Tag Archives: PCP

Air & C02 Rifles and Pistols

The Next Generation GX CS4 PCP Air Compressor Is Amazing!

Life is a funny thing – I grew up with firearms. Yeah, my dad had these two old pump action Daisy airguns that were fun to shoot tin cans with but starting at a pretty early age I liked things that went “bang”! Sometime in the early 2000s, I got back into airguns to deal with pests. I started hearing about a class of airguns called “pre-charged pneumatics” (PCPs) that used 3,000 PSI high pressure air cylinders somewhere on the rifle to propel the pellet. They were reported to be accurate, reliable and capable of rapid repeating fire through through the use of a manually operated bolt and a magazine.

I thought that sounded so neat – especially the rapid follow up shots. What stopped me from buying one was that they had to be refilled from a SCUBA tank that was filled at a diving shop. Well, I eventually found out there were specialized hand pumps and you didn’t need to spend a fortune on a tank and hassles with going to the dive shop. I bought a Hill Mk.4 hand pump along with a .22 Hatsan Gladius Long that I used for a few years.

Along the way, I found out that high pressure air compressors were falling in price. Those things used to be well past a $1,000, large, noisy, heavy and there was just no way I could swing one. In the fall of 2020 while surfing around on Amazon, a very affordable high pressure air compressor was doing really well. It was affordable, getting great reviews, portable and I didn’t have to mess with all kinds of oils and ice water cooling baths. It was the CS3 air compressor from GX. I bought one for $529.99 on November 23, 2022 – Amazon is cool in that I can search order history and pull up dates that I would have forgotten otherwise.

I wrote a post about buying it and also one about setting it up and testing it. I almost always used the CS3 to top off a really nice little Omni 18 cubic foot tank that I would then use to fill my growing number of PCP airguns. It really worked well – the tank was really convenient to pull out and top off an airgun and I would only occasionally need to bring out the CS3. Sure, I could have filled the airguns directly from the CS3 but I wanted to keep things simple.

Fast forward to January 2023 – I bought a .30 Umarex Gauntlet with a big cylinder and was planning to get one or two other high air consumption PCP rifles in 2023 so I started thinking about how to feed them. It was a total coincidence that GX unveiled their next generation CS4 compressor on Amazon. There were just a few four or five reviews at the time and I decided to gamble on the new pump and bought it on January 29, 2023. I took the leap because I had such a positive experience with the CS3 and I knew I could return it to Amazon if it turned out to be a problem child. [Yes, I bought this so you are getting my honest observations – click here for the Amazon CS4 product page.]

On January 31, 2023 the Amazon driver brought be a big heavy cardboard box with the GX CS4 and I started getting my stuff together to do some testing plus a time slot to fill a big 6.8L carbon fiber tank from empty to 300bar which would take 2-3 hours I figured.

Now, I’m going to tell you something – it is slick. It is really, really slick. I’m telling you this so you take the time to read more in this post plus one about setting it up and testing it.

What is the GX CS4?

The CS4 is an additional pump offering from GX for people wanting to fill larger cylinders than the CS3. It also reflects design advancements to the CS3 unit – here are the features that really caught my eye:

CS3CS4
Working Pressure
(Mfg supplied)		30MPa/300 bar (4,351 PSI)40MPa/400 bar (5,801 PSI) – 33% more pressure
Air volume
(Mfg supplied)		7 liters/minute (0.247 cubic feet/min)11 liters/min (0.388 cubic feet/min) – 57% more air volume output
Suggested Maximum Air Cylinder Size2.5 Liters6.8 Liters
CoolingAir with fansCoolant with radiator and fan
Power
(Mfg supplied)		12V 250 Watts12V 350 Watts – 40% more watts
Duty Cycle (Mfg supplied)30 minutes working and 20 minutes cooling5 hours continuously working. Manual says to let it run for 1-2 minutes after pumping is complete – 10x longer duty cycle.
Sound Level (Mfg supplied)75db70db
Pump lubricationNot needed (until it slows down – mine hasn’t so far)Has a grease pot to add grease every 4-6 hours of run time
Limit switchSimple rotary dial limit switchProtected twin pin design where you can set both the limit and failsafe limit
Hose19.6″ permanently attached hose19.6 hose that is removable via a quick connect foster fitting
Weight (my digital scale)19.4 pounds29 pounds with antifreeze – 55% heavier
Dimensions (me with a tape measure)5-3/8″ wide (about 5-7/8″ wide including the wire spool on the side) x
9-1/2″ deep (10-1/4″ if you include the release valve) x
10-1/2 high at the top of the case (about 11-1/2 overall if you include the handle)		6″wide case (6-1/2″ wide with the wire spool) x
11-78 deep (12-3/4 if you include the release valve) x
12-1/2″ at the top of the case (about 13-1/2 at either the top of the grease pot or the folded handle) – about 62% larger overall

For me, the really long duty cycle is what I was looking for. The 57% increase in air output is a welcome enhancement to have over the CS3. Since I would fill my guns from my tank, I was never in a rush. Now that I have 6.8L tank, the fills will probably be less often but a lot more volume will be needed so it’s good to get that increase.

The increase in air pressure is overkill right now – there aren’t affordable 400 bar working pressure tanks as of yet – they are out there for specialty applications but are in the $1,500-2500 range. I’m sure the price will come down over time but most carbon fiber air tanks that PCP shooters are using are in the 300-310 bar working pressure range. If you see 400 bar, read the ad again because they may be talking about the test pressure and not the working pressure – you fill to the working pressure only – never to the test limit.

To be clear, the GX CS4 is not replacing the CS3. They have added the CS4 to fill larger tanks faster. They identify the 6.8 liter tanks as being the target max size for the CS4 and for me the duty cycle is the more important number. You can fill anything you want as long as you don’t bake the pump.

With the CS3 for example, the 20 minute duty cycle is what limits a convenient tank size. If I needed to fill my Omni 100 cu in (1.64 liter) tank from empty – I would let it run for 20 minutes and then I would stop the pump but let the fan run until it cooled down to room temp. I’d then close the cylinder valve, bleed the air out of the line, start the air pump again and as it came up to speed I would open the cylinder’s valve again. It took a while but it worked just fine. I tried to always be mindful of the duty cycle and give the unit a chance too cool down before I either shut it off or resume – I’m sure that’s one reason I’ve had zero problems with the CS3 since I bought it.

A five hour duty cycle with the CS4 is pretty amazing. I’ll tell you more about it when we get into the setup and testing.

