Video: Episode 1 - PCP Airguns 101: What are PCP Airguns?

Not sure where to start? Tyler discusses the basics of Pre-Charged Pneumatic airguns. If you want to shoot 10 meter, field target, or hunt with airguns, PCPs are the next generation.

Episode 1 - PCP Airguns 101:What are PCP Airguns?  Video Transcript:

Welcome to the Pyramyd Insyder PCP 101 series. Today we're going to be helping you guys get a little bit more familiar with PCP airguns. 

PCP stands for pre-charge pneumatic. And what pre-charge pneumatic means is that the gun is pre-charged from an external source. So a hand pump, a tank, even a compressor. With high-pressure air, or nitrogen is also usable, to a specified pressure for each individual gun into a cylinder like this or a bottle on some guns. One of the reasons PCP air guns are so attractive to folks today is because there's a wide variety of things you can do with them. They come in calibers available from .177 all the way up to .50 cal, which means you can use them for 10-meter target shooting, plinking in the backyard, you can go all the way up to big bore hunting with them with a 45 in the .50 caliber. And their prices range too. Anywhere from a hundred and fifty dollars all the way up to four thousand dollars, so there's a gun to fit just about everybody's budget. Now let's take a look at some of the features you're gonna be finding on PCP airguns. 

There are many common features you'll find on airguns in general, not just PCPs. The stock, the barrel, the breech, your safety, the trigger mechanism, and of course a mounting rail for optics. But there are unique features to PCP airguns that you'll find as well. Probably the most notable features that are going to set PCP airguns apart from other types of airguns are the air cylinder and your fill port or your fill connection. Other features you might be seeing on PCP airguns are magazines, side levers or rear bolt actions for cocking the gun, shrouds to keep the noise levels low, and a lot of people like that on their airguns, you know it's one of the reasons why people buy them, because they're nice and quiet, and backyard friendly. This should give you a general idea of what some of the more common features on PCP airguns are. 

One of the most significant features that PCPs have over most of the rest of the market aside from their power capabilities, is the fact that there are many options to go multi-shot. So this you'll notice is a side lever breech, which we would consider more of a standard bolt-action style. But this is a 12-round magazine on this gun in particular, and they'll range anywhere from six or eight shots all the way up to 18. Magazine gives you the ability for quick follow-up shots and that's what's making the difference for those guys doing pest control or hunting. That's what they're really looking for and it's a huge advantage over your traditional break barrel or even some of your multi pumper or co2 guns as well. Now, of course, there are many other features we could talk about here, but this is going to give you a basic understanding of what a PCP rifle is. So when you're going ahead and looking at them on pyramydair.com, you have a better idea of what you're looking at and that's really important. On our next episode, we're going to be talking to you guys about fill methods. So stay tuned for that one and we'll see you guys then.