Tech Force TF58 Contender sidelever air rifle

This is a pretty rifle, the wood looks very nice. I really like the side lever. Feels good, everything is solid.

Not much really, just would be nice if it were a better quality rifle instead of a wall ornament.

The accuracy of this rifle is abysmal. 2in groupings with the odd few veering even farther at about 35ft. Tried several wadcutters from Beeman, Gamo, Crosman, and some hollow points from Beeman. All gave equally worthless results when put through this barrel.
I was a qualified expert in high school and frequently won competitions, had hoped to get back into some recreational shooting. Bought my father and myself a pair of rifles. For him, a Daisy 901. I'm a sucker for a pretty finish and a hefty rifle though so I took a chance with this TF58. Lesson learned. The 901's not as nice as the Daisy I shot in high school (of course it's a fraction of the cost) but that rifle still gets tight groups. The only way this TF58 is going to see a single hole group is if I shove the barrel through the target.

Mainly a firearm/bowhunter I nevertheless always have an airgun around the house-an older Benjy .177 pump with a Williams peep, mainly for thinning Grackles and Starlings that terrorize nesting birds in the Spring. I'm no expert with air guns so after some research I decided to try a spring gun on the budget side and was pleasantly surprised by the quality for the $ of the TF58. Nice solid mahoghany stained stock( checkered no less!) the rubber butt pad is a nice touch, not as a recoil pad but to reduce slippage on hard surfaces,etc. it also gives the gun a high power rifle look. Deep, even, semi-matte blue on the metal. Definitely looks more expensive than it is. Controls within easy access. Safety well placed on the inside front of the trigger guard (ala. M1 Garand) and cocking lever release button also well placed at front, bottom of fore stock. Easy cocking, light report and seemingly over built for stout, it has to be one of the best buys in airguns available. Incidently, Pyramyd Air's service is second to none in every respect!

For the money,or even not for the money, I have nothing to complain about. The trigger, while not a true two stage squeeze tries to act like one and I found the military technique of a steady, even squeeze while the sights remain on target to a surprise break and deliberate follow through works best for me.

I shot a few rounds with the fiber optics and found they provide a good sight picture. I didn't try to adjust these because I immediately mounted a Burris extended eye relief 1-4X20 compact variable I had laying around in Leupold vertical split rings.(scope cost 3X the rifle)

After about 30 rounds to find it's favorite hold and get used to the trigger( and it was naturally a little smokey at first because of packing lube) I began to shoot 3-shot groups into one ragged hole at 15 yards with the scope set on 2.5X from a lightly braced doorway hold or from a sitting position using padded shooting sticks.


Pellet used was the JSB Exact Match 8.4 gr. which I chronyed at an ave. of 647 FPS, excellent for my backyard Safari purposes and nearly identical to the Benjy pumps speed with AA Field Heavy 10.4 gr. ( 7 pumps-640 fps) with which I took a big Grackle at a hair over 30 yards in the Spring. The rifle might do better with a differant load but I seriously doubt if I can. Great value, certainly a lot of gun for the Buck.

sidelever,Well made,accurate after 100 round break in,very nice balance,trigger is smooth,gets abot 680 fps after settling in 5 shot chrony test,this is after a breakin which were all over the place at first. then 683,680,685,680,687,average 5 fps difference

at this price nothing

well I tried cphp 7.9 beeman hp 7.2 crosman ultramag 10.5 rws hobboes 7.0 and the cheapest pellets were the most consistant being the beeman hp which were the above chrony results making this a very costwise gun to buy and shoot . Less than a penny a shot.always tighten the stock screws and clean the barrel with a new gun IMHO

I just got this gun last week and I absolutely am in love with it!! It's all wood and metal, except for the button on the bottom of the gun. The fiber optics are great, though out of the box they weren't nearly sighted in and the front sight had to be turned because it was at an angle. I really like the little amount of cocking effort it takes, too. This gun definitely has some weight to it, it makes it feel like a real gun.

The manual it comes with has some spelling and grammar errors.

Very nice wood, with checkering. After 10 shots, it was sighted in and shooting patterns better than I thought my eyes could do with open sights.

