Posts Tagged ‘Hawke Optics 4.5-14×42AO Sidewinder Tactical Rifle Scope’
Cometa Fusion Premier Star .22-caliber breakbarrel air rifle: Part 4
by Tom Gaylord, a.k.a. B.B. Pelletier
The Cometa Fusion Premier Star is stunning! This is the actual test rifle.
Well, today is do or die for the Cometa Fusion Premier Star air rifle. The last report was back in early November of last year, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been working on the gun. Several times, I’ve started a test, thinking that I finally got the scope movement problem resolved — and each time a problem has cropped up. If I didn’t believe this rifle had potential, I would have given up long ago; but the .177 version of the rifle — the regular Cometa Fusion air rifle, was so accurate that I felt this one had to be, as well. Today, we’ll find out if it was worth the effort.
Thanks to Kevin
I want to publicly thank blog reader Kevin for all his help with this troublesome test. He sent me an adjustable mount that unfortunately did not hold on the test rifle, but he made a special scope stop pin that will be used today. If you read the past reports, you’ll discover that this rifle has a severe drooping problem. It needs as much scope alignment correction as you can possibly get. I used a special UTG drooping scope base that’s a prototype you cannot buy for today’s test, but I only did so to accommodate Kevin’s stop pin. You should be good with any droop-compensating mount as long as you have the right scope stop pin to fit the gun. I’ll say more on that in a moment, but first let me admit this is the very first air rifle I’ve seen that could defeat the BKL mounts. The one I tried slipped off the gun in five shots. In fairness to BKL, though, this rifle also broke other scope stop pins — and in one case dragged one through the top of the spring tube until it popped free. So, this is a special case.
Kevin made this scope stop pin for the Cometa. It saved the day!
Those are NOT scope stop pin holes!
Well, excuse me! Those four holes on top of the spring tube that I thought all along were scope stop holes must not be there for that purpose; because if you insert a stop pin too far through any one of them, you’ll bind the action. The gun will not cock! So, not only are they too small in diameter, they’re also very critical of the depth to which the stop pin is inserted! I took some pictures to show you what I mean.
Looking down through the rear “scope stop pin” holes, you can see parts that move when the rifle is cocked. You can also see where, in an earlier attempt to anchor a scope, a pin ripped out of the rear hole.
Looking down through the front “scope stop pin” holes reveals the mainspring coils. The gun will lock up and fail to cock if you insert a scope stop pin too deep in these holes.
Nevertheless, I was able to engage one of the front holes enough to finally anchor the scope base, thanks to Kevin’s pin. Now, it was possible to do some shooting.
Is the bore too large?
I did several things to prepare the Fusion Premier Star for this test. I cleaned the barrel with J-B bore paste. I also tightened the barrel in the fork, so it’ll stay wherever it is put after the rifle’s cocked. That’s the test of a properly tight pivot point — one that will keep the breech sealed upon firing. But since none of the scope mounts have worked until today, none of my shooting before today has been successful.
I also began to wonder if Cometa had used a .22 rimfire barrel for this rifle. That would explain the failure to group because the bore of a .22 rimfire is about 5 thousandths too large for normal pellets. A .22-caliber pellet rifle bore is supposed to be no larger than 0.218 inches in diameter, where a .22 rimfire barrel is 0.223 inches across. It makes such a huge difference that there is no chance of shooting well with the rimfire barrel and standard pellets.
H&N Field Target Trophy
Because of that, I decided to test the rifle with overly large pellets, as well as normal-sized pellets, to see if there was any obvious difference. The first pellet I tried at 25 yards was the H&N Field Target Trophy with a large 5.55mm head. Pyramyd Air has these pellets with head sizes of 5.52, 5.53, 5.54 and 5.55mm.
I was using the pellets with the 5.55mm head. They loaded very tight in the breech, as you might imagine. The first group of 10 I shot was large, but inside the main group were 5 rounds in a smaller hole. That prompted me to shoot a second 10-shot group, which showed me what this pellet is capable of.
The main group is a little large, at 1.432 inches between centers, but the five in one hole are just 0.456 inches apart.
Here are 10 H&N Field Target Trophies in a 0.883-inch group. I think this is what the rifle is capable of at 25 yards.
JSB Exact 15.9-grain
Next, I tried the 15.9-grain JSB Exact dome that often does so well in .22-caliber spring-piston rifles. I stopped after just three shots, and I’m showing you those shots so you know why I stopped. I know many of you feel that the barrel needs to be “seasoned” with each new pellet — meaning that a number of pellets must be shot before any official recording can be done — but this spread is already larger than 2 inches, and I’m saying that seasoning isn’t going to help things that much.
Yes, I really do shoot those other groups that aren’t always shown. I doubt “seasoning” the bore will save this pellet. JSB Exact 15.9-grain dome.
