FX FX Airgun or NOT

Abiding by your directives of having a mostly plinking / target gun. I'd suggest more towards the EU stuff. AGT , Taipan 1&2, Kalibregun, Airmaks. These guns perform quite well and are known for robust builds and generally easier with maintainance and repair. Some of these models have nice weight lending to nice bench rest shooting without having to add weights that a lot of FX shooters use in these tournaments. Most of these guns have definite top quality feel and you can get pre owned on the forum in the 900-1500 dollar range.
But if your heart is sold on FX, try the wildcat 3 or maverick.

I’ve never understood the FX hate. I’ve had 5 of them (2x Dreamlines, Wildcat, Impact, and Panthera), and 4 of those were quickly given a permanent place in the rotation. A rare feat for any airguns that make it onto my shooting bench. The only one I parted with, I did so only because it had too much power for my needs and was sitting unused.

Don’t let people’s keyboards sour you on FX. Give them a try for yourself. There’s a reason they are so popular.

Motorhead said:

If only that easy as your absolutely fooling yourself that these winning rifles are out of the box stock !! Not fiddled with and tweaked to get where there shooting come match time.
Those who have a deep understanding in mechanics see this a different way ... in that stacking multitudes of different sub assemblies, individual screw on parts & pieces making a LEGO creation compounds the care & service & consistency exponentially !!!

We're not haters ( Which is a strong word to use ) but more seeing what others ignore or simply don't care about. The bling of the designs FX uses and there street smart sales tactics absolutely sells guns and those who buy them mostly defend there purchase decision.
A more interesting and perhaps heated conversation & THREAD, might just be the more enlightening topic: Those that purchased FX products and no longer own them or would not purchase one again & the WHY ?

A Civil conversation & Viewpoint

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My decisions to buy my four fx guns where the best I've made,any one of them is sub moa. They come that way cause they are fx guns.

Firewalker said:

I have an FX Maverick Sniper, I bought it used and it's been rock solid from the day I got it, no leaks and POI has been fine.

I have several 700mm liners/barrels for this gun, .22 through .30 and each one takes an immense amount of tinkering to tune properly.

I've never gotten the .25 system (slug kit, slug barrel/liner etc.) to be consistent and I've read several hundred accounts of the .25 not being able to slug it out at long distances.

Once I converted it to .30, I've had nothing but good luck with accurate and precise shots.

The issue now is that being stable and rigid with all the attachments it takes to make a good shooter, it's much too heavy (#13) to hunt with.

Because I like .25 so much, I had to find another gun that would do 1 MOA at 100y plus, shoot slugs well and be light enough to carry while hunting.

I took a step back and bought a well used (basket case) M60B and it's got much better precision than the Maverick.

Your choice but you may be paying a grand for a name and not performance.

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I don't understand you difficult with 25 caliber. Any of my fx guns will shoot 25 caliber pellets or slugs very well. Even my crown will cut a rugged hole at 100 yards with the hybrids. I'm not familiar with 25 caliber not being accurate. My panthera in 25 caliber will shoot little dime size five shot groups with the altaros 49.5 grain slug. It's never taken more than the turn of the power wheel to find a setting that shoots a certain weight projectile very well. Less than a mag.

I wish we could move past the "FX Hate" stuff. Just because a person does not prefer FX as a brand does not mean they HATE them. I've personally had both excellent and terrible experience with FX. But I could say the same about Daystate. I would probably not own another FX but that's just a preference - no hate - they just don't really favor lefty shooters in there design. (And I know someone will reply and say I'm a lefty and I shoot FX just fine - that's great for you - but the shooting position compromises required make it feel awkward for me).

ctshooter said:

I wish we could move past the "FX Hate" stuff. Just because a person does not prefer FX as a brand does not mean they HATE them. I've personally had both excellent and terrible experience with FX. But I could say the same about Daystate. I would probably not own another FX but that's just a preference - no hate - they just don't really favor lefty shooters in there design. (And I know someone will reply and say I'm a lefty and I shoot FX just fine - that's great for you - but the shooting position compromises required make it feel awkward for me).

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I'm a right-hand shooter but I do agree they are not designed for left hand shooters.

Motorhead said:

If only that easy as your absolutely fooling yourself that these winning rifles are out of the box stock !! Not fiddled with and tweaked to get where there shooting come match time.
Those who have a deep understanding in mechanics see this a different way ... in that stacking multitudes of different sub assemblies, individual screw on parts & pieces making a LEGO creation compounds the care & service & consistency exponentially !!!

We're not haters ( Which is a strong word to use ) but more seeing what others ignore or simply don't care about. The bling of the designs FX uses and there street smart sales tactics absolutely sells guns and those who buy them mostly defend there purchase decision.
A more interesting and perhaps heated conversation & THREAD, might just be the more enlightening topic: Those that purchased FX products and no longer own them or would not purchase one again & the WHY ?

A Civil conversation & Viewpoint

Click to expand...

I would think anyone who competes professionally in all shooting discipline's tweak their guns.

Both my M3 Impacts (.177 & .30) came from original owners who were not trained/educated marksman. Each heavly accessorized the rifle and each performed a YouTube tune on their rifle.

Each were surprised when their "RIFLE" wouldn't shoot and sold them at a nice discount.

I retuned each correctly while testing a range of pellet weights.

I five round group test a tune at 20 yards indoors. I shoot off my shoulder with a bipod from a table.

