Taipan Taipan Slash first tuning report.

[MACTEN]

This isn't a range trip yet.. But I was able to get it over the chronograph for a full string with pellets.
I've only done one full string at a velocity I wanted so there is more to try of course.
Over 50 shots at the power I'm running seems to be in line with Huben? I can't really remember and as well, mine was a .25.
The power can be set a lot higher than I have mine set at the moment but I'm just starting to see what this tune may bring to a target.
This one is the .22 550mm barrel tactical version.
Tuning is done by removing the cheek piece and unscrewing a flat head screw (brass) on the left side of the plenum and replacing it with a gauge (supplied) and an adapter for the removed screw to 1/8 bspp.
Then remove the back cover above the butt pad with 2 screws and start tuning.
I do de-gas when going either direction just to be safe but I believe it's designed to tune gassed up.
At 912 fps with 25.4 grain AEA pellets, as well as the 25 grain .217 H&N slugs (both shoot the same fps) I'm getting over 50 shots from a (294) bar fill.
The regulator is giving 15 fps spread over the total shot string 3 SD and the reg isn't broken in yet.
The rear butt pad is adjustable and can be lowered about one inch which suits me well.
I put an outgun 25mm gauge on the airguns total pressure and the Sekhmet 28mm was just used for tuning in the tuning air port.
I also put a form black grip on that didn't have a home yet and I'll see if it works over a few range trips. So far it's very comfortable.
The rubber grip that came is a standard rubber with finger groove type (think hogue, FX, Epic etc) that some find somewhat small including me.
I will say it's not as easy to tune as some with a built in regulator gauge however, this airgun is about as stripped and streamlined as you can get to do what it does and even having an option to attach a gauge at all beats a bunch of airguns out there still.

It's very impressive so far and early next week I should have a written and maybe a video review.
Tony at Talon Airguns took care of me with super fast shipping as I likely said in the review of his establishment. Great Guy.

And a shout out the Marek from Taipan, Balistas, Bullet Project S.R.O for the help he's provided with questions I've had.
He's also top notch as I'm sure many of you already know.

Impressive rifle and I have had the Huben K1 as well as the Western Sidewinder. Both are very good airguns but this one is certainly a step up in the build quality department and we'll see about the range hopefully soon.



Edit: Tony has thread 1/2x20 thread adapters made for this Slash as well as the Taipan Veteran II that's 1/2 unf..
The pics show the adapter prior to the anodizing being done. The thread protectors will be Delrin.
May be available by the end of next week

Pics below...

 

[bernieorosz]

MACTEN Thank you very much for your initial review. Well written, concise, and to the point! I look forward to you shooting and accuracy testing.

Question #1: Is tuning possible without installing/uninstalling the reg gauge each time? I realize you don't what the regulator is set at, but would know once the shot string starts to fall. In other words, tune like you did not have an external regulator and no hammer spring.

Question #2: Once you make a regulator change, are these the steps required before you can shoot at the new reg setting:
1. Degas
2. Remove reg gauge
3. Reinstall the flathead brass piece
4. Reinstall cheek piece.
5. Fill up and then shoot.

Edit: I just realized that first step not required as Slash already degassed.

 

[MACTEN]

MACTEN Thank you very much for your initial review. Well written, concise, and to the point! I look forward to you shooting and accuracy testing.

Question #1: Is tuning possible without installing/uninstalling the reg gauge each time? I realize you don't what the regulator is set at, but would know once the shot string starts to fall. In other words, tune like you did not have an external regulator and no hammer spring.

Question #2: Once you make a regulator change, are these the steps required before you can shoot at the new reg setting:
1. Degas
2. Remove reg gauge
3. Reinstall the flathead brass piece
4. Reinstall cheek piece.
5. Fill up and then shoot.

Edit: I just realized that first step not required as Slash already degassed.

That's what I've been doing so far except there isn't a reason to replace the cheek piece every time if still tuning until you're ready to go out and shoot it at the range etc.

 

[bernieorosz]

Actually, the tuning does seem pretty straight forward, similar to our other regulated guns. The only difference is the removal/reinstall of reg gauge which seems like it a quick and simple process. And once tuned, we're done, and can move on to enjoy shooting.

As far as my Questions #1, can you tune without the gauge? If we're only adjusting the regulator cw or ccw a little bit at a time, do we really need to know what it's set at until close to the final tune?

I'm also interested in how the Slash shoulders for offhand shooting? I know you haven't been to the range yet, but can you comment on that yet?

The weight, size, and power is phenomenal with this gun!

 

[MACTEN]

Actually, the tuning does seem pretty straight forward, similar to our other regulated guns. The only difference is the removal/reinstall of reg gauge which seems like it a quick and simple process. And once tuned, we're done, and can move on to enjoy shooting.

As far as my Questions #1, can you tune without the gauge? If we're only adjusting the regulator cw or ccw a little bit at a time, do we really need to know what it's set at until close to the final tune?