5.56mm Eley Wasp
Was this a .22 rimfire barrel? It was starting to look like it, because the larger H&Ns did well and the JSBs did so poorly. But the proof of the pudding is to shoot the largest pellet of all and see what happens. That would be the obsolete 5.56mm Eley Wasp. If it also shoots well, then I’m thinking the barrel is a rimfire barrel.
Well, Wasps were not good. They made the same 2-inch spread the JSBs did with only three shots, so I stopped shooting them. I won’t show the shots because you know what a 2-inch group looks like. But at least I believe this barrel is not from a rimfire.
Beeman Kodiaks
Next, I wanted to try a heavy pellet that’s not necessarily a large one — the Beeman Kodiak. They fit the breech well — neither too large nor too small. And the first three shots were looking good, but shot 4 went to the right. In the end, I had a horizontal group that was a little large, but stayed at the same height for all 10 shots. I don’t think the Kodiak is the right pellet for this rifle.
Beeman Kodiaks weren’t terrible — they just weren’t as good as the H&N Field Target Trophies. This one measures 1.202 inches between centers.
Overall evaluation
I was disappointed by the .22-caliber Fusion after the .177 had done so well. In the end, I did get the rifle to shoot, but it took every trick in the book to get there. I can recommend the .177 version of this rifle, because I really like the adjustable cheekpiece and the adjustable trigger. But the .22 took too much to get it to shoot.
Cometa Fusion Premier Star .22-caliber breakbarrel air rifle: Part 3
by Tom Gaylord, a.k.a. B.B. Pelletier
The Cometa Fusion Premier Star is stunning! This is the actual test rifle.
Today is accuracy day for the .22-caliber Cometa Fusion Premier Star air rifle; and after the performance we saw with the .177, I’ll bet you were expecting another stunner. Well, it didn’t happen. I was unable to get this rifle to put 10 shots together, regardless of what I did.
I won’t tell you all the pellets I tested in this rifle, but it was a bunch. I’m not saying what they were because I don’t think I have seen what the Fusion Premier Star can do yet. I don’t think those pellets were given a fair trial. Something is missing or out of adjustment, and I have to try to find it for you.
I tied several different hand positions with the artillery hold, and I tried resting the rifle directly on the bag with two different holds. I tried relaxing, and I tried not relaxing. One thing that gave me some good results was pulling the trigger as soon as possible after getting on target. I got the first group that follows that way.
Just so you know that I sometimes have problems getting air rifles to shoot, let me share some promising, yet heartbreaking groups with you. This will show you what I was dealing with when shooting this rifle. I got the best results when shooting RWS Superdome pellets, though I would hardly call them good.
Four RWS Superdomes went into the larger hole on top, and a fifth one went below. This rifle wants to group — I just haven’t figured it out, yet. This group came by pulling the trigger as soon as the sight was on the target..
In case you are about to suggest that I just keep shooting and see how the group turns out — I also did that. Here’s what happened.
Four Superdomes in the one hole, then three fliers scattered around. There are three more that went below the paper!
As you can see, only 7 of 10 shots made it on paper, with 4 of them in a tantalizing little group. All 4 were fired in succession, then all the fliers started.
Many trials!
I shot well over 80 shots in this test, and most of them were taken with a level of care that I hardly expect most shooters to understand — much less be willing to do. I shot so much and with such concentration that I got a headache! That’s when I know it isn’t me that’s messing up.
I tried light pellets, heavy pellets, even pellets that I seldom ever try because I have no luck with them in any airguns. Good or bad didn’t seem to make any difference in this Fusion Premier Star. Nothing seemed to work. So, that’s when I went into the diagnostic mode.
Was the scope loose? Nope! Were the stock screws loose? Yes, they were a little loose, but nothing that would explain what I was getting. Was the barrel loose? YES, IT WAS!
The barrel wobbled from side to side when shaken. So, I looked at the left side of the action fork to see if there was a pivot bolt, and all I saw was a plain pin! I got so angry that I looked like the Tasmanian Devil spinning up! How could the rest of this rifle be so well designed and the barrel only have a pivot pin instead of a bolt that can be tightened when the barrel gets loose? I was thinking up snotty things to say about it when I thought to look at the opposite side of the fork. There, a traditional barrel pivot bolt was held fast by a smaller locking screw — just the way it would be done on a classic vintage air rifle.
This is what you want to see on a breakbarrel air rifle — a pivot bolt that can be tightened with a locking screw that has many positions around the periphery. This gives great control over the barrel tension in the action fork.
I tightened the pivot bolt by one locking screw setting, which as is one-tenth of a revolution. It seemed to tighten the joint, so I installed the locking screw and put the rifle back in the stock.
Alas, the accuracy was no better than before. Something is still not right, and I’m darned if I know what it is. The rifle has a wonderful, predictable trigger and relatively smooth firing cycle, and I’ve adjusted the cheekpiece to fit me perfectly. I should be able to drill periods at the end of sentences with this rifle.
