Dive bottle legal life-span?

[comanche 3,082]

I've recently gone to the dark side and bought a really lovely little .P.C.P rifle from a customer who was selling it for a friend who sadly has the beginings of dementia.

        It came on the same day that I had been already given an old Feinwerbau by another customer !

        These two are "keepers" which means a couple of my older rifles will be going before I end up with an armoury.

      The P.C.P was cheap enough but the ,scope,silencer and tub of accessories with it made it an even better deal. It also came with a dive bottle. The seller said it was due for test so it was a freebie. It came with air and was last tested in 2012.

     When I was buying pellets for the rifle I enquired about testing the tank when it next needed filling. They told me that as the bottle was over 15years old the test centre would refuse to test it.

        Was the shop simply trying to sell me a new bottle or are they correct?

       

 

Edited July 27, 2019 by comanche

[Rimfireboy! 1,463]

If it’s steel there’s no time limit. If it looks in poor condition though, they may refuse to hydro test it. 

[philpot 5,038]

I would be tempted to contact a test centre or another rfd / dive centre but if a dive centre, you must say it is for surface air use not for diving.

Phil

[jok 3,369]

Lot of tosh. Get it down to your nearest dive centre for testing. It'll go through no bother. These tanks are virtually bullet proof and if you consider the environment they are used in, they need to be. Incidentally, your pillar valve and seals are not tested. Jok.

[comanche 3,082]

I was a little suspicious because though the shop has a massive range of air guns and accessories ,even a numpty like me has realised they are prone to the hard-sell. Even when an assistant kindly took my newly aquired rifle out back to chrono it he insisted I look round a display of scopes while I waited. That was after inferring the one that came with the gun was junk. 

Thank you all for the advice. 

        Had I been persuaded to buy a new bottle on their say-so,I might be thinking of a trip to Trading Standards.

Maybe not a bad idea anyway.....

Edited July 27, 2019 by comanche

[vizlauk 1,568]

Some carbon fibre cylinders only have a 15yr life span, mine has ! Other carbon fibre cylinders can have a 20yr life span then they can not be retested, steel cylinders don't have an end of life.

[PLEDGEY 496]

Air tanks need a hydrostatic test every five years as they are portable. Static storage tanks need testing every 10 years. If you fill your own bottles with your own compressor then it's up to you if you get it checked. The regs are only there to keep safe any out side party that deals with your bottle.

 So if it passes a hydrostatic test there ain't no problem.

[Deker 3,478]

On ‎27‎/‎07‎/‎2019 at 15:07, jok said:

Lot of tosh. Get it down to your nearest dive centre for testing. It'll go through no bother. These tanks are virtually bullet proof and if you consider the environment they are used in, they need to be. Incidentally, your pillar valve and seals are not tested. Jok.

Agree, a tank is no good when it fails test, there is NO 15 year time limit as far as I'm aware!

Edit    ……     Actually there is DEFINATELY no 15 year limit, mine is about 20 and had no problem with the last test!

Edited July 28, 2019 by Deker

[comanche 3,082]

Thing  is,PCPs are a new thing ro me and the shop must've sensed it. Had I actually needed air on the day I might well have ended up buying a new bottle in ignorance . 

I wonder if other innocents have been caught by their sales-pitch.

And the Air Arms pellets they recommended and sold to me look like someone had used the tin as half a pair of maracas!

As I said earlier;thanks for the advice everyone has given.

And thanks to the other half's youngest I think I may have to source a refill sooner rather than later.

He's a bit cack-handed but clearly my impulse buy rifle is proving a hit with not just me.

 

Edited July 28, 2019 by comanche

[philpot 5,038]

Love the rifle and in my mind better than the new 200 models. Wish I never sold mine.

Phil

[comanche 3,082]

13 hours ago, philpot said:

Love the rifle and in my mind better than the new 200 models. Wish I never sold mine.

Phil

As someone who never felt the need for a PCP I have to admit I'm hooked. It's the only PCP that felt right the second I was handed it. I'll still have to admit I bought it on impulse because I knew it was a bargain but have only just come to realise how much of a bargain. Rifle,a few spare seals ( I've no idea what they are for mind you) ,10 shot conversion with two magazines , an unbranded Chinese scope, silencer,bag,spacers for adjusting the stock,original tools and dive bottle-£160 the lot.

So far apart from a couple of Typhoo tea boxes, I've shot a pigeon,a magpie and a squirrel . Though I should've shot the squirrel a couple of days earlier ; before it stripped my hazelnuts !

[philpot 5,038]

12 hours ago, comanche said:

As someone who never felt the need for a PCP I have to admit I'm hooked. It's the only PCP that felt right the second I was handed it. I'll still have to admit I bought it on impulse because I knew it was a bargain but have only just come to realise how much of a bargain. Rifle,a few spare seals ( I've no idea what they are for mind you) ,10 shot conversion with two magazines , an unbranded Chinese scope, silencer,bag,spacers for adjusting the stock,original tools and dive bottle-£160 the lot.

So far apart from a couple of Typhoo tea boxes, I've shot a pigeon,a magpie and a squirrel . Though I should've shot the squirrel a couple of days earlier ; before it stripped my hazelnuts !

At that price it really was a BARGAIN . If it has a track under the forend, you can buy a 'Hamster' which helps with freehand shooting by giving a better hand hold position.

These are hamsters just in case you don't know

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/S400-MPR-Hamster-Support-for-air-rifle/333306801053?hash=item4d9aa22b9d:g:9xMAAOSw5nZdYpt8

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Walnut-palm-shelf-hamster-fits-BSA-R10-SCORPION-NO-DRILLING-REQUIRED/292469880476?hash=item441890369c:g:HzQAAOSwUP5cM5Hy

Phil

 

[comanche 3,082]

Yes,it does have a long rail underneath. I shall google hamsters. Thank you.

[jok 3,369]

Bet GruFfalo griff would like that vice. Don't see many of them about. Jok

[waltjnr 7,095]

love it when people spot things of interest in a pic that arent the subject matter ! observant sods!