AEAC Video - FX Impact M3 Master Tuning Guide & Resource (12 Tunes) - VIDEO TEACHINGS APPLY to All AIRGUNS !!!

FX Impact M3 Tuning Guide Video (TEACHINGS APPLY TO ALL AIRGUNS)

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Oem Tune FX Impact M3 "Compact" .22
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16gr @ 850 fps Tune
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16gr @ 880 fps Tune
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16gr @ 860 fps Tune (max efficiency, 153 shots from 300cc)

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18gr @ 880 fps Tune (85 bar reg)
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18gr at 880 fps Tune (86 bar reg)

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18gr @ 850 fps Tune (86 bar reg tune made at 86* and sampled at 48* Fahrenheit)
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25gr Redesign @ 900 fps Tune
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25gr Redesign @ 960 fps Tune

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25gr Redesign @ 1,000 fps MAX Power Tune (created for heavy slugs but is surprisingly accurate at 50 yds with pellets)
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25gr Redesign @ 990 fps (MAX power tune refined for trim & efficiency)
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300 bar Tune sampled with 25gr (at 56 fpe, 18 extra shots over 250 bar fill)

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VIDEO OUTLINE;

Tuning = Accuracy - Velocity - Stability - Consistency - Efficiency - Harmonics - Power Output

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What is Tuning?
"It's the process by which we adjust the gun into a state of harmony & accuracy for any ammo or weather conditions."

Why do we do it?
“We tune to control performance, so that we can achieve the best accuracy, stability, and efficiency no matter what.”

How do we go about it?
"With an organized approach, we search & test for system harmony (reg/hammer balance points) at an accurate velocity.”

Tuning = Adjust-Control-Search for Accuracy - Velocity - Stability - Consistency - Efficiency - Harmonics - Power Output

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Parts you need to know;

Regulator - the regulator takes a varying air pressure and turns it into a steady one (hi to lo)

Valve - the valve takes the air pressure coming out of the regulator and turns it into a metered pulse.

Hammer - the hammer collides with the valve, briefly opening it.

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Tuning Process;

1) pick a lower than what you've heard reg pressure to begin
2) back off the hammer spring, and slowly bring up the hammer tension until velocity stabilizes
(always better to work at the balance point & below… over causes hammer bounce & waste air)
3) stop, that balance point is the ideal velocity for that reg setting (not necessarily perfected yet)
4) test the velocity for accuracy & stability at a minimum of 50 yds
5) leverage the QTS system and small reg2 adjustments to hunt around for the best accuracy
6) search for further improvement by beginning to work the VA closed in very small increments
7) evaluate and repeat, while searching for the speed at which the projectile stabilizes and becomes accurate.
8) build a tune around the velocity which found you accuracy

** tune & test was frustrating for me in the beginning... before I learned to FIRST test out various reg pressures to discover at what velocity they balanced out at.
(this approach gives one a foundation of understanding and a roadmap forward)

** you're essentially choosing velocity with the regulator setting... the hammer spring adjustments and VA bring the rest of the system into harmony with your chosen reg setting.

** exhaust your refinement of the tune, THEN experiment with the VA to further enhance accuracy

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Golden Rules of Tuning;

1) know the needs of your projectile (diabolo vs redesign vs slugs)
2) stability trumps accuracy (pellets can hook & wobble into one hole at 50 yards, then scatter by the time they get to 100).
3) speed trumps tune (a velocity that gets ya accuracy is more important than a tight ES & SD... the pros dial on the fly all the time… find the right speed then build a tune around it).
4) tune the reg with headroom for temperature swings (reg up a little high to take full advantage of the M3's QTS system on cold mornings & hot afternoons… it’s okay to sacrifice a few shots)
5) ammo matters… a lot (find the one the barrel likes and sort for reliable accuracy).

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Key Things to Remember When Tuning;

1) let the reg be your velocity throttle, the hammer spring setting just brings the rest of the system into harmony with the reg
2) all you’re doing with tuning is balancing forces to a chosen velocity and trimming waste air
3) if you’re close on the tune and struggling, a tad more reg pressure can have a stabilizing effect on velocity… as can a tad more hammer tension
4) obsess over ES & SD not because of consistency but because the tightness indicates an efficient valve closing with minimum waste air behind the projectile
5) work slowly from low to high on the regs & hammer, it’s easy to evershoot the ideal
6) harmonics matter to accuracy… experiment with scope position, bipod position, different moderators, harmonic tuners, sleeves, barrel tensioners, etc..

