Changing barrel out on Talon… "How to"
I have a 18″ barrel arriving today which will replace the 12″ barrel my Talon is currently sporting. Is it difficult to swap out barrels?
Thank you in advance for your comments.
All Replies
The safety is crap. I have a hole in my garage wall where my Talon SS fired when taking the safety off. That’s why I removed that bitch after reading advice from the more experienced members here. It’s scarey bad. In you situation just think of it as a back-up trigger!!!
I’m betting that it’ll do the same thing with your old barrel as well.
As for the new barrel being tighter and harder to load. I wouldn’t be surprised if Tony worked on your old 12″ barrel. Is it polished as well? (is it for sale?). Also there’s variance between barrel runs on the LW barrels over time and I’ve read of some quality declines on LW barrels recently maybe you’ve just got one that’s not as finely made.
I’d rather buy a new barrel from Tony or Jim Gaska because they fine tune them after they get them from LW.
Yep… just did it again three times in a row. My Talon SS is firing immediately when the safety is switched off, if the action is left open. Is this normal?
Thank you for all who have contributed to the barrel change out. I have installed the 18″ barrel in my Talon SS, and it was easy enough, but I might have one large safety issue remaining. A few comments:
1) I did not do ANYTHING w/ the power wheel, including backing off the power, prior to removing/installing the barrel. To the best of my knowledge, I don’t believe I broke anything. I am guessing the plastic screw in discussion has been replaced by the factory with a steel or aluminum screw, since I can see it is not plastic. (or Tony did this for me when he originally worked on my SS rifle).
2) When putting the barrel back in, I had to gently push the last 1″ barrel or so firmly in (so it was almost flush with the end of the shroud on my Talon SS) in order to overcome the resistance from the spring (or whatever it is) associated with the power wheel, while holding it in place and lining up the bushings.
3) I failed to use the screws which came with the longer barrel, and thought I had done something wrong when the screws did not fit flush. My Bad – the screws are SHORTER which shipped with the longer barrel, THEY ARE NOT extra’s, but are actually SHORTER screws! Unfortunately, it took me more than 1 hour of taking the barrel back out and putting it back with the original screws in order to figure this out.
4) The actual cocking of the action and chambering of the pellets with the new barrel is not as smooth. The action feels almost gritty, and the pellet does not seat as easy. It’s OK, but noticeably a little rougher process (I added a few drop of oil, but this didn’t do much). I had Tony originally work on this rifle, so maybe he did something externally with the original barrel breach end, in order to help it operate smoother in the action. One thing is for sure, the shorter 12″ barrel DOES indeed seem to have a tapered breech where the pellet goes in, and the new 18″ does not.
5) Now the bad part. I just shot a .25 Benji dome into my kitchen wall due to an apparent mechanical error. O.K., when your done laughing read on. I had the action open while checking to see why the pellets did not seat in the breech as easy as the original barrel, with a pellet loaded, and pushed the safety off. This discharged the rifle, and landed a pellet in my kitchen wall, just missing an 8’x4′ picture window by 24″. What the hell happened here?? Did I screw something up internally by not backing off the power wheel with the barrel change? Isn’t it safe to take the safety off of a AF rifle with the action open, without any danger of it firing? I then went outside and duplicated this feat, but it took me about 6 attempts to get the rifle to fire with the action open this time (re-cocking the rifle several times by pushing the action forward, and working the safety on and off until it fired again, with the action open).
The gun seems to fire fine, and other than the action being a little rougher than the original, it seems OK. Any veteran AF rifle owners care to chime in? Thank you for your help.
Thinking back on my trouble with the PW and the screw. I broke that screw in the first few days I had the rifle.
Then I got the ETACs and it made it hard to remove the bottle to take the tension off the spring from the breech side, so I always removed the screw and thought that a damaged PW would result if I did not. That and I run heavier springs most of the time.
So you guys are probably correct and I am wrong about the screw not needing to be removed.
Live and learn. 🙄
Regards,
Roachcreek
I have swapped barrels both ways, with the powerwheel screw removed and with it in. either way works for me
A few people have screwed up the threads from removing it and putting it back in cross threaded. If that wasn’t the case i’d say remove it every time, but it would appear the danger of messing it up is 50/50 (removal/install).
You can get around removing it on a Talon if you don’t have any pressure on the spring (and therefore no pressure on the PW).
Turn down the PW (which I believe is part of the barrel removal directions from the factory) decock the rifle and let the breech sit against the tank collar (as I stated in my original post). 😉
If you have pressure on the spring or if the rifle is cocked it will destroy that little screw sure as shit! If you have pressure on the spring and PW and you try to unscrew that little spring you can also fuck that little screw up pretty good.
