Air grease gun buying guide
Updated: 21.10.2026
You already have a compressor in the garage, and the next job is a row of grease nipples on a car, a trailer, or a small machine. Search results use air grease gun for two different tools: a handheld pistol that takes a cartridge, and a wheeled keg pump that only ends in a gun. This air grease gun buying guide sorts that fork before you look at a price. You check the air you can supply, the inlet thread, how the grease is loaded, and only then the outlet pressure that clears a nipple. The [air grease gun comparison](/hub/compressors/air-grease-gun) holds the four amazon.co.uk rows and the shelf prices. Products Compared used those listings, maker pages, and HSE guidance, and we did not run a lab test. A qualifying purchase through an amazon.co.uk link can earn us a commission at no extra cost to you.
You already have a compressor in the garage, and the next job is a row of grease nipples on a car, a trailer, or a small machine.
You already have a compressor in the garage, and the next job is a row of grease nipples on a car, a trailer, or a small machine. Search results use air grease gun for two different tools: a handheld pistol that takes a cartridge, and a wheeled keg pump that only ends in a gun. This air grease gun buying guide sorts that fork before you look at a price. You check the air you can supply, the inlet thread, how the grease is loaded, and only then the outlet pressure that clears a nipple. The air grease gun comparison holds the four amazon.co.uk rows and the shelf prices. Products Compared used those listings, maker pages, and HSE guidance, and we did not run a lab test. A qualifying purchase through an amazon.co.uk link can earn us a commission at no extra cost to you.
Our top picks
| Badge | Product | Type | Capacity | Outlet pressure | Note | Price | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall |  Draper Draper 70836 air grease gun (400 cc) | Handheld pistol | 400 cc | Not on the listing | 7.4 | about £30.99 | View offer |
 KATSU KATSU 40 litre pneumatic grease pump | Wheeled pump | 40 litres | 450 bar | 6.4 | about £119.99 | View offer | |
| Alternative |  KATSU KATSU 12 litre pneumatic grease pump | Wheeled pump | 12 litres | 450 bar | 6.2 | about £87.99 | View offer |
On this page
Pistol or keg
A pistol is the tool most home workshops mean. It hangs on a hose, takes a 400 g cartridge or a bulk fill, and weighs about a kilogram. In this set that description matches the Draper 70836, listed at 400 cc and about £30.99, with two delivery tubes, bulk loading, and air bleed valves on the bullets. A keg pump is a different machine. The three KATSU rows are wheeled lubricators of 12, 20, and 40 litres, each with a 3.7 m hose and a flexible gun, and each listed between about £87.99 and £119.99. You roll an 11 to 15.1 kg frame across the floor. You do not pocket it.
Buy the pistol when the grease you already own is a cartridge, or when a tub and a suction fill will last you months. Buy the keg when you are opening drums and a cartridge would be the thing you keep changing. The word gun in a title does not decide that. Drum size, a follower plate, and hose length do. If you are still unsure whether an airline is worth it at all, the air grease gun versus a lever gun is the fork to read before you add either of these to a basket.
Air inlet, pressure and hose
UK trade pistols in this class commonly show a 1/4 inch BSP inlet. Draper's own page for the 70836 states that thread, a working window of 30–120 psi, and a 3/8 inch air hose. Those figures are not on the amazon.co.uk capture, so they stay on the maker page until you read the plate on the gun in your hand. Do not force an NPT fitting into a BSP port because the threads look close. You will cross them, and the leak will arrive at the inlet, not at the nipple.
Outlet pressure is the figure that clears a stubborn nipple. It is not a score you maximise. Draper publishes 4,500 psi (310 bar) for this model. The KATSU listings state 450 bar (6,500 psi) as maximum pumping pressure. A higher bar rating does not make a better gun for a car chassis if you cannot feel the trigger and you keep it open after fresh grease appears. Kennedy's PGC400 manual, a similar pistol, quotes 1,200–6,000 psi from a 30–150 psi feed and tells you to stop after a short burst. The plate on your model wins over a category average.
Airflow is the part retailers flatten. Tooled-Up talks about 4–6 cfm and about 90 psi for guns in this aisle. Groz's ZAGG is published at about 1 cfm, and a Spaldings hand gun at about 3 cfm. Those are different plates, not a contradiction you can average away. The KATSU amazon.co.uk pages do not state inlet pressure or cfm at all. Aim Tools lists 90 psi and a 50:1 ratio for the 12 and 20 litre KATSU models; that is a retailer page, not the amazon row. How to match this to the compressor you own is on the compressor page.
