Walther .25 Cal Falcon Hunter with Crosman Nitro Piston
The Walther Falcon Hunter was made to move a lot of lead. You can’t get much more lead than in the unique .25 cal airgun class. When it comes to hammering your game, the Walther Falcon Hunter .25 cal hits the mark every time. While finding the right hold took some time, once dialed in, I got less than dime sized groups at 20 yards all day long. Check out this video.
The Walther Falcon Hunter with Crosman Nitro Piston Gas ram is available from PyramydAir.com for only: $358.99
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Click on the video to start. |
Compasseco’s TF-89 aka “Hammerin’ Hank”
One of the great things about watching a legend perform is that they constantly demonstrate their magic. They’re never and on-again, off-again items. They’re legends because they’re a threat to change the game every moment they’re on the field. Hank Aaron was one of those types of players. A true legend. Well, by comparison, so is this Tech Force Contender-Series TF-89 .22 I’m trying from Compasseco.com. Just as long as you do your part, it’ll hammer a pellet downrange into the same hole time after time. Rick’s already said a few words but he tossed one over to me to see what I think. Here goes…
Just like on a date, you want to make a good first impression. The TF-89 comes across as a high-quality product in appearance. The blueing on the steel parts is dark, consistent, and attractive. The brown stain on the wood stock is evenly applied, and the checking is quite good. It does make the rifle easier to hold, though the reach from the back of the hand grip to the trigger is a stretch. I’ve got big hands and it’s a reach for me to get my finger comfortably on the trigger, which is done in a shiny chrome finish with its own semi-checkered face. The trigger guard is a thick ABS-type plastic, which does look difficult to break, and there’s a thick rubber recoil pad on the end of the Monte Carlo stock. No lying folks, this is one gorgeous piece of work!
The open sights get high marks. I like the front blade, which is made of machined metal and screw-mounted to the barrel-weight/muzzle brake. The ramp in front of the blade is grooved with fine lines to kill glare. The rear sight is an all-metal assembly too, with a thumb screw with small click stops for vertical adjustments, and a flat-blade screw, with detents for the horizontal settings. The rear blade is curved, so it won’t reflect light back into your eyes. Rick noted a problem with his rifle’s rear sight nicking the inside of the stock when cocked (the barrel travels a LONG way back). Mine just barely touches the horizontal screw on the stock, and has removed a thin sliver of the finish. It has not managed to change the accuracy any. I handed the rifle to a neighbor, who was a State of California Corrections Officer, and to qualify every ninety days on a rifle with open sights. At twenty yards, in my standard backyard range, from a standing position, he promptly drilled a hole right through the center of a Coca-Cola can. “Oh, that’s right where I was aiming.” he remarked with a bit of surprise. I could have told him that would happen.
It’s a tad on the heavy side, but not horribly so. Anyone used to a hunting rifle wouldn’t find this out of the ordinary. It has a pronounced jolt during firing though. If you don’t have it set firmly against your shoulder and don’t keep a good grip on the trigger area, your groups will open up. When we say “open up” we mean “you’ll miss outside the 5 ring on a 25 foot bullseye, at 20 yards”. With practice, and a good scope, you can sweep the 8, 9, and 10 rings completely clear. I found that this particular rifle loves domed or pointed hunting pellets It’ll pop those one after another, into the same ragged hole. Shoot the end out of a soda can? No problem. Pulp small grapefruit at 20 yards? Sure, why not? It’s a little less accurate with wadcutters at that distance, in that some of the pellets fall ¼” farther away from the others, but they’re all within a 2” circle. The heavier, aerodynamic RWS SuperDomes will probably retain more power at 30 yards and beyond, but I haven’t had the opportunity to test it at that range yet.
The cocking action is smooth and long, and really doesn’t feel as heavy as advertised. I’d thought with the shorter barrel length (17.9”) that it might be difficult to manage, but it’s not. It does provide a good workout though! The trigger effort falls in the medium range; not too stiff, not too light. An adept “hunting trigger” would be a great description. I must note though, if you start moving the trigger into the “second stage” then stop, even though the safety can be reset manually, the sear will not reset on the trigger. It will dangle loosely, with no spring pressure on it at all! The rifle should be re-cocked if you’re going to carry it around after passing on a shot that way. You can feel the second stage start to move before it “snaps” with a crisp break, so the actual release can be appropriately judged. I’ve been trying this rifle against a BAM B26, with the 4-lever “Rekord” trigger clone, and the best I can say is that it’s “different”. I wouldn’t rate either one over the other at this point. The B26 trigger is smooth and light, but doesn’t have a crisp breaking point which means I’m often surprised when it goes off. The TF-89 doesn’t surprise me. I KNOW when I’m about to set it off, and that makes me more accurate. I would like a little less crispness, but as the sear wears some, that issue will improve.
