Q:

Top Hat Questions

Hello, there.
It’s ground hog time in Massachusetts (hi Ninga) and I’m getting ready to protect my vegetable garden. I have a Talon SS 12″ and my maximum range will be 35 yd.s. I’m using 3000 psi nitrogen fills, and my power wheel is arbitrarily set at 10/10.
This brings mre to the top hat. I bought a second tank from Airforce, to be ever ready. The top hat clearances are measurably different.
My current top hat is 0.123. The new tank from Airforce is 0.11.
Is there a best top hat height for a Talon ss 12″? I have a chronograph, but hope to save time as I remain vigilant overseeing my garden.
In other words, did someone already do this work?
AJC

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Viewing 8 replies - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)

quote AJC:

Thanks, guys.
Buzzcat, how do you adjust the top hat? Do you unscrew the hex set screws and twist? I’m a new guy.
Thanks for the Stooge link. I loved Curley, and then learned to love Shemp.
Joe Bessem or Curley Joe? Spray paint them orange, and give them a two minute head start..
Then, release the hounds.
AJC

Yeah, loosen the two tiny allen screws then the tophat screws up or down.

Obviously, you’ll need feeler gauges but it sounds like you have them.

Glad you enjoyed the clip. 😉

Everybody likes Curly, and I do too, of course, but Shemp has always killed me dead since I started watching them about 40-odd years ago.

Joe and Curly Joe? Phhht… totally weak, I refuse to watch. 😉

Thanks, guys.
Buzzcat, how do you adjust the top hat? Do you unscrew the hex set screws and twist? I’m a new guy.
Thanks for the Stooge link. I loved Curley, and then learned to love Shemp.
Joe Bessem or Curley Joe? Spray paint them orange, and give them a two minute head start..
Then, release the hounds.
AJC

I found mine needs to be around .105 or more in my condor. I tried the .085 most seem to offer up. I lost 100 ft per sec on the crono (roughly). I turned it back out. I also have a scuba tank and no shortage of air so let the air leak!

.123 and .110 are both WAY too high, IMO. I’m surprised that you can fully close the breech at .123.

.085, plus or minus a bit, seems to be where most tophats end up. That’d be a good place to start, even without any chrony-work.

That’s where mine is at (.087, IIRC). Powerwheel is in the low 10’s, for no other reason than that’s as high as I can go before the gun starts to defeat the shroud.

Also, and again relying on other folk’s experiences, you might want to go with 2700-2800 psi fills instead of 3000.

I was at .111 and I lowered it to .078 and am still shooting 835 with 14 gr pellets, pw at 9.5. I ordered an 18 in vented bushing barrell from TT and expect to get about 90 fps increase. Lowering just saves a little air, I don’t know how much I really don’t have a shortage of air at my house.
Some of the tuners here say its better.

What does it top out at, powerwheel on max & max? Sounds a touch low but it is a heavy pellet… You would benefit from a longer barrel, the TH settings sound like there is plenty of gap…

FPE is about 23.6 which sounds pretty good to me. I believe I get just about 20 FPE from a 10.8grain 0.177 pellet going about 1000fps (18″ barrel)…

How many shots per tank?

Sorry, I missed the first reference to the chrony… 😳

I’m using the vaunted Benjamin .22 Cal. 21g pointed pellet. That’s why i’m slow on the chrony. Like 780fps or so. Can I do better with a tune-up?
AJC

No two tanks will fire the same with the same TH settings… Or at least most are no equal. You may have the elusive matching tanks, you never know…

Lots of testing so you will need a chronograph to set everything up and determine if your pellet velocities match….

Viewing 8 replies - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)

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