A Question About The Airforce Condors Safety Mechanism

[phoenixx84]

Ok ... So - this kindda stinks ... After waiting for a week, I finally get my (refurbished) .25 Condor from PA ... But, when I examined the gun - it seemed to have some issues with the safety mechanism!!!

In other words - the safety on the Condor doesn't seem robust ... It's jiggling and shaky and feels rather cheap ... I'm not sure if this is an issue with Condors in general or just the one I got ...
(Perhaps cause its a refurb?)

My primary fear/concern is that - especially since this is a powerhouse of the rifle - a faulty safety means this thing is going back to PA ... And since this is a refurb (and I dont see them having any more refurb .25s in stock) it might be a loooooooooooooooooooooooong while before I find another one at this price point!


So .... Given my (sob) story/background --- Any condor owners on here want to chime in and let me know their 2 cents on what they think ?

[bstaley]

AF Safeties are TERRIBLE.  MANY users have encountered a failure mode where simply releasing the safety causes the rifle to FIRE!  I would never rely on an AF Safety.  Most experienced AF users have removed the safety mechanism entirely.  The best safety procedure with an AF gun is to uncock the gun (by holding the bolt and pulling the trigger) until ready to fire.

Hopefully the new safety design will be better, but I'm not holding my breath.  Go over to the TAG forum if you want to read about all the AF Safety horror stories.

[Rescue35]

Never owned an Air Force rifle but if memory serves me, I believe that is a common issue and many people remove the safety entirely.

[chancers]

Yes, the AF safety not worthy.   My backyard coyotes would definitely hear me clicking off the safety. I removed mine. Go to the TAG forum for instructions.  Even a newbie like me was able to successfully remove it.

[Remo]

One thought to consider before removing the safety.  By opening the gun and doing so, you will likely void the AF lifetime warranty.

[cactusrat]

AF safeties are the pits and can be dangerous. On my first AF gun I put up with the worthless safety for a year before removing it.

On my second AF gun, I unboxed the gun and had it apart within five minutes of opening the box. Then I put the tank and scope on the gun.

As said before, the best thing to do is to de-cocked the gun by holding the bolt open, pull the trigger and let the bolt side back close while hold it firmly.

Also a plus side is that the gun can be loaded, de-cocked and sit for a long time without having tension on the spring.

[jimmie lee]

I wonder if this is a problem on just the Condors...my TalonP has had no issues with the safety whatsoever and has and does work fine.

[cactusrat]

I wonder if this is a problem on just the Condors...my TalonP has had no issues with the safety whatsoever and has and does work fine.

Both of my AF rifles are Talon SS. Never had a Condor. The safety might have worked on the second gun, I never tried it.

[Remo]

The safety issue that has been discussed at great length on the TAG extends to the Talon and TSS line as well.  For 2013 AF introduced a new trigger and safety mechanism.  Because of the redesign, no retrofit for existing rifles is available. 

[lastedtiger]

To be honest the safety of the condor looks really cheap .
i have 2 condors but never experienced that safety issue yet!I have read threads of people with Talon , Talon SS, Condor  with this issue on TAG forum , pretty scary to be honest. I always Take the safety off right before pulling the trigger , also do not decock or leave a pellet in the breech for security reasons.
No hard feelings: send it back to where it came from and simply wait for one without safety issue or add the difference for a brand new condor!!The condor is an awesome AG that never disappoints on accuracy, shoot per fill and power.

[linoww]

I take mine off while cocked before i close the bolt.

[JSubadya]

I have an AF Condor (Bounty Hunter) haha to be exact.  I think the safety is just jiggly. It's new and it has never failed me.

Do some torture testing on the gun with no loaded pellet of course. See if you can get it to fail. But if it bothers you get a marauder haha

[Ribbonstone]

Yes, it looks like an after thought, just a wiggly/jiggly bit of bent metal rod.
I've just learned to live with it.  If the safety actually works as intended (keeping the rifle from firing when "on", going off when pushed, and not haaving the rifle fire when pushing to off) will just continue to live with it.  Other option (as outlined on the TAG site) is to do away with it completely.

PArt of me wants to just do away with it; a safety that can't go from "off" to "on" is half a safety.  Bst seeing as it works on mine, doesn't make for accidental fires or miss fires, have just learned to live with it's wiggly-self.  Will admit, it's the worst design feature of an otherwise super simple PCP.

[Remo]

I've had issues with my TSS and the interaction of the safety/cocking cycle. AF repaired the rifle twice but the problem kept recurring.  The third time, they replaced the rifle and to this point it hasn't happened again.  Their lifetime warranty is great and to their credit they did try to resolve the problem, but having to go through all of that multiple times was a real pain.  I'm very disappointed that the new trigger/safety mechanism cannot be retrofit.  I'm now very attentive to  make sure that the gun is pointing in a safe direction upon releasing the safety so that if it does discharge , nobody will be injured.