The .177 groups sub 0.20 E to E. The .30 groups sub 0.33 E to E. I use a 10 meter air rifle competition target and my POA is the center ring. The first shot normally obliterates that center ring with the .30 and is cut by the.177.

The turrets on the .177 were set in October 2023 and not touched. I zeroed the turrets on the .30 last night from settings set and verified over the last 4 weeks outside. So my M3's do not suffer from the shifting POI problem.

Using my experience with the M3 and facts gained from postings of the wise and learned on AGN, my vanity has convinced my ego that some others are not capable of shooting an Impact and, therefore, should not.

for sure, i started with a hatsan 22 and a marauder in 25. got hooked quick. just traded out a drone for a mk3 wildcat in 30....so far its great, worth it to step up to nicer stuff

apslatton said:

for sure, i started with a hatsan 22 and a marauder in 25. got hooked quick. just traded out a drone for a mk3 wildcat in 30....so far its great, worth it to step up to nicer stuff

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Wildcats the bomb! What barrel length do you have.

coastal drifter said:

I would think anyone who competes professionally in all shooting discipline's tweak their guns.

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Absolutely !!
But all is not equal where some require substantially more attention than others in maintaining the required / desired accuracy & reliability.

coastal drifter said:

Wildcats the bomb! What barrel length do you have.

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It is. I currently own 2, but have owned 4 or 5. Only weakness is those 2 tiny set screws that connect the cocking lever to the cocking rod. Easy fix, especially if you do it before the rod slips and you lose the position. Same design is on the Maverick.

cmatera said:

It is. I currently own 2, but have owned 4 or 5. Only weakness is those 2 tiny set screws that connect the cocking lever to the cocking rod. Easy fix, especially if you do it before the rod slips and you lose the position. Same design is on the Maverick.

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YES! so true. Bigragu pointed that out to me to change those 2 screws immediately once I acquired either if those guns.

Motorhead said:

Absolutely !!
But all is not equal were some require substantially more attention than others in maintaining the required / desired accuracy & reliability.

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As in all guns

coastal drifter said:

As in all guns

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While true in all regards. The OP was looking to have an accurate plinking /target gun for 50-100 yards. Many fit that bill and are easier to stay on top of than the impact. The impact is a serious piece of machinery, but it tends to be in the high performance/ high maintenance category. Which is why I wouldn’t recommend it for a newbie. Too easy for a new shooter to become discouraged by the impacts nuances.

rangur1 said:

While true in all regards. The OP was looking to have an accurate plinking /target gun for 50-100 yards. Many fit that bill and are easier to stay on top of than the impact. The impact is a serious piece of machinery, but it tends to be in the high performance/ high maintenance category. Which is why I wouldn’t recommend it for a newbie. Too easy for a new shooter to become discouraged by the impacts nuances.

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True enough

Motorhead said:

If only that easy as your absolutely fooling yourself that these winning rifles are out of the box stock !! Not fiddled with and tweaked to get where there shooting come match time.
Those who have a deep understanding in mechanics see this a different way ... in that stacking multitudes of different sub assemblies, individual screw on parts & pieces making a LEGO creation compounds the care & service & consistency exponentially !!!

We're not haters ( Which is a strong word to use ) but more seeing what others ignore or simply don't care about. The bling of the designs FX uses and there street smart sales tactics absolutely sells guns and those who buy them mostly defend there purchase decision.
A more interesting and perhaps heated conversation & THREAD, might just be the more enlightening topic: Those that purchased FX products and no longer own them or would not purchase one again & the WHY ?

A Civil conversation & Viewpoint

Click to expand...

Very well said.

Guy can make his own choice, I started with budget guns,got a crown,then crown mk2,then panthera,before I got my impact m3. I wished I'd started with the impact m3. That's my advice. You'll love it,and all others guns will seem lesser afterwords. Find a local in your area,ask if he'll let you pop a few round off before you decide what gun your gonna buy. That would be the smart thing to do. If he was close to me,I'd allow him that before making a decision on a gun.

I think the results of the 30 yard challenge shooting informal competition is a better illustration of which rifles are accurate than looking at who won something like the Pyramyd cup. There is no money involved in the 30 yard challenge and I'm pretty sure there are no sponsored competitors. The most recent spreadsheet results for this year are on page 137 (thanks Ed). You will find FX guns in the top of the spreadsheet but also many other brands. Most of them fairly expensive but some are not. Last year my P35-22 was in the list of 200 scores, this year I shot my new Caiman a lot more and only shot a 197 with the P35. Daystate and FX are over represented at the big tournaments not because they are inherently more accurate IMHO. It is because highly skilled shooters are getting paid to use them. But still, they can be very accurate.

Motorhead said:

Absolutely !!
But all is not equal where some require substantially more attention than others in maintaining the required / desired accuracy & reliability.

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Very true. Whether it's air rifles, sports cars, tennis rackets, the best shooters/drivers/players will win. They will not use crappy equipment, but there is a wide range of equipment with which they can win, and the amount of work required to prep the equipment may vary a lot. At a certain level, money will raise its ugly head, and money follows winners. When Niki Lauda went to Ferarri, they were struggling. He tested the car and told them that there was not a driver who could win in that car, it was that bad. They rebuilt the car, and we know the rest. Big names may have money, but not the expertise, as well as the reverse.