The Talon: A real PCP bargain!

by Harley Ayre

I get lots of questions from shooters who want to break into PCPs guns but are concerned about the high prices. Well, I've tested the heck out of the AirForce Talon, and I can recommend it to anyone! No, I don't mean the Talon SS. That's the quiet rifle with the shrouded 12" barrel. It's a great air rifle, too, but I want to talk about the Talon today.

Basic specifications
The Talon is the least expensive AirForce rifle. It has an 18" barrel and comes in both .177 and.22 calibers. Because all AirForce airguns feature rapid barrel changing, you can swap the caliber or the length of your barrel in about five minutes. The Talon is lightweight, at just 5.5 lbs. The reservoir, which also serves as the rifle's buttstock, comes off in seconds, making the gun very transportable in a small package.

The 18" barrel
Let's consider the barrel that comes with the rifle for a moment. At 18", it delivers higher velocity than the 12" barrel on the Talon SS. The muzzle energy potential for a .22 caliber Talon climbs up over 30 foot-pounds when heavy pellets are used. And that's great because the 21-grain Beeman Kodiak is wonderfully accurate in this rifle. The best pellet by far is the 16-grain JSB Exact, and Beeman Field Target Specials are no slouch, either.

Power adjustability
All AirForce air rifles have a power adjustment wheel, but on the Talon it's notable. The 18" barrel gives you tremendous adjustability. Not only does the top end go higher with this barrel, the bottom end also goes lower, and with more consistency! The Talon is more adjustable than the SS, unless you install either the 18" or 24" optional barrel on the SS. Fine velocity variations in the middle ranges are also possible.

Noise
The Talon is not loud like the Condor, but it's louder than the Talon SS. When you dial back the power so the pellet moves as fast as the SS at its top speed, the difference on sound level isn't that great. And, on low power with the pellet squirting out at 450 f.p.s., the Talon is positively a whisper!

Accuracy
Let's clear this up right now - a long barrel does not increase accuracy - at least not with airguns (it may help with primitive black powder rifles). On some guns that have both the front and rear sights mounted to the barrel a longer barrel increases the sight separation, making it easier to sight with precision, but all the AirForce air rifles must either be scoped or mounted with AirForce open sights that attach to the frame instead of the barrel. So, a longer barrel contributes nothing to the sighting precision.

On a calm day, you can expect to shoot groups under one inch in size, center to center, at 50 yards. If your gun doesn't do that for some reason, clean the barrel with JB Non-Embedding Bore Cleaning Compound on a brass brush. Starting from the breech, run the brush through the barrel. Go 20 times in both directions, then remove all traces of cleaning compounds with dry patches. That will restore your barrel to top accuracy.

Since I mentioned the AirForce open sights, I must say that they are one of the few accessories I don't care for. They're fiberoptic and extremely adjustable, but a scope brings out so much more potential accuracy that I see no reason to get the open sights.

Bipod
After a scope, a bipod is the number one accessory an AirForce airgun buyer purchases. There's good reason, too. Besides shooting stability, the bipod also makes it easy to set the rifle down almost anywhere. It acts as a portable rifle stand. Folded up for offhand shooting, it stays out of the way and is so light that it adds next to no weight to the gun. If you buy any AirForce air rifle, plan on getting a bipod, too, at some time.

AirForce sells a lot more SSs and Condors than straight Talons, but that's not a reflection on the rifle. In fact, the Talon is the best deal in the whole AirForce lineup! If you shop prices, you'll soon discover that it's a pretty good deal for all PCPs, as well.

The differences between carbon fiber tanks and fiberglass tanks

by Harley Ayre

Before we begin, I want to thank all of you who responded to last week's survey. Your answers were thorough and enlightening. The folks at Airhog read them and will be thinking of ways they can better meet your needs.

Let's look at two similar air tank technologies - carbon fiber and fiberglass. They seem very similar, and they are in some respects; but there are also some important differences you should be aware of.

Hydrostatic test
All high-pressure vessels over 2" in outside diameter are periodically tested by hydrostatic test. The purpose of the test is to determine if the vessel has been work-hardened through expansion and contraction. If it has, it is condemned and cannot be filled by a dive shop. For aluminum and steel tanks, the hydro is the final word, unless a fill station spots an obvious flaw during an annual visual inspection. The common hydro schedule is every five years, though there are exceptions.

The age of the tank
But fiberglass and carbon fiber tanks are different than metal tanks. The U.S. tanks do have an aluminum reservoir inside (called a bladder), but it's reinforced by tight wrappings of either fiberglass or carbon fiber. The wrapping gives strength to the tank, and both fiberglass and carbon fiber tanks can be pressurized to either 300 bar (4351 psi) or 310.3 bar (4,500 psi). These tanks also require a hydro test, but they have a definite lifetime, as well. After 15 years from the date of manufacture (when they received their first hydro), carbon fiber and fiberglass tanks are condemned. That is different than aluminum or steel tanks, whose lifetime depends only on the results of the hydro.

Look at the date!
Refill stations have their personnel trained to read the date stamps on all air tanks. They know when a tank is supposed to be filled and when it isn't. An old aluminum or steel tank can be out of hydro and require another test before it can be filled again, but a fiberglass or carbon fiber tank can be condemned on the basis of the date, alone. It is possible, though highly unlikely, that a fiberglass or carbon fiber tank could have never been used one time and still be condemned because of its date of manufacture. That makes a big difference to you, because there are some places selling tanks with a lot less than their full life remaining.

Learn to read the date!
Here's a brief explanation of all the information found on a typical carbon fiber tank. A fiberglass tank would have similar information. Unlike aluminum and steel tanks that have this information stamped into the metal of the tank, fiberglass and carbon fiber tanks have stickers permanently attached under the clear coat of the tank. It will look like the sample shown below.


The label on a carbon fiber tank contains a lot of information relating to the testing of the tank. Fiberglass tanks have similar labels.

Here is the problem
Fiberglass air tanks are an older technology. Once carbon fiber came to market, it had a weight advantage that made fiberglass tanks unpopular, and they were soon replaced. A fiberglass tank weighs as much as 75 percent more than a carbon fiber tank of the same capacity. Emergency services that use the tanks want them to be as light as possible, so fiberglass fell out of favor. They are just as strong as carbon fiber tanks, but they're so heavy that the market for them collapsed.

Therefore, you may find a brand new fiberglass tank with very little life remaining. This is common, in fact, because fiberglass tanks are difficult to sell. Emergency services that were once their biggest users now buy only carbon fiber tanks, so a lot of fiberglass tanks never sold originally. They are now popping up for sale, so you need to assess the life they have remaining if you're interested in buying one.

Carbon fiber tanks should also be inspected with this in mind. They continue to be made, so you are unlikely to find one that has sat on the shelf for years. There are used tanks for sale everywhere. Find out how much life remains before you buy! At Airhog, all tanks are fresh and new, or you will be told their age before you buy.