Taipan Owners - Who wants a forward cocking side lever and nicer stock?

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Agree, kinda like the unsung heroes of the airgun world, along with Cricket and Vulcan - AGT. You almost never hear of reliability or other type problems with any of these guns. The only thing I've heard the past couple of years was the reg. creep problem with the new Uragan. They all just plain shoot, accurately and reliably. I had my Cricket mini Carbine in the safe for SIX months after EBR. I pulled it out two months ago, did not dry fire even one shot. It still had about 210 bar pressure which is about where I left it. It shot at 880 to 885 FPS in October at EBR for the Speed Silo. My very first shot over the chrony was 881 FPS. Amazing...
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Very comparable experience here. With the BSA Gold Star review, and then the Red Wolf review, my Veteran (.22 shorty) sat unshot for 8 or 10 weeks. After concluding my work with the Red Wolf some time last week, I got the Veteran out and made a trip through some of the areas where land owners have given me permission to keep pest numbers knocked back. Same POI as it's always been. No issues, killed some critters. 

I think I've got 11 or 12 tins of pellets through that Vet. Never done anything to it but shoot it. Hasn't needed so much as a barrel oring. I think I've pulled some patches through the barrel 3 or 4 times, just cuz, not because it needed it. Hasn't ever needed JB bore paste. Hasn't ever needed any trigger adjustments. I finally pulled the action out of the stock and put a little picatinny rail under the forearm 6 or 8 months ago. 

First shot after sitting will be low fps (reg creep?) I know that it does it so I blow off that first shot when I first get the gun out and then I'm good. 

Unpretentious little high performing airguns.
 
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All - thanks for the input.

Matt - very thorough review and this was a bit of an eye opener also for me. I like the way you explained the features and your experience. 

Stubbornly, and with all due respect, I hope they also move the side lever forward, and at least consider stock design ergonomics to address some of the ‘boxy and bulky’ concerns noted by others. Also, some lefties want their left finger near the trigger as they cycle with right hand. So moving the cocking lever to the other side wouldn’t help me. Many lefties actually prefer to cycle with their right hand. 

Intenseaty mentioned Taipan may announce something presumably late 2020 or early 2021 and hopefully they address some of what was described in this post. 
 
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All - thanks for the input.

Matt - very thorough review and this was a bit of an eye opener also for me. I like the way you explained the features and your experience. 

Stubbornly, and with all due respect, I hope they also move the side lever forward, and at least consider stock design ergonomics to address some of the ‘boxy and bulky’ concerns noted by others. Also, some lefties want their left finger near the trigger as they cycle with right hand. So moving the cocking lever to the other side wouldn’t help me. Many lefties actually prefer to cycle with their right hand. 

Intenseaty mentioned Taipan may announce something presumably late 2020 or early 2021 and hopefully they address some of what was described in this post.
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NP Tommy

If Taipan does come out with a forward lever I bet it'll be the slickest one out there.

Can't wait to see what they come up with next 👀

Matt
 
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Just a comment on the "boxy and bulky " stock. The barrelled action is short and top heavy. A more traditional sporter style stock would offer less control over an already difficult to control rifle. The folks who designed this had field shooting in mind, in which you have to control the rifle with your hold, not on a bench rest. I'm no bull pup expert, not even much of a fan, but I appreciate this rifle a lot. IMO, a more aesthetically appealing stock would be more difficult to shoot. 
 
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Yep, the rear cocking kept me away regardless of ease of cocking. Not sure of the weight compared to the FX Impact I chose. I love the butter smooth forward cocking of the Impact, and the adjustability overall has mine fitting like a glove for me. Still would like to see improvements to the Taipan to address the rear cocking most don't want nowadays. No hint just yet, but am waiting for FX to come out with at least a semi-auto version. Seems to be the new trend, like it or not.


 
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I wouldn't change a thing. 



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I consider myself very fortunate to have 2 PCP for hunting purposes. First gun I purchased was AGT- Vulcan (06/2016), it in .25 and shoots the same now as it did after the first tin through it. I’m a squirrel hunter and had lots of success in natural woods I hunt with the Vulcan. However sometimes I may stalk hunt an area large enough to walk 1 or 2 miles in a days hunt, and I found the Vulcan a little too heavy. Since I appreciated my Vulcan so much, when the next Eastern Block producer came out with the Taipan Veteran, I jumped. I purchased the Taipan Vet in .22, the compact (or shorty), purchased 06/ 2018. Never a minutes trouble with it either. Regarding the stock I agree that as the gun is designed for field / woods use with a design that some consider bulky, (understand that the accusers mostly have never actually handled or used the gun for its designed purpose just have seen pictures). The perceived bulkiness, in case of my shorty, keeps the bull pup from being jumpy when you take a shot, which aids in accuracy of the rifle. Cocking lever is no problem as you get use to it and follow shots are rare when I do my part.
 