While it’s not immune to typical springer holding issues, I found that, with a Centerpoint 3x9x32mm variable objective scope mounted on an Accushot 4-screw single-piece mount, it has a nice balancing point right around the end of the checkering on the arm closest to the trigger. I can wrap my thumb up on my left hand, find the checkering, and know I’m in the “happy spot”. If I let the rifle lay on my open hand, the torque from the spring will cause it to rotate to the left, affecting accuracy by about .5” up and to the left. If I keep my fingers loosely wrapped around the arm of the stock, the problem goes away, and the pellets hammer one after another into a big, raggedy-edged hole in whatever medium I’ve selected as a target. The destruction that near-900 fps wreaks upon particle board and pine must be seen to be believed. If I were ordering this rifle to own though, I’d certainly get a scope with 12x or higher magnification. First, I love to see what I’ve just nailed, and second, I’m just about as blind as a bat sometimes. 9x just isn’t enough magnification for me, even at 20 yards. You’ll want to shoot this rifle at distances over 30 yards, just to see what it can do.
As far as the “magic bullet” pellet, Rick says to try the Crosman Premier Hollow-points, but I haven’t found any at my local stores. I don’t quite live at the end of the earth, but I can see it from my house! I’ve tried the Gamo Match Wadcutters, the RWS SuperDomes, RWS Hobby wadcutters, and Crosman Premium Pointed pellets. Based on my shooting, I feel this particular rifle really likes the Crosman Premium Pointed hunting pellets. After looking at these dime-sized 5-shot groups, done at 20 yards with just a touch of wind, I don’t think I’d be able to better them no matter what pellet I use! The SuperDomes almost group as nicely as the Premium Pointed pellets but offer a little more mass. This means they strike low if the scope’s adjusted for the Premium Pointeds. Either of these would be an excellent choice for hunting. We’re just splitting hairs at this point (pardon the pun)! Also, with just over 1000 pellets through it, chances are good that it’ll still break in a little more in the next month or so. The bigger question is, will my technique improve? Ever? I could hunt for a day with this rifle and bag more than enough game to feed my family for a week, if only I could get them to eat wild jackrabbit!
Rick feels that the .22 version of the TF-89 is the perfect caliber for this power plant. While the .177 is definitely faster-shooting (1100 fps!), it would be interesting to try it with some of the heavy Beeman Crow Magnum or Silver Ace pellets, just to see if it could be slowed down enough to retain the accuracy of the .22 with some of the velocity and trajectory of the smaller caliber. If, on the other hand, you want a tack-driving, hard-hitting, classy-looking checkered stock spring-powered hunting rifle, you won’t go wrong with this TF-89 .22! Just like ol’ Hammerin’ Hank, it’s a legend in the making because it always delivers the good stuff.
Written By,
Eric Eikenberry
Writer/Photographer
Titles: HPI, Fast Fours, Hot 4s, Street Machine, Banzai, Track and Race Car, Performance BMW, BMW Car, Bimmer Roundel, Excellence, Modified, Modified Luxury & Exotics, Modified Mustangs, Mustang Enthusiast, Pontiac Enthusiast, Corvette Enthusiast, Mopar Enthusiast, Nissan Sport, Mazda Sport, Rotary Speed, Subiesport, S3, Grassroots Motorsport, Japanese Nostalgic Car, AutoGuide.com.
Copyright 2008 www.airgunweb.com & Dog River Design, LLC.
Gamo Whisper “CSI” Special Edition with Air Venturi Gas Ram and BSA 3-12×44 AO Scope
When you think of break barrel spring rifles, it is hard not to think Gamo. They have a huge product offering for the Springer Rifle Enthusiast and they always seem to be pushing the envelope on performance and features. About a year ago Gamo released their “Whisper” line of air rifles. My first impression was that Gamo was just adding something new to an old design to boost sales, so I did not give it much thought. As time progressed I had the opportunity to shoot a few Gamo rifles and found that, while they may exaggerate their velocity claims, they actually make a pretty nice rifle for the price. So when the opportunity came to review the Gamo Whisper, especially with the Air Venturi Gas Ram upgrade, I jumped at the chance! This version is the .22 caliber, which is my preference 95% of the time. I’ve found the .22 better for pest control and accuracy beyond 30 yards. Since I live out in the country, I’m often shooting at 30+ yards so I normally choose .22 over .177.