I'm also interested in how the Slash shoulders for offhand shooting? I know you haven't been to the range yet, but can you comment on that yet?

The weight, size, and power is phenomenal with this gun!

Sorry I missed it.. Yes you don't need the gauge after getting a baseline unless you really need to know the pressure or suspect problems etc.. Tiny moves of the reg give tiny adjustments unlike some. So 1-2 degrees gives me 1-2 bar..
Shouldering is really good as it's balanced very well. Just kind of strange that it isn't larger and heavier for what it's doing as Taipan really did their homework.
I do have a tiny puff of air I feel on my arm but it is just that, tiny.

 

[jpiperson2002]

Actually, the tuning does seem pretty straight forward, similar to our other regulated guns. The only difference is the removal/reinstall of reg gauge which seems like it a quick and simple process. And once tuned, we're done, and can move on to enjoy shooting.

As far as my Questions #1, can you tune without the gauge? If we're only adjusting the regulator cw or ccw a little bit at a time, do we really need to know what it's set at until close to the final tune?

I'm also interested in how the Slash shoulders for offhand shooting? I know you haven't been to the range yet, but can you comment on that yet?

The weight, size, and power is phenomenal with this gun!

Although I'd prefer to know what pressure a regulator is set at in order to produce a certain velocity/power range with a particular pellet, it isn't necessary on the Slash since you're not also adjusting hammer spring tension as with most other airguns. The regulator adjustment is almost like a power dial, in the sense that you could just record the velocity of a particular pellet at each rotational position of the face plate on the back of the regulator. It would have been easy to put a power dial on the back of the regulator instead of using a screwed in face plate over the regulator so that people could tune velocity of a particular pellet type on the fly. Not necessary of course since many people just find the best combinations of power and pellet for their purpose and then leave a gun set at that power for predictable results. Other people, often retired techies, are never really happy unless they can keep tweaking settings to plot out power curves on their airguns in order to fully characterize their airgun as a mechanical system.

I've only run a few pellets through my Slash so far but in general I like the overall size and build quality. I didn't notice a Ping or other loud noise from the action, I'd been concerned about that possibility due to past experience with some other airguns. The magazines are large and metal and very easy to load and even less expensive that I'd expected. The lock into place solidly, overbuilt actually. You can tell just by looking at the magazines and how they are held in place that Taipan really didn't want to have any problems with their magazines. Time will tell of course.

I don't have a K1 anymore so I can't directly compare the sound levels a a specific power level. My Slash came set at ~69fpe for the test target which came with the box. Not quiet (whatever that means), not loud for the power, and not setup to accept barrel extensions. Honestly, for accurate rather than subjective results of sound you'd need a professional sound meter and reasonable test protocols (positioning of the meters) to offer more than personal opinions on sound levels. The Leshiy 2 was a good example of how important it is to position sound meters. The sound from the action on the L2 was loud to the shooter and behind the gun, but the sound at distance in front of the barrel not so much. I'm extremely skeptical of sound comparisons on forums since they rarely involve professional sound metering.

I'm happy that someone with the patience and ambition to run a Slash through it's paces is starting to post feedback about the platform. If the semi-auto continues to work well, and if they don't start developing leaks, and if service and parts are easily available if ever needed, then we appear to have a solid competitor to the K1 and L2 entering the market. I am curious if/when Slashes will start appearing in the Classifieds. It may be awhile since the model seems to have a lot to offer despite the price.

JP

 

[bernieorosz]

So, is the below correct? I think I might still be confused

If I want to adjust regulator without gauge, then no degassing necessary?

For this method, I would adjust reg cw to increase reg pressure. But, when turning ccw to decrease reg pressure, I must dry fire 2-3 time to get reg to settle at new pressure?

 

[MACTEN]

So, is the below correct? I think I might still be confused

If I want to adjust regulator without gauge, then no degassing necessary?

For this method, I would adjust reg cw to increase reg pressure. But, when turning ccw to decrease reg pressure, I must dry fire 2-3 time to get reg to settle at new pressure?

I don't think Taipan has made this clear yet. I'm degassing for all moves up of down at the moment until clarification is made by them. What you say does seem logical though and likely the way it's designed.
I'm just doing what I am out of caution for now. On the Taipan.. CW is more pressure and CCW is less.. Very straight forward and easily done. I almost see that adding the reg gauge to tune like a fighter jet retracting it's landing gear. This design keeps things simplified and it really helps as it's so easy to shoulder and helps make a narrower rifles case.

 

[bernieorosz]

I don't think Taipan has made this clear yet. I'm degassing for all moves up of down at the moment until clarification is made by them. What you say does seem logical though and likely the way it's designed.
I'm just doing what I am out of caution for now.

I agree Taipan needs to clarify this...

I mentioned the method without degassing, because it seemed like that was what they were talking about in their Taipan SLASH – Regulator Adjustment Guide video.