I did shake the barrel once more, following about 12 more shots. It’s just a little loose again, so apparently I didn’t tighten it as much as I should have.
For now, I’m going to listen to the comments and reflect on this test. There will be another test, because this rifle seems to want to shoot, even though I don’t yet know what to do.
Cometa Fusion Premier Star .22-caliber breakbarrel air rifle: Part 2
by Tom Gaylord, a.k.a. B.B. Pelletier
The Cometa Fusion Premier Star is stunning! This is the actual test rifle.
Let’s look at the power the Cometa Fusion Premier Star air rifle produces. If it’s anything like the .177-caliber Cometa Fusion I tested several weeks ago, it will hit its advertised velocity. There weren’t a lot of questions about this gun, so I’m diving right into the test.
Adjust the trigger
Before I did anything, I adjusted the trigger. You’ll remember that I overlooked the length of pull adjustment on the first rifle until someone pointed it out. Then, I found that this trigger is very adjustable. That’s what I want with this .22, as well, so the trigger received my attention first. Both the pull weight and the length of the first-stage pull are adjustable, so I set the rifle up the way I like it — with a longer first stage and a light second stage.
The pull weight was light enough as the rifle came, but the second stage was full of creep. So I fiddled with the screw that’s located just behind the trigger blade until I got what I wanted. Now the trigger breaks crisply with no creep, at 1 pound 9 ounces. The first stage is long, but I don’t care about that. It’s not what I concentrate on when shooting the rifle. Only stage two matters.
RWS Hobbys
You already know the cocking effort is 31 lbs., so let’s get into the velocity test right now. First pellet up is the RWS Hobby, which weighs 11.9 grains in .22 caliber. In this rifle, Hobbys averaged 817 f.p.s., with a range from 811 to 821 f.p.s. At the average velocity, this pellet generates 17.64 foot-pounds of muzzle energy.
I must comment again that the Fusion and this Fusion Premier Star feel like tuned air rifles when they fire. The firing cycle is quick and free from vibration of any kind. The good trigger lets me observe things closer, because I know when it will go off.
RWS Superdomes
Next, I tried RWS Superdome pellets. This is a very popular pellet because it shoots well in many airguns. In this one, the Superdome averaged 761 f.p.s. with a spread from 757 to 764 f.p.s. That’s a very tight spread for a spring-piston rifle. At the average velocity, this pellet generates 18.65 foot-pounds of muzzle energy.
Superdomes seem to fit the rifle’s breech very well. I noticed that one pellet had a dented skirt, but only after I had loaded it. So, I shot it and saw a 30 f.p.s. drop in velocity. I threw that one out of the string because of the damage to the pellet. If I were shooting in a match, I would shoot that pellet into the ground, if I could.
Crosman Premiers
The last pellet I tested was the Crosman Premier dome. This pellet is often the most accurate, or one of the most accurate in many air rifles. This time, however, I don’t think that it will be, because each pellet seemed to fit the breech differently. Many were very tight and squeaked as they were pushed in.
There was one anomaly of a pellet that fit extremely tight and shot 20 f.p.s. slower than the average. Because I knew it was an odd pellet, I removed it from the string. The Premier pellet averaged 751 f.p.s. in the Fusion Premier Star, with a range from 745 to 757 f.p.s. I really expected a wider variation than that from the way they fit the breech, so that was a surprise. At the average velocity, Premiers produced 17.91 foot-pounds of muzzle energy.
Impressions so far
I’m very impressed with the way these Fusion rifles shoot and how nice their triggers can be adjusted. This rifle feels like it’s been tuned, and that’s not a common ocurrence these days. The power it produces is exactly where I want a .22 spring rifle to be, and I’m anticipating a good performance in the accuracy department.
I must also comment on the adjustable walnut stock. Not only is it beautiful, but the adjustable cheekpiece means I can set up this rifle to fit me perfectly, which can do nothing but help when it comes to accuracy.
In short, I have high hopes for this rifle.
Cometa Fusion Premier Star .22-caliber breakbarrel air rifle: Part 1
by Tom Gaylord, a.k.a. B.B. Pelletier
The Cometa Fusion Premier Star is stunning! This is the actual test rifle.
How many times do I show you a photo of the actual test rifle because it’s prettier than the example on the website? Well, this one is. The .22-caliber Cometa Fusion Premier Star air rifle has a gorgeous blonde wood stock that has a subtle fiddleback pattern running across the grain. I’m testing serial number 4243-12, but it’s on loan from AirForce Airguns and I doubt they will sell it.
