Received the TF 89 today around 2:30pm.. Immediately I opened the box and there was a beautiful air rifle in plastic.. Pulled off her see through skirt and held her up to my shoulder... mmmmmm Feels just like my Hammerli Titan..
Ok now for the fit and finish..
The stock is fantastic for a Chinese air rifle. There is grain under the dark stain that has reddish highlights to it. Wood was very smooth and un blemished. The blueing is even and dark with no blemishes. The trigger unlike the black steel trigger in my Hammerli Titan is chrome in the TF 89. The checkering is perfect. I could not of asked any thing more for a $150.00 air rifle with wooden stock. The weight of the TF 89 is exactly the same as the Titan. Just right for the power you will expect to get from these magnums...
Now I took the TF-89 out to my shop and proceeded to clean the bore and my surprise wasvery clean. Just run one swab through twice and I was done. The lockup of course is the ball bearing type and locks up tight when cocked. Now when you cockthese two air rifles you have to slap the barrel a bit to break it loose. Also it has long cockingcycle and gets tight at very end of cycle. That is normal. It has a auto safety which just takes a flick of your trigger finger to unlock it before you shoot. The trigger cycle was like my Titan when I first bought it. A definite few pounds of pull then you get to the second stage. Not crisp but no creep. This will be taken care of when I do the major lube and tune, like Bob and me did on the Titan. The trigger is still great though. I just like a lighter pull and a crisp break.
So now I grabbed a tin of RWS Superdomes 14.5 gn. Proceeded to cock and load through about 50 rounds. Shooting a back stop 40 yards away. You could hear a definite hit on every shot..
I did not notice any smoke. I wanted to put a few pellets through her before I set up the chrony. Then I picked up a two by four and was shooting into it in order to see the penetration.Great penetrationat 10 yards and I could not see any signs of the pellets that had lodged into the wood. So I know they went deep..
I did notice that when I was sighting in the iron sights that it seemed I ran out of down adjustment. And the rear adjustable site on the TF 89 was not as tight as the Titan. I know Vince would have allot to say about that.. hehe.
Now it was time to set up the light on the chrony and start shooting for fps. I assumed by some of the reviews that I had read that around 800 with the Superdomes would be max. So first set of ten pellets through the chrony lit up my eyes.
My chrony when tested against CDT's chrony is about 1% lower overall. What I was seeing blew me away. So I checked my distance, the light and realigned everything again. Took another shot and wow.
I will post my first set of numbers here, but remember this is a new springer with less than 100 rounds through it. The deviation was not to my liking but the numbers are great for a .22 springer. Overall I am very impressed with the TF 89..to say the least..
I know you guys who have previously bought and everyone who is waiting on this initial review will be happy with the results. I sure am. Best part is that the TF 89 in not to heavy and very easy to shoulder and shoot. Jeff you are gonna love it..
Here are a couple pics of both my .177 Hammerli Titan and my new Contender TF 89.
Gene
RWS Superdome Round Head. 14.5gn
893.7
879.2
827.8
889.6
863.8
827.3
876.8
900.3
883.6
859.2