new guy
Hi all:
my first post. My name is Gary. Im retired and loving it. I have been into guns all my life. everything from shotguns to Anschutz target rifles and everything in between. I’ve had a few springers, RWS 45 in .177 and a couple less powerfull RWS guns.
I was thinking of getting one of the Anschutz target rifles but although they are very accurate they are only good for target shooting. Also very heavy and very expensive.
I have been surfing the web looking at all makes and models of pcp airguns. The air force line of guns is very interesting to me. I have been crunching the numbers: fps–pellet wt. ect. I’ve also been looking at as many posts on this forum as I can.
I must admit I’m a little confused when it comes to which air force gun I would like to get. I’m a accuracy nut. (comes from shooting bench rest 22rf competition.) but i want something with more fps than the Edge.
The Condor caught my eye. will the Condor shoot consistant half in groups at 50yds on a calm day with heavy pellets? I want something with good power and still retain accuracy.
also, what is the overall quality of the air force guns. From reading many posts here I find they are not without problems. The price of these guns seem a little high but if they are well built and can live up to their acccuracy claims then maybe they are worth the money.
any information you can give me in regards to the above or any other information you might have would be very welcome.
thanks for any info.
p.s. your site is very well organized. whoever put it togeather knew what they were doing.
Gary
All Replies
For the money , the condor is a very good buy.
your getting a lothar Walter match grade barrel,
and one of the highest power levels
Your really not going to get anything better for less money .
Anything less and you will be giveing up accuarcy or power.
The biggest sell point is the modularity of it , You can do anything you want to it.
tell me if i have this right in my head.
the condor will shoot heavier pellets more accurately with more fps at the longer ranges than the talon ss. is this correct?
my poor brain is trying to absorb all the info i can before deciding which gun i reallly want.
If your on the fence and wanting to use a heavy pellet in a large caliber the Condor is the way to go over the Talon… I eventually turned my TalonSS into a TalondorSS 25 cal. I don’t think i’ll ever use the little calibers that much after the 25. Distance, power and accuracy…
If I were to go back to a smaller caliber it would be to own an EdGun,mostly for it’s compact size and regulated power. Once the multi-shot is available I may have to take the hit and spend the $$ for one.
tell me if i have this right in my head.
the condor will shoot heavier pellets more accurately with more fps at the longer ranges than the talon ss. is this correct?
my poor brain is trying to absorb all the info i can before deciding which gun i reallly want.
yes
hey guys.
tell me if i have this right in my head.
the condor will shoot heavier pellets more accurately with more fps at the longer ranges than the talon ss. is this correct?
my poor brain is trying to absorb all the info i can before deciding which gun i reallly want.
One enlightening thing for me about this forum, last time I had an air gun, I was 11, it was a Crosman 101 22 pump.
The other gun section of this forum is so much fun to read, I am amased at how far the science of air guns has evolved.
Roachcreek
Yeah for sur about the tank, i use to pump the pcp pumpers , (sheridans)until i was blue years ago. thats why i bought the springers, right. so i new right up front i was not going to pump this sucker up.
I also waited for a carbon 88cu.ft. , because i read these pages and the guys would get the pump, get wore out on that, then get a scuba tank, them want more supply, them look for a carbon to charge to 4500,.
Any way found a 88 cu. ft. for 300, so that’s about what a good pump goes fore so i went for it. it was kinda like pulling nails to do it.spending that much money , but i don’t regret it now.
I really went thru the air the first couple of months, until the new wore off, i had never set down and shot like 300 pellets before the condor ,ever, LOL
I bought my condor about 5 months ago, like you I have shot just about every gun out there.
I wanted a gun that could do everyting, so along with the Condor, I purchased a Talon tank, a 12″ 22 and an SS endcap.
Now I can shoot just about anythig as far a as pellet weights and this means I can shoot Western Fence lizards with the SS and then ten minutes later pick up a call and bust a coyote after converting to the Condor.
Next will be the arrow conversion, and with that you can take anything on the North American continent, if you find a place to legally do so, or just have fun.
For the most part I use the 24 inch barrel and the Talon tank, this week I have shot California ground squirrels and a racoon with it. Next month I am off to eastern Oregon to shoot an endless supply of ground squirrels.
Another advantage I have found is that this forum will answer any question you have about your gun. If your not handy with tools and you want first class mods, you just click Tony’s banner at the top of the page and get just about anything you want done.
A note about these guys on the forum, education does not come cheap, they have done the expermentation, listen to them, if your hard headed, and I don’t know you so I am not trying to insult you, you can try it some other way, many do, but they learn eventually to listen to these guys.
