Entry level PCP setup for $355

Well played hand. 

Urban is a good choice.

Always some random chance if a particular pellet shoots well or not.

Like previously mentioned, the pellet choice is up to the gun. The Crosman pellets have a tendency to be somewhat inconsistent, and shoot well out of some guns, but not others. Probably OK for plinking. I find that JSB or H&N pellets are better in most guns.

Do a little searching on this forum, and others on moisture elimination with pumps. That's the little secret that most gun and pump manufactures keep kind of quiet. The last thing that you want is water getting into you gun.

Thanks for the info re: keeping moisture out. 
I'm not certain yet how to do that, but there certainly seems to be no shortage of options!
Pellets... Might be a good time to 'invest' in some H&N, JSB, AA selections.. Perhaps next month... 🙂

Not sure why you skimped on the hpa pump, being an important piece of equipment that it is. You might look to getting a higher quality pump or small tank in the future, the former with a moisture pac.

Yes I might regret going for the the budget pump. 
I over spent my $350 budget by a couple-o-beers, but should know, in a couple-o-months or so, if the cheapo pump is worthwhile or was a waste of cash!

If I had opted out of the Bug Buster, or settled for this scope BSA 2-7x32 $28 delivered, I think I might of been able to grab an Air Venturi G7 instead of el-cheapo.
I'm looking into how to add an effective low cost moisture trap/filter etc. to the el-cheapo pump, seems to be quite a few options under discussion on the forums.

By most accounts, these cheap pumps that became available in the last year or two are better than the Benjamin pump that represented something of a de facto standard in years past (on the basis of popularity of the Marauder and Discovery). And by better, I mean both in terms of durability and pumping effort. I have a Hill and bought one of these cheap pumps as a backup…then I decided to just use it as my primary and see how it holds up and it now has about 2 years of regular use and it hasn’t failed or needed a rebuild yet. Granted, it doesn’t operate as smoothly as the Hill but it always gets me up to 3000psi and that makes it a good value in my eyes. Most comments from other users I’ve read are pretty similar.

Bottom line, if mine happened to fail today and for some reason I could not fix it, I would buy another one and not feel cheated in any way.

Been using one for a bit over 2 years...no problems.  Cost more  2- 2 1/2 years back, but side by side to one of the new (cheaper ones)...same critter inside and out.

Not to say you can't get unlucky with any product, but the odds seem pretty good that it will work for you.

Perhaps someone would be so kind as to add a link or two pertaining to the moisture/water removal problem that gun/pump manufactures 'don't talk about'.

Yikes! that sounds like a topic that most Definitely Should be talked about. I've read some posts in the past years and it can get technical and complicated and even expensive.

Perhaps someone has worked through all the past Math and come up with a 'Dummies Version' for those of us considering leaning over towards the previously called 'dark side' LOL!

I know for certain that more than a few of us would Greatly appreciate the fruits of your labors in any past research or Recommendations for Beginners into this Technical world of HPA, PCPs .

The Costs have come way down and I do believe that many may Now Seriously consider the once Unlikely event of owning and Operating one of these new- fangled PCPs. 

Thanks for your interest and advice,

doug,P.

I think the moisture situation is highly overated. I got the same pump years ago from flying dragon for $140. got ripped but at the time they were the cheapest. filled my 2 rifles 100's of times listened to the moisture crowd took apart the cylinders and found no rust no water and no sign of either

I have a lot of miles on my Chinese pump , and they  are far superior to the airforce and Benjamin pumps ( fit , finish , the gauge , and pump effort.. ). they are copies of higher end pumps .. I believe that all hand pumps are now built in the same Chinese factory anyway

Great post and great choice Mark. I would recommend the Urban to a newbie in a heartbeat. Great to hear about the success others have had with the Chinese pump as well. I'll have to add that to my newbie recommendation list.  Gosh, after 4 years of using SCBA tanks, would hate to know I had to go back to pumping 😉

Jimmy

I will only comment on what I've actually used.

The Bug Buster 3-9 is a good value scope.  The mil-dots are very useful for 50-100 yard ranges.  The one I had the crosshairs were rather thick but I think they changed those a few years back.

The Crosman UM pellets are decent.  My friend's Mrod shoots them very well and both of us have a tin for "back up" pellets in case we run out of our bit more accurate pellets.  They are a very hard lead allow and won't really mushroom on hitting anything short of a hard surface.  The price is great as is the availability.