Gamo Whisper CSI with BSA Scope
The very first thing I noticed was just how light this rifle was. I’d just finished up a review on the Benjamin Super Streak and the Walther Falcon Hunter. It was sweet relief to be reviewing a light, easy shooting rifle. I really debated putting a scope on this gun because I did not want to weigh it down and possibly take away one of its greatest features.
Gamo Whisper CSI with BSA Scope
The Gamo Whisper CSI edition comes in a beautiful ambidextrous stock that is colored in “real tree” camo. The stock has a raised cheek pad on both sides which is nice for you lefties out there. At the front of the barrel you have the “business” end of the Whisper, Gamo’s intergraded noise dampening system. My first opinion when I heard Gamo was putting this on a rifle was to dismiss it as totally unnecessary. Pellet rifles are already so quiet anyway… right? Well let me tell you, I’m a convert. This thing works and works really well. I can put any of my similarly powered .22 caliber pellet rifles next to the Whisper and they are easily twice as loud. Whatever Gamo did, seems to work, and the Gamo Whisper has become my favorite spring rifle.
Gamo’s Integrated Noise Dampening System
On top of the Noise Dampener you have a fiber optic front sight. Unfortunately Gamo did not put a front globe on this rifle to protect the sight so you’ll need to be really careful about damaging the front sight. My rifle arrived with a broken fiber optic and it quickly disintegrated into nothing. Gamo was very good about sending me a replacement free of charge, which was very easy to replace. But still, how much would it be to add a front globe to protect the front sight?
Front Sight – Needs something to protect the Fiber Optic.
The rear sight is a standard Gamo “micro-click” adjustable metal sight with fiber optic inserts. I spent many weeks using this rifle with open sights before putting a scope on it. It performs extremely well with the open sights. Had I not ordered a scope along with the rifle for the review, I may have never put one on. It shoots that nicely.
Fully Adjustable Rear Sight
I chose a BSA 3-12×44 scope and a 1 piece Accushot mount. I should have made sure that the scope had range-estimating mil-dots for the reticule. Having a simple Duplex Reticule has proved frustrating because I’m just not able to judge the hold over well enough to be reliably accurate when the target is beyond the center of the cross-hairs. Now this was my fault not BSA or Gamo’s. I should have paid more attention to the item’s description and I would not be in this situation. With all that said, the BSA scope is VERY NICE. The optics are as good as anything else that I’ve tested and it was priced very aggressively. I like having the 12x zoom. It helps me squeeze every last drop of accuracy out of the rifle.
Shooting the Gamo Whisper is a very pleasant experience and I can only imagine that the Air Venturi Gas Ram makes all the difference in the world. The first time I cocked the rifle it was smooth as glass and cocked with minimal effort compared to those big magnum rifles I’d been shooting. This is truly an all-day shooter if I’ve ever seen one. Even my wife is able cock and shoot this rifle and she actually enjoys shooting it.
Another point of note with this particular Gamo Rifle is the trigger. It seems to be a bit smoother and lighter than Gamo’s standard trigger. When shooting with open sights I don’t seem to notice the trigger pull as much as when I’m using a scope. So in my first video review using just open sights, I stated the trigger seemed really different from other Gamo Rifes. Now that I’ve mounted a scope, my opinion has changed. The trigger is more like the old Gamo triggers than I had originally thought. That said, I was able to get the hang of it. You have to be very patient and steady with a Gamo trigger and you need to practice good follow-through techniques.
Standard Gamo Trigger
The Gamo Whisper requires you to pay close attention to your hold and shooting techniques. It is very hold sensitive, with the point of impact changing as much as several inches at 27 yards. Whatever you are going to use for a balance point, remember it. Once you’ve zeroed your scope, you don’t want to be changing your hold or you’ll be chasing your shots all over the place. Once you’ve got your hold down, it is just a matter of trigger control and follow-though.
Before we look at accuracy, let’s take a quick look at what kind of velocities we generated with the Air Venturi Gas Ram upgrade. Many people ask me if it is worth the $100 or so for the upgrade… let me say emphatically YES. What the Gas Ram does, no spring can. It greatly speeds up and reduces recoil and eliminates torque. Besides that, it is less sensitive to cold than a steel spring and can be left cocked for long periods of time without the threat of metal fatigue that can damage a standard spring.
Moving on to the big question, does the Air Venturi Gas Ram shoot with greater velocity than the standard spring? Well in the Gamo Whisper it does. The Gamo Whisper states that it shoots lead ammo at 750 FPS and PBA ammo at 900 FPS. Our tests put the Hobby pellets near 780 FPS and the PBA ammo runs at or just over 900 FPS. The Gas Ram DOES make a big difference in this rifle.
