So I just started into the PCP world about 5 months ago and bought an Airforce Texan LSS .50. Love the gun but wanted something a little more portable. I purchased a FX Impact M3. Are there any secrets or tricks I should know about this FX? I just got it yesterday and love the look and feel of it. I didn't get a chance to get it sighted in yet but plan to after work today. Any advice is greatly appreciated.
FX New to PCP
- Thread starter GaryA82
- Start date
YouTube is a great asset. I'm a big Ernest Rowe fan for FX tuning. Check him out on the forum search and youtube. There are a ton of other great tips and tricks from other members here but sometimes the pride overshadows the work with a few of them and it harder to learn from them when you're still new to tuning an impact. Same settings on two guns doesn't mean same results. I wish you the absolute best and welcome to the club of cool kids. You'll learn a lot here and you'll meet some of the best people here that are more than happy to offer their experiences as well.
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Thank you for the advice and best wishes. I've shot firearms and bows my entire life but this seemed like something a little different and fun!
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Tuning info is all over YouTube but there is a lot of good info here on the forum.
Tuning will be your best friend with any PCP, especially with an Impact.
Do not get frustrated learning it. Once you understand what it is you are actually doing, the process is fairly straight forward.
Tuning will be your best friend with any PCP, especially with an Impact.
Do not get frustrated learning it. Once you understand what it is you are actually doing, the process is fairly straight forward.
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Welcome aboard! If you're like most of us you'll find that the more you learn, the more there is to learn. That's one of the fun parts of the Rabbit Hole. The money hemorrhaging, not so much 
. Enjoy your new gun. Hope you master it soon.
. Enjoy your new gun. Hope you master it soon.Upvote 0
You might get reg creep eventually if you fiddle with the regulators the wrong way. I have an m3 as well in 22 and I went down the high power slug road and somewhat regret it. The quality of experience is not as good as it was stock. I've got the tensioned barrel, slug liner and tungsten hammer(for the big changes) . I think the tungsten hammer is coming out and that should bring it back to super enjoyable.
Don't adjust the power wheel while cocked, don't adjust regulator pressure downward while energized, don't chase the power dragon with 1000 fps slugs heavier than 30 grains in 22 and I think you'll have a wonderful experience. If it has a powerblock fine, if not it made zero appreciable difference for me having an early non power block m3 that I converted.
It was superb out of the box, and I couldn't leave well enough alone watching all the south African Infomercials on youtube.
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Wow thank you for the advice!! I will keep all of that in mind! I did have the superior slug liner 1/16 installed as well as the tungsten hammer and slug power kit. I do plan on mostly shooting slugs as I got this for pest control so hopefully I don't regret anything.
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I just bought that saber buttstock for mine. I like the idea of being able to get it dialed in for me.
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I don't know that you will, we may have different desires from the gun. I have too much hammer to shoot the 23 javelin slugs I have so many of and might have to move to 31 nsa that I've got. It's great by almost everybody's standards but I had it perfect at a lower tune and messed with it. It would shoot 3 projectiles with same hole accuracy within 100 yards before but didn't shoot heavier slugs well. It was the "magic" tune. Pwr1 for 18 jsb, pwr8 for 23 slugs or monster pellets, pwr16 for slower 31 nsa. Same trajectory for each +/- and chasing power ruined the unusual precision It previously had. The only bummer of the impact is the hammer change vs other models, at least to me. Otherwise I'm always messing with tunes and that is pretty easy.
I also want this gun to shoot 65-250 yards with squirrel headshots precision which is asking quite a bit I think. DO NOT LET ME MAKE YOU NERVOUS. By the standards we grew up with for air guns, the impact at its worst is lightyears better anyhow. I'm just being spoiled by fx potential and adjustability.
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Congrats on your new Impact, they can be a blast if you like to fidget. You might find the tungsten hammer weight too heavy when you start tuning. It has caused a lot of frustration for FX owners. We found 150-160Bar to be about the minimum setting the tungsten actually starts to balance out. If you find you dont have much fps control with the power wheel this is likely the cause, a way too heavy hammer strike.
Also when tuning for slugs you are naturally going to want to push the speeds higher and higher. FX says 160-170Bar is the highest setting for stock AMP regs, including the front reg. And you will want at least a 30Bar difference between both regs, with 40Bar giving you quicker follow up shots.
I have a fully built 25Cal MK2 Impact and run a single reg Huma HP at 150-155Bar to get Nielsen 34.9g at about ~1050fps with lots of room to go up. That will give you a loosey goosey range of expectations. My good friend has a similar M3 Impact running the tungsten hammer weight at about 160Bar single reg to push 44g HN Heavies at similar speeds.
But I would forget all that for now and get to know the Impact systems with pellets or light slugs first.
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And 1050 starts to bring in the wackiness im fighting with 150 bar and the tungsten hammer weight. Transonic flight, ocassionally supersonic noise (big problem for me) and the BC fluctuating due to this.... Messing up my fancy ballistics table referencing range finding/holdover solving optic. When I'm mad I refer to it as my 3k dollar miss machine
it's all solvable thankfully.Upvote 0
Another tip now that you have it at your disposal. You'll need a chronograph, but use your valve adjuster to get it as consistent as possible, don't just run it wide open unless that is the most consistent for your tune. It's a real treat to have when searching for air efficiency.
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The adjustable FX guns offer a lot of tunability. That’s very helpful. It’s also quite unhelpful at times because there are many variables to consider when trying to get to a different place. And although adjusting the regs is straightforward, when you get into hammer weight and such it’s not very practical to go from the very bottom to top end of power (or vice versa) very often.
So is this gun set up at a power level that works for you? If so I’d leave
So is this gun set up at a power level that works for you? If so I’d leave
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Once you understand how it works as a system it's not too bad. As you say tho, setting it up for 70 ft lbs and then trying to shoot 40 with it gets frustrating. I don't wanna scare the poor guy.
The gun is a system of systems and can be broken down as such to understand how it works. The harmonious balance of all systems is the goal and challenge.
The biggest challenge is to not get greedy and fiddle with a good tune for an effectively meaningless 40 fps or 10 more ft lbs when you're already way up there comparatively. These are hard lessons I've learned since the m3 was released.
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I did buy the fix chronograph but haven’t even opened it up. I just got it sighted in with jsb diablos.
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The pocket radar is super handy. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have. Won't do high velocity powder burner stuff, but it's so much more enjoyable than the sun shade optical type. The software makes tune notes a lot easier too.
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