any owners of AF Condors

[newbie]

I have so many question and did a lot of searching but still have questions. I think this is going to be my next purchase but I have question about filling them. I have 88 cf scba tank filled with 4500 psi. Can you post pics of the set up you have to fill your rifle? How do you know when it is full? Do you have a regulator? I just want everything I need to shoot before I buy the rifle. I dont want to purchase it then have to wait to use it because I didnt buy the correct fitting.

[daved]

Didn't have a Condor, but I did have a couple of Talons, same filling system.  As I've said, I use a big nitrogen cylinder instead of a scuba or SCBA tank, here's my first iteration:



It's important to note that I used an old style Air Force scuba clamp, not sure the new ones will work the same way.  The gauge shows pressure in your gun, not in the tank.  The black piece and gauge are the AF clamp, I removed the scuba valve adapter and substituted the nut and nipple for my nitrogen tank.  No regulator, I just throttled it with the tank valve and watched the gauge.  When you first crack the tank valve, the needle will come up quickly to about the pressure left in the gun, then climb more slowly.  When it hits your fill pressure, shut the valve and open the bleeder.  The brass piece and hose coming out the top were a Rube Goldberg method for filling other guns :-).

Okay, this is iteration two:



That first N2 tank had a very sensitive valve, it was easy to control how fast I filled.  No such luck with the second one, so I had to add the black needle valve.  Note that I also added a second valve ahead of the needle valve.  This one tells me the pressure I have left in my N2 tank.

And finally, my current setup:



On this one, I have a female Foster quick connect on the end of the hose, and put male Foster fittings on my fill adapters.  Something like this can be easily adapted to an SCBA tank, just replace the nut and nipple.  You'll need a setup like this:

http://www.hamcontact.com/airgun/HoseAssembly/IMG_0213_small.JPG

The brass adapter is available here: http://www.hamcontact.com/airgun/HoseAssembly/  And the fill adapter is here: http://www.pyramydair.com/s/a/AirForce_1_4_male_BSPP_Adapter_For_AirForce_Guns/105  although you can also order it with your rifle.  Joe also sells complete setups minus the fill adapter, and is a good guy to deal with.  Hope that helps.

Dave

[melloroadman]

A.F. makes a couple set ups as well .
http://www.pyramydair.com/s/a/AirForce_Scuba_Refill_Clamp_with_Gauge/2774
This is what I use with a foster quick conect  on it .
http://www.pyramydair.com/s/a/AirForce_1_4_male_BSPP_Adapter_For_AirForce_Guns/105
Good luck. Marvin

[newbie]

Okay on your last set up why the two gauges? My scba tanks have a gauge on them is that enough or do you need another one? So what I need to do is get something that connects to the tank then some type of solid line to connect to a needle valve (to fill slowly) then another hose that goes to the tank for the rifle. Do the rifles come with an adapter to connect to a hose? or do I need to buy one? NOW my big question I keep coming back to: How do you know your tank on your rifle is full? Is there a gauge on the tank for the rifle? I cant see one in any pics of the condor?

[newbie]

I was wondering if anyone on here with a pcp rifle lives in PA near Pittsburgh? I would like to check out your set up. Any help would be much appreciated.

[daved]

Okay, lets see if we can't get your questions answered.

1. Like I said in my previous post, I have two gauges so I know how much pressure is left in my tank.  With the built-in gauge on an SCBA tank, you don't need the extra gauge.

2. You don't need the needle valve because the SCBA valves can be "throttled" just fine.

3. Some rifles come with a fill adapter, some don't, ask before you buy.  None that I know of come with the Foster adapter, more in just a minute.

4.  No, the Air Force rifles do not have gauges on them.  With a single gauge system, the gauge shows pressure ONLY when the gun/gun tank is connected and the filling tank valve is opened.  When you crack the filler tank valve open, the gauge needle will rise quickly to the remaining pressure left in your gun, then continue rising slowly.  In the case of the AF rifles, max fill pressure is 3000 psi, but most do better at a lower fill pressure.  It's up to you to monitor the fill rate and level and to close the valve when you reach your selected fill pressure level.  Then you open the bleeder valve to dump residual pressure left in the hose or whatever.

Go back to Joe's web site and look around, then give him a call.  Tell him what you're getting, he'll get you set up with something like this:

http://www.hamcontact.com/airgun/HoseAssembly/hoseassembly.jpg

This is all stainless, include the hand tight SCBA fitting, bleeder, gauge, micro-bore hose, and female Foster quick connect on the end.  Two more pieces, the brass adapter for the Air Force fill adapter (also from Joe), and the Air Force fill adapter (order it with your rifle), and you'll be set.

Two more quick items.  If you really feel like you have to have a regulator, Joe can set you up there, too.  Talk to him, like I said, he's a good guy, and will make sure you're set up the way you want and need.  Second, if you're going to own an Air Force rifle, I strongly advise you to get a chronograph if you don't own one already.  Yes, you can shoot one "out of the box", but for optimum performance, you need to make adjustments, and to do that effectively, you need a chronograph.

Finally, if you haven't found it yet, here's the link to the Talon/Condor forum: http://talonairgun.com/forum/  Tons of info on the Air Force rifles, and some pretty good people to help answer questions.  You might want to start by reading through the Quick Reference section, it'll probably answer a bunch of questions you don't even know you have :-).  Later.

Dave

[newbie]

Thank you Daved for your help and sorry for being a pain in the well you know.

[neric]

DaveD,  Thanks for your frozen article about what to do now - simply fantastic.   And thanks for the pictures on this thread.  Pictures are worth a thousand words.  They cleared up some details for me.  For example, needing a regulator.  I went looking today for nitrogen tanks and they both told me: 'of course you'll need a regulator'  a
But here I saw that one doesn't need a regulator which puts me back in the game.  I am going to contact HamContact also.   I'll present a pic when I get myself set up.

So, Gene, Dave,,,and all the rest of the moderators:   Thanks for all the simply fantastic information.   This is a great place to be.