Out of the Box Pictures

Let’s take a look here:

The CS4 was well packed. Amazon’s delivery group sometimes smashes delicate packaging so I was glad to see the unit was well protected in a plastic bag with styrofoam holding and protecting everything inside of the box.
They are using the same 12 volt 46.2 amp power supply. This allows you to either power the pump with a car/truck battery or use this power supply to charge at home. You can see the removable air hose under it still sitting in the styrofoam.
This is really nice. With the GX CS3, the air hose is bolted to the unit and gets in the way at times. With the GX CS4, there is a standard Foster quick connect. Notice the thought put into the hardline portion on the left side of those – this is the end that plugs into the pump and the metal line bends at an angle thus avoiding collapsing or weakening a flexible airline. It’s a well thought out change.
Starting from the top back – the silver cylinder is the grease pot that you use every 4-6 hours to introduce grease into the cylinder. The brass fitting is the safety burst disc. A burst disc plays an important safety role – it will blow out before an extreme pressure situation could cause a catastrophic failure of the pump. The clear circle has the pressure gauge and the two limit switches you can set. On the left is the power wire spool. The silver nozzle sticking out is the male foster fitting that the quick connect air hose goes to. On front side (colored black) – top right are the on/off switches for the pump itself. The red master switch turns the unit on and both the fan and coolant pump begin working. The black knob is the pressure release / bleed valve. Behind the circular slots sits the CS4’s radiator that has a fan cooling it – the antifreeze/distilled water flows through it to cool off.
The pressure gauge and limit switches surprised me. I went to rotate the switches by turning the silver knob and immediately felt a weird springy resistance. On the CS3 I always checked the pressure because if you bumped the knob the pressure limit changed. Well, now move the top silver “finger” around and push down to turn either limit switch. It’s less prone to being bumped and you have two limits – not just one. It’s not absolutely goof proof but I think it is a good next step from a safety perspective.
With high pressure systems, play it safe. My tank gauge vs. the pump’s gauge don’t match so I go with the higher of the two pressures. It’s called “conservativism” – go with the most conservative or safe number given the situation – don’t base your fill on the low-reading gauge, go with the one that says there is more air pressure just to be safe. In my shop’s air system I probably have a dozen pressure gauges and they all read slightly differently – I guess it is just the nature of the beast unless you want to spend a mint on calibrated accurate gauges.
On the back of the unit are vertical slots and when you look in you can see the cooling fins of the first stage cylinder liner.
The larger CS4 is on the left and the CS3 is on the right. The CS4 is intended for filling up to 6.8L bottles and the CS3 is targeted for smaller bottles and/or airguns. Note: GX makes two versions of the CS3 now – one with the external 12 volt power supply like I have as well as one that just plugs directly into the wall and does not have a 12 volt supply.
CS3 on the left vs the CS4 on the right.
One last comparison photo – the CS3 is on the left, the CS4 is on the right and the dogs’ water bowl is in the back 🙂 See how the air hose just dangles on the CS3? Being able to remove it completely from the CS4 really cleans things up plus opens the door for future hoses should you need them.

Here are the GX compressors from the CS4 down to the CS1

Summary

The CS4 compressor is a great new product offering from GX. Click here to see it on Amazon.

In the next blog post I will walk you through setting the unit up and then testing. I’ve already done all of this so I’m telling you right now the CS4 is a solid unit. In the next post I’ll explain why I am so impressed along with what I did to set up and test it.

1/28/24 Update: Had to fix Amazon links so they work in the list above the summary. I’m still using my CS4. No problems.

6/12/23 Update: Fixed the wording about being conservative. Thanks KG!

Note, I have to buy all of my parts – nothing here was paid for by sponsors, etc. I do make a small amount if you click on an ad and buy something but that is it. You’re getting my real opinion on stuff.

If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@ro*********.com. Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.

Air & C02 Rifles and Pistols

Boy Did I Get Lucky – Foster Coupler Blew Off Just Over 3,200 PSI And Hit Me In The Glasses

Time for a safety briefing and, yes, I am the cause of the briefing. This is not a blame game post – what happened to me will likely happen to me again and may happen to you as well. The important thing is to learn from it because I got real, real lucky.

I was topping off my new Hatsan Jet II with high pressure air from my Omega tank for maybe the dozenth time or more and thought I was being careful. I am respectful of high pressure air because I am a NAUI certified SCUBA diver and sometimes weld right with Gas, MIG and TIG torches. I have heard plenty of stories over the past 40 years (yeah, I am that old) about tanks, fittings and what not. Guess I got sloppy this time.

I connected the DonnyFL female foster fitting to the male foster fitting on the Jet II and gave a gentle tug to make sure it was seated. You always want to do this by the way. I really didn’t think a lot about it because I have refilled from a tank so many times. Bad routines can lead to bad outcomes and it did here.

I was holding the Jet II off at an angle where I could see the manometer (what they call the pressure gauge in the high pressure / pre-charged-pneumatic (PCP) airgun world. I’d guess the angle was about 30-45 degrees and may 18 inches away – these are all best guesses in hind sight.

I cracked open the valve and was doing a slow controlled fill. Somewhere just over 225 bar (3,263) PSI, the hose’s female fitting explosively slipped off the male fitting on the airgun and rocketed off. It happened so fast that I realized my face was numb, I had taken a direct hit in the polycarbonate right lens of my glasses and had heard something like a gun shot. I turned off the air and went to the bathroom to look in the mirror expecting to see blood. I was geniunely surprised there wasn’t any so then I started looking.

My right lens had a gouge where the fitting hit it and saved my eye. I had a small light bruise on my eyebrow but it really wasn’t bad. Luckily, I had spare glasses and grabbed them to be able to see.

This is the lens after my optometrist bent things back correctly and cleaned then lens. The gouges are there to stay. I told her what happened and she told me I was very lucky to be wearing polycarbonate lenses because they can handle an amazing amount force.

What happened?

My next thought was “what the hell just happened?” The O-ring from inside the DonnyFL female quick connect foster fitting was still on the Jet II’s male foster fitting. Nothing had broken – no tears, missing metal or rounded edges.

I was the victim of stacked tolerances. This means that any given specification has a +/- allowance that the machinist can go over or under by and still be ok. The stacked tolerance problem is when you have those tolerances of parts combine to then be outside of specification. Please notice that I am not blaming any of the vendors.

