Thinking about a Talon SS purchase

New guy here – I have been hunting and shooting for the past 35+ years but airgun knowledge is limited. I have been researching the past several weeks trying to learn as much as possible and thought I had made my decision to go the way of a mid level springer… but the lure of the dark side is continually pulling on me. I read about the upcoming changes to the Talon/Condor and this has kept me from pulling the trigger on the springer.

What I am trying to get at is: What do you vets recommend to a newb starting out with a Talon? (mainly which way to go for the air source and other must have rifle mods) I am looking for a quiet .22 for some pest elimination. Doesn’t have to reach out crazy distances as I have other rifles for those chores.

It’s always great to find forums like this because It generally ends up saving me a lot of pain and $$ over the long haul. I know the upfront costs generally are cheaper with the springer but I am sure many of you have been there done that and can point me in the right direction saving me lots of newb grief.

Anonymous

Inactive

January 22, 2013 at 12:40 am

And they plan to sell the baffles to retro fit existing talon SS guns!

steveinla

Participant

January 21, 2013 at 4:02 pm

I like the concept of the Condor SS. That sounds good. I must confess that I have a Talon SS that I will not part with. It shoots very well. Also my Benjamin Marauder in .25 caliber with its 8 shot magazine is my favorite ground squirrel gun. I really like my .25 Marauder. Just sayin”.

These airguns are just so much fun. They are accurate, powerful and can become very quiet…leaglly.

:tag:

love-my-talon-ss

January 19, 2013 at 2:25 am

My screen name should pretty much sum it up. 😀

tracyp

January 19, 2013 at 1:27 am

Knifemaker speaks the truth. My SS removed 6 pest birds from my property this morning on 7 shots in the span of 15 minutes without disturbing anything but the tree bark that was behind their heads before they fell out of the trees. Didn’t even wake the wife up when I shot them out of my window :4:

January 19, 2013 at 12:39 am

Knifemaker is right…. It’s a great system and very affordable.

Ivanhoe… Check out my picatinny rail post… This turns the AR15 of airguns into, well, an AR15 for accessories.
http://www.talonairgun.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=25350

knifemaker

January 19, 2013 at 12:33 am

I can tell you this. An AF gun is an adventure. A journey of discovery’s.

So pack a few drinks, a hot dog or two, and enjoy.

If you just want to sling lead, go with a quality springer. If you want accuracy, power, and near silent death to the offending critters, Welcome aboard! 😈 😀

Mike

ivanhoe

January 18, 2013 at 4:53 pm

quote ssshooter:

For the cost of a quality hill pump you can buy a pre-owned 80cu ft tank. Filling from a tank is so convenient. If you have a dive shop or paintball location then it’s a no brainer. Members here have indicated some simple tactics to befriend a fire station crew to get refills.

Make sure your tank is current hydro (every 5 years) and recent on visual inspection (every 1 year). Shop around there’s plenty of quality tanks available.

Ya – after looking at the Hill pump, I see your point.

January 18, 2013 at 2:43 am

January 17, 2013 at 10:15 pm

quote Ivanhoe:

Thanks OTE, I may need to go that route. Any hand pumps to avoid or are they generally similar?

AIRFORCE!!!!!!

Use Hill or FX much better quality.
Others may chime in.

January 17, 2013 at 5:09 pm

on-the-edge

January 17, 2013 at 12:08 pm

Ivanhoe, don’t write off a hand pump. Because I get so many shots per fill, I leasurely fill my tank while watching the boob tube in the evening and then can shoot for a couple of hours.

Now if you are setting up for extreme power, you should think of a tank and maybe even a compressor.

January 17, 2013 at 5:08 am

Thanks Tracy! I am hoping the 2013 models make it to market soon.

January 17, 2013 at 4:46 am

Agree the scuba tank is the way to go. Hand pump on a 490CC bottle would be a chore I think. I went with a 100CF 3300 PSI Catalina aluminum tank. Its perfect for what I need and I get a lot more fills than I would with a 80CF 3000 psi tank and it was a little less than $250 brand new with the K valve.

My SS shot great right out of the box. I’ve had no issues with my trigger or the safety on my gun. The trigger is very light and breaks at the same spot every time. Single hole groups up to at least 50 yards. I haven’t had a chance to shoot it any further than that yet. I’ve added an extended shroud to reduce the sound and have a Wokbutt being delivered next week. Also agree that the laser would be great for shorter ranges and I will probably add that next. At some point I’m sure I’ll send it to Tony for tuning, but right now it shoots as good as I’m capable of shooting it.

One other thing I will probably change is the scope I bought for it at some point. I went with a Leapers 4-16×44 SWAT scope. Great scope for the money, but its very picky about eye relief especially at the high end of the magnification range.

All in all its a rock solid gun and in my humble opinion very difficult to beat for the money.

January 17, 2013 at 1:36 am

Ground squirrels mostly. Yea, I saw the review on the updates. That’s what got me back to looking at AF rifles.

January 17, 2013 at 12:34 am

What type of critter?

Also, Airforce are announcing a new upgrade to their line. If you can wait you will get a better trigger and manual safety, and better sound supression.
http://airgun-academy.pyramydair.com/blog/2013/01/airforces-new-condor-and-condor-ss-part-1/

A talon SS in 22 is a great pest removal tool inside 30 yards. Others shoot further.

Air source, you won’t fill the gun to 3000psi. The gun has a sweet spot for target shooting around 1500psi and high power shooting around 2400-2600psi. So depending on your needs consider a used 80cu ft scuba tank. Other options are carbon fiber 4500psi (light and lots of fills) or smaller and easier to transport pony bottles at 30cu ft (better for target pressure and less high power fills).

The AF gun has some drawbacks, the stock is a little uncomfortable but Walkonking (wok) sells a great shoulder stock (I own one). And the scope to bore distance is like an M16 approx 3inches. So you may need a laser to help range find close range small targets.

BUT the AF system is fun, modular, easy to service, accurate, and has a strong community on this website.

Thinking about a Talon SS purchase

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