A airarcher valve system and a 24 " 22 barrel
I do some of my best thinking laying in bed in the mornings, unless my pretty wife distracts me, I come up with some fairly good ideas at times, if I do get distracted there are far worse ways to start the day 😉 .
So this morning I lay in bed wishing I had a better than stock Condor valve to try on my 24″ barrel, which is now coupled with a ported Talon valve.
I have a more powerful valve ordered, but kinks in the design have kept it from my door for 5 months, the maker refuses to ship something that does not work to his specificatiions and I can appreciate that. I got that Condor for the power, but ended up putting the Condor valve on the Airarcher, where it gets 12 good shots and then the power starts to wane rapidly. For what I want a Powerful .22 shooting 32 gran EJ’s, 5 shots is more than enough.
At the same time I wondered what it would be like to have that ported Talon valve on the Airarcher, for practice and shooting squirrels around the house and vineyard, without destroying arrows from the immence raw power it produces.
Normally I would just switch tanks, but first of all I have Etacs on them that prohibits easy switching, and then there is the springs, the Airarcher has a much more powerful spring and does not use the powerwheel adjustment.
Then about 5:45 AM this morning, the thought hit me, switch barrels and spring systems. After all it is just 7 set screws.
So after my morning coffee, I went for the allen wrenches. I ended up with the Airarcher springs, hammer spring and valve retainer spring, Condor valve, Airarcher hammer and the Condor powerwheel, and a 24 inch barrel on one rifle. On the Airarcher arrow shooter, I had the Ported Talon valve, Airarcher barrel, the Condor hammer bushing and Condor spring.
I set up my Chrony and ran some 32 Ej’s acrossed it, I had been getting, as a stock Condor 980FPS, the screen read 1033FPS , that is 75 FPE. I like that, I did not worry about running a string, this is to be used for coyote calling, one shot is all you get, if you miss the first shot, bag it up and move, by the next stand I will have refilled, so 3 to five shots in the 75 FPE range suits me fine.
But what about the Talon valve system on the Airarcher for practice?
I set up my archery target and ran some 2413 aluminum shafts over the chrony. With the full power Airarcher system, I get 350 to 375 FPS. With the Talon valve it read a steady 185 FPS again and again, the arrows did not bury themselves to the fletching like they normally do, they went in 8 to 10 inches and the accuracy was the usual pinpont, power level is much like a entry level crossbow, but the nice thing is, with blunts or judo points, I can shoot squirrels in the yard and not destroy arrows, and it is so much more quiet, less than a stock 2240 pistol or close to my Crosman 101 with 6 to 8 pumps.
As another plus I know I will be getting 35 to 40 shots before I need to refill instead of 12, and it is as easy to cock as a Condor.
I know I can improve a little on this with Top Hat and powerwheel adjustments on both rifles, and I can use Goldtip carbon arrows on the Airarcher and take it to 200 FPS, about what my recurve gets.
Nice thing is, I did not spend a cent, just switched parts and discovered yet more utility from these fine systems.
Win, Win situation.
Roachcreek
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Viewing 5 replies - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)
Having the day to play with this set up here is what I have observed.
The Condor/Airarcher valve and 24 inch barrel using 32 grain EJ’s, gives 5 shots in the1050 FPS/75 ftlbs range, at shot 10 velocities are starting to drop below 1000FPS.
So for the see it out the pickup window and shoot it crowd or the coyote caller, this will work. For those of you who like to see how many shots you can get in a string, you will save a lot in lead dollars with this setup.:lol: .
The airarcher with the ported Talon valve, however shoots forever, it turns it into a back yard plaything, albiet a deadly one. With a 25 yard zero and a laser 15 yard zero, it will put a broadhead into the kill zone of a Raccoon or stray cat in the night, but I do not think you would shoot thru it, which makes it a little more deadlier perhaps on coyote size game, the broadhead keep cutting as the animal runs off, because the shaft is catching on things and working that broadhead.
I shot at the end of a oak Railroad tie at 10 yards, it burried it, I was able to unscrew the field point in the oak, but just barely. It penetrates better than my 50 lb recurve on the archery target. But you notice the drop far more than the full power unit.
I have shot two California ground squirrels with the full power Airarcher, one when the pressure was way down to about 1500 PSI, the arrow went in to the fletching and although still alive, it could not escape due to the arrow hanging up on brush. A full power shot to the skull on a facing squirrel penetrated fully thru the body and bounced to a stop on the gravel. In the past I have hesitated to shoot small game with it due to the fear of losing arrows that bounce to who knows where. Full power it is like squirrel hunting with an “06”, just to much power for small game.
With a blunt this should kill just about any small game, out to 15 yards with the laser, any animal targeted is dead, it is just hard to miss.
Anyway, just another thing you can do with a Airfore Rifle.
Roachcreek
nice roach! af rifles are the bomb!!!!!
Joe,
I predict you will get 35 to 40 shots @ 200 FPS with your Gold tips and the Talon valve.
400 FPS with the Condor valve.
Roachcreek
Very smart Roachcreek! Seems like you “killed two birds with one stone”! I often wonder what the difference in FPS would be with my airarcher spring and a stock talon valve. I have not had a chance to crony my arrows yet, but I will do a comparison of the two tanks.
1) stock talon tank
-vs-
2) Condor tank with a Tagdagger valve job
Any predictions on the fps drop, David? Anyone? I would love to slow mine down as well for target practice purposes.
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Having the day to play with this set up here is what I have observed.
The Condor/Airarcher valve and 24 inch barrel using 32 grain EJ’s, gives 5 shots in the1050 FPS/75 ftlbs range, at shot 10 velocities are starting to drop below 1000FPS.
So for the see it out the pickup window and shoot it crowd or the coyote caller, this will work. For those of you who like to see how many shots you can get in a string, you will save a lot in lead dollars with this setup.:lol: .
The airarcher with the ported Talon valve, however shoots forever, it turns it into a back yard plaything, albiet a deadly one. With a 25 yard zero and a laser 15 yard zero, it will put a broadhead into the kill zone of a Raccoon or stray cat in the night, but I do not think you would shoot thru it, which makes it a little more deadlier perhaps on coyote size game, the broadhead keep cutting as the animal runs off, because the shaft is catching on things and working that broadhead.
I shot at the end of a oak Railroad tie at 10 yards, it burried it, I was able to unscrew the field point in the oak, but just barely. It penetrates better than my 50 lb recurve on the archery target. But you notice the drop far more than the full power unit.
I have shot two California ground squirrels with the full power Airarcher, one when the pressure was way down to about 1500 PSI, the arrow went in to the fletching and although still alive, it could not escape due to the arrow hanging up on brush. A full power shot to the skull on a facing squirrel penetrated fully thru the body and bounced to a stop on the gravel. In the past I have hesitated to shoot small game with it due to the fear of losing arrows that bounce to who knows where. Full power it is like squirrel hunting with an “06”, just to much power for small game.
With a blunt this should kill just about any small game, out to 15 yards with the laser, any animal targeted is dead, it is just hard to miss.
Anyway, just another thing you can do with a Airforce Rifle.
Roachcreek