They mentioned degassing to install reg gauge and appear to say fill up with air after that. Because, they go on to say dry fire 2-3 times after turning ccw to reduce reg pressure.

 

[bernieorosz]

So, my takeaway from the regulator adjustment is very positive.... Unless I don't fully understand yet... .

We can adjust the Taipan Slash regulator up or down, without ever having to degas the gun! This is a good thing. But won't know reg setting until fps drops.

However, the ability to fine tune and adjust, with installing the reg gauge is also an option. This is good because we can actually view the reg settings after changes. But, at some point, to remove that temp gauge, we must degas again.

 

[sb327]

I’m curious how the trigger feels. It appears to be a valve actuated action (similar to the L2) but I’m not certain on that. I am thinking this due to the images seen in the tear down video do not show a hammer actuated action. That, with the fact the shooter feels a puff of air from the action, possibly indicating a pilot/vent type valve.

Dave

 

[tsakula]

I am also interested in trigger how does it feel. I dont like Leshiy 2 trigger

 

[MACTEN]

I’m curious how the trigger feels. It appears to be a valve actuated action (similar to the L2) but I’m not certain on that. I am thinking this due to the images seen in the tear down video do not show a hammer actuated action. That, with the fact the shooter feels a puff of air from the action, possibly indicating a pilot/vent type valve.

Dave

The puff of air appears to be from the valve shooting air into the magazine (through) like the Huben and western do. The trigger on mine hovers around 14 oz to just over a pound depending on where I hold the trigger pull gauge. But the trigger feels crisp and light to me. There is nothing double action feeling about this trigger. I would have to compare it to the Huben K1 trigger although it seems lighter to me and I don't have the Huben anymore to check and never tested the trigger pull weight on it that I remember. It has a crisp break and short reset.

 

[sb327]

The puff of air appears to be from the valve shooting air into the magazine (through) like the Huben and western do. The trigger on mine hovers around 14 oz to just over a pound depending on where I hold the trigger pull gauge. But the trigger feels crisp and light to me. There is nothing double action feeling about this trigger. I would have to compare it to the Huben K1 trigger although it seems lighter to me and I don't have the Huben anymore to check and never tested the trigger pull weight on it that I remember. It has a crisp break and short reset.

I much appreciate your response, it sounds encouraging that it has a decent trigger. I hope it looks good on paper! It really appears to be a well thought out design.

Dave

 

[Cantona256]

Yeah so……… this gun sounds freaking awesome actually. Did I read correctly that it came tuned at 69fpe?

 

[bernieorosz]

I assume the Slash has a threaded end cap for moderator if necessary?

 

[Cantona256]

Hey you CAN go up and down under pressure… see the pic. This is from the Taipan official channel.

 

[jpiperson2002]

Yeah so……… this gun sounds freaking awesome actually. Did I read correctly that it came tuned at 69fpe?

One .25 Slash Tactical with the shorter 420mm barrel arrived set at 69fpe using I forget which JSB pellet.
The adjustable power range available via regulator settings in the 420mm barrel appears from specs in web ads to be between ~80J (59fpe) and ~130J (95fpe).

The additional 'power kits' have parts which can be used to increase the top power, or to reduce power down into the 12fpe range.
I'd originally hoped that the Slash could be tuned down by the user into the sub-20fpe range for close target practice, like a K1 and GK1 can.
I won't know the actual lowest power range available in the 420mm barrel without real world testing, but a bottom end of 60fpe would still be hotter than I'd like.

I'd asked Tony @ Talon airguns to set it up in the 50-70fpe range if possible while he was shooting the test target he sends with each new air gun.
If you have one drop-shipped from another vendor it might arrive at any power/regulator setting. It wouldn't matter much how the regulator is set when it arrives though. With a chrony a person could just run the regulator from Min to Max and plot a velocity/power curve for regulator setting and pellet type. A few hour job for sure but just part of the fun of getting a new model.

I haven't checked the relation of the regulator's face plate position to the velocity of a pellet.
Mostly I'd be curious how many rotations it takes to go from the bottom to the top of the available adjustment on the regulator, and whether there is a linear relation in regulator setting to a pellet's velocity. Some airguns can go a dozen+ rotations on the regulator control, though the effect on velocity might drop off after some point. Or else the reg pressure might be set so high that the shot power begins to decrease as the higher pressures prevent the valve from opening properly. I don't know how the new valve on the Slash works but it will be easy enough to see how pressure affects the power curves with a few hundred pellets of testing.

I'm not able to check accuracy, just power curves, and don't have the patience or opportunity to gather a lot of data points for those.

MACTEN is off to a good start and I expect that we'll see some more demo videos as well as people show off their new machinery.

JP

 

[bernieorosz]

Does it have a threaded end cap for moderator?

I asked already before, but am impatient

 

[SigG]

Does it have a threaded end cap for moderator?

I asked already before, but am impatient