Each year those businesses that are involved in the shooting sports get together to take a look at what is available for our valued customers in the area of new guns, accessories, and ammunition. For airgunners, there is some very good news indeed this year.

Crosman has brought out a new PCP Marauder Pistol with a repeating action that is going to absolutely tickle many hunters to death. Add a small stock to it, and you have a very nice little short hunting rig!

Another pistol that is new is Crosman’s first PCP match pistol, the Silhouetter PCP Pistol in .177 caliber. This gun has grown out of the Challenger PCP Match rifle that Crosman has recently released, and competitors looking for a budget entry pistol will be watching this new gun closely to see if it will meet their needs.

Crosman has also enlarged their line of Nitro Piston-powered rifles with some new items that have been named the Trail Series. One significant addition is the .25 caliber option on the Trail NP XL 725 model. Imagine nearly 25% more power than the .177 offers! That will make a raccoon stand up and take notice!

For the beginning shooter, Crosman has brought out the Marlin Cowboy BB gun, a competitor to Daisy’s Red Ryder.

In optics, Leapers is bringing out some new products for the airgun shooter, so be sure to take a look at some of their new offerings as well. Can you imagine a 35 mm tube on a scope? Talk about some serious light-gathering!

The Gamo Corporation is putting some serious time into their new laser technology labeled the ND5 coherent laser light. According to one industry insider I know, this particular offering from Gamo is going to seriously affect the way we use lasers in low-light conditions. He has been using a demo for a few months now and is seriously impressed!

If you make the rounds on the forums, there is some good talk about some new offerings from some of the Spanish arms makers, as well as the Koreans. Some of the guns are featuring bottle reservoirs similar to the upscale offerings from Daystate and Theoben, and I am looking forward to getting a chance to shoot some of them myself in the near future.

The airgunning world is getting more and more exposure these days, and many folks are turning to airguns as a serious alternative for shooting enjoyment and hunting. Stay tuned for some feedback on the airgun forums from those individuals lucky enough to shoot them first!

I had a great opportunity to head down to Texas between Christmas and New Year’s for a two day hog hunt with some family and friends. The majority of the participants were using bigbore airguns in .45 and .50 caliber.

Picking up my brother in Louisiana, he and I, along with my oldest son, headed over to the Dallas/Ft. Worth area to meet up with Eric Henderson. Eric had located a great place to hunt pigs, and had the hunt all set up for us in advance. All we needed to do was show up and go after them!

Joining us on the hunt was Dan Koster of Kosterknives. Dan makes hand-made custom blades, and they are very nice knives indeed. Take a look at his gallery sometime by doing a google search for his website. Dan had purchased a bigbore airgun in .45 caliber, and was anxious to try hunting hogs with it, something that was new to him. Dan has hunted hogs before, taking them with nothing but a knife on some occasions, but airgun hunting for wild hogs was a new experience.

The weather was miserable, wet, and had turned the dirt/clay roads of that portion of Texas into extremely slick paths through the country. We got stuck more than once, but perserverance and patience allowed us to make the best of it. Within 10 minutes of arriving, we had our first hog down. My son was able to bag a small boar with his rifle, and he made a great shot, killing the hog with but one round.

The airgun kills included a very nice hog by Dan Koster, and another by Eric Henderson. I missed my opportunity, but sure enjoyed the fun of watching the others bring home the bacon. Here is a pic for you of the hog that Dan Koster killed with his .45 airgun this trip.

I don’t know if you’ve ever had the chance to do any bigbore airgun hunting, but it is a thrilling addition to the hunting styles that so many hunters enjoy. Air gun hunting gives you the feel of hunting with a real gun, but also calls upon you to exercise more of your stalking skills, since you need to get closer than the typical firearm hunter for the shot. It is a good combination of bow hunting and traditional gun hunting, and I encourage you to give it a try whenever you get the chance.

For those of you who wonder what can be taken with a bigbore airgun, here is a brief list of some of the animals that airgun hunters, myself included, have been able to take with modern bigbore airguns:

hogs, deer, kudu, impala, elk, coyote, springbok, warthog, duiker, bushbuck, bobcat, fox, wild sheep of many varieties, groundhog, black bear, axis deer, wild goats, and American bison.

Alright now…..it’s the last weekend before Christmas, and you are down to the wire on what to get that little boy or girl, good friend, or fellow shooting enthusiast.

Check out this link:

Christmas Sale Page

There you will find some last minute gift ideas at some really great prices. The Tech Force hat can only be sourced from Compasseco, and the deal they are offering on the IZH-MP513 is a good one indeed, saving you nearly $40!

And who can resist getting the gun that Ralphie pines for each Christmas season as we watch “A Christmas Story”? The Daisy Red Ryder BB Gun is an American icon, right up there with baseball, hotdogs, and apple pie! Check out the rifle by itself, or the rifle and shooting kit that is avialable to purchase on the Christmas Sale page.

For indoor fun plinking, or short range outside plinking, the Tech Force S2-1x pistol is easy to use, easy to shoot, and won’t break your bank in the process.

And for the serious shooter who wants to take out pests, reach way out there for targets, and shoot a seriously powerful airgun, take in the Contender 89 and give it a good home. This gun has been reviewed in this very blog, and it shoots with authority. An excellent choice for the small game hunter!

Don’t forget your supply of ammunition, safety equipment, and pellet traps that serve to make your shooting safe and fun. Compasseco has a good selection of all equipment most airgunners desire.

