Testing the new AirForce TalonSS precharged pneumatic air rifle: Part One

TalonSS with Spin-Loc tank.

Reviewing the AirForce TalonSS precharged pneumatic air rifle – Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

This report covers:

• Open the box
• Fill
• Overall
• Low, medium and high power
• Lothar Walther barrel
• Highly copied
• Innovations
• Summary

Just a reminder — tomorrow is Christmas and I will take the holiday, so this report will stay up 48 hours. The blog will resume on Thursday.

Today we begin looking at the current version of the AirForce TalonSS precharged pneumatic (PCP) air rifle. This one comes with a Spin-Loc tank. Let’s get started.

Open the box

I normally don’t do box-opening reviews, but since this rifle has been in production for a quarter century I decided to do one. It helps me learn with all of you.

TalonSS in the box.

The rifle comes in two parts — the barreled action and the tank that also serves as a butt. Once put together it never needs to come apart again except to clean the bore, as it is filled via a Foster fitting rather than a proprietary fixture.

There are steps required to assemble the new SS. All the tools are provided and the job goes quickly. And like I said, once assembled the rifle doesn’t need to come apart for anything other than cleaning the bore.

The rifle comes with a wrench to attach the tank and two Allen wrenches to make adjustments.

Fill

The air tank is filled to 3,000 psi. Hooray! That means the tank will probably hold air indefinitely. My almost-25-year-old TalonSS tank still holds perfectly. And on this new version there is a gauge.

The SS is filled through a Foster fitting so the tank can remain mounted.

A pressure gauge tells you where the rifle is at all times.

Of course the fill is now via the Foster fitting, and that means preservative oil can be introduced to help condition the seals. You can rest assured I will be doing that.

Overall

The new TalonSS doesn’t look or feel much different than the first ones. Even though numerous upgrades have been applied over the years there has been none of this Gen 1/Gen 2 nonsense. Every upgrade they have introduced has been backwardly compatible except one or perhaps two. The current frame on the airgun I’m testing has an M-Loc slot for attaching accessories. My older SS doesn’t have that.

The current safety is a sliding one that’s similar in function if not appearance to the older one, so I guess that’s one more difference between the old and new guns. The new safety is easier to take off but it’s harder to take off without firing the airgun. On my old SS I could hold the bolt forward, release the safety, pull the trigger and ride the bolt back safely. On the current gun the safety stays on until the bolt is almost in contact with the top hat (firing valve). It’s still possible to uncock the rifle without firing, but it takes more thought and handling care than the older model.

On the other hand, my older rifle will fire  when I take the safety off if I have pulled the trigger before taking it off. That may be why the safety was redesigned and if so I’m all for it.

Low, medium and high power

When I picked up the new TalonSS from AirForce I talked with Cory Hicks, who oversees production. I asked him several questions about my older SS and then we switched to this new model. He told me to expect a little more power because over time AirForce has learned how to better balance the valve. Also he told me I might be surprised about the lower end of the power scale. I didn’t test that on the older SS because it’s been my experience that when the velocity goes below 500 f.p.s. the spread opens up considerably.

Lothar Walther barrel

The TalonSS sports a Lothar Walther premium barrel that guarantees superb accuracy. And all the replacement barrels that AirForce sells are also from Lothar Walther.

Highly copied

They say imitation is the sincerest for of flattery. If so AirForce must feel highly flattered because several companies around the world are knocking off their designs. There are even non-firing toys that sport the AirForce black-rifle look. I haven’t tested any of these knockoffs yet, so if you own one I’d like to hear what you think of it. I’d especially like to hear from anyone who owns both a genuine AirForce product and a knockoff!

Innovations

I’ll close today’s report by reminding you of all the innovations AirForce has given us — mostly with the SS model. We got easily interchangeable barrels which means both caliber changes as well as power boosts at very little cost. I run my old SS with a 24-inch Walther barrel that almost doubles the power. 

The TalonSS was the world’s first air rifle to use a barrel shroud to quiet the report. Today almost everyone does it that way.

The SS gave us the first infinite power adjustment control, and it remains to this day the only PCP to have one. By “infinite” I mean there are no steps between power levels — low to high. It is possible to achieve similar adjustments on many of today’s PCPs by balancing the hammer spring against the air transfer port, but that’s nowhere near as smooth and straightforward a process as with the SS power wheel.

The TalonSS power adjustment wheel has been around for 25 years.

Summary

This should prove to be an interesting series. And yes, I will repair my old SS and show that to you. I may even do some direct one-on-one comparisons between the old and new rifles, once I get the old one running again.

That’s all for today. Merry Christmas!

Tom Gaylord (B.B. Pelletier)

Tom Gaylord, also known as B.B. Pelletier, provides expert insights to airgunners all over the world on behalf of Pyramyd AIR. He has earned the title The Godfather of Airguns™ for his contributions to the industry, spending many years with AirForce Airguns and starting magazines dedicated to the sport such as Airgun Illustrated.

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