Hills Spartan Air Pump

For whatever reason, sometimes we cannot afford to be without an emergency backup and Hill’s Spartan Air pump has been just such a tool recently. Although not perhaps suited to long term use because it doesn’t have a dry air filter, it’s superb for lightweight portability and travel, especially those with a PCP who don’t need massive air storage on the rifle or buddy bottle, but certainly need the capability to ‘add a few’ shots when needs must.

This is Spartan!

I have been using the Spartan with my Weihrauch HW 100 Carbine and, in fairness, dedicated it to a single spare buddy bottle because during lockdown my sevenlitre tank ran dry, but I was pleased to find that once I’d swapped over the fill adaptor, 50 pumps of the Spartans were the exact quantity needed to refill the smaller buddy bottle back to 200-bar for the 50-60 shots I usually squeeze from four refills of the 14-round magazine in .177. All fittings are compatible with the 1/8-inch BSP hose supplied and following the Spartan theme (frugal or austere), no pressure gauge is fitted so you need to trust the one on your rifle itself, but the usual procedure of steady pumps keeps heating of the hose to a minimum. I had the process completed in under three-minutes for a rifle I would then be using for 10 minutes plinking or several hours in hunting roles.

Air supply

Hill Pumps of Sheffield have been in business since 1841 and, at the time of supply, were busy completing many other fundamental projects for the good of UK industry, and I will say that after the lockdown ends I will be adding the additional dry air kit for longer term maintenance. I have run dry tanks from my divers bottle several times to ensure no moisture remains in my action, but with the additional dry pack costing just £27.80, it would be silly not to use one.

A small tube of grease is supplied for valve seals/ piston lubrication and all spares like rubber hand grips and O-rings are available ‘off the shelf’. Self-assembly took less than five minutes and removed all concern over running out of air, with a pump that can now safely live in the back of my truck for backup use anytime, anyplace anywhere.

It’s great to see Hill offering a further variant to their PCP accessory line to cover the needs of all users, and although not quite as reassuring as ‘dry air’, during the 300 shots I shot through the gun I noticed no variance to hunting performance, but I always ensured the gun, if not my spare buddy bottle, were left ‘empty’.

Conclusion

‘Spartan’ can mean plain, simple and reliable, it doesn’t have to be added to make things sound tactical. This is a well-made tool for reliable PCP air backup, if perhaps not a standalone long-term solution.