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The TS-45 Chinese Air Rifle
By Jim Henry
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The TS-45 Elite is a side-lever cocking spring piston air rifle and in my opinion is the best of the Chinese air rifles currently available. The TS-45 has much of the power and accuracy of the European spring-piston rifles at a fraction of the price. The workmanship, though good, cannot compare to the British and German rifles.
The action and barrel are blued steel. The rifle's sights consist of a hooded post up front, with a sliding ramp rear sight which is adjustable for elevation only. Windage may be adjusted only by moving the front post. There are no scope rails on the `45 but a neat after-market scope mount which mounts on the rear sight is available. The rolled steel trigger is adequate, but non-adjustable. The heavily varnished hardwood stock features a black plastic butt pad and pistol grip cap. Rubbing the stock down with some 0000 steel wool will greatly improve the appearance and turn your TS-45 into an attractive rifle.
To cock the rifle one depresses a tab which releases the 110 degrees to have the piston engage the sear. This action also opens the breach for pellet insertion. After loading this action is reversed to close the breech and lock the lever. Cocking is surprisingly easy for a rifle of this power level. There is no trigger safety so extra care should be taken once the gun is cocked. Firing action is fairly pleasant, but some recoil is certainly noticeable. This could probably be improved through inletting the stock for a better than factory fit, which leaves plenty of room for said improvement.
Discharge sound is quite loud for a spring piston gun in this power range, but much noticeably quieter in TS-45`s that I have tuned up. The importer claims a muzzle velocity of 800 feet per second for these .177 caliber rifles, and like every other type of airgun I have clocked, this figure may be considered somewhat optimistic. When comparing any manufacturer`s claimed muzzle velocity for a particular airgun, one must first realize they were obtained with the lightest possible pellet available, and then consider them to be occasional higher velocity shots, not average velocity. At least that has been my experience with several different makes and models.
A better measure of power is muzzle energy in foot pounds. I have sold close to a hundred TS-45`s and I find them to put out about 8 foot-pounds of muzzle energy, spitting out light weight pellets at over 700 fps, but certainly not over 800. I am currently starting to accumulate data on a few that I have tuned up, and as their owners accumulate miles on them, I will have a better picture on power levels after sufficient break-in. It appears that after 500 rounds accuracy improves greatly as velocity becomes much more consistent. At 30 feet, 5 round groups of 0.25 inches seem to be the norm. Data is still incomplete beyond this point.
With this level of power and accuracy, the TS-45 is adequate for most vermin and pest control use out to 30 yards. In conclusion, The TS-45 makes for an excellent entry level ADULT air rifle, and represents excellent value for money. I have about a dozen different air rifles in my collection, most of them costing several times the price of the TS-45, yet it is one of my most fun to shoot rifles. I also use them to introduce others to the sport. Lending one to a fried often creates a new airgunner. I highly recommend the TS-45 as an inexpensive way to get into adult airgunning, or as an excellent back-up to keep in the trunk of the car for whenever opportunities may arise to get in a few extra rounds or to introduce another to the sport!
Note: The TS-45 has been upgraded to the newer TechForce 41.
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