The Fusion Premier Star is a Fusion action in a nicer stock with an adjustable cheekpiece. This one has a slight bias for right-handed shooters because of the low-profile raised cheekpiece on the left side, though a lefty should be able to do quite well with it. There are no bad angles anywhere. The wood is stained blonde, and as you can see in the picture, it’s attractive! The checkering pattern differs from the one on the standard Fusion. The cheekpiece adjusts via two large hex screws found on the right side of the butt. Finally, I’m going to have a rifle that fits me exactly without resorting to a Tyrolean stock.
The checkering is different on the Fusion Premier Star…and isn’t that wood pretty?
Now that I know how the trigger adjusts, you can be certain that this one will be adjusted perfectly for all the testing. And I’m mounting the Hawke 4.5-14×42AO Sidewinder Tactical scope, so the rifle will have the best possible chance to shine.
A powerful air rifle
We already know that the Fusion powerplant is right on the money, as far as the advertised velocity goes. So, I assume the advertised velocity for the .22 is correct, as well. They say 1050 f.p.s.; and if that’s right, this rifle is in Beeman R1 territory for several hundred dollars less! The rifle I’m testing retails for $392.50, and a new R1 goes for $614.25.
Metal finish
Some things remain the same on the Fusion Premier Star. The metal is finished in a matte black, with the same contrasting matte silver muzzlebrake. I neglected to mention it in the Fusion report, but both the trigger blade and the triggerguard are made of plastic. They’re not offensive in the slightest, and the straight shape of the trigger blade is actually a quality feature. It makes the trigger pull feel so much more positive and controllable.
Wood finish
The wood on this rifle really sets it apart from the regular Fusion. Not only is the stain blonde, the grain of the wood looks like walnut to my eyes. It can’t be or they would advertise it for sure, but it sure looks like it. And the wood is finished in a satin finish that looks like a fine oil finish. Again, it can’t be, but it does accept Ballistol readily and develops a deeper luster after wiping with an oily cloth. The buttpad on the Premier Star is the same soft, solid, thick black pad that’s on the Fusion.
The checkering on the Fusion Premier Star is cut diamonds instead of the pressed pebble grain that’s found on the Fusion. The diamonds are sharp and really grab your hands when you hold them.
You know that the barrel is backbored and really only 11-9/16 inches long when the freebore is subtracted. We know that the rifle is accurate in .177, and I’m expecting the same in this .22 caliber. The long barrel gives you a longer lever to cock the rifle, which is why it only takes 31 lbs. to cock the gun, despite the power it puts out.
The rifle is supposed to weigh 7.5 lbs. as it comes from the box. We know, of course, to allow for small variations that are based on differing weights of the wood in the stock. The test rifle weighs 8.75 lbs. with the scope mounted. That’s lighter than a Beeman R1 with no scope, so the Fusion Premier Star really is a medium-weight spring-piston air rifle.
Sights
Just like the Fusion, you’re going to have to install optical sights of your own because the rifle has no open sights. The same 11mm dovetail grooves are cut directly into the spring tube, and there are the same four scope stop holes for a vertical stop pin. They’re located along the top center of the scope grooves.
Overall impression
Thus far, I’m very impressed by this rifle. Can you tell? The appearance, alone, would be enough to guide me to the Premier Star over the regular Fusion. And I’m assuming the performance will be just as good, though we never know that for certain until the test has been completed. I’m looking forward to this one!
Hatsan 95 combo breakbarrel air rifle: Part 5
by B.B. Pelletier
The Hatsan 95 came through in the end!
This is part 5 of what would normally be a three-part test. If you’ve followed it, you know all I’ve gone through to let the Hatsan 95 combo breakbarrel look its best. And today’s report was no exception. I spent more time with the rifle than I usually do in part 3 of any other airgun. I guess I had a burr under my saddle blanket about this rifle from the start. It was so nice-looking, and it was also a spring rifle that most adult men can cock, which isn’t that common when it comes to Hatsan breakbarrels. So, I wanted it to succeed.
Cleaned the barrel
The first step for today’s report was a thorough cleaning of the barrel with J-B Bore Paste on a brass bore brush. From the way the friction lessened the more times I brushed the bore and the black gunk that soon filled the bristles, I knew it was the right thing to do.
Mounted a scope
After the barrel was clean, I set about mounting a scope with droop to compensate for the barrel droop the test rifle has. I had planned to mount the Hawke Sport Optics 4.5-14×42 Sidewinder Tactical rifle scope, but it has a 30mm tube and nowhere in my inventory of available scope rings could I find a droop-compensating mount with 30mm rings. I have them, but they were all doing other jobs. Fortunately, when I was working with Leapers to create their UTG droop-compensating base for RWS Diana spring rifles they sent me a couple samples without the recoil shock shoulder, so I can mount them on any conventional 11mm scope dovetails. Since the Hatsan 95 comes with a scope stop plate already installed, I just backed the base up to it and I was done.
The UTG scope base gave me all the droop compensation I needed to get the scope adjusted properly.