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Hi Steve, thanks for your vids and all the informations from pros! you don’t speak of the QTS best zone between macro and micro, will you give more info about that?
For the most part they do the exact same thing, just in different doses... near the ends, they get a little less leveraged. I would recommend forgetting the low friction zone discovery (Hack) as your primary approach to tuning and just play around with that only if you feel the need. It worked (as shown with thr 16gr tunes in the vid) but so does leaving the Mac on 16 and just working the Mic from the bottom up. Or, set the Mac in the middle like some of the Pros do, once again searching for system harmony from low to high with the Mic.

Steve
 
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Great work Steve. Always great read and very educational information. I have been following your content for some 7+ years.

Let me see if I get this right.
The difference from a 500 mm barrel and a 700 mm barrel on a M3 will be the amount of air you will need to achieve the same velocities. (Less air for a longer barrel). And you can achieve this with lower reg pressure?

Just got my first PCP last week and it is a M3 Sniper on .22 cal with the standard STX barrel.
I’m yet to start playing with the tunes and just been shooting some paper as it came from the dealer.

I have some 18 and 25 grain FX pellets and some hybrids.
Any pointers of the velocity for that ammo will be much appreciated.

Best regards from Mazatlan, Mexico
 
Great work Steve. Always great read and very educational information. I have been following your content for some 7+ years.

Let me see if I get this right.
The difference from a 500 mm barrel and a 700 mm barrel on a M3 will be the amount of air you will need to achieve the same velocities. (Less air for a longer barrel). And you can achieve this with lower reg pressure?

Just got my first PCP last week and it is a M3 Sniper on .22 cal with the standard STX barrel.
I’m yet to start playing with the tunes and just been shooting some paper as it came from the dealer.

I have some 18 and 25 grain FX pellets and some hybrids.
Any pointers of the velocity for that ammo will be much appreciated.

Best regards from Mazatlan, Mexico
Correct on your understanding of barrel length. The longer barrels take less air to achieve the same velocity is the shorter ones.

Regarding all your other good questions, I worked especially hard in the video to make sure they would all be answered 😊
 
Great work Steve. Always great read and very educational information. I have been following your content for some 7+ years.

Let me see if I get this right.
The difference from a 500 mm barrel and a 700 mm barrel on a M3 will be the amount of air you will need to achieve the same velocities. (Less air for a longer barrel). And you can achieve this with lower reg pressure?

Just got my first PCP last week and it is a M3 Sniper on .22 cal with the standard STX barrel.
I’m yet to start playing with the tunes and just been shooting some paper as it came from the dealer.

I have some 18 and 25 grain FX pellets and some hybrids.
Any pointers of the velocity for that ammo will be much appreciated.

Best regards from Mazatlan, Mexico
It’s simple, I have the same setup (M3 sniper .22) and to reach the same speed of the 18gr of Steve tune (86bar) I only need 70bar on the second reg, 15bar less! 😉
 
Correct on your understanding of barrel length. The longer barrels take less air to achieve the same velocity is the shorter ones.

Regarding all your other good questions, I worked especially hard in the video to make sure they would all be answered 😊
Thanks for all your work Steve.
I've watched your video twice, and listened to it while driving. Im curious about setting the reg pressures. I am a newbie to PCP and especially my new Crown. Adjusting the plenem reg is viewed at the secondary guage?, but the primary guage shows bottle presure? I wasn't able to catch how you were satisfied with primary reg setting. I apologize if this is simple and something I should have seen.

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Thanks for all your work Steve.
I've watched your video twice, and listened to it while driving. Im curious about setting the reg pressures. I am a newbie to PCP and especially my new Crown. Adjusting the plenem reg is viewed at the secondary guage?, but the primary guage shows bottle presure? I wasn't able to catch how you were satisfied with primary reg setting. I apologize if this is simple and something I should have seen.

