The Prairie Falcons are shipping!

by Harley Ayre

A long wait!
Airhog has been eagerly anticipating the first shipment of the new Falcon rifle for a long time. First, they were curious about the quality control the new company would exercise; and, second, they had awaited the Prairie Falcon since long before the company changed hands. The wait is over, and the Prairie Falcons are now shipping!


Multi-shot Prairie Falcon with walnut skeleton stock.

The fit is improved and the finish is superb!
The fit of the new rifle stocks is tighter than those of the past. The walnut in this first batch of rifles seems exemplary. The metal finish is typical Falcon, which is to say the highest standard in the industry! Airhog owner, Van Jacobi, notes that the receivers are now made of hardened aluminum, and the bolts are a larger diameter, which makes the rifle cock smoother than before.

Uses the same magazine as the classic Falcon
The eight-shot magazine is the same for the Prairie Falcon as for the old classic Falcons. For a while, at least, the classic rifles continue in production, but don't expect that to last long. The new PF 25 (the official model designation of the Prairie Falcon) has several features that put it ahead of the older guns. Let's have a look.

Monotube design
The entire action and the reservoir are now housed in one tube. The designation "25" refers to the tube length. A longer 21-inch barrel boosts the efficiency of the rifle. Of course, the actual power depends a lot on which pellet you use. With the Prairie Falcon, JSB Exact, Beeman Kodiak and Crosman Premier continue to be the favorites, in that order.

Select Walther barrel
Lothar Walther barrels are one of the industry standards. Nobody questions their accuracy for, indeed, they are the barrels against which all others are compared. Did you know that there's a special "select grade" of Lothar Walther barrel? There is, and it comes standard on the Prairie Falcon! Airhog shoots all rifles before they go out to customers, and they say this new model is as accurate right out of the box as the best Falcons they used to sell after they spent time learning the gun's sweet spot. They wonder just how much better these guns will get after their owners have spent time learning about them. The extra cost for the select barrel seems well worth the price.

They are quiet - with ATF blessings!
FINALLY - a quiet air rifle you don't need to worry about. The new Falcon group took all the ATF requirements and built them into the Prairie Falcon's moderator. It has proprietary threads of a design ATF says makes it okay to own. You won't be putting this moderator on anything but another Prairie Falcon. So, now you get the power you want and the quiet you need for worry-free adult airgunning. That's almost worth the price of the gun by itself!

Power and useful shots
Airhog is setting up the Prairies to shoot between 27 and 30 foot-pounds in .22 caliber. As the power increases, the number of shots declines. They get 22 to 30 full-power shots per fill, depending on your rifle's energy. Obviously, a rifle putting out more energy is also using more air, and that affects the total number of shots. The reason Airhog makes these adjustments is because each rifle is unique. The fill is a standard 3,000 psi (206 bar). Naturally, you get the correct fittings to fill your rifle for your setup (remember, this is Airhog!).

So, what have we got? A new Prairie Falcon with improved wood, a better barrel, a stronger action design, smoother cocking bolt and a moderator blessed by ATF. It seems to me that if you have been waiting for the right time to buy a precharged air rifle, this might be it.