Tech Force 58 Contender

Compasseco's Tech Force Line of airguns seeks to provide economical options for the budget-minded shooter while delivering quality performance. The airgun we are looking at today is the Contender Model 58 in .177 caliber, a new side-lever that has just come on the scene here at Compasseco.



Many of you reading this blog will remember the TF-88, a nice little side-lever that won the hearts of many a plinking enthusiast. If that gun impressed you, I believe that the Model 58 Contender will continue that tradition by delivering one of the nicest little budget plinking combinations I've had the pleasure of shooting.

Once you look at the pics, you'll have a TF-21 or RWS-48 in mind. It is indeed a side-lever, but scaled down in size. Only 41.5" in length, it is short and handy to carry around with you. I can readily see myself stalking around the barn and culling sparrows and starlings with it already. And bird-feeder patrol at limited ranges on raiding squirrels should also suit this little airgun just fine.



The stock on the TF-58 is among the best yet to date from the Chinese manufacturer in Shanghai. A uniform reddish-stain gives an excellent finish, and the pressed checkering on the forearm and grip of the gun are set off nicely by this finish.



The safety is located directly in front of the trigger, and both are made of metal. The trigger guard is plastic, but nice and thick and should stand up well against wear and tear.

The sights feature fiber optic style dots, yellowish-green on the rear sight, and a red bead on the front sight, which is hooded to protect the front post. The front sight is mounted on a nice looking muzzlebrake that accents the business end of the gun quite nicely.







Shooting the TF-58 Contender is as close to shooting an R-7 that I have come in a Chinese offering. The behavior of this little gun is VERY polite. Sedate in velocity and soft in recoil, you can literally shoot this little gem all day long and not wear yourself out.

To shoot, just cock the side-lever all the way back until it latches in place. Carefully load the pellet through the loading port, keeping in mind that safety calls for you to control the cocking lever in the event of a mechanical failure. Once loaded, you will need to depress the orange button located under the forearm of the stock, and keep it depressed until you fully close the action.



During the shooting evaluation, I tested Crosman Premier, Chinese domes, Gamo Hunter, and Gamo Match. The Crosman Premier pellets traveled downrange at 560 fps, while the Chinese domes clocked in at 621 fps. With lighter pellets, this gun should shoot in the 700 fps range. However, in all things airgun, it is accuracy that counts rather than velocity, and this gun is amazingly fun to shoot!

If I had a complaint about this gun, it would be that the rear sight is mounted far enough back that it overhangs the breech opening slightly. Depending on what scope you mount on this gun, you will find it a bit cramped to load unless you remove the rear sight. Also, the scope rail on this gun only has about 3.5"-4" of useful gripping area, so one-piece mounts will be hard to accomodate, forcing you to use a two-piece mount. There is an included scope-stop, so this shouldn't be much of a problem, especially with the low recoil this gun delivers.



I tested this gun on a very windy day, with a crosswind of nearly 15 mph. I kept the range down to about 18-20 yards, and found the Chinese domes to be the best-performing pellets this session. Here's a pic of a 3-shot group with my fingernail in the pic for reference.



I'm going to keep this little test gun for myself. I need a little gun that behaves nice, shoots politely, makes very little noise, and is accurate enough to take an English sparrow off the bird feeder. And the Tech Force Model 58 Contender will do all those things, and at a price that I can afford with the present economy! At the time of this blog entry, the Model 58 is just getting listed, and should be up for sale within a few days.