View attachment 362479
Oh no worries. I'm not 100% confident in the reg differential numbers myself. Just when I thought I was beginning to see pattern with them, something would change with the results. Currently, I'm at set them 40/50 bar apart and call it a day... same as I shared in the video during the "how do you tune" segment.

On the Crowns gauges, I forget and I'm not at home to check for you. Sorry pal.

Steve
 
Great info. Such a big help. Wind would blow my 18.13 out of my impact sniper all over the place. Thought that was just the nature of the beast. Purposely went out today in big wind to see if I could get better results. Started from scratch and used your technique. By the end, a few less on the micro and an 1/8 less on the valve made a huge difference. Best part is I was able to start reading the wind and learn because the gun/pellets were so consistant. A looney sized group at 75 yards in 25 km/h winds. Cannot thank you enough. Great job. So glad I subscibed to your channel.
 
Great video Steve. See, that’s what I’d like to see more of is you trying to interact with your viewers instead of the voiceover thing. Don’t get me wrong, I watch all of your videos and learn from them, but I like it more when you talk to the camera like you are talking to us, the viewers. Keep up the good work. Also, you might make a decent cow hand in another life.
 
Great info. Such a big help. Wind would blow my 18.13 out of my impact sniper all over the place. Thought that was just the nature of the beast. Purposely went out today in big wind to see if I could get better results. Started from scratch and used your technique. By the end, a few less on the micro and an 1/8 less on the valve made a huge difference. Best part is I was able to start reading the wind and learn because the gun/pellets were so consistant. A looney sized group at 75 yards in 25 km/h winds. Cannot thank you enough. Great job. So glad I subscibed to your channel.
Wow, what a great share, thank you for doing so! Always good to hear of you guys having sucess 😊.
 
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Great video Steve. See, that’s what I’d like to see more of is you trying to interact with your viewers instead of the voiceover thing. Don’t get me wrong, I watch all of your videos and learn from them, but I like it more when you talk to the camera like you are talking to us, the viewers. Keep up the good work. Also, you might make a decent cow hand in another life.
I agree with your good advice Rich, and thank you for it. From now on, my content will be as this video was. Steve
 
Some results from utilizing your tuning guide. Specs and photos below. I’m still chasing things around a bit day to day (think I need to rebuild/replace reg 2) but the tuning guide really surprised me. At your suggestion I set reg 2 (back/bottom reg) below what I thought it should be. FX factory starting point for my setup (below) is 120 bar and I had recently had it set up to 130 bar. I started your process at 100 bar and was completely surprised to find that I got the velocity, consistency and accuracy I was chasing at 105 bar! First reg at 150. The red bullseye is <3/4” so this was .4775 MOA shot string. Shot count shows 22 but this target was 7 shots. It’s so easy to become frustrated and impatient and just start slinging pellets around but taking your advice to be calm and patient and going through the “process” is paying off. Again, thanks for the months long effort! We all appreciate what you do for our airgunning community.

Edit on 11/30/2023 - tunes do change. My "great tune" is now:
Reg 1 - 150
Reg 2 - 110
Macro - 16
Micro - 3-1/2 plus 2-4 clicks
Valve - just under 4


FX M3 - .25, standard (600mm)
FX 34 Grain Diabolo Pellets
Reg 1 - 150
Reg 2 - 105
Macro - 16
Micro - 3-1/4
Valve - +/- 4-1/2
Shot count: 22
Low: 875
Hi: 879
Avg: 876
Spread: 4
STD Dev: 1.3
50 yards
.4775 MOA
875
879
875
877
875
877
875
875
875
875
877
875
879
877
875
877
875
875
877
875
875
875

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Hey Steve,
Thanks for the great video! I have a question, around 22:23 in the video you arrive at your balance point with your given settings. My question is could you have arrived at a balance point with the macro wheel at 13 instead of 16? Obviously your FPS would be slower. The reason I am asking is because at the end of the video when you are taking to the pros, some guys were talking about moving the macro from 13 down to 12 or up to 14 based on the conditions.

I have the 700mm in .25 cal, would it work to tune the 33.95 to macro 16 and then roll the macro back to a lower number that the 25.4 like? Then find a balance point with 25.4 at a lower macro and micro setting?

Thanks for your time