Traded my Hammer for a Texan .308, best choice ever.

[Guest]

My Umarex hammer was very round picky, heavy, a lot of investment (everything it takes to run a big bore, tanks, booster pump (glad I have it all I would have got it anyway) for mediocre results imo and wish I went with a texan .457 when I bought my Hammer.

Anyways, last week I traded it for a used/upgraded Texan .308, this thing is awesome! love it. Thinking of upgrading to a Talon Tunes 580cc CF bottle, the barrel end was threaded for a moderator so no adapter necessary (no chance of clipping), has wok guard, heavier spring, etc already. 

I got both guns used and both are in great shape with minor blemishes, any other tips for upgrades , lets hear it...

Here it is next to my Talon P which I also love!!!! Who else has airforce guns and absolutely loves them? Post them up!

 

[davidsng]

That was a GREAT TRADE! It has to be THE DEAL OF THE YEAR! I feel sorry for the other guy. The in-line valve makes the Airforce unique compared to other bigbores. The guns' are able to achieve higher FPE with lower pressures, which lets us shoot all day on one tank. I only operate my SS from 170-145 bar, which let's me get the most out of my air supply.

 

[TrinityMaker]

If you want more power out of the gun, get the 28" barrel. You will need to bypass the soundlock kit, and get a Condor end cap. And the barrel will protrude beyond the end of the SS frame by several inches, but you will add a MASSIVE amount of power with the same setup. My Condor at home is the SS model, which comes with a 18" barrel. But I upgraded the rifle by putting in a custom 24" barrel that sticks out just over an inch beyond the end of the rifle. I bought some cheap barrel bushings from eBay that were shipped from China. They have o-rings inside and outside of them, so they're superior to the stock AF bushing for dampening vibrations. The fit is so snug that I just push them over the end of the barrel and seat them just inside the frame. The threads cut on the barrel go just beyond the end of the frame, so when I tighten the moderator on, it actually tensions the barrel eliminating even more harmonics. There are lots of places that will make you a .308 barrel. I've heard that the most accurate of all the big bores AF makes is the .257. I'm not sure if it's a layer 1 problem (i.e. barrel twist, land/groove config, etc....), but it's been proven that the .257 is a tack driver. I'm thinking the .308 can be just as accurate at distance if given the proper barrel. But that's my $.02 for your question.

Also, if you REALLY want that rifle to crank out power, get the AF Texan upgrade from African Air Ordinance. It's the 4500 psi upgrade with beefed up valve, hammer spring and bottle. You can expect 150-200 additional fpe from the rifle with that upgrade alone. PLUS sever more shots as a result of the larger air volume in the bottle.

 

[HubenK1Sniper92]

Probably the best thing ya could have done with hammer how’s the talonp holding up I sold ya 

 

[Guest]

That was a GREAT TRADE! It has to be THE DEAL OF THE YEAR! I feel sorry for the other guy. The in-line valve makes the Airforce unique compared to other bigbores. The guns' are able to achieve higher FPE with lower pressures, which lets us shoot all day on one tank. I only operate my SS from 170-145 bar, which let's me get the most out of my air supply.

The rifle was had a lot of cool features, the bolt pull was so light, the 2 round mag was nice, the stock had a really nice position. It was just heavy, fussy as hell, and it didnt impress me. 

My Talon P I bought from Lisamike92 impressed me far more, finally after buying 3 air tanks, an EBB booster pump, etc, i decided I needed a bigger texan and did not want the hammer.

 

[davidsng]

The gun has potential but it just missed the mark. If the hammer was in a smaller caliber, and tuned down a little, sealed the air blast at the magazine breach, I would be a little more interested more in it. 

First, lets talk about air usage. So much air usage! 4500psi fil give only TWO FULL POWER SHOTS! After one magazine, you are already down below the full fill pressure and will only get ONE FULL POWER SHOT!

Also, If you could solve the air coming out of the magazine, I would be more interested. One slip up I will have a swollen hand for a week. 

Plus, gun that powerful and with such a small shot count, it seems a little pointless to regulate it. You can get two unregulated shots at the same power levels instead of two regulated shots

Now, imagine of that Hammers was in .357 and you could shoot it seven times instead of just twice on a full fill. You could actually go to the range and shoot two magazines (4 shots) before you need a fill. That would mean you would be able to shoot it for 20 minutes before your tank is all cashed. 

There are reasons why air rifles appeal to us air gun shooters, but I feel the Hammer has NONE with those reasons. 

All-in-all, I guess that when it comes to the hammer, I'd rather just shoot a 20ga shotgun.

 

[T3PRanch]

@TrinityMaker he has a Texan Carbine Not a Condor. No sound lock kit on Texans.

 

[Guest]

The gun has potential but it just missed the mark. If the hammer was in a smaller caliber, and tuned down a little, sealed the air blast at the magazine breach, I would be a little more interested more in it. 

First, lets talk about air usage. So much air usage! 4500psi fil give only TWO FULL POWER SHOTS! After one magazine, you are already down below the full fill pressure and will only get ONE FULL POWER SHOT!

Also, If you could solve the air coming out of the magazine, I would be more interested. One slip up I will have a swollen hand for a week. 