Oh yeah, don’t buy the pump, get a tank, aI did and sent it back twice, second time I got a refund, then I bought two scuba tanks, would have been better off with a carbon fiber, but the scuba tanks were cheaper and they do work and someday I will get a scuba cert and use them.
Roachcreek
Ya know i have heard allot about the triggers not being up to snuff, Let me tell ya i am a trigger Nazi, and mine is very acceptable, i have not touched it ,
It has the two stage pull and it breaks clean about 2#, so i really don’t mind it at all, guess i just got lucky with this one,
If you don’t care about the top end horse power you might think about getting the Talon ss, for the short compact size, and when you add the shroud it will only stick out the frame like 3” or 4”.
I have shot my condor at around the 900fps range with light pellets for peak accuracy so i could have done this with a talon ss and been just fine.
But i want the option to be able to turn the gun up if i want, it will make you crazy trying to get it to do exactly what you want some times.
But i like to tinker so it works out ok, keep good notes on your settings and you can go back to them.
One thing that causes problems is temperature, when you have it set up just the way you want and the temp changes,
your velocity changes, if you liked it the way it was just leave it alone and it will go back.
also the first shot after the gun has set a while , like it has set all night, you have a shot first thing the next morning, most of the time the first shot will be off , 1/4” or maybe 3/4”.
so i will shoot the gun at the indoor back stop one time and the next shot will be right where it needs to be.
on another note i am a machinist and a tinker’r so this gun is a dream come true…their is no problem that has come up that i dont feel comfortable fixing myself (most of them i created)…were are you at?? if your near S.W. WA i would be willing to meet up with ya and let you see an AF gun up close..although mine might not be the best example since its not even close to the tss that it started out life as… 😈
if you are handy the trigger is an easy fix….just tap out the pins that hold it all in place(their is only 4 or 5 parts not including springs) and lightly polish the contact surfaces with a dremal tool and add the preload and over-travel adjustment screws while you have it apart and you will be much happier with the gun…yes the valves have their own problems but if you go with the new condor your problems will be much less as they did a redesigne on the tank valve..
trigger links
http://talonairgun.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=132
http://talonairgun.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=9317
new vs old condor valve
http://talonairgun.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=353
so the trigger isn’t very good on af guns you say. i think i read that it is factory set at 3 lbs. can it be worked on by a gunsmith or do you just have to live with it?
i’m kind of getting mixed signals on af guns. sometimes it sounds like their the greatest things in the world and other times it sounds like they arn’t all that well made but fast and accurate.
i don’t expect it to compete with guns costing twice as much or more as far as quality goes but, at the same time i would hope that it wouldn’t be something that is a source of constant problems due to overall quality.
sure wish i could see one in person but i dont know of any walk-in dealers in my area.
If you enjoy your other guns do not buy a talon or a condor ! Your other guns will set in the closet and gather dust.
The trigger is one area where the AF is pretty unrefined,IMO. With your background in BR and hopefully a bit of expendable income being retired I’d suggest looking at a little higher end. Thinking BSA might be a place to start.
well, I’m finding out as I read through your comments to this thread that there is going to be a real learning curve to these pcp guns. but I love that kind of challange. As to the Anschutz 2025: I realize it’s a great gun but being thats its a 177 it just can’t buck any wind and I’m looking for longer range accuracy.
I sure hope I can do my part when it comes to shooting good groups. I have a good bit of bench rest experience with rimfire guns I would hope shooting a good pcp gun wouldn’t be much different. but I’m really looking for more of a small game hunting gun.
My “true purpose” for one of these guns is medium to long range accuracy (that to me is 30 to 60 yds) with enough power to do the job on small to medium sized critters. from what I’m hearing from you guys I’m starting to think that either the talon ss or the condor is what I’m looking for.
I will put my weaver T-36 on it just to see how it works. it would be overkill but might be fun to try it anyway. I would probably end up putting on an 8×24 scope that I started my bench rest shooting with some years ago.
I think either the talon ss or the condor would work for me. what do you guys think?
Thanks, Gary
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I’ve had my Condor for about 8 months now. It rocks! I use it for hunting mainly. I have upgraded to a 18″ .25 cal and that’s just the bees knees! Small, light and compact. But packs a punch. Great for creeping through the woods! Trigger isn’t the best but with the mods available here it will make it not so bad. Just not the best design so not much room for improvement. Very accurate. Very modular. If your new to PCP it’s a good cheap entry point.