Now finally, lets look at the accuracy. When I could shoot 3/4” groups at 20 yards with open sights, I knew that this was an accurate rifle. Once I got the scope mounted, I was able to see just how accurate. We did all of our shooting at 27 yards, which is the distance from my shooting bench on my porch to my target stand at my fence line. Because the weather has been so iffy, it was easier to just set up under cover of the porch and shoot between the rain, wind, and cold. I’m going to start with the worst pellet of the bunch and work my way forward.
Starting with Crosman Premier Hollow Points we got the following from our Chronograph (see below). As you can see, accuracy was not what I’ve come to expect from Crosman Premier Hollow Points.
High – 741, Low – 728, Average – 733, Difference – 13
Next were the Gamo PBA lead free pellets in .22. These did far better than I expected with a 1/2” group at 27 yards. These may be a good option if you feel you need to shoot over 900 FPS.
High – 905, Low – 877, Average – 884, Difference – 28
The next two pellets were very nearly a tie, but the Beeman Field Target Specials grouped just slightly larger than our best pellet. With good velocity an excellent accuracy, they are a good choice and seem to hold their accuracy over a long range.
High – 723, Low – 718, Average – 720, Difference – 5
Our best group came from Gamo Hunter pellets. They were spot on nearly every time. They are certainly ugly pellets, but they shoot great in the Gamo Whisper. They are fairly heavy and so the velocity may not impress those who want to brag about how fast their rifle can shoot, but I’ll take hitting a dime every time over shooting fast any day.
High – 686, Low – 664, Average – 673, Difference – 22
Well that’s it for the Gamo Whisper. The Gamo Whisper CSI edition with the Air Venturi Gas Ram upgrade, BSA Scope, and Accushot mount, is going to run you about $500. That is a lot of money and you really won’t be able to appreciate this rig until you shoot one. Every person who has picked this up has tried to take it home. There are a couple of things that I’d like to see change with it however. Gamo needs a better trigger PERIOD. This one was better than other Gamo rifles, but still hard to get used to. At least it was smooth and not terribly heavy, just very, very long. It also needs a front globe or something to protect the front sight. It looks like the standard Gamo globe would work, they just need to include it from the factory.
Bottom line for me is this, I’ve spent a lot more than $500 trying to find the right rifle and scope combo. I can’t tell you how many rifles, i.e. Crosman rifles from Wal-mart… etc., that I’ve bought hoping to achieve what this Gamo Whisper CSI combo does. I’ve probably bought this rifle at least 2 times over, maybe more. If I can save you the headache, disappointment, and frustration of dealing with bad springers that just won’t shoot right, please listen. Pick up the Gamo Whisper with the Air Venturi Gas Ram from PyramydAir.com TODAY. If you need to save a few bucks, get the standard Whisper with the Black Stock and hold off on the scope for now. It is well worth the money and PyramydAir is a great company to work with. They will stand behind what they sell.
As always, thank you for taking the time to visit the site and read the reviews. Until next time… Rick
Written By,
Rick Eutsler
Editor / Owner
www.AirGunWeb.com
Copyright 2008
www.airgunweb.com &
Dog River Design, LLC.
TechForce® QB78 Review
Hello again. I bet you thought we’d NEVER get another review posted. Well, frankly I was beginning to think the same thing. Fortunately we’ve found some really talented contributors and we are starting up again with this article submitted by Gerald Austin. Gerald found us via our youtube page and agreed to take a look at this rifle for us. So let’s get to it!
TechForce® QB78 Review
Written By,
Gerald Austin
Contributor for www.AirGunWeb.com
editor@airgunweb.com
The QB78 has been around for quite a few years. I remember back in the mid 90′s when I was fairly active in field target and a few of my friends were impressed with the gun. I remember shooting it then thinking it was “nice” but never had the opportunity to take a close look at the gun. I have owned a Crosman 2260 and Crosman 180 for some years now and have always been looking for a GOOD way to mount a scope. The QB 78 takes care of this with a steel grooved receiver.
The rifle came to me as a return with no indication of what it was returned for. The overall look of the gun was very good. The stock was much darker than ones I had seen before with some slight character marks that appeared to be the result of handling and not related to factory workmanship.
The bluing was a medium to deep blue with just some slight variations that would only be noticed by someone paying very close attention to that feature.
The craftsmanship on the remainder of the gun showed some signs of details that could be improved upon but didn’t make me think this gun was not worth the price I had seen advertised.