Because the UTG base raises the scope high above the spring tube, I used a set of the lowest Weaver rings I have. With them I was able to mount the AirForce 4-16×50 AO scope with plenty of room to spare. This AirForce scope is the brightest of my one-inch tubes. I don’t usually have it available because it’s mounted on my Talon SS, but the recent test of the Micro-Meter tank has freed it up.
Time to test!
Then it was time to test the rifle at 25 yards. I can report that the droop-compensating scope base did its job and put the scope’s adjustments down into the bottom quarter of the travel range. That means there was more than enough tension on the erector tube return spring, so that can be ruled out as an excuse for inaccuracy. After a quick sight-in at 10 feet, I went back to 25 yards and started shooting.
Beeman Kodiaks are out!
The first pellet I tried was the Beeman Kodiak. But no matter how I held the gun, they simply would not group. I fired about 30 rounds, trying all sorts of holds without success. I tried the Kodiak first because back in Part 3, they seemed to do well at 10 meters. I’d hoped that solving the scope problem would also make them group at 25 yards, but no dice.
So are JSB Exact 15.9-grain domes!
Next up was the JSB Exact Jumbo that weighs 15.9 grains. Like the Kodiaks, these had done well at 10 meters, and I just knew they would shine at 25 yards. But, once again, in hold after hold, they disappointed me. I would put three pellets into the same hole, then throw one an inch away. That could not be blamed on the scope this time.
I even tried shooting the rifle with the forearm resting directly on the bag. Though that seldom works…when it does, it works quite well, and it was worth a try. Once more, the groups were large and open. The shot count was now above 60 without success. I began mentally composing the report that was to say I had failed to get the Hatsan to shoot at all, but something inside kept me at the bench.
Perfect artillery hold is required
By shooting so many pellets, I did discover the best place to put my off hand. The heel has to touch the rear of the cocking slot. If I can feel that, I know the stock is always in the same place. Also, there can be absolutely NO tension when shooting! I have to be entirely relaxed and my shoulder cannot put any pressure against the buttpad. If there’s any tension or if I am holding the rifle in place instead of letting it just rest on target with me relaxed, the shot will always go wide in the direction the rifle wanted to go as I was holding it.
The next pellet I tried was the JSB Exact Jumbo that weighs 18.1 grains. This pellet often shines in certain PCPs, and I wondered if it might make a difference here. But when shot two landed two inches from shot one, I stopped.
Next up was the RWS Superdome that has surprised me in the past. Several readers say this is always a good pellet for them, and I thought it needed to be tried. I got 8 shots into 1.164 inches between centers, but that just wasn’t good enough to satisfy me. So, they were out, too.
Eight RWS Superdomes made this 1.164-inch group at 25 yards. Notice the shot that barely clipped the bottom edge of the target paper!
RWS Super-H-Points
While I was looking through my .22-caliber pellets I saw a fat tin of RWS Super-H-Points. This is a 14.2-grain hollowpoint pellet that also cuts a hole in the target like a wadcutter. It shouldn’t be accurate in a spring rifle of this power, but nothing else was working so I decided to give it a try. When the third shot made a cloverleaf with the first two, I felt this might be the one. And it was! Ten shots gave me a group that measures 0.792 inches between centers. Looking at this group, I see the promise of even better grouping once I become more familiar with the pellet. But even if this is the very best it can do, it’s good enough for me.
There is the 25-yard group we have been looking for! This Hatsan 95 likes RWS Super-H-Points. Ten made this 0.792-inch group. See the two holes made by the 18.1-grain JSB? No wonder I stopped shooting it!
The last word
So, what do I think? Well, the Hatsan 95 is definitely an accurate spring-piston air rifle at a great price. BUT — and this is a big “but,” — if you want it to perform you’re going to have to learn how to shoot a rifle. And I don’t mean shooting Uncle Jim’s 30-30 a couple times, either! You’re going to have to learn how to apply the artillery hold to the very best of your ability because this rifle does not forgive laxness.
Cosmetically, this rifle will give you more than any other air rifle in its price range. The trigger is disappointing, but that doesn’t mean it’s bad. It’s just not real good. But you can adapt to it and if you learn to hold the rifle right and use the right pellets, it will perform. Based on this test, I think the Hatsan 95 is one of the best buys in a spring-piston air rifle today.
TalonP PCP air pistol from AirForce: Part 6
by B.B. Pelletier
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
TalonP air pistol from AirForce is a powerful, new .25-caliber pneumatic hunter.
It was another calm day at the range last week when I tested the TalonP air pistol once again. This time, I had a couple special goals. One was to see if the new method of scope mounting recommended by AirForce owner, John McCaslin, would help me hold the gun better, and the other was to test the velocity of the gun with the most accurate pellets on power setting eight.
New scope mounting method
The scope has to be moved forward for increased cheek contact with the reservoir/tank. You know that I’m now using the optional shoulder stock extension that clamps onto the pistol’s reservoir. The way it clamps gives you a wide range of pull lengths. I need a longer length of 14.5 to 14.75 inches, so I have the extension way out at the back of the reservoir, but most shooters will slide it in a bit. John recommends that you adjust the stock first then position the scope where it needs to be for your eye. He recommended a BKL cantilever mount that pushes the scope forward. I used their BKL 4-inch one-piece mount with what they refer to as drop compensation, which actually means droop. Because the one I had on hand has one-inch rings, I had to say goodbye to the superb Hawke 4-14×42AO Sidewinder Tactical scope I’ve been using and substitute a Leapers 5th Gen 6-24×50AO scope. While it was entirely adequate, I have to observe that the Hawke at 14x was clearer than the Leapers at 24x.
The first time around, the Hawke scope was mounted on two-piece BKL mounts that were slid as far forward as possible. The image was still too close to my eye to resolve to full size, so I needed to move the eyepiece of the scope forward about another half-inch.
Using the BKL cantilever mount I was easily able to move the scope slightly forward to allow my cheek to rest comfortably on the reservoir when I sighted. As you can see, there’s still a lot of room.
With the cantilever mount moving the scope forward, the eyepiece was positioned perfectly for a good cheek weld on the reservoir. The ear protectors are for the firearms that are next to me.
Sight-in took longer because, at this rifle range, I don’t have the ability to place a small target at 10 feet. I have to mount all my targets at the 50-yard backstop. So, I mount a two-foot by four-foot silhouette target on the backstop with its plain, light backside facing me. Then, I place the sight-in target in the center of that, and usually I can catch the pellet holes somewhere on that huge piece of paper. You could use cheaper paper for this — just as long as it shows the pellet holes clearly. I’ve never used a scope collimator, and I don’t intend to start now. This is so much easier!
I hadn’t changed the power setting from the last test, so the performance went the same as before; this time, I cut off the fill at less than 2,700 psi. That allowed me to start shooting a group in three shots. As I learn this pistol, I’ll eventually learn exactly where to stop the fill so shot one is right on the money every time. However, as with most airguns — including springers — you have to “wake” the gun with a couple shots each new time. For hunters who spend hours between shots, this can be daunting; but very few guns will put the first shot in the same place as the others after a long period of rest. It’s true of firearms, as well, so I guess it should also apply to airguns.
How did it do?
Nothing really changed from the last time I tested this pistol. Now that I have the air fill down pretty well, I can even do “tricks” with the gun. Let me demonstrate with JSB Exact Kings and Benjamin domes.
50 yards: Five JSB Exact Kings in the hole below and two above. The five-shot group was 0.246 inches between centers. Add the other two shots, and the group grows to 0.577 inches between centers. Even that is better than most .25-caliber air rifles can do at 50 yards; but the point (trick) is that I knew those last two shots were going to stray, and I didn’t have to shoot them.
50 yards: Five Benjamin domes in the hole on the right and then I shot a sixth that I guessed would stray. Stray it did, but to the left this time, where in the last test Benjamins moved to the right. Go figure! The tight group measures 0.38 inches. With shot six, it opens to 1.059 inches.
Technique is important!
Lest a new airgunner buy this airgun and splurge on all the support equipment to operate it (basically just a carbon fiber air tank), and then buy the same exact pellets I’ve used in this test, only to be disappointed that he cannot replicate what I’ve done, allow me to show you how I’m able to do what I’m doing. It’s not a trick, but it does require an advanced shooting technique of which a new shooter is probably not aware. You will remember that I mentioned my intention to mount a scope level on the gun last time. I forgot to do that, but on a printed target there are plenty of references to help me control the amount of cant (the amount the rifle is tilted to one side) for every shot. So, for the two groups I’ve shown you thus far, I watched the visual cues as precisely as I’ve been watching the bubble level in the Pellet velocity versus accuracy test. Let me show you what it looks like when I ignore these cues and just shoot when I think the airgun is being held the same every time. I’m trying just as hard to shoot a good group, except I’m ignoring the one variable of cant.
50 yards: This is what you get when you don’t pay attention to cant when shooting an accurate pellet at 50 yards. Five JSB Exact King pellets made this 0.747-inch group. That’s still a very good group for a .25-caliber airgun at 50 yards, but it looks large in comparison to what I’ve shown you previously in this report.
Velocity
I tested the velocity of this pistol with several pellets back in Part 2. That was when we confirmed that the TalonP isn’t just capable of hitting 50 foot-pounds at the muzzle — it can actually shoot a string of 10 shots above that energy figure.
