And I think I've stumbled on near perfection. It's everything we all want from a PCP, accurate, powerful, and tons of shots. Oh, so you want details? Here you go :-)!
First, this is my original Talon SS I got last August in trade for my HW 77. Much as I like the compact size of the Talon SS, I don't seem to shoot the 12" barrels that well. I got a 24" .22 barrel, and although I love the power and accuracy, it makes the rifle much longer and heavier. And besides, who needs 40 fpe to whack starlings? Then I got a second TSS, so now it was time to get serious about setting up a lower powered gun just for birds and small game. The obvious answer? An 18" .177 barrel. It's louder than the Talon SS with 12" barrel, but for me, this is the perfect setup. I get to keep the same compact size as the SS, but the accuracy and balance is better (for me), and the power is very easy to get. In fact, the biggest problem I had was slowing it down!
When I first installed the 18" barrel, the gun was setup with a 12" .177 barrel. I had Kodiaks shooting at around 900 fps, tophat was at .055" and power wheel at 4. With the 18" barrel, Kodiaks were at 1100+! NOT what I was after. I kept turning stuff down, it's still faster than I was looking for, but for now, I'm leaving well enough alone. Current setup is, TH @ .034", PW @ 1. This has JSB Exacts averaging 922 fps. That's for a 60 shot string, if I just use the first 30 shots, the average goes to 940 fps. With a 3K psi fill, I put 60 over the chrony, then shot two 5 shot groups for POI comparison. Still had 2500 psi in the tank. After filling, shot 2 more 5 shot groups, POI was essentially the same. BTW, groups were around 1/4".
At this point, I decided it was time to stretch myself and my range a bit, so I moved back to 45 yards. Now, I almost NEVER shoot at over 30 yards, especially at targets, and my first couple of groups showed it :-(! First 5 shot group was just over an inch, the second was about 1 3/8". Both were about 1/2" HIGH, which still makes no sense to me. There was a bit of wind, and I don't tend to shoot in wind either. But I kept at it. Adjusted my scope down 8 clicks (1 MOA), the next group was 3/4". For the last group, the wind died completely, group size was just under 1/2", .483" ctc to be exact :-). I've had a few ragged one holers at 30 yards, but I consider under 1/2" at 45 a personal best. The best thing about the whole deal? It's consistent and repeatable! Like I said at the beginning, near perfection. I say near, because the shot to shot variation is still bouncing around more than I'd like, although it doesn't seem to be affecting accuracy any. As long as I do my part, this thing hits what I point it at. And what more can we ask? Sorry I rambled on so long, but I needed to crow a bit. Later.
Dave