Cartridge, bulk and the trigger
A 400 g cartridge is the usual UK pack for a pistol, and 400 cc on the Draper title is that class of fill. NLGI 2 is the chassis grease most of these manuals assume. It is workshop habit, not a law. Kennedy's manual also allows bulk, suction from a tub, and a filler pump. The Draper bullets confirm bulk loading and an air bleed. They do not print the sequence, so you follow the sheet in the box, not a guess from the title.
The trigger style changes how easy it is to over-grease. A one-shot gun, such as the Sealey SA40 sold outside this set, gives one pulse per pull. A continuous-flow gun, such as the Sealey SA401, keeps moving grease while you hold the trigger. Continuous flow is faster on a line of nipples and easier to hold too long. Sealey's own continuous model is a mid-shelf pistol, listed by Tooled-Up at £64.95 including VAT on 19 October 2026, against £52.95 for the one-shot SA40. The Draper listing does not say which of those two trigger behaviours it uses. If the job is a handful of nipples and you want a pulse you can count, ask that question before you treat air grease gun as one specification.
What the four listings do and do not show
On 19 October 2026 the kept amazon.co.uk rows were the Draper at about £30.99 and the three KATSU pumps at about £87.99, £112.99, and £119.99. The Draper capture shows 5.0 from one rating and a 12-month parts and labour line. It does not show outlet pressure, inlet thread, or tube lengths. The 12 litre KATSU shows 3.8 from three ratings, which is the largest review count here and still too small to explain a fault. The 40 litre shows 5.0 from one rating. The 20 litre capture has no star line. All three KATSU pages state 450 bar, a 3.7 m hose, wheels, and a weight. None states inlet air, airflow, a pressure ratio, or a warranty.
That pattern is the buying rule. Pay for the type that matches the grease you store, then refuse a listing that hides the air window if you cannot read it on a plate or a maker page. A single five-star rating does not close the gap. Tooled-Up's wider pistol shelf, from about £33.95 for a Draper DAT-AGG to the Sealey and Lumatic guns around £50–£70, is context for what else exists. It is not a second ranking of these four rows.
Common questions
Do I need a pistol or a keg pump?
You need a pistol if the grease in your cupboard is a 400 g cartridge or a small tub. You need a keg pump if you are already buying 12, 20, or 40 litre drums and you want a hose that reaches around a vehicle. The KATSU rows in the main comparison are keg pumps with a gun on the end. The Draper 70836 is the handheld pistol. Price alone does not convert one into the other.
What air pressure should the plate show?
Handheld guns in the UK trade notes cluster around 30–150 psi, often with 90 psi (about 6 bar) as the recommended feed. Draper's page for the 70836 prints 30–120 psi. That line is not on the amazon.co.uk listing, so check the plate. A compressor gauge that can reach 8 bar does not prove the gun wants the top of that scale.
Will a 400 g cartridge fit?
The Draper title states 400 cc, which is the usual cartridge class for this pistol size. The listing does not name a grease brand. NLGI 2 is the grade manuals in this set tend to assume for chassis work. If you buy bulk grease instead, the Draper bullets do say bulk loading is provided, and you still bleed the gun after you fill it.
Is continuous flow better than one shot?
Continuous flow is quicker when you have many nipples and you can stop the moment fresh grease appears at the seal. One shot is easier to meter, because each pull is one pulse. The Draper listing does not say which behaviour it has. Sealey sells both styles as separate models in the £50–£70 band, which shows they are a real choice, not a slogan.
Is 1/4 inch BSP the normal UK inlet?
It is the thread Draper and Sealey print on the pistols cited here, and Tooled-Up treats it as the usual inlet in this aisle. It is trade practice, not a pasted British Standard in this guide. Do not mix NPT into that port. Sealey also asks for at least a 1/4 inch hose bore on the SA401; Draper's 70836 page asks for 3/8 inch.
Related pages
Sources
Public UK sources and maker pages from the research digest, checked for this page on 20 October 2026. Listing prices, stars and review counts are amazon.co.uk figures from the comparison files.
- HSE: hydraulic injection injury (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- HSE: track tensioning and high-pressure injection (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- HSE: PUWER overview (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- HSE: Pressure Systems Safety Regulations (PSSR) (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- Draper Tools: air grease gun 70836, 400 cc (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- Kennedy PGC400 instructions (Cromwell) (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- Sealey SA40.V2 instructions (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- SGS Engineering: air compressor buyer's guide (retrieved 20 October 2026)