The DonnyFL female quick connect foster adapter, which works fine on my Air Venturi fittings and FX Impact Compact Mk II had slightly different dimensions than the Hatsan male fitting. I had noticed since I first bought the Jet II that I needed to firmly seat the DonnyFL female fitting as it didn’t go on easy. With 20/20 hindsight, I should have realied that was a bad sign and switched to the supplied Hatsan female quick connect fitting. I didn’t make the change befoe because I thought the DonnyFL and was good to go since it worked on everything else. Turns out that was a wrong assumption.

I really don’t know why more harm wasn’t done. Maybe the fitting flew straight out, the end of the hose was reached and it whipped back with less energy. Maybe because my glasses flattened around my eye socket it partially absorbed and then distributed the force. I can tell you I feel real lucky that worse didn’t happen.

What did I do as a result?

All of my air fittings are made by Air Venturi – I buy different configurations of them and keep them in stock so that when I have a fitment problem I can change to an Air Venturi fitting.

In this case, I wasn’t about to take the Hatsan apart so I took the Hastan supplied female fitting and put an Air Venturi male quick connect on the end to get a solid connection both to the airgun and to the DonnyFL quick connect. The fittings go together very smoothly and I’ve not had problem after almost a dozen top offs.

The DonnyFL female foster fitting is above. The Hatsan female foster fitting with the Air Venturi male plug installed is at the bottom.
This combination seems to work really well. The DonnyFL works great with Air Venturi fittings and the Hatsan female foster works great with the Jet II’s make foster fitting.

Summary of Lessons Learned

The problem of stacked tolerances will always be around and thus one brand of fitting may not work well with another. So here are the lessons learned.

  1. Be mindful that when you have to push a foster fitting on harder than normal then that likely indicates the fitment is wrong and you must look at your options.
  2. Use the airgun supplied adapter (if they give you one) and then put a brand of fittings on it that allow you to safely mate the parts together if there is a fitment issue.
  3. I will use the pressure gauge on the tank and not the airgun going forward even though I thought I was at a safe angle.
  4. Do not get anywhere near the fitting during refills – especially with your head or face.

I hope this helps you out. It was a wakeup call for me.

If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@ro*********.com. Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.

Air & C02 Rifles and Pistols

Update on the Hatsan Jet II – It’s Pretty Wicked!

I wrote a series of posts about purchasing a .22 Hatsan Jet II right after I bought it in early January 2022. After shooting it for a month I have some feedback to share.

I’d guesstimate I have just over a 100 rounds through it. I’ve changed quite a few 7 round mags – that much I know for sure. The first thing I want to tell you is that the performance and reliability are surprising. It reinforces to me that Hatsan can turn out some great airguns.

The Shroud Is True

I was a little worried about how true the shroud would be relative to the center of the barrel’s bore. In my Gladius, it was not. With the Jet II, it is. The way you can tell is that pellets are landing all over the place because they hit the adapter or somewhere in the moderator and spin out of control. In other words, accuracy is horrible until you remove the moderator and/or the adapter. The DonnyFL 1/2-20 male to male adapter screwed right and then the Hugget Sniper to it and accuracy was great.

Accuracy

Speaking of accuracy – I was very happy. Once I dialed in the scope I had no problem shooting 1/2″ 7 round groups using 18.13 JSB Exact Jumbo Diabolo pellets at 12 yards from a bench. To be clear – just me resting my arm on the bench. I didn’t have a true rifle stand.

That is 7 rounds of .22 18.13gr JSB Exact Jumbo Heavy Diabolo pellets at s12 yards. Ignore the blatant flier – that was my fault, not the gun’s or the pellets. I was firing supported from a bench but the Jet II was not in a bench rest. I’ll do some accuracy testing one of these days.

Now, another form of accuracy is to tell you about squirrells. I have cleanly dispatched 8 over the last three weeks. Distances vary from 12-16 yards.

The Jet II really likes these pellets. I really like JSB in general for all of my pellet guns.

The Charging Handle

In my first review I voiced a concern about the polymer charging/cocking lever. So far, it has worked just fine – no signs of any loosening or bending.

The cocking handle is doing just fine.

Air Use

I purposefully bought the Jet II due to the larger air reservoir than the Jet I. I could shoot two mags with no noticeable change in trajectory in my 12 yard test range shooting 18.13 JSB Exact pellets.

My usual approach is to shoot a mag and then top of the Jet II from my air tank at the same time I reload the pellets in the magazine. I have a spare magazine ready to go so if I was in a rush for some reason I know I have a little bit of buffer just in case I need it – I’m using the gun for pests and not target shooting.

I had it filled pretty close to the 250 bar max. What you see is the amount of air left after 14 shots (two magazines). I have not tried shooting more than two mags after refilling.

Snipe Moderator

I’m using the Hugget Snipe moderator and it almost makes the Jet II backyard friendly. It’s far quieter with it of course – I just wish it was quieter yet and will experiment some more with different cans.

The Hugget Snipe does a very good job. I wish it was even more quiet but that’s not really a negative reflection on the Snipe.
With the Snipe, the overall length is approximately 30″. From an overall length perspective, it’s a great combination.

Summary

At this point I am still very happy with the Jet II for it’s intended pest control purposes. It’s definitely effective and amazing for the price when you stop and think about it.

Here’s the listing at Pyramyd Air and I always recommend you use their 10 for $10 test service:

Hatsan Jet II 0.22

Hatsan Jet II 0.22

Hatsan Jet II Convertible PCP Pistol

Convertible pistol or rifle Includes removable synthetic stock PCP Two 40cc air cylinders fill to 3,625 PSI/250 BAR Shots at optimal velocity*: 48 (.177), 42 (.22), 30 (.25) Magazine capacity: 8 rounds (.177), 7 rounds (.22), 6 rounds (.25) Integrated manometer Max. velocity (lead-free): 810 FPS (.177), 700 FPS (.22), 611 FPS (.25) Max. velocity (lead): 788 FPS (.177), 700 FPS (.22), 608 FPS (.25) Max. energy: 9.7 FPE (.177), 15.6 FPE (.22), 16.5 FPE (.25) Length-adjustable buttstock Elevation-adjustable cheek rest Ridged rubber buttpad Flip-up fiber optic front sight Flip-up adjustable fiber optic rear sight 11mm Dovetail optics rail Picatinny accessory rail Barrel length: 7.9" Overall length (pistol): 15" Overall length (rifle): 22.8"-24.6" Overall weight (pistol): 2.4 lbs. Overall weight (rifle): 3.4 lbs.

