Airforce Air Force Condor review, a case report in how "utilitarian" can be a positive.
- Thread starter Franklink
- Start date
Yes most are in stock
I ordered there 9l moderator 1/2-20 too for $70.00....Be here next week hopefully
Upvote 0
I've mostly shot this gun at 100 yards, just plinking and having fun. And that's really not the distance to be assessing accuracy.....wind effects muddy the waters substantially at that distance, especially with pellets.
So this evening I had a trap out at 30 yards for practicing with a different gun for an upcoming sub20fpe field target match, and decided to shoot a ten shot group from the Condor to see what it can do. Just shot this one group so it's not the cherry picked best of a bunch of groups...
30 yards, .20/15.89 @ 930ish fps. And, as always, there was wind...I'd guess 10-15mph.
10 shot group, and just a bit under 1/2", center to center. It's not centered b/c I just held dead center for all ten and looks like I need to adjust the turrets a couple clicks, but not too shabby for any price point, and even more impressive when one considers the price point.
So this evening I had a trap out at 30 yards for practicing with a different gun for an upcoming sub20fpe field target match, and decided to shoot a ten shot group from the Condor to see what it can do. Just shot this one group so it's not the cherry picked best of a bunch of groups...
30 yards, .20/15.89 @ 930ish fps. And, as always, there was wind...I'd guess 10-15mph.
10 shot group, and just a bit under 1/2", center to center. It's not centered b/c I just held dead center for all ten and looks like I need to adjust the turrets a couple clicks, but not too shabby for any price point, and even more impressive when one considers the price point.
Upvote 0
Had about 20 minutes after dinner....
Decided on some 55ish yard groups. Neighbors horse was along the fence line by my permanent yardage markers so had to place the trap in the middle of the field and guestimate. Lasered it after I was done shooting and it was only 49 yards, I though I was closer to 55 but such is life.
This is the simple setup...yep, kid junk in the periphery.
Scope view after I was done shooting.....
Lasered yardage...
And no magnification...you can see a wind flag (survey tape) being moved a bit by the left to right wind, really not much of a factor for 50 yards groups where th a BC this high).
The bottom left is the same 10 shot, 30 yard group I shared a couple days ago. Top left was sighters before I started taking shots that "counted". Then I shot them in the order that they're numbered. Shots were hitting low so refilled and swapped paper and shot one more ten shot group (white paper).
Can't blame much on the wind cuz it was negligible. Can blame the shooter though! Condor is a light gun, I'd guess it's a couple pounds lighter than any of my target setups. And it's got a bare bones 20x simple scope on there, also NOT contributing to its weight. So it's a light gun. The two better groups were when I was really focusing on not putting any pressure anywhere, so maybe there is something to the "frame flex" that we always hear about with the Air Force guns. The two groups where I was really concentrating were 0.65" and 0.47".
Overall, those 5, 10 shot groups at 49 yards average 0.855." Sure can't complain about that.
Oh yeah, this is .20/15.89s at an average of 930fps (same "tune" as the graphed out shot string a couple posts back).
It's not an easy gun with which to shoot tight groups like that, but it is certainly capable of doing such. It's a sporter, not a target gun. Long, slender, and light. If I was asked to shoot tight groups on demand I'd be reaching for a Veteran or a Ghost before the Condor. The fact that the Condor CAN shoot like that is pretty dang cool though.
Of the five, 10 shot groups, the only one bigger than an inch was when I was below the refill pressure. The other four, shot from within the correct pressure window, were all under an inch.
Decided on some 55ish yard groups. Neighbors horse was along the fence line by my permanent yardage markers so had to place the trap in the middle of the field and guestimate. Lasered it after I was done shooting and it was only 49 yards, I though I was closer to 55 but such is life.
This is the simple setup...yep, kid junk in the periphery.
Scope view after I was done shooting.....
Lasered yardage...
And no magnification...you can see a wind flag (survey tape) being moved a bit by the left to right wind, really not much of a factor for 50 yards groups where th a BC this high).
The bottom left is the same 10 shot, 30 yard group I shared a couple days ago. Top left was sighters before I started taking shots that "counted". Then I shot them in the order that they're numbered. Shots were hitting low so refilled and swapped paper and shot one more ten shot group (white paper).
Can't blame much on the wind cuz it was negligible. Can blame the shooter though! Condor is a light gun, I'd guess it's a couple pounds lighter than any of my target setups. And it's got a bare bones 20x simple scope on there, also NOT contributing to its weight. So it's a light gun. The two better groups were when I was really focusing on not putting any pressure anywhere, so maybe there is something to the "frame flex" that we always hear about with the Air Force guns. The two groups where I was really concentrating were 0.65" and 0.47".
Overall, those 5, 10 shot groups at 49 yards average 0.855." Sure can't complain about that.
Oh yeah, this is .20/15.89s at an average of 930fps (same "tune" as the graphed out shot string a couple posts back).