You HAVE to relieve the pressure from the spring either way you do the barrel change.
I changed my Talon barrels often without ever killing the screw, I only removed the screw when I was adding the hammer weight or replacing the spring.
If you get a chance, on your condor can you see if when it’s decocked and bottleless if the breech has pressure against the spring with the PW at zero? That is if you have a stock length spring in there. 😆
I had the powersheel screw hole fail from not removing it. It broke out to the side. Apparently it was not centered enough, as a result I always remove it.
Easy fix I just drilled anohter hole and tapped it, but irregardless, I feel it should be removed, it can break from the forces of the hammer spring tension when it does not have the barrel bushing to support it.
But again an easier fix is just to remove it. 😎
Regards,
Roachcreek
you know syn, i was thinking that myself,
but i just go with it, i guess… 😎
I don’t believe there is a reason to remove the power wheel if your changing the barrel… 😕 😀 😉 I’ve changed my barrel plenty of times without removing the PW. Just relieve the pressure by turning it down all the way and closing the breech against the tank collar. Always a good idea to remove the tank from the rifle when changing the barrel.
I would suggest only removing the power wheel screw only if your going to change to a different spring or add a Condor hammer weight. That little plastic screw has a limited number of times it will be able to be used. Always be sure it’s not under pressure from the hammer spring or that little screw is toast. It is a ‘pointer’ but it will also be the only thing holding the power wheel in the rifle once you remove the barrel.
You can get those Power wheel set screws at any RC Hobby shop, they will probably have them in Steel or Aluminum. 😀
what i did with mine was hold a slightly longer 4-40 screw with pliers, heated a bit with a lighter, and carefully force threaded it all the way thru. just make sure it isnt so long that it scratches the barrel.
sorry, i wasnt thinkin, i dont think youll get a dvd with just a barrel.
i think they should hire charlie to record an updated version of the AF instructional DVD…keep it clean there, chazz… 😆
Gregory,
If you take that little PW screw down to a good Hardware store, you can replace it with a metal one and fix it forever.
Regards,
Roachreek
Thanks AirGunsOfTulsa, we’ll do. I’m great at breaking things, so this little tidbit probably just saved me from calling AF for a new part.
one more note…. when tightening the screw on the power wheel, do it VERY carefully, it’s plastic.
JUST get it tight enough so it doesn’t fall out. It is only an indicator of the power wheel setting. (think of it as a pointer)
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
There is a wealth of information in the “Reference” section, and you can find out how to take that safety out. It’s easy and the rifle is safer, in my opinion, as a result.
You haven’t damaged anything. Once that safety pin is out, you can try it again and I believe your problem is solved.
Pick up some silicone grease from a dive shop and use a Q-tip to lube the inside of your breech, where the internal Orings slide on the barrel. It should help out. If it’s a real problem, you can take the barrel out and sand it smooth at the breech end with a very fine steel wool and with the silicone added lightly, the action will slide like glass.
Referencing the more difficult pellet loading, Tony and Jim angle the entry just a bit to get the pellet started before it hits the rifling. You can do this yourself by removing the barrel and using a very fine textured, tapered stone and very carefully smooth down the edge of the pellet inlet, but don’t go deep! just 1/8″ is plenty and it doesn’t take very much off to make a difference. Just be sure it’s smooth so the pellet doesn’t get scraped or malformed. Dremel has some smooth round and tapered grinding stones that work.
Also in the Reference section, you can find that the same thing can be done if you want to put a smoother crown on the other end of the barrel.
It’s easily done, and unless you are too rough, go too deep, or use too coarse a stone, you will have no problems. Personally, I’d recommend just putting a slight taper where the pellet enters the barrel. Remember, not too deep, perhaps 45 degree taper, or less…just enough to get the pellet head inside and started.
Go slow and have some fun. If you are a complete ape handed half-wit, you can send the barrel to Tony or Jim and they can fix it up for you for a few $. Both are excellent craftsmen.
I did this on my Talon and it does make a difference, especially loading ease.
Welcome and enjoy yourself. If you are married to a good looking woman, we would all enjoy pictures of your wedding night and honeymoon. I’d send you pictures of mine, but I never deliberately inflict pain on a fellow forum member.
Kindest regards,
Uncle H 😯 😯 T
PS: One of our moderators “WOK” is a transvestite, cross-dresser, former exotic dancer, and is raising money for his forthcoming sex change operation. I know he would certainly enjoy pictures of any farm animals engaged in unnatural acts, in case you happen to live in the country.
Further, Ted from Madison is an alien from another planet who has come in peace to teach Earthlings how to shoot. Check out his excellent selection of videos on Youtube under “Ted’s Holdover”. He speaks our language, but has no ear lobes. He is very friendly and not to be feared.