* – within 85% of peak velocity.

Note, I have to buy all of my parts – nothing here was paid for by sponsors, etc. I do make a small amount if you click on an ad and buy something but that is it. You’re getting my real opinion on stuff.

If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@ro*********.com. Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.

Air & C02 Rifles and Pistols

JSB Airgun Pellets Are My Favorites – Two Cool Factory Tour Videos

In addition to firearms, I like pellet guns and use them quite a bit for pest control. Along the way, I’ve had a chance to try quite a few different varieties of pellets and do have a favorite maker – JSB, For my needs, they have worked great in both break barrel springs as well as precharged pneumatic (PCP) which is pretty much all I use now.

Like with firearms, you need to find the brand, style and weight of pellet that works best for your needs be it plinking, punching paper or hunting. For example, the main PCP airgun I use is a FX Impact Compact Mk.II in .25 caliber. I’ve found the JSB Exact King .25 Diabolo 25.39 grain pellets work exceptionally well for that rifle both in terms of accurace and the ability to deal with squirrels, rabbits and the occasional raccoon.

I’ve looked at these 25.39 grain JSB pellets and often wondered how they are made

Who Makes Them?

I knew they are made in the Czech Republic – I got that much right but I thought JSB was the company and that is only partly right. The company was founded in 1991 by Josef Schultz (the “JS” part of the name), who was a competive shooter and coach, with the express intent to make airgun ammunition. The “B” is from the town he lived in – Bohumin.

The current company’s name is “JSB Match Diabolo Bohumin” and was a merger of Josef’s pellet making activities as well as others – if I understand some of what I read, he design some of the machines and they are all under that “JSB Match Diabolo A.S.” corporate name, which was established in 2007 in the town of Bohumin.

On a sad note, Josef passed away due to complications following a surgery in 2020 at the age of 76. He definitely left a legacy behind.

Videos

Lately I’ve been watching a lot of airgun videos on Youtube and encountered two different videos that have factory tours of JSB that are fascinating.

This first one is three years old and has the most detail including explanations by a tour guide in English:

This second one is shorter, set to music, has some really great details and is from early 2022:

Summary

Thought I would share these neat videos with you and hope you enjoy them. Kudos to the folks who took the time to put them together for us.

Note, I have to buy all of my parts – nothing here was paid for by sponsors, etc. I do make a small amount if you click on an ad and buy something but that is it. You’re getting my real opinion on stuff.

If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@ro*********.com. Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.

Air & C02 Rifles and Pistols, Shooting in General, Uncategorized

The ATN X-Sight 4K 5-20x Scope Is Surprisingly Effective But Expect A Learning Curve

I never was that interested in ATN scopes until maybe a two years ago. I was at the range fiddling with something and a fellow pulled in and set up a varmint AR with a big blocky optic on a Bog Deathgrip tripod. I could not help myself – I had to go over and ask what the optic was.

Thankfully, he was a good old boy and liked shooting and talking. He was having a coyote problem and wanted to get the rig sighted in. He told me it was an ATN night vision optic and the tripod was to help him keep it all steady. I looked it all over and headed back to my area. The ATN looked better in person than it did in the ads that I had seen in catalogs that made it look “gimicky”. Between my assumption about the quality and the price, I was never interested but after seeing it in person it was filed under “who knows – maybe someday” category in my head for future projects.

Fast Forward to 2021

I was researching high end airguns and some of the of guys were running various ATN scopes. I wanted to up my game on the computational ballistics front – yeah the calculation of trajectories – and I wanted a computer to do it for me. I really wanted to get surgical and modern with my new .25 caliber FX Impact Compact pre-charged pneumatic (PCP) air rifle. This desire brought me to ATN and their latest generation of digital X-Sight 4K optics because they have an internal computer that can crank the numbers.

An Auxiliary Ballistic Laser (ABL) good from 5 to to 1000 yards could be added that interfaced with the scope to provide range to target data to the computer. The computer can take the muzzle velocity of your round, the ballistic coefficient of your bullet (in my case pellet), distance of the optic from the center of the bore, angle and the distance to the target and automatically adjust the recticle. Whoa…. that’s pretty amazing.

Just a quick note on the ABL – based on my experience with laser rangefinders, usually maximum range comments by vendor are a bit of hype because it depends on how reflective the target is. In my case, virtually all of my shooting will be within 50 yards with a possible stretch to 100 but I doubt I will ever shoot beyond that.

Another feature that attracted me was the night vision capability. I’ve not had the capability to eliminate pests at night or at very low light levels.

The X-Sight scopes have a host of other features like taking photos and movies, recording just before and after sensing recoil, etc. Those are nice but not really features I cared about.

I shopped around and ordered an ATN X-SIght 4k 5-20x optic, Auxiliary Ballistic Laser (ABL) 1000 rangefinder, and a quick release mount. It came to just over a $1,000 plus I bought a SD memory card. The optic and rangefinder were from Brownells and I sourced the quick detach mount direct from ATN. A lot of vendors carry ATN products so you can shop around.

In case you are wondering why I would go to such expense for accuracy in a PCP airgun that will mostly be used within 100 yards, I can sum it up with the saying “aim small – miss small.” It’s one of my favorite lines from American Sniper but it is true. If you focus your aim on a very small part of the target then you will either hit it or miss by a small amount. This requires discipline and knowledge on your part combined with a capable weapons system to deliver the bullet or pellet.

The Scope, ABL and Mount Arrived

When the boxes came and I started reading the manuals, I had the same feeling when I read something that says “some assembly required”. I really hadn’t put much thought into how different a digital optic is from a traditional scope. Wow. This thing has a series of setup menus and then you need to learn your away around the scope. So right out of the box there was a lot of fumbling, swearing and my changing things.

So here’s my first recommendation – be sure to watch ATN’s videos about setting up the optic and using it. The manuals help but I found the combination of videos for the overview and the documentation to refer to as a very handy combination. Click here to go to the ATN page with all of their videos and/or click here for the manuals – it actually has links to PDFs videos and guidance on the page itself.

The X-Sight is mounted just like any other scope. Square the weapon then the optic to the weapon to ensure the recticle is level. I use a Wheeler scope mounting kit’s leves to do this. Note that the Impact Compact is being held in a Tipton Standing Ultra GunVise. Man, those are nice.