It's not an easy gun with which to shoot tight groups like that, but it is certainly capable of doing such. It's a sporter, not a target gun. Long, slender, and light. If I was asked to shoot tight groups on demand I'd be reaching for a Veteran or a Ghost before the Condor. The fact that the Condor CAN shoot like that is pretty dang cool though.
Of the five, 10 shot groups, the only one bigger than an inch was when I was below the refill pressure. The other four, shot from within the correct pressure window, were all under an inch.
Upvote 0
Minor upgrade to the 1/2x20 moderator adaptor....
With the prior adaptor there wasnt enough barrel engagement to make me feel good about keeping the long moderator aligned with the bore. The ID was also a bit bigger than I like to see.
The new one has more barrel engagement, better sized ID, and matches the rest of the gun better.
$25 shipped, from eBay.
New one....
Old one...
With the prior adaptor there wasnt enough barrel engagement to make me feel good about keeping the long moderator aligned with the bore. The ID was also a bit bigger than I like to see.
The new one has more barrel engagement, better sized ID, and matches the rest of the gun better.
$25 shipped, from eBay.
New one....
Old one...
Upvote 0
Been shooting the Condor a fair amount in the last week or so...
Mounted a PARD and am having a ball shooting prairie dogs. In case you missed it....
www.airgunnation.com
Those two short videos are all with .20/15.89 JSB pellets at 920-950fps. Today I spent a bit of time with the gun and some of the .20/18.9 NSA slugs. And here's how that went....
The same settings that net 40ish shots from 1800-1400psi, pushing the .20/15.89 to 920-950, are pushing the .20/18.9 to 850fps. With that knowledge, I added another profile to the PARD scope and worked through some dope. A neat feature of the PARD is that it allows various profiles, and within each of those profiles a guy can zero for a particular projectile or speed, and also plug in the ballistic info so that the built-in holdover calculator is accurate to that projectile and speed.
So now I've got a profile for the .20/15.89 pellets, and a profile for the .20/18.9gr slugs, with corresponding ballistic programs, attached to each profile. What this means is that I can switch from pellet to slug, as the specific shot and conditions warrant, without needing to rezero or change any of the guns adjustments.
During the shooting today I refined the pellet profile a bit, and tweaked the parameters in both of the ballistic profiles (pellet and slug) to match up at 30, 55, 100, and 130 yards.
I found that the BC of the .20/15.89 is a bit lower than the norm, needing to be 0.046. I'm fairly certain this is because these pellets really prefer to be moving in the 910-920fps range. In that 910-920fps window they have produced a BC of 0.048 for me, across lots and lots of tins of pellets, and a couple different guns, and over a couple years.
And I also needed to bring the BC of the .20/18.9 slugs down a bit lower than the peak of what theyre capable of. Also from shooting lots and lots of these slugs, they produce a BC of 0.09 at both 870-880 fps and again at 905-915fps. A good friend cites 0.1 as a BC when they're going around 930fps. From the Condor @ 850fps, I needed to input a BC of 0.080 for the computer predicted trajectory to match up to actual trajectory.
Here are 2 x 3 shot groups with the slugs @ 55 yards....
And @ 1 x 8 shot group at 100, also with the slugs....(Stopped at 8 because I got to that refill point of 1400psi mark on the gauge and expected the next couple shots to be low in fps)
The cool thing about the 100 yard group is the vertical of about 0.75" The horizontal is about 1.75", and I had a pretty stiff crss wind stretching it so that was to be expected. Not the type of accuracy I'm going to complain about! (And yes it's a bit lower than desired impact point, this and some more shots is why I lowered the BC a bit in the program) .
So, I'll likely get some more pesting footage, now with slugs too. I'm enjoying making the videos much more than I suspect any one is enjoying watching them. But I'm having fun and that's what matters.
As for the Condor in general.....the dang thing has surprised me in just about every way. It's accurate. It's got a pretty decent trigger. It's nearly silent with the moderator I'm running. It's fun to shoot. And it's very sippy on the air, especially with only needing to be filled to 1800psi. And now in combo with the PARD with the built in rangefinder and ballistics app, well, it has made itself a niche amongst my airguns.
I'm sure some of the excitement and enjoyment is just cuz it's new to me but, bout the only thing I can fault it for is the length. The "Condor" name sure fits, black and a huge wingspan.
I've certainly got more refined airguns, and that refinement comes at a literal cost $$$. There's sure something to be said about simplifying though, and just enjoying a tool that does it's intended use quite well. There are certainly no embellishments or excess features with the Air Force utility line, but this one does what it's supposed to (be relied upon to put a projectile where I want it to go) and it's quite enjoyable to use while it's doing that.
I'm a fan.
Mounted a PARD and am having a ball shooting prairie dogs. In case you missed it....
