sold mine to get the Hill Evo-310, and pleased that I did. Only use it for gun filling, and it will outlast me I reckon. For the GX CS2/3/4 etc you get a better price by buying direct from Alibaba (not Aliexpress). The Aliexpress sellers are sometimes selling a clone...and they have no shame. For the money that GC want I'd be looking at a genuine Yong Heng (water cooled). Needs a bucket of water to pump from for cooling. Needs regular maintenance (yearly probably)...seals, grease, etc. Yeah, sod the scuba tank filling guys. Damn dear per fill, plus the yearly test, and the 5 year test, etc. Edited by Grey Kiwi - 18 Aug 2025 at 12:06pm

Pauly5 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Forum Moderator Joined: 11 Mar 2013 Location: Titahi Bay Status: Offline Posts: 1593	Post Options Post Reply Quote Pauly5 Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 18 Aug 2025 at 5:01pm
	There were a couple of airbow compressors on trademe this year. Don't know if they sold, but keep an eye out, they might come up again.

RangerPete Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 19 Apr 2023 Location: Cambridge. Status: Offline Posts: 993	Post Options Post Reply Quote RangerPete Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 4 hours 30 minutes ago at 1:30am
	Hi Folks, I went through all the same problems. I used to have a 300bar 10L scuba tank which was great for filling any gun, and my local dive shop would fill it up to 300bar, no problem. Heaps of air and could fill any gun again and again! When I immigrated I brought my 300bar tank with me, and that’s when the problems started 🤔 Problem number 1 was there is only one dive shop in North island (that I know of) who will fill a tank to 300bar, and believe me, I phoned around, a lot!!! And they are in Auckland, and I’m not. My “local” dive shop in Hamilton, (the only dive shop in Hamilton) fills to “230bar”… hummm! But actually by the time you get home and your tank has cooled, you usually get about 205 bar, 210 if you’re really lucky. Problem 2 is that NZ and OZ have some stupid work safe thing on scuba tanks called a LAB number and a dive shop can’t fill a scuba tank if it dosent have a LAB number, and my 300bar didn’t have a LAB number, so I had to either get it filled privately, or get my self a compressor. Neither of those options worked out. I ended up getting a one year old NZ LAB numbered 15L 230bar scuba tank, which I now get filled up in Hamilton for 10 bucks a pop, and it lasts me a few months filling up all my pcps (regardless of what their max fill pressure is). I run them all from 200 bar down to 100ish bar (even though most of them have a 250bar max fill), and I get plenty of shots per fill from each rifle and plenty of fills from the 15L scuba tank. Part of the secret to my success (😂) of getting maximum shooting pleasure from minimum dive shop air, is using a 15L tank (lots of air), not shooting huge amounts of FPE, and tuning all of my rifles to perform nicely with the regs set as low as possible, which gives the most shot counts possible before they fall off the regs. I get by and it only cost me $400 for the scuba tank, and $10 for a refill every few months, and I certainly do a lot of shooting every month 👍🏻 I think the hydro test costs me $30 once a year.
	Walk quietly, but carry a big stick.