Walther Talon Magnum

The Walther Talon Magnum is one of the newer offerings from Umarex USA, and this gun is a powerhouse. It has several nice features, so let's take a look at it.

First, the gun I'm testing is a .22 caliber version. Using a quality pellet such as the RWS Superdome, I registered 980 fps in .22 caliber over my chronograph. From a spring-piston airgun, that is pretty fast! It is even faster than the advertised velocity, and we all know THAT doesn't happen very often!

With that level of power comes the trade-off of a heavy cocking effort. The spring in this gun is stout, and the gun is a long one. This isn't a gun for children or shooters on the small side. You really have to reach out there to grab the end of the barrel in order to cock it! The recoil is stout, but not unmanageable.

One advantage this gun offers is an adjustable length of pull. You can change the inserts in the buttpad to lengthen or reduce the length of pull, giving you some amount of control in this area.



The front sight offer a TruGlo fiber-optic post that lines up well with the rear sight, which also features the TruGlo fiber-optics. This really helps in dim light if you are shooting early or late in the day, or in an area with less-than-perfect lighting.





The Walther Talon Magnum comes with a scope and mounts, but I found that you will need a good, stout mount to really hold the scope in place. There is an included scope-stop on the scope rail, and it helps some, but I would recommend a steel set of rings with some serious bite, not some of the cheaper aluminum mounts.



The stock on the Walther Talon Magnum is a synthetic stock, great for all-weather applications and much more able to withstand some of the knocks and scratches that some airguns get put through. For wandering around the field or woods, or for storage in the trunk, this stock will hold up better and be less prone to damage.

The safety is handily located at the rear of the action, just above the wrist grip of the trigger hand, similar to the RWS Model 34. I like that you can reset the safety without having to cock the gun again, a very useful feature in the woods if your target decides to be difficult and not hold still!



The firing behavior of this gun was, in a word, robust. Shooters who enjoy a really good hard "smack" on the target from their airgun will like this one. It is powerful, and that translates into recoil until the insides are massaged by constant shooting or a tuning session with someone who knows their way around the inside of one of these guns. Factories just don't take the time to hone and fit every part to the degree that some shooters demand, and to do so increases the cost for the consumer. So if you've been shooting a very sedate, 500-600 fps plinker, hold on to this gun the first time you shoot it, for it is definitely a different animal!

I did manage to get out to do a brief pest hunt with this gun, and avian pests were the only thing in season at the time of testing. I shot several birds with it, and each one went down with authority from this powerful airgun. This will make a very good small game rifle as well, as it has the needed power for animals up to the size of a raccoon or fox.

Compasseco offers the Walther Talon Magnum for $229.95. For that price, it is worth a look!