Today, I’ll give you the velocities of the two most accurate pellets. I’m doing this for one reason. The 43.2-grain pointed Eun Jin pellets that are required to achieve that bragging power are not the most accurate pellets in this airgun. The two I’m showing today are, and they’re best at power setting eight. This is a real-world look at what the pistol can pump out when it can also keep five pellets inside a wedding ring at 50 yards.
JSB Exact Kings
The gun was filled to 2,700 psi and shot over an Oehler chronograph. The average velocity of JSB Exact Kings for the five best shots was 875 f.p.s., with a low of 860 and a high of 892 f.p.s. At the average velocity, the muzzle energy is 41.66 foot-pounds. So the total spread of velocity for the pellet that would put five under a quarter-inch at 50 yards was 32 f.p.s., but you can see that it doesn’t really matter that much.
If I had included the very first shot fired after the fill, the velocity was 844 f.p.s. and the next shot was even slower, at 836 f.p.s. I got a total of 11 shots on a fill, the last of which went 841 f.p.s. I’ve shown you both last time and today that there are five screaming shots within this larger string that I know for certain will be accurate if I do everything right. Do you want to kill the woodchuck at 60 yards, or do you just want him to envy you?
Benjamin domes
I refilled the gun to 2,700 psi and shot a string of Benjamin domes. They averaged 877 f.p.s. with a low of 840 and a high of 902 f.p.s. That’s a 62 f.p.s. spread, yet you can see what they did on target. This pellet generates 47.49 foot-pounds at the average velocity. Looking at the total string, shot one went 783 f.p.s., and shot 11 went 827 f.p.s. Those shots are outside the string that gives the best accuracy, and you’ll break your heart by hoping to get them to go into that tiny little group. Take your five great shots, or think about buying a different pellet gun.
You won’t find another pellet pistol that will touch this one for power and accuracy at this range, and many pellet rifles will fall behind as well. The TalonP air pistol is not for everyone. It’s for the shooter who has the heart of a buffalo hunter. The one who knows exactly what his gun is capable of and is willing to invest the time and care to get it.
Airgun hunter, Eric Henderson, has already taken a prairie dog at 100 yards with the exact same pistol I’m testing for you. I’m not the only one getting these great results.
What I’ve done is take the time to decode the operation of the gun and find two good pellets for it. I’ve told you the best fill pressure, which is way less than what the factory recommends. I’ve given you the power setting, which is under the maximum setting.
The TalonP is a thinking shooter’s airgun. If you want the most accurate and most powerful smallbore air pistol in production today, here it is.
TalonP PCP air pistol from AirForce: Part 5
by B.B. Pelletier
TalonP air pistol from AirForce is a powerful, new .25-caliber pneumatic hunter.
I had a perfect, wind-free day at the range for this report, and as a result I learned several very interesting things about the TalonP air pistol. There’s no substitute for a calm day when you’re trying to figure things out for an airgun.
The target was set 50 yards away, and I shot off a bag rest. I promised to show you how I hold the pistol when the shoulder stock extension is attached and I will, but John McCaslin of AirForce told me of a much better way to set up the gun. Since I didn’t try that this time, I’ll just show you how I held it for this test.
The butt is on my shoulder, which allows my cheek to touch the rear of the reservoir. My left hand is under the pistol grip for fine elevation adjustments. The bag I’m using is a large bunny bag (a sandbag that has “ears”) filled with crushed walnut shells that are as dense as sand but weigh only half as much.
This hold was stable, but I can see how the one John suggested will be even better, so I will show that next time. I have nothing but praise for the Hawke scope that is so clear I can see the pellets as they fly to the target. I think we need to add this scope to our stable of equipment, Edith.
I started this test shooting the JSB Exact Kings that were so accurate in the last test. They were still on the money — even better than before — but the calm day allowed me to see a dynamic I hadn’t see last time. The TalonP pistol can shoot a great five-shot group, but if you try for more shots, the pellets start to wander.
A new dynamic
As you know, I like to shoot 10-shot groups to demonstrate the accuracy of airguns. There are exceptions to that, of course. I won’t shoot 10 from a 10-meter gun because 5 shows all that I need to see. A big bore will also get 5 shots instead of 10, because there aren’t ten good shots in the reservoir. Well, that holds true for the TalonP, too.
I shot many groups that were astounding on this day, but only when they were 5-shot groups. When I tried to stretch them to 10, they always opened up. Before I get to that, though, I also discovered that this pistol doesn’t need a 3,000 psi fill when it’s shot on power setting eight.
If I filled all the way to 3,000 psi, the first shots were lower-powered. They would walk up the target in sequence until the gun came into the power curve, which was around 2,700 psi for this pellet on power setting eight at 50 yards. Then I always got an astounding 5-shot group. And then the pellets started wandering once again. Before I go any farther, look at a couple of these groups.
