First off I want to give a HUGE shout out and thank you to FX Airguns for supporting this deep dive testing into a topic of big bore airgun terminal performance and choosing the right ammo based on the game animal you are targeting.
As big game hunting grows and more states across the United States legalize big bore airgun hunting for Deer and other large game animals, I have been wanting to make this video for the last few years as we see more manufacturers start getting into big bore calibers .357 and higher.
I am going to make a bold statement and FPE is NOT everything you need to consider when targeting larger game animals. You 100% need to understand the terminal performance of your slugs and ammo. In layman's terms, what is that slug doing at the point of impact and into and hopefully THROUGH the game animal.
I've been testing the FX Impact .35 cal liners since they were released a few years ago and slinging pellets it has been wicked accurate. As a big bore airgun hunter though I have been waiting for the Superior Heavy slug liner to see how it performs on medium and with the right ammo selection, larger game animals.
FX Airguns has really perfected the art of barrel liner R&D and they absolutely NAILED the precision with this new slug liner. I have also had the FX Hybrid slugs in .35 for over a year now and testing them in a lot of my other .35 cal airguns seeing the insane amount of energy dumping they provide. But when I was able to finally test them in this new liner I was shocked about the pin point precision they provide.
A lot of airgunners are coming to the .357 caliber from smaller calibers of airguns. As you get up into these "big bore" sizes, that pin point slug on slug precision you expect in your .22 and .25 pellet puffers or slug slingers starts to get exponentially more difficult with heavier and higher caliber projectiles. But again, FX has figured out the secret sauce.
One of the innovative things they did in releasing these very LIGHT for caliber (low sectional density) hybrids slugs is not only does it allow you to sling them very fast around 1000 FPS and with the new PowerBlock and Tungsten Hammer around 1070 FPS, you are dumping a TON of energy in a VERY short amount of penetration.
The Hybrids are a perfect choice of ammo if you don't care about anything being left to salvage if you are hunting for meat with small game animals. It is the PERFECT pesting ammo for larger small game like Prairie Dogs and predator hunting. It dumps over 150 FPE turning into little flying discs of death.
But what got me into big bore airguns .357 and higher was the ability to take larger game like Deer. So I set out to test the effects of hollow points vs. solids in this energy level of big bore airgun. In the last 5 years I have harvested over 2 dozen deer with big bore airguns and have learned A TON about terminal performance of airgun slugs.
My #1 thing to pass on is penetration is KING and expansion is a extra feature if you have enough FPE to get through the important parts and out the back door. Two holes in your game animal will yield a higher probability of recovering that animal and you AT LEAST need to have enough penetration to get through both lungs from all shot angles that you might be taking.
This video is basically the visualization of these concepts and anyone wanting to use the FX Impact M3 .357 on larger game animals needs to watch this video and absorb the information fully for the most ethical hunt possible. Again, HUGE shout out to FX Airguns to work with me to bring you this important information.
