Did I finally achieve the proverbial "holy grail" of PCP air rifle enthusiasts world wide? The benchmark that all slug shooters strive to attain? The infamous "sub MOA" tune/group on the gun?
Let me start by saying this. I purchased my first PCP air rifle in 2017. It was a used, stock AirForce Condor SS in .25 caliber. For most of you that don't know, the AF Condor is a non-regulated PCP with a "inline" bottle/valve configuration. The guns weren't designed for shooting at benchrest competitions. They were designed for hunting utilizing EXTREME power. They're still unmatched in power today, in any particular caliber.
The reason I bought this gun was because (frankly) I didn't know any better. Thinking back about 15 years ago, I remember my Uncle Curtis (RIP) telling me about this air rifle he bought, and how much fun it was to shoot. To say this man loved guns would be an understatement. At the time of his passing, his gun collection had surpassed 200 pieces. As a kid growing up, I always had a BB gun. The first I ever owned was the Daisy 880 pump action BB/pellet air rifle. I was 11. Still to this day, I love that gun. Many a furry woodland creature fell prey to that gun.
Well, when I was a sophomore in HS, I got a Benjamin in .22 caliber. I don't remember the model, but it was a 5 pump, and I could take head shots on ducks at 35-40 yards when I hid in the cattail reeds that surrounded the pond. That was all naked sights. No scope. But that gave me a taste for more power from an air rifle. That was a long time ago (1991).
So in 2017 I got this hankering to rekindle my love for air rifles. Given I'm a "big boy" now, and I have a decent job and can afford a nice air rifle, my mind tracked back to what my Uncle told me over a decade earlier, so I opted for the AF Condor. I didn't research PCP's. It was a name I knew, so I hopped onto eBay and found one used with scope, bi-pod, and a few other accessories for around $600. Had I know what I know now about PCP's, and where the technology would be going, would I have bought the AF Condor. Uh.... NO! I would have saved up for a FX Impact. But it's hindsight now, and this is how it happened to play out for me.
I started shooting the gun un-regulated. Believe it or not, that thing was a tack driver. Not in the same class as a FX or Daystate of course. But compared to what I remember air rifles doing, It was a HUGE step up in power and accuracy. I was taking head shots on dove that perch on a light pole at 40 yards. This curbed my craving for a while. Until....
Then I got sucked into the YouTube videos by Ted, and Matt, and Gerard, and Stephen (from AVS), and others who I've come to respect HIGHLY because of their time and energy regarding the research and effort they've put in to help make us better shooters, and more humane hunters.
About 2 years ago, the slug craze hit HARD. I remember seeing videos by Matt and Gerard where they talked about the pellets being more accurate at all ranges, but slugs having way better BC and retained energy. So when you could connect with a target, the carnage was FAR beyond what a pellet could do.
Then those guys started tuning their guns. They realized this was shooting, not horseshoes. Close wasn't good enough. I think the greatest pioneer to the air gun world (hands down, no one comes CLOSE) is Matt Dubber. Matt, if you're reading this, you are the GOD of air rifles, and your research and time have transformed this sport! Thank you! I'll never forget the video that Matt posted where he was invited to the FX factory and they starting pumping out barrels with different twist rates to test ON THE SPOT. It's a cool video if you've never seen it.
But back to my situation..... I caught the bug, and shooting slugs became my quest. I've done a TON of mods to my gun. The only thing stock left on it is the frame. Everything else is an upgrade. But even with all the upgrades, the "holy grail" has just been a myth for me. The downside of the Condor is it's mechanically "clunky" and simple in it's design. This makes it very difficult to tune. But it is tuneable. It's a laborious and time consuming venture that takes a massive amount of patience. Like I said, the downside of the AF platform is it's designed for power and hunting, not bench rest shooting. BUT..... BUT..... If you can find the magic combination- the proverbial "resonant frequency" where all the stars align, you can get a very, very accurate rifle that also has a ton of power. Well guys..... Today..... After several years of striving (along with plenty of money spent on regulators, custom barrels, slugs, scopes, bipods, and copious quantities of my sanity) I did it! I found the magic combo today. And MAN.... Is it accurate!
The following pictures are representative of a 10 shot group at 40 yards (which is as far as I can go at my house). But it's 40 yards on the dot. I remember seeing Matt shooting his Impact and getting a ragged hole at 40 or 50 yards, and thinking to myself, "If ONLY I could get my gun dialed in to replicate that."
So here's the set up:
AF Condor frame, 24" .252/.246 barrel with a 1:15 twist, PCP Tunes V3 regulator, AVS 40gr HP cup base slugs in .254. Slugs are going 945 fps (just under 80fpe). I tuned the gun to a shorter length of stroke when the hammer hits the valve, so I'm not wasting any air. Here are the results of the 10 shot group.
The group size center to center is .2835" at 40 yards. That's sub MOA. If the accuracy carried through to 100 yards downrange, that would be .71". But I've NEVER gotten accuracy like that with my rifle, even with pellets. I was shooting from a laying position with my bipod and a bench leg that is part of my gun stock. I'm kind of shaky by nature. If this thing was locked in on a bench vise, I think the group size would be even smaller.
But given that it's taken a huge portion of my sanity, time, and money, I'm never going to change the settings on the gun again. I bought 400 of the AVS .254 40gr HP cup base slugs today, and those are going to be my permanent slug for this gun. If you're getting pellet accuracy from the gun, why switch? You don't leave fish to go catch fish (a wise fisherman once said).
