AirForce Talon SS by Tom Gaylord

THE TALON SS IS THE QUIET RIFLE
The Talon SS is quieter than most precharged (PCP) air rifles available today. But it is not completely silent. Many airgunners are surprised at the loud report of a PCP, although those who have shot multi-pump pneumatics are prepared for it. Someone coming from firearms with no airgun experience will find PCPs to be relatively quiet.

The Talon SS has a 12-inch Lothar Walther SS barrel housed inside a tubular aluminum frame. A special muzzle cap strips away the turbulent air, making the gun's report quieter than it would be without that cap. The gun is not silenced, but the report is muffled. To see how loud it actually is, shoot the gun with the muzzle cap off.

On power setting six or below, it sounds about like a hand clap. On power settings above number six, it becomes progressively louder.
The Talon SS is the most popular rifle AirForce makes, by a considerable margin. And .22 caliber outsells .177 caliber by an equal margin. Though the SS has a little less power than an 18-inch barreled Talon, it is still more powerful than 99 percent of all spring rifles.

FEATURES
Many of the Talon SS features are identical to those of the Talon, so we'll simply mention them here. If you want to learn more, please read the Talon article.

The SS has the same power adjustment feature, located in the same place on the frame of the gun. The shorter barrel means that the gun will not shoot a given pellet quite as fast as the longer-barreled Talon.

You should get 35 to 40 shots on high power with the SS, just like the Talon. On low power, there can be hundreds of shots before you need to refill the tank.
The air tank is the same 490cc air tank we use on all our air rifles and it fills in the same way. It detaches from the rifle very quickly, allowing you to transport your rifle in a much smaller carrying case than a standard air rifle would require.

FILLING THE AIR TANK
All AirForce rifles fill the same way. The air tank that serves as the butt unscrews from the rifle and attaches to either a scuba tank through the AirForce refill clamp with gauge or directly to the AirForce hand pump.

The scuba tank is faster, but it will need to be refilled after 15-18 rifle tank fills. Most dive shops charge $2.50 to $4.00 for this service.

The hand pump takes more time and effort, but it frees you from the dive shop. It's perfect for those who want to get far away from civilization, plus it weighs only 5.5 lbs., compared to the scuba tank's 40.

UNDERSTANDING ADJUSTABLE POWER
At the highest power setting, the Talon SS is very consistent, but by adjusting the power wheel to a slightly lower number, the high velocity remains the same and you use less air. The short barrel of the SS simply exhausts excess air at the maximum power setting. If you don't have a chronograph to check your rifle's velocity, keep the power wheel set between a minimum of number 4 and a maximum of number 11.

LONGER BARRELS CHANGE THE SS
By now you know that any AirForce rifle can be fitted with any barrel length and caliber (read about this in the Talon article on this website). In the SS, a change from the standard 12-inch barrel to an optional 24-inch barrel makes a dramatic change in performance!

Where a standard SS develops 23 to 25 ft. lbs. in .22 caliber, it jumps to over 40 ft. lbs. when the optional 24-inch barrel is installed. That's a Kodiak 21-grain pellet traveling 900 to 930 f.p.s. So by simply changing the barrel, which takes about five minutes, you get a rifle with much greater power. Of course, because the muzzle is no longer enclosed by the frame, the longer barrel is much louder, too.

You can also add the 18-inch barrel to the SS. That increases velocity to the same as the regular Talon rifle.

ACCURACY
The SS is just as accurate as either the Talon or the Condor. While that sounds strange because of the shorter SS barrel, it is true. All our barrels are choked at the factory. This choke or slight restriction in the bore at the muzzle, sizes the pellet perfectly just as it leaves the muzzle. A choked bore seems to be essential to accuracy on a PCP rifle, and the 12-inch barrel is every bit as accurate as either the 18-inch or 24-inchs barrels. Only the power potential changes with barrel length.

The Talon SS is the most popular AirForce rifle for many good reasons, but a quieter discharge is the principal one. It is lightweight and takes down for convenient transport. It has more power than all but a very few spring rifles and is a wonderful hunting and general-purpose air rifle. We feel it is the best entry into the world of precharged airguns.

SIGHTING-IN ALL AIR RIFLES
Air rifles are easy to sight-in. I have to mount scopes on hundreds of airguns every year. There's no time to go out to a formal rifle range every time I have to do it, so I came up with this convenient method.

First, mount the scope on the rifle so it has the correct eye relief for you. Pay attention to the crosshairs and rotate the scope tube in the mounts until the vertical reticle seems to bisect the rifle's action in the center. This is done by eye; no special tools are required. When you are satisfied, tighten the scope rings, but don't over-tighten them. A good mount will hold the scope securely without being too tight.

Now, put on safety glasses, because you are going to shoot into a bullet trap at a range of just 10 feet. You will probably be hit by pellet fragments at this distance.

The steps of this procedure are keyed to the numbered pellet holes on the target. This is an actual sight-in target I made at AirForce, and it took LESS than 10 minutes to complete.

1. Draw one or two small dots on cardboard large enough to show where your pellets are going. I draw two dots about two inches apart and stack them vertically.

The target in the photo measures about 6 inches wide by 8 inches tall. There is no precision to this step. You just want a target large enough so no shots are lost. At 10 feet, they can't go too far. Hang this target in a safe bullet trap.

If your scope has parallax adjustment, adjust it as close as it will go. If it has variable power, adjust it as low as it will go. The aim point will still be a little fuzzy at this distance.
Aim at the top dot and expect your first shot to be as much below the dot as the center of your scope is above your bore. If that's three inches, that's also how low the shot should go.
My first shot landed a little below the bottom dot and over to the left. I shot another to confirm the first shot. Notice I am not trying for a group.

2. After seeing where the first two shots went, I applied some correction to the scope's horizontal and vertical adjustment knobs. At 10 feet it takes a LOT of clicks to move the next shot just a little way!

Shot three is in line with my aim point and low enough to suit me, so I'm finished at this distance. Keep shooting until your shot lines up vertically.

3. More the target trap to 10 meters (or yards, it doesn't really matter). I shot two more shots at the top dot and found I'd adjusted the scope too far to the right. This was corrected by adjusting the horizontal knob to the left. It doesn't take as many clicks to move the shot at this distance.

4. One more shot shows I am aligned with the aim point vertically. Once the target is moved farther away, the shots will rise. I like to have my shots about an inch low at 10 meters, but this one is lower than that.

5. Move the target trap to a range of 20 to 30 yards away. I have a maximum of 23 yards inside the AirForce factory, so that's what I use. I'm still using the top dot as the aim point. My group is very close to the aim point at this distance. That is a 5-shot group, and I am satisfied with it.

When I made this target at AirForce, I was testing a barrel for accuracy. As you can see, this barrel is fine, so I'm finished. If I were sighting in this rifle to use, I would make final small scope adjustments to bring the strike of the shots over to the aim point. If the shots are on the aim point at 20 to 30 yards, the rifle is sighted-in.