The larger hole to the right of the dime is four JSB King pellets at 50 yards. Shot five made the hole underneath the first group. But shots six and seven are above the dime and to the left. Those four tight shots represent the tightest group of shots I’ve ever made with an airgun at 50 yards. The group measures 0.159 inches and the 5-shot group measures 0.524 inches.
This group of 10 Benjamin domed pellets starts with a tight group of 5 at the left. The next five pellets walk to the right. The group of 5 measures 0.352 inches between centers.
Kevin suggested that I also test the Benjamin domes and Beeman Kodiaks. I found the Benjamin domes to be equally accurate in the pistol as the JSB Exact Kings, which is surprising because in an earlier test at 25 yards they were not as good.
The Beeman Kodiaks were not good in the pistol at any power level I tried, though I didn’t spend as much time with them as I did with the JSBs and Benjamins. In fact, I ran out of JSB pellets and had to order more to complete this test.
Some experimenting
I have said in the past that none of us have enough life left to throughly test even one AirForce airgun. The adjustable power, plus the ability to control the fill pressure, gives you an infinite variety of things to test with every good pellet you find. However, I do have an advantage, in that I used to work at AirForce and have tested hundreds of guns and thousands of valves during manufacture. So, I know a couple helpful things. Here’s one of them.
Sometimes, there’s a second power band located outside what you think of as the normal pressure curve. With a PCP gun that has a 3,000 psi fill limit, I find the bottom of the power curve is somewhere around 2,200 to as low as 2,000 psi. That’s for any gun — not just one made by AirForce. Of course, the AirForce guns have adjustable power, so you can do things — in that outside part of the fill curve — that aren’t possible with other PCPs.
I haven’t yet completed this test, but I just wanted to know if there might be another power curve below the normal pressure curve, so I kept on shooting JSB pellets with the gun set at power setting eight. As I did, the gun suddenly started to bellow a deep flat roar with every shot. I knew from past experience that this was what I was looking for. In fact, the pistol became so loud that I thought the end cap had fallen off, but it hadn’t. It was just the sound of the valve remaining open an extra long time and letting out a large volume of lower-pressure air. I didn’t get any good groups at this level; but with some lowering of the power setting, that might be possible. When I finished about an additional eight shots, the gun was down to 1,500 psi, which is way outside the normal curve.
On the TalonP, I find the best curve so far with the most accurate pellets to be between 2,700 psi and 2,200 psi. However, since I was trying to shoot 10-shot groups, the lower number isn’t correct, either. I didn’t have time to find out what the real lower limit was, exactly. The one time I checked it seemed to be around 2,550 psi, but that’s too rough to go by. Besides, it’ll be a different number on each different pressure gauge you use, so the number doesn’t really matter that much. You’ll have to find the number on your own fill gauge. If you do what I do in this test, you’ll find everything you need.
A big point
I’d like to stop here and mention that at no time have I brought a chronograph into today’s test. I did chrono the gun some back in Part 3, but that was before I knew how well it was going to perform at distance. Since there’s so much to do, I decided to set the chronograph aside until I find the best performance at 50 yards, then I’ll chrono just that. For those who own PCP guns but don’t yet own chronographs, this is something you should think about. It doesn’t matter how fast the pellets are going if they aren’t hitting anything, so find your most accurate pellets first and then chronograph them.
Something else
Knowing that the gun grouped 5 shots very tight with these two pellets, I tried a couple times to find the exact fill point for stopping to shoot 5 good shots. I could then shoot my 5 and refill for 5 more good shots. The ideal stopping point is located somewhere below 2,700 psi when the gun is set on power setting eight and shooting JSB Exact Kings or Benjamin domes, but I didn’t find the exact spot yet. When I shot the groups shown above, I had to shoot the first couple shots at a different target until the shots stabilized. Therefore, the number of good shots is greater than 5, since at least one shot and perhaps two were thrown away as I let the gun climb into the power curve.
I also tried shooting all the pellets, including Kodiaks, at power settings nine, ten and six. Those settings were not as good as setting eight when I filled to 2,700 psi.
This is the TalonP power adjuster I mention in the report. It appears to be set just under eight, as indicated by the center of the hex screw in the oval window. Forget the numbers on the wheel. Until you find the right setting in the oval window, they will just confuse you, and they aren’t that precise.
What’s next?
I now know the two best pellets for this gun. I have a rough idea of where the optimum power curve is located, so I won’t have to hunt for it as much next time. Also, John McCaslin has shown me a better way to mount my scope so I get a more positive spot weld (locating the cheek at exactly the same place every time so the maximum parallax is cancelled), and that may help me shoot the TalonP even better.
Here’s what I know so far. This “pistol” is the most accurate .25-caliber airgun I have yet tested. And I have one 50-yard group that’s the best I’ve shot to date with any airgun. That old one was five shots from a SCAN at 40 yards. There’s a heck of a lot of potential here. I can’t wait to get back to the range to try out all this new stuff!