Here’s an example of needing to read the instructions. The threaded portion is part of a tube that is separate from the body of the ABL. You back off the two screws you see, remove the tube and screw it into the front of the X-Sight scope. You then clamp the ABL onto the tube and position it horizontal to the scope and bore.

Here is everything mounted.
Here’s another angle.

Now let me give you hope – once you start using the scope, it gets easier and faster each time. I turn on the scope so it has time to boot up as I am setting up – not at the last minute when I need to take a shot. Most of the time I am shooting at 14 yards so I dont need to range the target and the scope remembers the last range used. Instead,I zoom as needed, acquire the target and take the shot. That’s it – not a billion menus. So, stick with it – you will probably find it frustrating too at first and then it will get better with time.

Setup and Zeroing In Tips

When you are entering the info for the ballistic coefficient (BC) and the muzzle velocity, try and be as exact as possible, I obtained the BC from the manufacturer of my .25 pellets and the muzzle velocity was the average of 10 rounds fired through a chronograph.

I carefully measured out the range from the muzzle to the target. When I entered the range into the optic, I was precise and not guessing. I was being very careful due to the desire for accuracy.

Set your rifle up in a firm stand and fire a group then adjust the recticle. Their marketing comment of one shot zeroes is something they even mention is “in theory”. Repeat this until you have your zero consistently. This will all go faster and be easier if you have a solid stand – notice I mentioned this twice now 🙂 I used a Bog Deathgrip Carbon Fiber model to help me get the job done.

My Opinion

I’ve been using the X-Sight since late-April 2021 and like it. If I have a new distance to shoot, I range it, take the shot and then reset to my most common distance. I have made a few 35-50 yard shots that would have required some calculation, or at least experience, and hit less than quarter sized targets (squirrel head and heart shots) accurately.

Here’s another angle that gives you a good view of the mounted ABL. It connects to the scope via Bluetooth and you need to follow a zeroing process outlined in the manual. It’s straight forward but don’t skip it.

One thing I had to get used to was looking at a small monitor vs. glass. I’ve been shooting nice glass scopes for a number of years now – notably Vortex scopes – and looking at a monitor with a resolution lower than reality is different. I must admit that I prefer the clarity of good glass but it dawned on me that it was not fair to compare them at this point. I bought the ATN for the ballistics calculation capabilities and the potential for low-light/night-use — I did not buy it to be just another scope, That set my mind more at ease about the image difference – it is what it is with the current level of technology in these scopes.

This is an actual screen capture. The optic allows you to select from a number of recticle choices. Note the range information from the ABL down in the ower right corner. What you see in the scope actually has much more information but the screen capture does not include it.
This is an exciting shot of concrete but it lets you see the recticle better.

The combination of scope and ABL is a bit bulky and the ABL’s head is asymmetrical for the laser transmitter and receiver units. I set the Impact Compact on our tall kitchen table and it fell off onto the hardwood floor about three feet. It definitely made my stomach drop to hear all that money hit the floor. I’m actually happy to report that the rifle and optics system survived without any problems at all.

I was wondering how long the battery would live but that has not proved to be a problem. I fully charged it when I first got it and then again a few weeks ago. Now I don’t leave it turned on all the time. I’d say it runs maybe 5-10 minutes every 2-3 days and it’s not been a problem. I think I will just always charge it when it gets half way down or so plus I could always charge it from a powerbank/portable battery if needed. ATN even sells an extended battery if you need it.

The ABL is still on its first battery so I can’t tell you much there – I only use it as needed for longer shots so its had minimal use. I do have a spare battery just in case.

I wish the menus were a bit easier to navigate with very clear “back” or “cancel” options immediately available on every screen. For example, if you get into the manual ranging section or the part of zeroing the recticle by accident. For the most part they are pretty straight forward but I am not wowed by them from a user design perspective.

I opted for the ATN quick connect scope mount and it is okay but does not have locks on the throw levers. In hindsight, I could have used any 30mm rings I wanted including my preferred American Defense mounts. You have plenty of flexibility because one of the menu options lets you specify how high the scope is mounted.

Here’s a view of the ATN quick dtach mount’s levers. They don’t lock closed but have held no problem so far.

Last comment – I had the scope freeze on me twice. I found that turning the ABL off first, if I turned it on, seemed to cause the problem. Now, when I do use the ABL, I turn the scope off first and then the ABL. I’ve not had it freeze since powering down in this order. By the way, if your scope does freeze, hold down the power button for 10-15 seconds and it will shut off – kind of like notebooks where one push does a controlled power down of the laptop but holding it down does a forced immediate shut down.

ATN definitely tries to label everything outside of the scope to try and help folks learn the controls.

In Summary

I’ve been using the X-Sight 4K 5-20 and ABL 1000 laser for about three months and several times per week – sometimes several times per day depending on what is going on. I really feel like the combination has improved my actual accurage in terms of precisely hitting the target so I am happy with the purchase.

I’d recommend the setup for anyone looking for this type of optics system with similar intentions as I outlined at the start. It’s different from traditional glass lense optics but it brings a different set of capabilities to the table also. Let me put it this way,I would buy it again for my intended use.

I hope this helps you.

Note, I have to buy all of my parts – nothing here was paid for by sponsors, etc. I do make a small amount if you click on an ad and buy something but that is it. You’re getting my real opinion on stuff.

If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@ro*********.com. Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.

Air & C02 Rifles and Pistols

FX Impact Compact .25 PCP Powerhouse – Initial Findings

In the last post, I covered my journey leading up to the purchase and arrival of the FX Impact Mk.2 Compact. The rifle performed beautifully right out of the box. The trigger was definitely very nice and the action was smooth.

For the price though,I did find some features, or lack thereof, annoying and ranked them in order from biggest pet peeve to the least:

  1. There is no “cocked” indicator and it will let you double-cock the rifle thus loading/stacking multiple pellets on top of one another. I have learned over time to carefully pay attention to the feel of the cocking handle about a 1/4-1/3rd as the absence of the spring compressing tells me it is already loaded. I also try to make sure I put the rifle immediately on safe as another flag. While mistakenly double-cocking the rifle has decreased, it still happens. When it does, I open the bolt, remove the magazine and use a cleaning rod to push them out. Come on FX, my $800 Gladius disengaged the cocking lever once cocked to avoid that user error. This my biggest beef.
  2. The owner’s manual is a bit vague. It is concerning that it says changing the power wheel when charged will damage it and void the warranty. WTF. Maybe you should fix your design instead. Putting the blame on the operator is a total cop out. Dear FX, I reached out to your customer service group asking what the power level numbers and letters correspond to with no answer.
  3. The distance from the Foster high pressure quick connect fitting to the trigger guard so long that the purchaser must go out and buy an extended length female fitting? If you find your common length female fitting below human reach once it clicks into place, remove the screws from the trigger guard, remove it, remove your coupler from the rifle and then promptly order a longer one. Tony sent one with my rifle that I wasn’t sure I would need – turns out I sure did. I later ordered an even longer knurled one that DonnyFL sells. Not the end of the world by any means but it is annoying.
  4. Your decocking feature would be nice except it leaves the pellet in the chamber and unless you pull the magazine too and remember that one is in there and shoot it before re-installing the magazine, you will double stack pellets. I’d tell anyone reading this to shoot a pellet into the ground or any other suitable stopping surface vs. using the decocker.