Here's the gun:
Thanks for letting me share.
Let me start by saying this. I purchased my first PCP air rifle in 2017. It was a used, stock AirForce Condor SS in .25 caliber. For most of you that don't know, the AF Condor is a non-regulated PCP with a "inline" bottle/valve configuration. The guns weren't designed for shooting at benchrest competitions. They were designed for hunting utilizing EXTREME power. They're still unmatched in power today, in any particular caliber.
The reason I bought this gun was because (frankly) I didn't know any better. Thinking back about 15 years ago, I remember my Uncle Curtis (RIP) telling me about this air rifle he bought, and how much fun it was to shoot. To say this man loved guns would be an understatement. At the time of his passing, his gun collection had surpassed 200 pieces. As a kid growing up, I always had a BB gun. The first I ever owned was the Daisy 880 pump action BB/pellet air rifle. I was 11. Still to this day, I love that gun. Many a furry woodland creature fell prey to that gun.
Well, when I was a sophomore in HS, I got a Benjamin in .22 caliber. I don't remember the model, but it was a 5 pump, and I could take head shots on ducks at 35-40 yards when I hid in the cattail reeds that surrounded the pond. That was all naked sights. No scope. But that gave me a taste for more power from an air rifle. That was a long time ago (1991).
So in 2017 I got this hankering to rekindle my love for air rifles. Given I'm a "big boy" now, and I have a decent job and can afford a nice air rifle, my mind tracked back to what my Uncle told me over a decade earlier, so I opted for the AF Condor. I didn't research PCP's. It was a name I knew, so I hopped onto eBay and found one used with scope, bi-pod, and a few other accessories for around $600. Had I know what I know now about PCP's, and where the technology would be going, would I have bought the AF Condor. Uh.... NO! I would have saved up for a FX Impact. But it's hindsight now, and this is how it happened to play out for me.
I started shooting the gun un-regulated. Believe it or not, that thing was a tack driver. Not in the same class as a FX or Daystate of course. But compared to what I remember air rifles doing, It was a HUGE step up in power and accuracy. I was taking head shots on dove that perch on a light pole at 40 yards. This curbed my craving for a while. Until....
Then I got sucked into the YouTube videos by Ted, and Matt, and Gerard, and Stephen (from AVS), and others who I've come to respect HIGHLY because of their time and energy regarding the research and effort they've put in to help make us better shooters, and more humane hunters.
About 2 years ago, the slug craze hit HARD. I remember seeing videos by Matt and Gerard where they talked about the pellets being more accurate at all ranges, but slugs having way better BC and retained energy. So when you could connect with a target, the carnage was FAR beyond what a pellet could do.
Then those guys started tuning their guns. They realized this was shooting, not horseshoes. Close wasn't good enough. I think the greatest pioneer to the air gun world (hands down, no one comes CLOSE) is Matt Dubber. Matt, if you're reading this, you are the GOD of air rifles, and your research and time have transformed this sport! Thank you! I'll never forget the video that Matt posted where he was invited to the FX factory and they starting pumping out barrels with different twist rates to test ON THE SPOT. It's a cool video if you've never seen it.
But back to my situation..... I caught the bug, and shooting slugs became my quest. I've done a TON of mods to my gun. The only thing stock left on it is the frame. Everything else is an upgrade. But even with all the upgrades, the "holy grail" has just been a myth for me. The downside of the Condor is it's mechanically "clunky" and simple in it's design. This makes it very difficult to tune. But it is tuneable. It's a laborious and time consuming venture that takes a massive amount of patience. Like I said, the downside of the AF platform is it's designed for power and hunting, not bench rest shooting. BUT..... BUT..... If you can find the magic combination- the proverbial "resonant frequency" where all the stars align, you can get a very, very accurate rifle that also has a ton of power. Well guys..... Today..... After several years of striving (along with plenty of money spent on regulators, custom barrels, slugs, scopes, bipods, and copious quantities of my sanity) I did it! I found the magic combo today. And MAN.... Is it accurate!
The following pictures are representative of a 10 shot group at 40 yards (which is as far as I can go at my house). But it's 40 yards on the dot. I remember seeing Matt shooting his Impact and getting a ragged hole at 40 or 50 yards, and thinking to myself, "If ONLY I could get my gun dialed in to replicate that."
So here's the set up:
AF Condor frame, 24" .252/.246 barrel with a 1:15 twist, PCP Tunes V3 regulator, AVS 40gr HP cup base slugs in .254. Slugs are going 945 fps (just under 80fpe). I tuned the gun to a shorter length of stroke when the hammer hits the valve, so I'm not wasting any air. Here are the results of the 10 shot group.
The group size center to center is .2835" at 40 yards. That's sub MOA. If the accuracy carried through to 100 yards downrange, that would be .71". But I've NEVER gotten accuracy like that with my rifle, even with pellets. I was shooting from a laying position with my bipod and a bench leg that is part of my gun stock. I'm kind of shaky by nature. If this thing was locked in on a bench vise, I think the group size would be even smaller.
But given that it's taken a huge portion of my sanity, time, and money, I'm never going to change the settings on the gun again. I bought 400 of the AVS .254 40gr HP cup base slugs today, and those are going to be my permanent slug for this gun. If you're getting pellet accuracy from the gun, why switch? You don't leave fish to go catch fish (a wise fisherman once said).
Here's the gun:
Thanks for letting me share.
...is good to know that I could consult with you . Before I damage something. 
