A New Compact Airgun Era Unfolds - The New Panthera Hunter Compact is Now Available.
- Thread starter FX-USA
- Start date
Awesome. I guess a thread about another rifle is the best place to tell us all about it.my mini carbine build is 5" shorter and was only like $300 total
As I've said before. Some guys drive cheap import cars with good mileage. Others drive and build hyper modded muscle cars that get terrible mileage, but wow they sound, look and perform great. Plenty of aftermarket parts and guys online with tons of knowledge on how to work on them. Others will opt to drive a Ferrari, or Mclaren F1. Precision cars that are a work of art and that parts are hard to come by, not many people would dare work on them themselves and cost a fortune.
Point being is they ALL will get you from point A to point B.
Drive what you want to brother.
Upvote 0
I’d be more interested in how it handles cast ammo. I’ve got both pellets and solid/ hp slugs. I’d really like to have the .30 but don’t have any 30cal molds lol.
Upvote 0
The Atomic XR as you know came later… and I quote “ BRK Brocock led the way, with smaller, wicked, high quality mini carbines like the Atomic, Ranger and Pathfinder XRs.[/B]
Upvote 0
I didn't realize the Prod has quality issues. And as Igolfat8 even said because of its weight and accuracy it might be the perfect pesting carbine. He and his partner are going on 500 pigeons. And its about a third the cost and really doesn't need any upgrades. Not putting down your Brococks , but a guy with the same Atomic as you said the Benjamin is probably the best because of the weight. Im not selling mine any time soon .
Upvote 0
@Headshots, I won’t derail this thread any longer. I did not say or write, that the Prod had “quality issues”. You state, it’s probably best or better, then the BRKs based on weight, if that’s the main criteria? OK. I simply wrote the the BRKs are of “much higher quality”. And I am aware of the posts of @igolfat8 and his partner.
Upvote 0
It's all good Leon . I'm thinking the new compact panthera will be for owners wanting more power than our pistols put out. It would have a massive shot though if someone tuned one down to 15 fpe with a 300cc bottle.
Upvote 0
Well the newer P-rods DO in fact have quality control issues. Case in point, I purchased a new P-rod from a local dealer. Took it home and tried to air it up and air blew back out the fill fitting because they forgot to install a check valve. Keep in mind that inside the box was a paper that was signed and stated the gun was leak tested for 72 hours before shipping. This was a blatant LIE because they could not have tested it if it would not hold air.
The rifle would not accept the magazine because the barrel was slid too far back. They also included a “Test target” showing a computer print out of the supposed target someone shot with the rifle. If it did not hold air and the magazine could not be inserted how was the rifle ever test fired? Another blatent lie.
I called Crosman and they agreed to send a pick up label and service the rifle under warranty. Rifle returned 3 weeks later. The magazine would NOT go in because the barrel had not been adjusted! Sent it back AGAIN. 3 weeks later rifle returned and magazine could be insterted so I aired it up and test fired it indoors at 10Mmand couldn’t hit an 8.5” x 11” sheet of paper. Long story short, who ever adjusted the barrel forward did NOT tighten the barrel and it was loose and flopping around. So, a brand new rifle, sent back TWICE was still not functioning. I called and talked to the manager of QC and expressed my disappointment with their product and warranty repair department. He was corditial but I asked for a full refund. I returned the rifle to the local dealer and they refunded my money.
I bought an Atomic the following day and have never regretted it. My hunting buddy owns a P-rod, which was my very first PCP that I bought many years ago. It’s been very reliable but has had a few leaks that he has dealt with.
I did say that it is an ideal “BARN” gun becuase of its light weight for carrying around for many hours and it’s low power. Low power is important to us because we don’t want to shoot holes in the barn’s fiberglass roof. My Atomic was tuned much hotter and I have since tuned it down to a lower power but both guns are still powerful enough to blow holes in the roof on a close shot (under 30Y) so we have to choose our close shots wisely.
I know my buddy is completely happy with his P-rod and I am completely happy with my Aromic. Would I buy a new P-rod? Absolutely NOT based on my horrible experiences with Crosman’s so called warranty repair department. I might consider an older used stock one if it wasn’t canabalized by someone who didn’t know what they were doing.
Upvote 0
I should have mentioned for your shooting environment. My Prod is probably 10+ years and never an issue. But ya with your issues I can totally see why you wouldn't own another one. I m done with RWS and Magnum Research ( fancy 10/22s ) for things like you went through. And of course the part where the Prod was possibly better on that particular hunt stuck with me as a very happy Prod owner.
Upvote 0
So which is the better gun: the Wildcat MK3 BT Compact, Panthera Compact, or Impact MK3 Compact??