The buttplate and stock did not flow together well. The fit of the buttplate to the stock showed areas of up to 1/16″ mismatch.
The buttplate was loose upon receipt of the gun.
A few machining marks were visible that were blued over including a
tool mark around the circumference of the cap.
The trigger right out of the box was a little creepy and had a little more side to side movement than I cared for as it was slightly distracting when shooting from a bench. After a few rounds with the gun as supplied, I removed the action from the stock and adjusted the trigger using the instructions provided in the owners manual. The operation was much more pleasant after the adjustment but could probably benefit from some polishing and lubrication. The side to side movement still existed but was less noticable.
The open sights suited my eyes well and could be adjusted for elevation with the ramp. Windage could be adjusted by loosening one of the screws on the rear sight but out of the box it was not needed. Using the open sights I was able to get some one hole groups at 33 feet using GAMO Match pellets. My interest though was in seeing how the gun performed using a scope.
I mounted a 4-16 x 40 Centerpoint Scope with a one piece Centerpoint mount. The scope was already mounted on another gun and I took it of of that gun, dropped it onto the QB-78 and sighting in took only 6 clicks of windage and 20 for elevation to be on at 15 yards. During the sighting in process a housfly landed on the target at 15 yards. I was pleasantly surprised when I pullet the trigger and the pellet appeared to go to the exact spot where the fly had been.
At 15 yards the gun consistently made one hole 5 shot groups using Crosman Premier Hollow Points, Gamo Match, Gamo Master Points and RWS Super H Points. I moved the targets out to 25 yards and around 250 round through the gun to get a feel for it. At 25 Yards I was able to notice some pellets performing better than others. And decided I would do the accuracy testing with the Crosman Premier Hollow Points, The Gamo Master Pointed, and RWS Super H points. With each pellet tested I shot a total seven five shot groups. Each group was assigned a group number that reflected the shot number from new CO2 cartridges. Overall the RWS Hollow Points performed the best.
| Pellet | Groups | Shots | Average of Group Size | Min Group Size | Max Group Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crosman hp | 7 | 35 | 0.79 | 0.50 | 1.05 |
| Gamo Master Pointed | 7 | 35 | 0.82 | 0.50 | 1.10 |
| RWS Super H Point | 7 | 35 | 0.65 | 0.35 | 1.00 |
The targets below show the pellet type, shot from new CO2 and the group number.
At 40 YDS I performed some informal testing and was pleased to be able to hit the steel T posts in my pasture 8 out of 10 times. Putting some paper at that distance showed a gun that could give a soda can some trouble at 40 to 50 yards on a calm day. The Bull on the target below is 1″ Diameter with a 2″ outer ring.
The Chronograph showed the numbers below at approx 75 deg F. No Gamo Master Pointed pellets were chronoghraphed. CO2 cartidges were changed prior to testing and a few shots fired prior to taking the readings.
| Pellet | High | Low | Average | Standard Deviation |
| RWS Super H Point | 652.7 | 639.2 | 644.8 | 4.35 |
| Crosman H Point | 646.8 | 623 | 638.9 | 6.24 |
Though the power of the gun is on the low side, I would probably take it to the woods for early squirrel season since the shots are closer due to leaves. The accuracy out to 25 yards is shown on the last target below that I shot before this writing. The leftmost column was shot with Crosman destroyer pellets,, the center column was RWS Hollow Points and the right column was shot with Gamo Hunters. The bottom group on the center column was actually 6 shots as I pulled the very first one. The RWS Hollow Points will be the pellet of choice for this fall.
All together I have used 16 pairs of CO2 cartridges with this gun. Each pair yielding 60+ shots. The gun has been nothing but FUN. I have shot Fence Posts, Paper Targets, Ice Cubes, Houseflies (2 kills at 15 Yards), paper cups, and I don’t know what else. The only performance issues I had were related to the barrel band becoming loose and the point of impact shifting if a barely bumped the barrel. Loosening the screw and allowing the barrel to center itself and then tightening the screw returned the point of impact to within 5 clicks of the original point of impact.
Here is the gun as tested.
The workmanship could use improvement but as far as my opinion goes, looks aren’t anything if it works well. I would like the barrel band a little more secure and the trigger could benefit from a little polishing. At the list price, I find the gun a great value and would recommend it to anyone that wants an accurate and consistent gun at a great price. I just hope they don’t figure out how to run cars off of CO2 !
Copyright 2007 www.airgunweb.com & Dog River Design, LLC.
All Rights Reserved.