That’s it in terms of things I dont like and I had time to reflect on this list. All in all, it’s a pretty wicked PCP air rifle.

The DonnyFL “FX” Moderator

DonnyFL makes quality sound moderators exclusively for airguns in Oviedo, Florida. While the FX moderator that Tony included did reduce the sound levels, it wasn’t enough. I had a “Ronin” series moderator that could absorb more gas and reduce sound levels even further so I installed it on the special adapter that was already on the rifle. It definitely reduced the sound even further but was still too loud. I added in the 6″ extension and it was quieter but I want even more. I plan to purchase their biggest moderator the “Sumo” and will post about that later. So it’s not really a knock on the FX series moderator but I would tell you to at least get a Ronin of the right caliber and the correct adapter to install it.

This is the DonnyFL Ronin moderator on the left of the seam just above the end cap that is keeping the assembly from rolling. On the right is the optional extension that lengthens the moderator. It was a cheap experiment to see if ot lowered the sound level when firing and it did. I am betting the Sumo will lower it further because the extension is just a hollow tube that serves as one large expansion chamber whereas the Sumo is designed to absorb the compressed air blast the whole length.

Element Optics Helix 6-24×50 Scope

Element Optics is a sister company to FX and their goal is to make quality scopes for airgunners and even firearms. I will say that the glass is remarkably clear but I will also tell you that one day I got my air rifle out and missed the squirrel I needed to dispatch and then I missed another and another. I set up a target and the impact point had shifted almost 1.5-2″ to the right but it was consistent. My best guess was that I had accidentally turned the non-locking windage adjustment knob quite a bit. How? I have no idea.

It turns out there is a zero stop you can easily adjust to return to zero – I wish I realized this up front. It was my fault for not reading the manual up front. What I should have done was to confirm my zero, set the zero stop and then if I had any question, I could immediately return to zero. Live and learn.

Air Source

In December 2020, I invested in a GX CS3 high pressure air compressor off Amazon and it is still going strong seven months later. I run an inline filter to my 18 cu ft Omega tank and use the tank to fill the Impact Compact – I still put a filter between the tank and the airgun just to be safe – quick connects make the plumbing and moving things around real easy – I use all Air Ventury quick connects to avoid compatibility problems – I’ve had to swap out a few generic fittings along the way. Click here for various posts about the compressor and tank.

The GX CS3 compressor is geat. Here it is in refillying my Omega 18 cu ft tank. The small blue cylinder in the air lines is a high pressure air filter. I have a bigger one that I need to replace the generic male fitting with one from Air Venturi and once I do, it will be filtering the air for the tank and then the small blue fiter will filter the air from the tank to whatever airgun I am filling.

Some Photos For You

This is the Impact Compact with the DonnyFL Ronin moderator sitting directly in front of it.
Here’s another angle.
Here’s the power adjuster that I still don’t fully understand. “3” seems like a nice middle of the road setting that works on squirrels without a lot of over-penetration at 14 yards. You can also see the trigger – it’s definitely sweet and contributes to the accuracy.

In Summary

Most of my shooting is within 50 feet and the rifle is an absolute tack driver, It will takke a squirrel or rabbit out with no problem. I’m using the JSB 25.39gr pellets and with the excellent trigger, where ever I put the crosshairs the pellet follows. I’m going to stick with this base rifle for a while but I did replace the scope with an ATN X-Sight 4K that I will write about next.

Note, I have to buy all of my parts – nothing here was paid for by sponsors, etc. I do make a small amount if you click on an ad and buy something but that is it. You’re getting my real opinion on stuff.

If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@ro*********.com. Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.

Air & C02 Rifles and Pistols

FX Impact Compact .25 PCP Powerhouse – Doing The Research

Over the years, I have slowly upped my game when it comes to airguns. My first bb gun was an old Daisy that I shot with my dad and from there I progressed to a Crosman 766 that was my trusty companion — until I got old enough and my dad let me buy my first .410 shotgun and I moved to the world of powder burners (firearms) until about 10 years ago.

For pest control reasons, I moved up from the entry-level airguns and bought a .22 caliber Diana 34P. It did the job but being a break-barrel springer, you had one shot and then had to divert your attention from the critters and reload.

From there I bought a .22 caliber Hatsan Gladius Long and Hill Mk.4 hand pump. I’d started blogging at this point so I wrote a number of posts. The rifle was relatively quiet, had a decent trigger, was accurate enough and packed a punch.

I then added a Hatsan AT-P2 that was smaller and interesting but didn’t hit squirrels hard enough. It’s still sitting in my closet in it’s case. The one thing they don’t tell you about airguns until after you get into them is that the resale value sucks – you have to practically give them away so … the AT-P2 is in the closet.

Getting back to the Gladius, it was and is a solid airgun however, I wished it was quieter so I bought an adapter and DonnyFL Ronin moderator to reduce the sound level. Turns out the barrel wasn’t true in the shroud so the pellets would hit the adapter and accuracy just disappeared so I removed the Ronin and saved it for a future airgun. It was also longer than I wanted and not regulated either meaning whatever pressure was in the tank, that affected the velocity and shot placement at the target … in short, I started to get more and more disappointed because while the Gladius is a good PCP airgun, it’s not a great airgun – at least not in terms of meeting my needs as I learned and changed what I wanted from an air rifle.

I was really leaning towards a bullpup design so I could get a longer barrel in a compact design with a relatively short overall length. I also wanted it to be regulated, have an excellent trigger, accuracy, power and to be quiet. It’s a tall ord to get all of these so I was looking at vendors like Airgun Technology, Daystate, FX, Kalibr, LCS and Taipan. I was really torn between the Vulcan, Cricket and Mutant models so I was reading everything I could – these air rifles were/are expensive and I honestly could not afford to buy one that didn’t deliver.

