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Power
In order to develop power, work must
be done. With a PCP rifle, that means pushing slug weight.
In the driveway is my pick-up truck.
I use it to haul things, tow my trailer, toss in stuff for the
range, pick up materials. I also use it lately to keep the cash
in my pocket to a minimum. ;?) It's HEMI engine likes gasoline.
Now ... they tell me the 5.7 liter
engine produces 345 horsepower. HOWEVER: that's with it wound
out, hooked to a dyno, pulling it's heart out against a load.
When I get in the truck and ride up
the the 7-11 a few blocks away, it's NOT producing 345 horsepower.
It's probably loafing along at 50 or so.
This is something that's very hard
for folks to visualize. When it comes to the foot pounds of muzzle
energy produced by PCP rifles, most people make the mistake of
assuming the power is constant every time you pull the trigger.
We're not talking about varying reservoir pressure now ... we're
just talking about slug weight, and the factors that make a slug
resist going down the barrel.
The misconception is that ... this
gun can produce 128 fpe. Therefore, it's always gonna produce
128 fpe. So, if I can somehow stick a 20 grain pellet in it ..
it's gonna go 1,700 fps. No it's not. Sure, 20 grains @ 1,700
fps is 128 fpe. But the gun isn't going to do that. The gun doesn't
HAVE to do that. It will cough out that puny 20 grain bullet before
it gets the chance to dig down deep and produce breech pressure.
It's the same as my truck engine. Just
to haul my buttstock up to the 7-11 ... it can idle around the
streets. It doesn't have to dig down, grunt, rev. up, and pound
out 345 horses.
I hope this makes sense to you and
helps. It's why, in various testing thru the years, you don't
always see me running everything turned up on 11 on a scale of
1-10. The same as you don't get into your car and run it's guts
out on the way to work. (Or maybe you do ... but that's another
issue ... ;?)
There are times where we show you high
energy shots. I feel it's also important to show you what the
easily produced power of various guns can do.
And the coffee mug is dry ...
Gary