Make the sights a little more rugged, The shroud on my front sight had come off in shipping, and the bracket for the fiber optic sight was broke. One quick phone call, and I was Fed Ex'd a new one in a couple of days. Can't complain about that!

This gun has a nice feel. Not too heavy. The sidelever is my first..
It's a little harder to load the pellet, than a break barrel gun. I paid $79 for this, on a 4th of July special. I think anyone would be hard pressed to beat it for money.

Side lever is great. A short pull for great power. It was able to puncture a freon tank (empty of course) with a lead pellet. I like the sites, three dot green red green.

I would have liked the manual rewritten by English speakers. It warns, "No use bolts or nails or gun will be out of work."

The gun is very quiet, but much heavier than you would expect.

This is my third chinese air rifle and these rifles are much more accurate than their reputation. The Tec Force 58 Contender sidelever has a beautifull stock, the metal work and blueing is done much better than the price would suggest. For the first 50 pellets at 10 yards a quarter would have covered the groups of 5. Thereafter many times I put 3 sometimes 5 Pellets in the same hole. With each shot the hole gets a little bit bigger but not more than twice the size of a pellet. I also own several german made Weihrauch rifles and a Walther Match. The TF 58 is not far behind these worldclass rifles but for a fraction of the price. Pyramyd Air delivered an exellent product within a few days after ordering. So I would buy from them anytime again. Happy shooting to all. A.K.V.

Air rifles should come with Weaver or Picatinny Rails.Or the rifles should have some threaded holes to screw a Weaver/Picatinny Rail on. They provide a much sturdier foundation for a haevy scope. But thats my personal opinion.

I tested 6 different kind of pellets. RWS Hobby gave me the best results with the TF 58. The true glow sight works best in low light conditions. But I also used a Red Dot and a Scope for my testing. All with good results. Make sure you use solid mounts.

One of the better Chinese AG's. .177 clocks in at 740 FPS. Easy to maintain and shoot. Once I get 200 pellets through it, I will put on a short scope. Right now the iron sights are accurate at 20 yds. Nice blueing and stock finish. Rare to find a Chinese stock so pretty with checkering on the grip and forearm.

Nothing. Nice rifle for the price.

Suggest shoot 200 pellets before mounting scope to blow out factory lube.
Synthetic seals which is a plus. FPS is very persistent. Side lever will prevent barrel droop over time.

Nice fit and finish throughout. Good looking wood and stain, though the pistol grip is way too big (typical Chinese stock making?). Ease of cocking...after it gets worked the first 50+ shots. Relatively quiet as it speeds pellets right at the sound barrier. Good gun for the $ spent.

The front site was loose. The rear site was a pain to move horizontally...it was like the gears in the adjustment slipped 2 out of 3 times. The wheels to adjust the sights are too big and too easily turned if you use this gun in the field. Smaller pistol grip...hard to grip properly for most women and kids. Kinda heavy, but my 10-year old actually uses the weight to keep it steady fairly well. Most annoying of all: this gun is very picky about the weight and quality of pellets. The old standard of Crosman Premiers could not hold a 4" three-shot group at 25 feet, so I rolled out some Meisterklugen 7.1 gram pistol pellets and it shoots down to 3/4" group. I tried some old Gamo or Kodiak pellets, back to spraying. Load some expensive H&N match pellets and there you go with super-tight 3 or 5 shot groups at most any distance. Trying different weights it seems to throw heavier pellets significantly higher, but groups nicely if they are high quality. The instructions have horrible translation errors, but actually makes for some good laughs.

Just ignore the first 50 pellets or so through the gun - sprayed them most everywhere initially. (I think the excessive "packing" oil or grease in the loading chamber got in the barrel or air chamber and it took a little bit to blow that out.) I recommend a scope for this gun if it will be used out in the real world...if only used for target shooting then it can go without scope.

Perfect size and well balance. Good safety features.

Need more power. .22 caliber would be nice.

A great gun to own. Cost a little more than the B3-1, but it rifle is still below $100. I would say the quality of the rifle is about the same as the Beeman china made rifles, which is very good and great value.