I usually prefer to read first hand accounts on the web and watch videos on Youtube but due to the level of investment and I am not some guru in the airgun space, I decided to call the Some airgun vendors allow people to take calls who are just order takers – they have nowhere near enough experience with the products they are trying to sell to make a credible recommendation. I’m not going to call any groups out by name but let me just recommend that you call more than one and you do your research before you buy anything – especially a higher-end air gun.

After the disappointing calls, I decided to call TalonTunes and Tony, the owner, picked up the call. Tony is an interesting guy – he has a ton of knowledge and is direct — no BS. I found it refreshing after my other experiences.

TalonTunes & The FX Compact Impact

As we talked and he understood more what I was looking for he steered me towards the FX Impact Mk.II Compact – a short barrelled design I was not familiar with and he explained he could sell me a “tuned” model for $2,499 wherein he would modify the transfer port and pellet probe plus he would dial it in for accuracy with the proper regulator pressure and sight in the scope – provided I bought the scope from him. It also came with a DonnyFL FX moderator to reduce the sound when it fired.

I wrote down the details and told him I would consider it. The answer that really sticks me months later was that I asked him if I should go with .22 or .25 for squirrels, rabbits and a rare racoon. He told me that he had plenty of customers who went with .22 who later told him they wished they had gone for the larger .25 pellet but he did not have a single customer who opted for .25 who later said they wished they had bought a .22. I’d been going back and forth in my head about which to move with and that pretty much sealed it – I would move with a .25.

Again, for this kind of money, I wasn’t going to leap on anything until I researched both the FX Impact Compact and the reputation of TalonTunes. Let’s start with the base air rifle.

FX Airguns is a Swedish company known for making progressive airguns and they seem polarize people into either being fans or not liking them at all. In general though, they are known for quality airguns and you can readily get parts for them.

The Impact was revised in 2020 with an enlarged “power plenum” located before the transfer port. The compressed air is held in it until the trigger is pulled at which time it rushes forward and propels the pellet forward. The speed is a function of the volume of air and the pressure in the plenum. Combine this with an excellent barrel and you have a powerful accurate air rifle.

It also sports a fully adjustable trigger and it uses an AR-15 grip. By using an AR grip, this opens up a world of grip options for you.

It is a bolt action repeater feeding from a 28 round removable magazine. The one thing to look at with these rifles is the magazine – the design that the Impact uses is proven and not a headache to load. Also, not all magazines are removable for quick reloads.

The Impact Compact is fully regulated too. If you aren’t familiar with regulated airguns, this is a critical accuracy selling point. The air tank “bottle”) on a PCP air rifle holds are at whatever the maximum rated working pressure is and then the pressure slowly goes down as shots are fired and air is used. The Impact Compact has a 250 bar (3,625 PSI) fill pressure. Now the regulator is governing the air pressure that makes it to the plenum so that it is a constant – in the case of my rifle it was set to 120 bar (1,740 PSI). As long as the bottle is about 120 bar, the pressure will be about 120 bar at the plenum making the shot velocity much more consistent – for a variety of reasons there will be a bit of give and take on the pressure and the resulting velocity.

In general, a regulated design is far better than an ungoverned PCP airgun that will have a sweet spot somewhere for X number of rounds and then drop rapidly. For my Gladius,it was rated at 200 bar but I would only fill it to 190 and it was pretty consistent for the first 10 rounds and then I would pump it back up to 190. It was a bit of a chore but it served me well for almost four years so don’t get me wrong.

So, for the Impact Compact, it was getting solid reviews with guys amazed at the power and accuract of the small rifle. I was pretty much sold. The only shortcoming I could foresee was the lack of a moderator but the TalonTunes package included one.

In terms of TalonTunes, Tony gets very good reviews. People posting on airgun sites mentioned that there might be a wait but what showed up was as-described and quality. I didn’t turn up any significantly concerniing reviews so I decided to move ahead.

I Placed The Order

I called Tony and ordered the tuned .25 FX Impact Compact, an Element Optics Helix 6-24×50 scope and the requisite mounting rings. Yeah, I did have to wait for Tony to tune and ship it – I think it was about 4-6 weeks but what showed up was pretty wicked and worth the wait.

The rifle arrived in two boxes. One had the FX Impact Compact and scope in a cool cust hard case.The other had the pellets and boxes for the scope, and documentation.
Tony also included a chronograph receipt tape and a grouping in a cool little pamphlet. Yeah, this speaks volumes and that group is real – let me tell you that right now.

In Summary

I’m writing this six months after getting the Mk2 Impact Compact and I was impressed then and still am now. They have now moved on to a “M3” and it’s getting good reviews with an even bigger plenum, twin transfer ports and improved ergnomics. At any rate, in the next post I’ll tell you more about my experiences hands on because there are things I like with my Mk.2 and things that I don’t.

Note, I have to buy all of my parts – nothing here was paid for by sponsors, etc. I do make a small amount if you click on an ad and buy something but that is it. You’re getting my real opinion on stuff.

If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@ro*********.com. Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.

Air & C02 Rifles and Pistols

Buying an Omega 18 Cubic Foot High Pressure Air Cylinder and Filling It With My New GX CS3 Compressor

In my last post, I described how I set up and test my brand new GX CS3 compressor. The next step I wanted to do with it was to charge my Omega 18 cubic foot air cylinder. As easy as the GX CS3 is to use, I still wanted a small high-pressure air (HPA) cylinder to use to top off my airguns vs. needing to haul the compressor out every time.

So, why did I pick an Omega HPA cylinder?

I actually have a prime reason – safety. Back when I started SCUBA diving back in the early 1980s, 3,000 PSI 80 cubic foot air tanks were the rage. One of the things they drilled into us during our classes was that this much air pressure needed to be respected. You made sure your tanks were taken care, properly inspected every 5 years via a process known as ‘hydro testing” and you even loaded them in your care secured the valve forward because if the valve broke off then the main body of the tank would take off like a rocket as the air escaped and you didn’t want it coming forward towards you!

At any rate, I had safety top of mind when I started reading on HPA cylinders. Folks, there are cheap virtually generic tanks out there that I would not trust. As I visited the various PCP airgun vendors, I would note what brands of HPA cylinders they would carry and Omega was a brand that I saw repeatedly.

