Made many Pcps over the years, all i can say is anyone having a go at making a pcp, make sure you use proper hydraulic tube for the air cylinder and pressure test it , its the equivalant of having a hand grenade in your hands if all went pear shaped, nasty!!

And in the UK, make sure the power stays within legal limits or you will fall foul of firearms law.

Are rules changing on owning an air rifle soon? I have an old webley and I am not too sure if i should keep it or not?

Bri

Edited By Boiler Bri on 14/07/2015 21:05:47

Bri, do nothing until there is legislation, the thought of compensating all those millions of airgun owners will soon sober up any Politition. Scotland being seperate has different legislation and not to be confused with the England and Wales legislation. Just as Northern Ireland allows the ownership of center fire pistols whereas we cannot own one.

Clive

Edited By Clive Hartland on 14/07/2015 21:36:26

Well if you look in the link on my last post , you will see a 400cc bsa buddy bottle is used, none of the parts you make store compressed air. Buckley does not sell the book online, as you know what would happen, someone would buy it, scan it and have it up on the web within the day giving it away free, or someone in china would be knocking them out by the boat load.

Regarding the GC2 exploding that was Tom Waltons, i have only ever heard of two cylinders actually failing on pcps and both had alloy cylinders, hence most of the German made pcps with alloy cylinders are date stamped and recommended to be replaced after ten years much the same as the bottles fitted to Theobens, bsa etc, There is currently no law that requires pressure cylinders that hold under 500cc of air to be tested. hence not many pcp are individually tested.

I believe the licence in Scotland does not come into play until april next year, No one as to lose there air rifles just apply for a licence.

Years ago I saw a poachers gun on Antiques Roadshow. It had a hollow butt made from soldered sheet metal. It ran at a relatively low pressure and needed a stirrup pump. It's amazing what can be done. The barrel is the hardest part to make.

Amateur gun making even when legal totally freaks the police out. It would be unwise to do so without consulting the local firearms licensing department.

I don't have a problem with licensing if it reduces misuse of air weapons as long as the cost is not too high.

One of the best books you can get on air rifles is "The Airgun from trigger to target" by Gerald Cardew. He really new the subject. The biggest problem is getting a decent barrel. Most of them seem to come from Germany and they simply aren't vey innovative, preferring to produce the same old stuff because it works well enough for them. FX Airguns in Sweden are trying some new ideas on some models though.

I don't know where the Diana of my youth was made but it was spring powered and well over 12 ft/lbs as supplied.

My understanding about the 12 ft/lbs was that the level was down to safety. I have a few years to go before I reach 70. The safety aspect has a knock on effect. When my son was around 10 I bought an air rifle more for something for us both to do together. Targets initially and then thought why not shoot a few rabbits for the pot. They aren't really powerful enough and it can be rather cruel. One for instance was found by a dog when it eventually died with 3 pellets in it. Another from the sound of the crack was a clean head shot. I have no idea how long it took for that one to die.

The knock on effect of the limit is that people have ways of getting round it even on pcp's and both can be arranged to get round police checks. To be completely legal a FAC is needed which is also ok for shooting 7.62mm full bore nato round in designated places. 22 magnum in a lot more places. It's a lot less trouble getting a shotgun.license and those cause a lot more problems and really are lethal especially with certain cartridges in them.

The real problem in this area though is that say 1,000,000 pellets come out of air guns one year. No one will hear about those that didn't cause any problems and that may have been all of them.

The only exploding PCP's I have come across have had the wrong sort of grease used on them. And one I vaguely remember that was over charged.

John

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Edited By Neil Wyatt on 15/07/2015 20:57:44

Controls were introduced by The Firearms (Dangerous Air Weapons) Rules 1969.

Sub 12flb pellets will not cope with much more energy. PCP guns are tamper-proof now. In any event a chronograph cannot be fooled.

No animal may be shot lawfully unless it is on the list of pest species and is actually being a pest. The land occupier's permission is required.

Gun crime in the UK has been falling steadily for the past ten years. We don't need any misinformation.