The AirForce line of airguns seems to enjoy a bit of a cult following, but also are some of the most hated PCP's out there. Bring up the word 'Talon' or 'Condor' on the Yellow and you'll get a plethora of both good and bad posts regarding them. The following is written with the understanding that you know the difference between the Condor, Talon, and TalonSS and are perhaps on the fence as to if you'd like to purchase one.
I've owned 3 AirForce airguns and now have two. I'll speak a little bit about my observations with regards to consistency, power, accuracy, and ergonomics.
Accuracy
Both of my Talons and my Condor are capable of incredible accuracy. The Talons would do dime sized groups out to 40 yards, and the Condor has shot groups at dime size out to 50 yards. Average group size at 40 yards with the Talon is around nickel sized for 5 shots and quarter size for the Condor at 50. Accuracy depends on several factors with the AirForce guns. To be accurate, the gun must be consistent, and this is a bit of a problem for many AirForce airguns out of the box. Out of my two Talons, one was near perfect out of the box, the other needed some work. My Condor would not accept 3000psi fills, but did fine on a 2600psi fill. Again, after some internal polishing, my Condor now spits out Eun Jins at 1050fps for the first shot and continues to produce very good numbers even after 20 shots.
Power
The AirForce line of airguns are very powerful guns. With all the configurations with regards to barrel size, bottles, hammer weights, etc, you can have a 12fpe kitten or a 300fpe beast using the Talon or Condor as a base. Stock, expect to see 22-26fpe in a TalonSS, 28-32fpe out of a Talon, and around 60fpe out of a Condor.
Consistency
This can be a sore spot for AirForce guns. Due to an inefficient inline valve, the consistency can be there, but often, from the factory, it is not. Many AirForce airguns do not like high fills and many find that their Talon prefers fills of around 2800psi and Condors seem to like 2400psi or even less. Shot count is fairly low despite the 490cc tank. Expect around 35 shots with a decent deviation before POI drops. Of course, there are exceptions, and Jim's...now Tim's... SS is the exception, giving lots and lots of shots in .177.
Ergonomics
The AirForce line all use the bottle as the stock of the rifle. In stock form, I find the ergonomics to be unacceptable. There are things you can do, however, to greatly improve ergonomics. First thing is to come up with a different buttstock. The small buttpad supplied is inadequate. I've seen people make stocks of wood, aluminum, steel, and so forth. I've seen them use Gladiator bottle covers. I chose to use a Morgan buttpad attached to the rear of the tank, or in the case of my Talon, a regular buttpad bolted to the stock pad. The key is to use the top hole on the pad to attach to the bottle rather than the middle hole. This allows for much better ergonomics, in my opinion. High mounts are a must, unless you use an AirForce tri-rail adapter or other such riser.
Mods
There are literally hundreds of modifications, both performance and appearance for the Airforce line of guns. Good thing is that there are also many mods available that DO NOT void the factory warranty. For example, one could buy a Talon SS and put a Condor hammer weight and Condor bottle on it and have a Condor SS. One could also use a 24 inch barrel on the Talon. The possibilities are endless.
.....So, do I like the AirForce line of guns....? Sure I do. They have a non traditional look to them that I enjoy. I enjoy tinkering with them. They certainly are not a gun for someone who wants an out of the box, no fuss PCP. They have their idiosyncrasies just like many other guns. They are a tinkerers dream gun and if the para military look intrigues you, and you are willing to work a bit to get maximum efficiency, the AirForce line will not let you down.
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