I’m not saying Omega is the only brand to look at by the way – it’s brand I decided on when I looked at price, reviews, and availability. The pandemic has thrown off supplies of just about everything these days.

Omega is a brand you ought to consider because they are owned by the Korean firm Inocom who has done a lot of R&D of carbon fiber HPA cylinders for fire and rescue, medical, SCUBA diving and even PCP airguns — which is what we are talking about today. Inocom produces over 150,000 cylinders a years that conform to a bunch of different standards and my point is that they know their stuff.

In the US, you can find Omega Air Cylinders at a number of different vendors including Airguns of Arizona, Talon Air, and many other places. I bought my particular 18 cubic foot tank from Airguns of Airzona (AofA) because they had them in stock — the relatively small 18 cubic foot tanks can be hard to track down.

Airguns of Airzona Video

AofA took the time to assemble a video review of the Omega tanks. There are a number of sizes and you can spend quite a bit before you know it.

But what about those cheap generic tanks on Amazon and eBay?

I’m not a fan of taking unnecessary risks when it comes to high pressure air. That is a ton of pressure to gamble with. I would much rather spend the money and buy a tank made by a reputable vendor. I suppose you could always a cheap tank to a dive shop that can do hydro testing and have them check it but why go to the extra work and expense?

Out of the box

The Omega arrived just a few days after I ordered it from Airguns of Arizona and boy did it look nice. I’ve always liked the look of real carbon fiber and the tank looked awesome. It also comes with the meter long no-kink hose that also converts from the air tank fitting to a 1/8″ BSPP threaded end that comes with a foster fitting already installed.

The carbon fiber work is visually stunning. Wow.

It comes with a really nice oil filled pressure gauge that tells you the pressure in the line – not the tank. If you want to know the pressure in the tank, you would need to put a dead-head, or test fitting, into the quick release foster fitting in the hose and pressurize the line.

Inside the red circle in the photo is the pressure relief button that depressurizes the line when pressed.

Protecting Your Investment – Get a Bag

As cool as carbon fiber is, I would recommend protecting it from getting cut or gouged with a bag. I bought a Workpro 16″ tool bag off Amazon and the tank fits great. I did add old gun case foam to the bottom of the bag for some added protection.

I have the tank pulled part way out for the photo. It fits with the fill line installed, no problem. You can see the pluckable foam that I put in the bottom. The bag also gives me room for spare fittings – they are in that small grey pouch you see.

Filling the Tank – Remember Your Compressor’s Duty Cycle

Okay, first off, bear in mind that your compressor likely has a duty cycle. In other words, it was designed to run for a certain number of minutes and then be allowed to cool down for another amount of minutes. For my GX CS3, the duty cycle is to run for up to 30 minutes and then be allowed to cool for 20 with the cooling fan running.

To connect the GX CS3 to the tank, I used an Air Venturi foster fitting male-to-male adapter plug. This fitting will allow you to connect the female foster fitting on the compressor to the female foster fitting of the tank.

This is an Air Venturi brand male-to-male Foster fitting adapter.
The male-to-make Foster fitting adapter allows us to easily join the two airlines together via their quick detach fittings.

So what do we do first? Test the lines

Assuming you tested your pump and know that it holds air, we need to next test the fitting and airline from the compressor to the tank. You do this by keeping the tank’s air valve closed and then pressurizing the airline only in steps.

I found out immediately that air was leaking where the airline connected with the tank and used a wrench to snug the fitting down. Note, do not use your hand to look for high-pressure air leaks – use soapy water and look for bubbles.

During testing, I found that air was leaking out of this fitting. Some people say you can install this fitting by hand and it will seal. Due to carpal tunnel, I probably do not have the strength of many and I did use a wrench on the flat sections of the fitting to snug it up and everything sealed beautifully.

So, I pressurized the lined to 1,000 PSI after I fixed the above and watched the pressure gauge for a few minutes. It held. I then opened the bleed valve on pump and let the air out.

I repeated the above going to 2,000, then 3,000, then 4,000 and finally 4,500 pounds. In all cases the line held pressure after the initial tightening down of the air fitting to the tank.

Filling the tank itself

By now I was feeling comfortable with the compressor. I decided to run the compressor in 25 minute cycles to see how far it would get and how warm the exhaust air would get.

At 25 minutes, the tank had reached 2,200 PSI. I could hear the pump was making a different sound as it was operating under load but nothing scary like metal on metal grinding. I turned off the pump but let the cooling fan keep running for 20 minutes.

I restarted the pump and in another 25 minutes, the tank air pressure increased to 4,100 pounds. I used a Fluke IR thermometer to measure the exhaust vent and it was at 116F degrees (for reference, the floor measured 67F next to it. I measured temperature at a few other places too out of curiosity: Top of the case was 105.8F. Neck of the cylinder was 92F, the male-to-male coupling was 76F and the top of the power supply case was 86F. Nothing alarming in short.

I let the unit sit and cool for 20 minutes. The exhaust vent had cooled to 91F. Almost 3 minutes and 24 seconds after restarting the tank reached about 4,500 PSI and the compressor automatically shut off.

I watched the air pressure for a few minutes and it held. That was a good sign.

Interestingly, when I bled the line about a teaspoon of water came out of the pump. The GX CS3 does come with an internal water and oil separator. I do plan to add filters both to the pump and the tank just to be sure – I am real nit picky about having clean air – it comes from my plastics business. At any rate, I will report more on the filters later.

Conclusion

The Omega tank worked without a hitch and I am very happy. I filled my Hatsan Gladius Long from the tank and boy was that easy. My old Hill Mk.4 hand pump has served me well and is now a back up just in case but now that I have a compressor and tank, my life just got a whole bunch easier.

I did need to put a Foster fitting on my Hatsan fill probe. This has made the probe very portable as I can now put it on the tank, the compressor or the Hill hand pump. One recommendation is to stick with the same brand of Foster fittings – this is an Air Venturi female 1/8″ BSPP adapter to male foster plug.

I hope you found this post useful.

Here are the GX compressors from the CS4 down to the CS1

2/2/2021 Update: The tank is working great. It is incredibly convenient to have this tank around to top off airguns. I used to dread breaking out the hand air pump and now it’s just a matter of a few second and the gun is full again. The GX3 compressor has proven itself to be a great addition also.

Note, I have to buy all of my parts – nothing here was paid for by sponsors, etc. I do make a small amount if you click on an ad and buy something but that is it. You’re getting my real opinion on stuff.

If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@ro*********.com. Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.