Tanfoglio Gold Custom

The 100th Airgun Experience

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The 100th Airgun Experience

What have we learned?

By Dennis Adler

History has, in a way, dictated which guns are the most significant, among them the great Webley MKVI. As a manufacturer, Webley also has a lengthy history building airguns, so their c. 1937 MKVI in .177 caliber is based on the same blueprint as the original .455 caliber military revolver.
History has, in a way, dictated which guns are the most significant, among them is the great Webley MKVI. As a manufacturer Webley also has a long history building airguns and their c. 1937 MKVI in .177 caliber is based on the same blueprint as the original .455 caliber military revolver. (Webley holster by World War Supply, belt courtesy John Bianchi)

It’s hard to believe, but here we are at No. 100. A lot of airguns have been tested in the previous 99 Airgun Experience articles. When I set out to create this series of short features, rather than following a traditional blog format, I decided to write and illustrate them as I would for a magazine. This comes from 40 years in the print media world as an author, editor and publisher; it’s hard to teach an old dog new tricks. Hopefully, those of you who have followed the Airgun Experience throughout the last 99 articles and others who have recently started to read the columns on Pyramyd Air have come to appreciate the depth and detail in each review. The goal has always been to inform, illustrate, and educate as much as possible, not only with reviews of the airguns but their use for enhancing firearms knowledge and improving shooting skills. read more

Choosing a favorite .177 caliber CO2 pistol

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Choosing a favorite .177 caliber CO2 pistol Part 1

Narrowing down the list to my personal best for 2016

By Dennis Adler

Three of my top guns for 2016 include the Tanfoglio Witness 1911 for authentic c.1926 1911A1 design, the S&W M&P40 (center) for 100 percent authenticity to the cartridge-firing model, and the Sig Sauer P226 X-Five for the same reasons as the M&P40.
Three of my top guns for 2016 include the Tanfoglio Witness 1911 for authentic c.1926 1911A1 design, the S&W M&P40 (center) for 100 percent authenticity to the cartridge-firing model, and the Sig Sauer P226 X-Five for the same reason.

With 15 years of testing air pistols under my belt (that’s a lot of 12 gram CO2 cartridges!), my favorite guns keep changing from year to year with improvements in design, construction, and most of all authentic operation. Test guns come and go with regularity, some interesting, some intriguing, a few disappointing, but every so often one comes into your life that you put a hold on, and end up purchasing. This is the same for testing cartridge guns. Over the last couple of decades I’ve tested hundreds of handguns and rifles of all types from Colt single action revolvers to state-of-the-art tactical weapons, for half a dozen different publications, and once in a while a gun comes along that after testing it, you know it’s not going back. This is something you cannot do often otherwise you have to wear a T-shirt that reads “Will work for Guns”. Being a gun collector and testing guns for a living is like having a Cold Stone Creamery next door to a GNC. read more

Optics

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Optics

Dialing in your objective

By Dennis Adler

With blowback action air pistols that have cartridge-firing counterparts, most of the accessories will work on the .177 caliber models, including optics like this C-More STS red dot competition sight. While the C-More sight can cost up to $400, roughly four times as much as the Tanfoglio air pistol, it can be switched between guns and it built to handle the recoil of large caliber pistols.
With blowback action air pistols that have cartridge-firing counterparts, most accessories will work on the .177 models including optics like this C-More STS red dot competition sight. While the C-More sight can cost up to $400, roughly four times as much as the Tanfoglio air pistol, it can be switched between guns and is built to handle the recoil of large caliber pistols.

Airguns can be anything from inexpensive plinkers for punching holes in tin cans and paper targets to Olympic competition pistols. Somewhere between those two extremes are blowback action semi-auto air pistols and BB or pellet cartridge loading revolvers. These are excellent training guns, and even suitable for .177 caliber competition (with models like the Tanfoglio Gold Custom) but a far cry from the pre-charged pneumatic (PCP) competition .177 caliber (4.5mm and 5.5mm caliber) target pistols on the market, which are an entirely different level (in operation and price) than 12 gr. CO2-powered semi-autos and revolvers. The difference with guns like the Tanfoglio Custom and Gold Custom, the S&W TRR8 and Dan Wesson air pistols, for example, is that they all have cartridge-firing counterparts and the .38/.357 magnum, 9mm and .45 ACP models have been in the hands of world champions. They also have the advantage of being equipped with optics, and that very same advantage crosses over to the air pistols, in fact, as I will point out in a couple of examples, you can use the very same optics for training with air as are used in competition. read more

Tanfoglio’s .177 caliber Gold Custom Semi-Auto. Part 2.

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Competitive Shooting Practice

Tanfoglio’s Spitting Image .177 caliber Gold Custom Semi-Auto

Part 1

Part 2

Airing out the Tanfoglio

 by Dennis Adler

The Tanfoglio Gold Custom was fitted with a Truglo Red Dot Open Series sight. As noted in Part 1 the Tanfoglio comes complete with the mounting rail for optics. The airgun is also available as a complete set including optics.
The Tanfoglio Gold Custom was fitted with a Truglo Red Dot Open Series sight. As noted in Part 1 the Tanfoglio comes complete with the mounting rail for optics. The airgun is also available as a complete set including optics.

To evaluate the Tanfoglio Gold Gustom I selected Hornady Black Diamond black anodized steel BBs, which are high quality BBs with proven accuracy. For a target I used an IPSC cardboard competition target (with A, B, C, D target zones) which was set out at 21 feet, the nominal distance for blowback action air pistols (although the Tanfoglio also shoots very well at 10 meters). read more

Tanfoglio’s .177 caliber Gold Custom Semi-Auto. Part 1.

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Competitive shooting practice with airguns

Tanfoglio’s spitting image .177 caliber Gold Custom Semi-Auto

Part 1

Part 2

Putting your gun and gear together

By Dennis Adler 

Looking at the .177 caliber air pistol version and the 9mm Tanfoglio it is based upon, they are nearly identical. The air pistol shares the same design features and is a full blowback action semi-auto chambered for .177 caliber steel BBs.
Looking at the .177 caliber air pistol version and the 9mm Tanfoglio it is based upon (right), the two are nearly identical. The air pistol shares the same design features and is a full blowback action semi-auto chambered for .177 caliber steel BBs.

Pistol shooting, solely for the sport of shooting, although not uniquely American in origin has  roots firmly entrenched on U.S. soil. However, outside of the historic Camp Perry shooting competitions that have been held since 1907, there were not many formalized national shooting organizations in this country until 1976, the year when the IPSC (International Practical Shooting Confederation) was formed. In 1984, the USPSA (United States Practical Shooting Association) was organized as the U.S. Region of IPSC. This was followed by the IDPA (International Defensive Pistol Association), with competition specifically for production guns, being established in 1996. However, there was another shooting competition rapidly growing in popularity across the U.S. that had begun five years before the USPSA was created. It was founded by renowned holster maker John Bianchi. read more