There is still time to get that Christmas gift in the mail, so hurry and place your order today so that Christmas cheer will be waiting under the tree next week!

For several years now folks have been taking the venerable TF-78 from Compasseco and converting it into a PCP through a variety of means. I have personally owned 4 converted TF-78’s, air guns that were converted through replacing the lower tube of the gun with pressure-rated tubing that can handle the working pressures of 3000 psi or more. Other means of converting the TF-78 to a PCP or high pressure gun include using adapters to hook up regulators and PCP bottles used in paintball pursuits. All of these methods work fine, and the guns have performed very well under repeated use.

Now, Compasseco and Tech Force have teamed up to bring to the market what just might be the lowest-priced pre-charged pneumatic on the planet at $199 and change. For now, we’ll call it the TF-78 PCP, but I imagine it will have a new name soon.

Bringing this gun to market was accomplished not by convincing the Chinese factory to include it in the normal routine of air gun manufacturing, but rather by having the PCP tube machined here in the United States.  With a new high pressure tube, and some additional fastening screws for pinning the valve safely in place, the wonderfully accurate CO2-powered TF-78 now bellows louder and much harder while running on 3000 psi!

In the following paragraphs, I’ll share with you the results of my testing the prototypes that were given to me for evaluation. Please note that upcoming changes to the prototypes will be made, and the exact gun as you see it here will be subtly different.

.22 caliber results

I ran the two test guns I received through some paces to gauge the performance that could be had from this platform. With a fill of 3000 psi, the .22 caliber TF-78 PCP provided 24 fpe using Beeman Kodiak pellets, one of the heaviest available, down to 21 fpe over a 10 shot string. My conclusion is that I need to use slightly more than 3000 psi for a better power curve, but 3000 psi was the max pressure available to me today until I get my tanks refilled. However, this level of power for $199 and change is impressive.

With normal weight pellets such as Crosman Premiers, I received a high of 22 fpe, and a low of 19 fpe over a 10 shot string. Velocities peaked in the mid-800’s, settling down to the upper 700’s by the end of a 10-shot string.  Again, a higher fill pressure than what I had available would doubtless increase the number of shots between those two figures. The shot count may seem low at the moment, but remember that the tube diameter on the TF-78 PCP is the same as the original CO2-powered TF-78, and even with the added length, there isn’t as much air as in some higher-priced PCP’s.

.177 caliber results

In .177 caliber, the TF-78 PCP really did well with the shot count.  Peaking at 16 fpe with Beeman Kodiaks, and having a shot string of 20 shots over a range of just 30 fps difference is nice. Velocities peaked at 830 fps and ended up at 800 over that string of 20 shots, which is very consistent. The .177 had a better power curve, with the 7^th shot being the fastest, and the 20^th the slowest. Additional testing will yield better results once I get the fill pressure the gun likes figured out.

An average weight pellet, such as the Tech Force domed pellet, yielded a high velocity of 901 fps and a low of 842 over a 20-shot string. This works out to a power level of almost 15 fpe at the peak, and a low of 13 fpe at the end of the string.

As you can see from the pictures, the TF-78 PCP is based on the TF-78 Gold Series, featuring a  rubber buttpad, gold-accented trigger and bolt, and a rich reddish finish on the stock. In the pictures you see in this review, you will see scratches near the breech area on the pressure tube. These are from the repeated assembly and disassembly of the gun during the working-up phase of its creation.

In addition, and you need to take note of this, the fill port is a 1/4”, not a 1/8 “ quick release. These will be the fill port you will receive on the TF-78 PCP until the 1/8” size is sourced. Be sure you pick up the additional adapter in order to be able to fill your gun. Specify the type of end you want on the adapter, either a male or female, to correctly connect to your air source.

Now no air gun, no matter how economical, rates your attention unless it can shoot accurately. I only tested the .22 version for accuracy due to the lousy weather present during this test. Even while shivering, the TF-78 PCP stayed true to the expectations of the thousands of TF-78 owners out there…..that is to say, it is accurate! In the CO2 version, the TF-78 is one of the most accurate air guns I own, and the PCP version is right on par with its cousin. This gun will make an excellent choice for hunters who want the higher power available from the PCP power source.

Some items to note about upcoming improvements to the TF-78 PCP:

While talking with the folks at Compasseco, they noted that the test guns I was shooting were going to have the port on the barrel slightly enlarged for better air flow, which will result in increased velocity. I expect 25-50 fps more velocity with this change.

The fill ports, as mentioned, will be converted to 1/8” sized in the future. This will help with the aesthetics, and prevent the scratching of the barrel on its underside each time the fill assembly is connected to the gun. This was a problem I noted on each test gun I received.

Conversion kits, featuring just the lower tube and valve, will be available from Compasseco if you want to convert your current TF-78.

The addition of a second barrel band near the end of the barrel and pressure tube is often desired by many owners. Barrel diameters have changed  over the years, so if you order additional barrel bands, be sure to ask for the correct size.

Compasseco and Tech Force have worked hard to bring a very affordable PCP to the market, and the familiarity of the original platform will please many shooters. With enough power to take the largest of small game, this will be a great gun for the hunter. And many a backyard plinker will enjoy the power and accuracy this rifle affords, so enjoy yourself as you send targets flying around the shooting range!

Our next installment on this new TF-78 PCP will be testing the performance results using CO2 as fuel. I have filled these guns with CO2 with no problem, and they shoot just like any other bulk-filled CO2 gun, but I want to share velocity results with you, which will have to wait for better weather in my part of the country!