Titan Mohawk

Titan Mohawk (pics and review)  

With thanks to Tom.

He says:

Titan's second foray into the world of Single Stroke Pneumatics, the Mohawk came after the end of JB1 sales. With quality control and supply issues plaguing the JB1, Titan played it a lot safer with the Mohawk and used their range of PCP rifles to base a lot of the components on, streamlining production and reducing costs to boot. Gone are the fancy calibre swaps and pivoting barrel, in favour of a conventional breech and bolt layout that everyone is familiar with. Produced in .22 with a slightly scarcer .177 option available, the Mohawk sold in greater numbers than any “full power” SSP that had come before it.

The overall style of the Mohawk is the classic barrel over cylinder design seen in the majority of PCPs, again owing to its parts lineage. The right hand side is dominated by the long charging lever, which is finished with a nice rubber end cap, very tactile compared to any metal lever. At the front of the cylinder, two stickers are located. On the non pump side a standard Titan logo, and just above the pump arm, a row of “power” markings, enabling you to track how wide the lever is opened by viewing the pistons travel inside the compression chamber.

Back at the shooters end of the action, a slim single shot steel breech hugs the top of the cylinder, and sports the dovetail rails cut in along the top. As with all Titan rifles, the barrels are very slim, and on every Mohawk I’ve seen are of good quality. This runs all the way to the front of the cylinder and is clean crowned, therefore to run a moderator you will need to fit a threaded adapter. The example in the photos is fitted with factory brass parts, so while these are all Titan components, I’m unsure whether they were offered as an option on the Mohawk at sale.

The Mohawk was offered in either beech or walnut in a sporting stock design. The overall look was very typical of a basic sporting design, especially in the beech option, with a fixed comb and butt in both. The walnut option in my opinion is the nicer shape, and while both feature very slim fore ends that do a good job of making the rifle feel smaller than it actually is, the cheek shape and style in the walnut stocks just feels and looks nicer to me. I have seen walnut thumbhole stocked Mohawks in the past (albeit only one or two), so can’t offer much information on those unfortunately, although I have heard that they could have been leftover from JB1 stock and simply modified to suit the Mohawks more tubular lever.

With action and stock together, handling is very nice, and really not too disimilar to a PreCharged rifle of the same size. The lever is not really noticeable on the Mohawk when in the shoulder, so doesn’t tend to pull the rifle away from the centreline, as can be an issue with heavier or solid levers. Overall weight is well managed, and I could easily see this rifle being carried or “slung” around a field all day. The slender forend brings to mind my old Mk3 S200 and really does feel small in the leading hand. This isn’t a monster gun like the Genesis or Dragon FT!

The Titan is a simple rifle in use, and in this scenario it’s a good thing! The valve can actually be set before the lever is fully open, as air is drawn in at the end of the stroke. This means a lot less faffing and fumbling around near the breech with a fully swing out lever! But I digress, on to the firing cycle!

To prime the rifle, the lever is unlatched and moved away from the body. At this point or at the end of the lever stroke the hammer is set, allowing the valve to close off the compression chamber. Those familiar with Titan rifles will instantly be at home with the small knurled “bolt” sticking out of the cylinder side, which when pulled back until an audible ‘click’ is heard, sets the hammer in the cocked position.

The lever, much like the JB1 before it, is on a simple linkage which necessitates a huge throw arc of nearly 180 degrees. If done or used incorrectly you would need very long arms to swing through the full arc, but with proper technique is easily managed. I like to drop the rifle body lower using my foreword hand, bringing the pivot point lower and meaning my lever hand doesn’t have to reach so high. The first 75% of the stroke is also rather easy, so your hand can start low and slide up the lever as it closes to use more leverage. Pressure builds towards the end just like every SSP as physics generally speaking can’t be argued with, and a firm grip towards the end helps snap the lever closed. The rubber end cap is sprung and latches on to a locking pin sticking out from the cylinder preventing the lever from opening off its own accord, be careful not to trap fingers in here!

With the lever locked down, the bolt can be pulled back to load a pellet in to the breech. The bolt doesn’t act on any other mechanism, as the valve was set earlier and independently, so moves very freely and lightly. The bolt handle is very small which whilst not great for fat or gloved fingers, makes sense when it’s proximity to the lever is considered. There is no safety on the Mohawk, so once the bolt is driven home the rifle is live and ready go!

Accuracy is good, and FPS is very consistent as with all good SSPs. The barrel certainly doesn’t disappoint, and even without pellet testing I managed to achieve incredibly respectable groups out to 45yard. A little more patience and I’m sure I could tighten these up even further to a nice one hole grouping. The photo below shows a group shot from a bench in .177 with FTT straight from the tin...

Titan ended production of the Mohawk in the mid 90s as PCP rifles continued their rise in popularity and accessibility. There was in fact a multi-pump version of the Mohawk that offered 12fpe in two strokes courtesy of a small no-return valve assembly just forward of the SSP versions usual valve. An FAC version was also offered which required multiple strokes to hit higher powers. Neither of these seem as prolific as the single stroke version, but especially the sub-12 multipump can be found if you look hard enough!

When Titan folded, Daystate purchased the spare parts and assemblies from the sub-12 multipump version, and with the addition of a Daystate breech block and a few other components, the Sportsman Mk2 was born. A nice rifle, although this didn’t stop the Sportsman going the way of the SSPs before it and being consigned to history all too soon.

Price wise used SSP Mohawks vary wildly, I’ve seen beech stock models anyway in the £250 to £350 range, with walnut stock versions usually commanding extra. Look out for the original Titan sticker on the front of the compression tube, and the original graduation marks as shown earlier if you are looking for originality.

The Mohawk is definitely the rifle I’d recommend to anyone wanting a taste of full power SSP shooting, thanks to their simple actions and ease of servicing. They aren’t a nightmare to work on like some and the prospect of spares, while scarce, thankfully falls outside of the realms of impossible. If you drop on you might even get one that has passed through the legendary hands of Mr Bowkett himself, as he used to service and modify Mohawks after Titan ceased trading.