Need buying advice on a regulator

[RostokMcSpoons]

I'm looking at buying an Airtac adapter for my VFC HK416 A5... like this 'ere device

 

 

Now I've already got a small air bottle for my Tippmann, but that gun has a built-in regulator so the air bottle just has an open/close valve on the top.

I believe I need a regulator.

I have questions:

 

1) The airtac page says the PSI setting is required for the amount of recoil - the joule output will still be controlled by the gun's NPAS.  The page recommends a starting setting of 100PSI
Presumably I can therefore select a regulator designed for 0-200PSI rather than one of them that goes to much higher figures?  Should I still choose one that goes to 800 for future compatibility?

 

2) The product page mentions 'US Style Fitting as standard' - is this something that might trip me up?  

 

3) Talking to one of the HPA users yesterday, he said he's been using a chinese clone regulator, and it's been fine.  Presumably that open the choice to an AliExpress / Amazon special?

 

4) ... so any strong recommendations for a good budget regulator?

 

5) And... have I missed any questions?

 

 

(Airtac sell a 0-200psi reg with US fitting for £70.  I could add that in to my purchase, if it's a good choice)

[Krisz]

1. I run my pistols on 100 psi and they shoot about ~335 fps on 0.20. I assume your bolt is heavier than any of my pistol slides so in theory you may need higher pressure to achieve the same output.

 

I'd go the other way around actually and would start from 75-80 psi because lof of people run their MP7/MP9's on those pressures for indoor which still gives them average 270-280 which is absolutely enough for shooting people close range. But my pistol on 80 psi is sluggish (alu slide is too heavy for it) so it's gonna be trial and error in your case as well.

 

I don't think I'd go above green gas pressure (average is 110-120 psi?) especially not in summer. Basically the more pressure you put on your internals the more they will wear. An HPA engine is a completely different animal compared to a gas gun but going above 120 psi is not recommended even on them and not needed anyway.

2. US is standard but EU fitting does exist. They aren't compatible with each other.

3. I woudn't buy cheap regulator but a Balystik HPR800C or something similar should be enough. Also, that new Airtac regulator can't be bad either.

Edited September 27, 2023 by Krisz

[RostokMcSpoons]

Cheers @Krisz 

Looks like I got my numbers muddled a bit, seems most of the regs do output pressure ~200psi, and with an input pressure ~800psi (so presumably that's the 'raw' output from the air tank, even though the contents are at higher pressures???) Ahhhh, anyway the Balystik 800 I've seen knocking around on the classifieds (I think there's one there now), so glad to hear it's a good choice!

 

 

[Tommikka]

8 hours ago, RostokMcSpoons said:

, and with an input pressure ~800psi (so presumably that's the 'raw' output from the air tank, even though the contents are at higher pressures???)

 

 

A compressed air HPA high pressure cylinder is designed to hold air up to either 3000psi or 4500psi

The cylinders own regulator then ‘regulates’ the output pressing down to a manageable level in hundreds of PSI.

(Take note of the two burst disks on the cylinders regulator that act like fuses with two pressure failure levels - the ‘high’ pressure end avoiding excessive overfilling from damaging the regulator and the ‘lower’ pressure  end protecting your equipment from regulator failure 

 

Every time you shoot and release air the cylinders overall pressure drops, but the regulators keeps a fairly consistent output pressure until it drops down below your operating pressure 

 

CO2 acts differently and is stored in a liquid state, whilst changing to its gaseous state as it is released  - depending on temperature this was equivalent to around 800 / 850 / 900

psi

When paintball began to change from CO2 to HPA the regulators output at around 800 to 850 psi to match the expectations of CO2 guns

 

As time went on the average cylinder regulator output on the market dropped to 600/650psi on the expectation that the gun had its own inline regulator to operate in the region of 200/250psi

(a lower pressure let’s it operate consistently for longer as the source pressure drops)

 

 

[Steveocee]

A paintball tank will hold either 3000 or 4500 psi, the reg on the tank takes an input of up to 4500 and outputs at 800. You then attach an "airsoft" regulator on top of that which is input 800 and output variable 0-200.

 

Airtac have just rebranded the Oxygen/Balystik reg's so that would be a good starting place as generally they are pretty solid. If you wanted something better than Wolverine do the Storm Cat5, Polarstar do the MRS micro and Redline (my personal favourite) do the SFR Mini. All are solid choices and you'll find lots of happy users all willing to bitch about the others.

 

If your rifle is a "green gas" rifle then the max pressure for green is about 120psi but that's usually on a Texan day in summer, in the uk we're lucky to reach 100psi on it so absolutely start the reg at 100psi but try not to go past 120. If they reckon do 100 for some recoil then adjust NPAS for FPS then go with that.

 

Tippmann gives a false representation of the airsoft HPA world as they lean on the paintball arm of the business so a lot of people come over thinking 800psi is the norm. It really isn't.