Plus, gun that powerful and with such a small shot count, it seems a little pointless to regulate it. You can get two unregulated shots at the same power levels instead of two regulated shots

Now, imagine of that Hammers was in .357 and you could shoot it seven times instead of just twice on a full fill. You could actually go to the range and shoot two magazines (4 shots) before you need a fill. That would mean you would be able to shoot it for 20 minutes before your tank is all cashed. 

There are reasons why air rifles appeal to us air gun shooters, but I feel the Hammer has NONE with those reasons. 

All-in-all, I guess that when it comes to the hammer, I'd rather just shoot a 20ga shotgun.

I can get on board with all of that actually haha. I do I have my eye on a zues with 16 inch barrel for home defense though lol, speaking of shotguns

 

[Steelhead707]

I've had the .308 Texan for a few years. Love it, but it is a fickle beast to get shooting straight. here are some tips that should save you hundreds of dollars, or more.

1) It likes a few different bullets, but smaller 110-ish grain work the best for me. 308-115 FN (arsenalmolds.com). The NOE boattails are good too (135 gr. and 154 gr.) and this is what I would use for big game, but they have more trajectory drop and thus you need to be on your game with yardages at long distances.

2) Size everything to .309

3) Tuning wheel likes being about close to full power; the .308 valve and the .257 valve are the same. The .257 has a lot more adjustment, but the .308 needs to be turned up to work right.

4) 2800 psi is a nice happy place where consistency and accuracy reside.

5) Mad Dog or Diamond stock is needed if you plan on any real consistency past 100 yards. 

6) If you're not home casting, ask Nick Nielson at NSA if he is still making .309 127 gr. swaged bullets. These were by far the best out-of-the-box slugs that I found. All others including Hunter Supply and Air Venturi shot terribly. If NSA doesn't have the .309 slugs, then use the NSA .308 ones. They are still light years better than the competition.

7) A can-type suppressor makes the gun significantly more accurate. I have an old out-dated model that clamps on the barrel but it shrinks my groups at 200 yards from 5"-6" down to 2" to 3". Probably dampens the barrel harmonics, although it increases length and makes it harder to carry in the field.

8) Clean the barrel and lube the slugs. Clean the barrel and lube the slugs. Can't say it enough. Cheapest 'mod' there is for return on performance. The lube will tighten your groups and make barrel cleaning a snap. Without lube the barrel fouls immediately and all performance is lost.

Haven't had a second of coffee yet. Hope this helps. I have a mold or two that I will sell you if you want to get started casting. I have many, but I'm down to using just one or two now. Message me if you're interested.

Here are a couple of pics with reasonable expectations of your groups. I'm sure some are far better, but this is what an Average Joe can expect with some practice and tune on a stock-internals gun.

200 yards, 2 different groups in the wind

300 yards, 5 shot gruop

 

[Guest]

I've had the .308 Texan for a few years. Love it, but it is a fickle beast to get shooting straight. here are some tips that should save you hundreds of dollars, or more.

1) It likes a few different bullets, but smaller 110-ish grain work the best for me. 308-115 FN (arsenalmolds.com). The NOE boattails are good too (135 gr. and 154 gr.) and this is what I would use for big game, but they have more trajectory drop and thus you need to be on your game with yardages at long distances.

2) Size everything to .309

3) Tuning wheel likes being about close to full power; the .308 valve and the .257 valve are the same. The .257 has a lot more adjustment, but the .308 needs to be turned up to work right.

4) 2800 psi is a nice happy place where consistency and accuracy reside.

5) Mad Dog or Diamond stock is needed if you plan on any real consistency past 100 yards. 

6) If you're not home casting, ask Nick Nielson at NSA if he is still making .309 127 gr. swaged bullets. These were by far the best out-of-the-box slugs that I found. All others including Hunter Supply and Air Venturi shot terribly. If NSA doesn't have the .309 slugs, then use the NSA .308 ones. They are still light years better than the competition.

7) A can-type suppressor makes the gun significantly more accurate. I have an old out-dated model that clamps on the barrel but it shrinks my groups at 200 yards from 5"-6" down to 2" to 3". Probably dampens the barrel harmonics, although it increases length and makes it harder to carry in the field.

8) Clean the barrel and lube the slugs. Clean the barrel and lube the slugs. Can't say it enough. Cheapest 'mod' there is for return on performance. The lube will tighten your groups and make barrel cleaning a snap. Without lube the barrel fouls immediately and all performance is lost.

Haven't had a second of coffee yet. Hope this helps. I have a mold or two that I will sell you if you want to get started casting. I have many, but I'm down to using just one or two now. Message me if you're interested.

Steel head thank you for the write up, I am sad I didn't see it till just now. 

This is how I have the rifle currently setup, I only shot it twice (about 20 shots each time) @ ~50 yards. I have since ordered about 300 rounds of 120 .308 from Nick and 300 of 85 .308 from Nick. I only added the suppressor from DonnyFL and the CF tank for weight since I shot last. I am hoping to get some groups and chrono action in soon! 

 

[Paullewis]

My .457 and I love her. Popps holes through frying pans at hundred yards no problem.... The other little dents you see are from a .30 cal at the same distance... Haven't sighted in my scope completly yet, (just got her). She is semi dialed in enough to hit the pan with every shot with about a 3 MOA hold over. The third hole up is actually where 3 bullets passed through virtually the same hole.

​​​​​​