Upvote 0
I own every one of those guns you mentioned.
Simple answer. If you want to shoot slugs and have a comfortable run and gun shooter, go with the WC MK3 BT.
If all you are going to shoot is pellets, go with the compact Panthera Hunter.
The Impact is great but it's not near as carry around friendly as the new baby Panthera and certainly not as comfortable as the Wildcat, which has the best stock in the FX lineup in my opinion.
My little mini Panthera is .22 cal. I cannot get it to shoot slugs as well as Ted demonstrates in that video. It will group 2 or three and then a few flyers. Not good enough for me.
I'm sure Ted had a hand picked and tuned setup sent to him. He claims "He changed nothing", but I'm sure someone at FX did. It's all marketing and they aren't fooling me anymore.
Pellets shoot, as expected, very well. This little mini Panthera is not meant to be a long distance gun, so I'm not sure why slugs are even considered honestly.
I also think the .22 comes with too heavy of a hammer weight. If I lower my reg any lower than 120 bar, the hammer slams too hard and it wastes a ton of air.
I think if I change out the hammer weight for a lighter one, I could lower the reg down to around 90ish and balance out the hammer, making it much more efficient and consistent, while still getting around 900 fps out of Hades pellets.
Don't get me wrong, It shoots great as it is, I just think it could get better.
Upvote 0
All quite different airguns. Would greatly depend on your needs and wants. Personally for my needs I'd say the Pantera Compact would be the better gun.
Also the Prod being thrown around is a joke. It's essentially been made obsolete in the market compared to other offerings out there. I doubt many people would buy a Prod now with the Notos out.
Upvote 0
From reading the specifications on FX's website, I'd say the WC (or it's Maverick siblint) has it all over the Panthera in terms of power, shot count and versatility. Nevermind that they are the same price. It can shoot pellets and/or slugs, as Ted has shown. There's no reason why you can't tune it down for pellets or go the other way for slugs. I'm glad we have all these choices. If you want to get a black tactical gun, get a Panthera or if you want to get a black tactical gun, get a WC. IMO, the only real difference (other than the guts of the gun which have the same goal to spit projectiles out the front) is the Panther may be fitted with a folding stock like the Dreamline. My next gun will likely be a WC BT Compact. I like the barrel support much better.
P.S. After doing more compisons, I just realized that the main difference between these rifles is that the Panthers is NOT a bullpup as opposed to the others. Should that be a considerations?
Last edited:
Upvote 0
Can't go wrong with that choice for sure. I like both my Compact WC BT and my compact Panthera. The mini Panthera seems lighter and more handy than my WC but if I didn't have either and had to make a choice, it would be my WC hands down.
Upvote 0
What about the barrel support on the Panthera Compact do you not like? It's a better support compared to the WC. It's fully encased in the plenum making it much stiffer.
But yes bullpup and rifle are very different. I like bullpups but prefer a rifle/carbine. Can't really compare lengths as bullpup will win there and if similar in length the bullpup will have more power due to it having a longer barrel. In this case what 300mm PHC to 500mm for WCBT. Big difference there. Again personal preference thing.
Upvote 0
The barrels on Dreamlines, Crowns, Royals and now Pantheras insert into the reciever only about 2 1/4 inches leaving the rest of it cantilevered out in the breeze while the bullpups are supported in two or three spots on the rear half of the barrel leaving only 1/2 to 2/3 of it cantilevered out. This should make it stiffer and minimize it's propensity to vibrate making that system more accurate. But there again, powderburner folks like free floating barrels, however, they are usually thick, heavy and stiff to minimize vibration. I may be wrong, but I'd like to hear what others think about this.
Upvote 0
Regarding the mini panthera, how much is a 300mm/ 12" barrel really going to vibrate? Especially with the plenum applying pressure around the base of it.
As far as my WC BT, I can't tell a hill of beans of difference in shooting Hades from it vs. the Panthera. But I sure can tell a difference when I shoot slugs.
As far as my WC BT, I can't tell a hill of beans of difference in shooting Hades from it vs. the Panthera. But I sure can tell a difference when I shoot slugs.
Upvote 0
Chiming in since I'm the one that sent the rifle to Ted. No special hand picked liner as people suspect. In fact I told Ted it's a pellet shooter, not a slug shooter (and that's how we've marketed it). The fact that Ted got it shooting those Nielsen's is intriguing and was news to us as well when he posted. I think it's worth testing and trying to replicate!
Point being we don't have time to hand pick, we just make sure it's leak tested and operating to spec from the factory.
- Jon
Upvote 0