.20 Condor pesting video (s)
I've been playing with a Condor since late July, just couldnt resist their 4th of July sale. https://www.airgunnation.com/threads/air-force-condor-review-a-case-report-in-how-utilitarian-can-be-a-positive.1316178/page-2 Late yesterday evening I decided to put the PARD on it to see how it would...
www.airgunnation.com Those two short videos are all with .20/15.89 JSB pellets at 920-950fps. Today I spent a bit of time with the gun and some of the .20/18.9 NSA slugs. And here's how that went....
The same settings that net 40ish shots from 1800-1400psi, pushing the .20/15.89 to 920-950, are pushing the .20/18.9 to 850fps. With that knowledge, I added another profile to the PARD scope and worked through some dope. A neat feature of the PARD is that it allows various profiles, and within each of those profiles a guy can zero for a particular projectile or speed, and also plug in the ballistic info so that the built-in holdover calculator is accurate to that projectile and speed.
So now I've got a profile for the .20/15.89 pellets, and a profile for the .20/18.9gr slugs, with corresponding ballistic programs, attached to each profile. What this means is that I can switch from pellet to slug, as the specific shot and conditions warrant, without needing to rezero or change any of the guns adjustments.
During the shooting today I refined the pellet profile a bit, and tweaked the parameters in both of the ballistic profiles (pellet and slug) to match up at 30, 55, 100, and 130 yards.
I found that the BC of the .20/15.89 is a bit lower than the norm, needing to be 0.046. I'm fairly certain this is because these pellets really prefer to be moving in the 910-920fps range. In that 910-920fps window they have produced a BC of 0.048 for me, across lots and lots of tins of pellets, and a couple different guns, and over a couple years.
And I also needed to bring the BC of the .20/18.9 slugs down a bit lower than the peak of what theyre capable of. Also from shooting lots and lots of these slugs, they produce a BC of 0.09 at both 870-880 fps and again at 905-915fps. A good friend cites 0.1 as a BC when they're going around 930fps. From the Condor @ 850fps, I needed to input a BC of 0.080 for the computer predicted trajectory to match up to actual trajectory.
Here are 2 x 3 shot groups with the slugs @ 55 yards....
And @ 1 x 8 shot group at 100, also with the slugs....(Stopped at 8 because I got to that refill point of 1400psi mark on the gauge and expected the next couple shots to be low in fps)
The cool thing about the 100 yard group is the vertical of about 0.75" The horizontal is about 1.75", and I had a pretty stiff crss wind stretching it so that was to be expected. Not the type of accuracy I'm going to complain about! (And yes it's a bit lower than desired impact point, this and some more shots is why I lowered the BC a bit in the program) .
So, I'll likely get some more pesting footage, now with slugs too. I'm enjoying making the videos much more than I suspect any one is enjoying watching them. But I'm having fun and that's what matters.
As for the Condor in general.....the dang thing has surprised me in just about every way. It's accurate. It's got a pretty decent trigger. It's nearly silent with the moderator I'm running. It's fun to shoot. And it's very sippy on the air, especially with only needing to be filled to 1800psi. And now in combo with the PARD with the built in rangefinder and ballistics app, well, it has made itself a niche amongst my airguns.
I'm sure some of the excitement and enjoyment is just cuz it's new to me but, bout the only thing I can fault it for is the length. The "Condor" name sure fits, black and a huge wingspan.
I've certainly got more refined airguns, and that refinement comes at a literal cost $$$. There's sure something to be said about simplifying though, and just enjoying a tool that does it's intended use quite well. There are certainly no embellishments or excess features with the Air Force utility line, but this one does what it's supposed to (be relied upon to put a projectile where I want it to go) and it's quite enjoyable to use while it's doing that.
I'm a fan.
Upvote 0
I'm still enjoying the Condor quite a bit.
Made another video, in case anybody missed it in the hunting section. This one is with slugs.
Something like 50ish pdogs in 6minutes.
Also have had a couple plinking sessions and really like how easy it is to load with the left hand, staying on the gun/scope with the right hand.
And this past weekend I busted out my old Hill MK3 hand pump, just out of curiosity. It took 93 strokes to take it from just a hair over 1400psi to the 1800psi fill pressure that Ive been using for the Condor. Figure 40 shots per fill and it's about two strokes per shot, each shot around 30fpe. Not too bad. And anybody who has used a hand pump knows that 1400-1800psi ain't too bad, nothing like trying to pump up a regulated gun to the typical 250bar/3600psi.
Made another video, in case anybody missed it in the hunting section. This one is with slugs.
Something like 50ish pdogs in 6minutes.
Also have had a couple plinking sessions and really like how easy it is to load with the left hand, staying on the gun/scope with the right hand.
And this past weekend I busted out my old Hill MK3 hand pump, just out of curiosity. It took 93 strokes to take it from just a hair over 1400psi to the 1800psi fill pressure that Ive been using for the Condor. Figure 40 shots per fill and it's about two strokes per shot, each shot around 30fpe. Not too bad. And anybody who has used a hand pump knows that 1400-1800psi ain't too bad, nothing like trying to pump up a regulated gun to the typical 250bar/3600psi.
Upvote 0