"RISE" of the TalonDor 257

I know.....the title is all dramatic huh?  LOL!  As the title states, I have brought my old talon/condor back to life and even gave it a well deserved caliber swap.

Back Story (short version):  I purchased a Air Force Talon in 22 back in 2005.  As most Talons go, it came with a 18" .22 cal LW barrel.  While being a fun gun, I found it difficult to reach "WAY OUT THERE".  Because I hunt in the desert, I needed a gun with more oomph!  So I bought a 24" LW 22 cal barrel along with a Condor tank.  Along with the longer barrel and Condor tank, I performed some tuning that I learned over on the TAG.  The gun was pushing 22 cal Eun Jins at over 1075 FPS in 22.  To make a long story even shorter, I then purchased a 25 cal barrel and breech and top hat combo for even more power.  The gun was a thumper to say the least.  But after all these mods and a LOT of hunting, I was never truly satisfied with the all out accuracy of the gun.  Even after the gun was de-tuned.  After some years of ownership of the TalonDor 25 and the introduction of the Rapid25, I retired the TalonDor in about 2008 or so.  Here is a old pic of the TalonDor in one of its many earlier guises:

Present day:  After much pondering and taking a look at "WHATS" out there, my taste have turned to long range shooting with airguns.  I mean, I've always done long range shooting with airguns since i started in them but, I've always wanted something that was not only powerful but, something that was accurate and had looks.  I also wanted something that shoots BULLETS and not pellets.  I mean, if your gonna go long range, why not use the right tools.  And while pellets can travel far, they simply do NOT outperform bullets.  The Daystate Wolverine had come to mind but, it's a odd caliber with odd weighted bullets for the power plant.  So i got to seriously thinking about what caliber I would want.  I already had a 454 and a 457 and a 308.  It wasn't until RJ Porter post that it hit me.........hmmmmmmm..........257!  Why not?  I had already done the big and medium calibers so why not a small caliber.  And the idea was born.  But what gun could i do this in.  My Dragon Slayer was already in 454 and it's very successful in that caliber.  The Corsair can't be taken apart (yet) so it was out.  Both of these guns though make 250 FPE and are perfect candidates as a base.  But I did not want to change or mess with those platforms as they both perform.  And it wasn't until one day, i was in the garage cleaning up that the idea hit me.............THE TALONDOR!  WHY NOT!?

DYOTAT100:  In comes Doug Noble or DYOTAT100 as he is known on the TAG forum.  I had been following his work and post and had found out he lives right down the freeway from me.  I PM'd him about being interested in performing my "ideas" on my TalonDor.  He was more than game and more than up to the task.  GAME ON!!!!!!!!!!!

My Ideas:
The concept for this gun was simple.  I wanted a long range rig.  Something that could shoot accurately to OVER 75 yards!  The same gun could easily reach out to 200 yards also.  And do it accurately.  And using the Air Force platform would be a stretch (no pun intended).  The caliber would be 257 with a barrel that had a fast twist to keep the bullet stabilized while reaching out.  I also wanted a 1 piece bushing for rigidity while in the frame.  Doug also came up with the idea of a custom "tight" fitting frame end cap.  For even more rigidity, I contacted Adam Vigil here on the TAG about his WOKGUARD15.  I also ordered a DPMS AR15 pistol grip with beaver tail tang that I had to trim down to help support the bottle of the TalonDor.  I got rid of the old custom pistol grip.  I also decided to relocate the forearm closer to the Wokguard15 so everything in the vicinity would be fully supported and create LESS frame flex.  I also had Doug install a second bolt into the forearm for more rigidity.  The gun also already has a Tri-Rail.  A new hammer weight, hammer spring would also be added to the gun.  The hammer weight is of the Bore Riding design and made of brass.

Here are some pics of all the custom parts and the gun completely assembled:
OEM TRIGGER GUARD

 

WOKGUARD15

 OLD PISTOL GRIP and TRIGGER GUARD

DPMS ADJUSTABLE PISTOL GRIP

CUSTOM KNURLED ALUMINUM/DELRIN COCKING KNOB

AIRFORCE BIPOD PAINTED WITH TRUCK BED LINER

OLD FOREARM PAINTED WITH TRUCK BED LINER

CUSTOM 95 GRAM BRASS HAMMER WEIGHT

CUSTOM PARTS ASSEMBLED ON 257 BARREL

RELOCATED BUSHING SET SCREWS-6 TOTAL-3 ON TOP/BOTTOM RIB

GUN ASSEMBLED WITHOUT SCOPE AND BIPOD

BULLETS OF CHOICE:  LYMAN 65 GR FLAT POINT BULLET MOLD IN 257

OVERVIEW AND PERFORMANCE OF GUN ON ITS MAIDEN OUTING:
Needless to say, I am extremely happy with Doug's work.  His work is as nice in person as it is on the forums.  I learned a lot about the Air Force line of products through Doug.  Having a machinist or gunsmith run through these guns is pretty much NECESSARY.  But on to the positives.  I made a video of the gun while out on its maiden shooting session so I won't go into too much verbal detail.  But I will say that the gun is a performer and it lives up to my expectations.  My initial groups printed in the 5/8" CTC range at 60 yards.  I was also able to print a 1.050" CTC group at 110 lasered yards while shooting a small resettable popper target which is in the video.  The gun also performs best at power setting 5-8 and 3100 psi and makes 132 FPE at that setting.  The gun also has a bit of a kick and is pretty loud.  But that's ok, I don't mind loud especially when the gun performs.

HOLD SENSITIVE:
Yes, the gun is very hold sensitive.  Like most Air Force guns, she required a light hold.  A snug hold makes the gun groups horribly.  The gun also prefers PURE LEAD bullets over hard cast or bullets that are cast just a lil bit harder than pure lead (???????)

THE GUN FULLY ASSEMBLED

FUTURE MODS
All silver will become black (lol).  The Morgan Adjustable butt pad will soon be replaced with a WOKBUTT

THE VIDEO: