Are FX Rifles Really This Unreliable?

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IRBent

IRBent

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Mar 25, 2023
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Warrior, AL, USA
10 days in and a brand new Wildcat MK3 BT hasn't functioned more than a few mags without having to be worked on. The gun arrived with @ 195 bar and we shot 3 mags through it, maybe 10 pellets sighting it in then 2 mags each. We filled the bottle and left. The next morning it had leaked about half the bottle out. Refill and I could hear a small hiss coming from the bottle area. Pulled the bottle and the stock then screwed the bottle on. The hissing turned or grew into a full blown rush of air coming out around the reg adjusting screw. Received a reg rebuild kit a week later and installed all new o-rings. Filled the bottle and found it about half full the next morning. