Not all of us are fairweather shooters or hunters. Some of us will push the envelope and go out and play in all sorts of less than hospitable weather conditions. Whether you like to get out and shoot when it's hot, fair, or freezing you want to know if your equipment will perform, right?
PCP Airguns Are Hot, Even When It’s Cold!
Air gunners are jumping on the PCP bandwagon with increasing frequency these days and there are naturally a lot of questions that are coming with them. Springer shooters have noticed that extreme cold weather does affect how their rifle shoots and CO2 shooters know not to even try shooting in the cold, but what about PCP rifles? Can you shoot them when the mercury drops below the freezing point? Can you shoot continuously with a PCP in the cold? What other considerations do shooters need to make?
The good news for the first question is, yes, you can shoot your PCP rifle when the temps dip low. Even if the rifle is 100% acclimated to the ambient outdoor temperature, it will work! And it will work just as well as it would should the temperature be more comfortable. If you are hunting, this is good news.
Gauntlet, Origin, or Reign UXT
The follow up question to the initial function question is will the rifle perform all the way through the magazine? One of the biggest appeals of the PCP platform are rifles like the bolt action Gauntlet Series, lever action Origin Series or the bullpup Walther Reign UXT in combination with an auto-indexing repeating magazine. Sure, the rifle will work for one shot, but will it continue to work for repeated shots? Once again we have good news for you. Yes, you can expect consistent performance from your PCP rifle from the first shot all the way through the magazine and beyond.
So what possible downsides are there with a PCP in the cold? The most important consideration for a PCP shooter who is venturing out to shoot in the cold has to do with filling the rifle’s tank. The air in the tank needs to be as dry as possible to prevent any chance of the water freezing in the valve and either preventing the rifle from functioning or emptying the tank when the valve is opened. Additionally, making sure the tank is filled with dry air prevents any rust from forming on any steel parts in the pressure circuit of the rifle.
Is there anything else a shooter needs to keep in mind for the cold? Other than making sure you are bundled up for the weather, not much at all. Well, it would be a good idea to load up several magazines with pellets before you go out so you don’t have to worry about loading pellets while wearing gloves. Other than that, rest at ease when it comes to how your PCP rifle will perform out in the cold!.