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Here is a both sides view of my left hand side lever Taipan Mutant .22. It has a walnut factory style stock custom made by Michal Osyda in Poland. It has a Papy_Yosh biathlon side lever, and lefty cheek rest and magazine holder. The 3D printed cheek rest makes cold metal cheek welds a thing of the past. 99% of guys who don't like the shape of a Taipan factory stock are going by photos. Hold a Taipan stock and use it then you will appreciate it. Looks bad, feels good! I wouldn't change a thing about the stock shape. If the factory laminate option had been available I wouldn't have had the urge to order a walnut stock. Now I wouldn't trade this stock for a laminated one. The beech wood and less than stellar finishes of the early Taipan stocks was the only negative to a fine bullpup design. The only minor adjustments made were reversing the side lever to lefty and adjusting the hammer spring tension for desired velocity. Nothing else to adjust, repair, or complain about. The trigger is perfect and the best in the PCP world, bar none. The biathlon side lever makes the rear cocking position much less of an issue. One other point not mentioned is the simple and easy to load magazine design. None of the spring winding, reverse pellet loading, and misaligned pellet feeding of other brands' magazines. And most important of all is Taipans are laser accurate AND mouse fart quiet with the factory shroud design. I've added an LDC adapter to the shroud and with a DonnyFL attaches all you hear is click then the pellet hitting the target. If I sound like a fanboy it's because I am. Taipans are the best value in bullpups, IMHO.

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I think the importance of the location of the cocking lever is maybe generally a bit over stated. One becomes acclimated to the rifle's platform. And for bench shooting, it can be most anything. One scenario I see in which it might make a practical difference, is for hunting for a lefty. Right handed, I take the majority of my shots in the woods using a tree for support, shooting from the left side of the tree. If I need to take a second shot, my left hand is under the forend supporting the rifle as I cock it. If a lefty is shooting from the right side of the tree, he has to do more shifting around to support the rifle and cock it. That said, I have left handed friends who have squirrel hunted for years using a right hand bolt action rifle, which offers the same challenge. Back to the Veteran, it is a rifle with which I am very favorably impressed, although it is my only BP, and will likely always hold that place, as I'm not generally a BP fan. The designers had the forward cocking design as an option from the beginning, as others had used it. Given my impression of their precision expertise in other areas of the rifle's design, I don't believe they chose the rear cocking feature by accident, but rather after considering the pros and cons of having it forward. I have no inside information and could be wrong, but it's just too solid in design for this basic feature to have escaped consideration.
 
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I still think that to this day, way too many people don't get the original 'bullpup' 
vs. what bullpups 'should be' now a days..

Back then, they were simply a regular long-rifle action/barrel 
thrown into a smaller stock, placed farther back, then a linkage was used to relocate the trigger farther forward.. 

Using the K.I.S.S. method, that worked. Not always great - as the link bar would usually bend/flex/etc. 
but, it'd work.

That took care of the trigger placement. But, they kept the cocking method the same..

Fast forward.. Airgun manufacturers jumped on the bullpup bandwagon - Finally! [I love pups. Over 20 yrs w/ them]

They pretty much all used the same approach.. Kept the cocking levers to the back of the actions, 
and put more time and effort into different designs for their trigger extensions/linkages..

Again, cool.. this worked, but, they didn't address the annoying cocking method..

It wasn't until' a few companies stepped up, and designed things from the ground up. 
They used common sense, ergonomics, and ease of use. KUDOS!

The others - well - as nice as some of them are - Just didn't go the distance they should have.. 

I've had a bunch of rear cocking pups w/ the levers on the right hand side.. 
While it's annoying, they're still easy to use - shooting right handed.. [even though I'm a lefty]
I'll shoot right-handed, then when cocking, I just reach up and over w/ my left hand 
to actuate the lever.. It's amazingly easy w/ the Crickets and Taipans! 

Shooting right handed with a mid positioned left aide lever just rocks.. 
Pull the trigger w/ right hand, Left hand is up front, can hit the lever and go..

Right handed shooters that swap Rear lever to the left side doesn't make sense..
Or vise versa..

I can gripe about the Impact also.. Great positioning - wrong side.. 
Or more to the point - Unable to swap the lever side w/ OEM parts. 
1st thing I ordered was a Sabre Tactical Ambidextrious Cocking Block to swap the lever to the left.. 
PERFECT. I can rattle off shots like crazy now w/o removing the rifle from my shoulder..

Back to that..

With rear cocking and the rifle shouldered.. Try cocking it w/ the opposite hand the lever is on.. 
Now do the same w/ the same hand the lever is on.. You'll see what I mean.
Different on the bench, and different for people that sit up / take hands off - in between shots..

Sorry: Manic + Insomnia = Fried Brain. 🤪 Hopefully, I'm making sense..

CHECK THIS OUT THOUGH! It's a forward cocking conversion for the P15 
They're a simple bbl mounted slider w/ a linkage and mount.. 
People that are using them Love them. I was going to make one, but never got around to it.. 
They might even work on the Taipans.. *Shrug* 

https://www.tech23.de/tech23-de/english-shop/front-cocking-lever-system-for-diana-skyhawk-gsg-p15-spa-p15-artemis-p15/ 

🥴👍 

Sam -
 
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Left, right, rear huh?

EdGun Matador and Lelya had dual cocking arms mounted forward. Granted, about the only other BP I'd consider is the Matador; would be a perfect companion for my Lelya. I'm not sure why manufacturers don't skip biathlon-style sidelevers and move to charging-bolt handles. Less moving parts, less of a lever-arm sticking out when cocking.
 
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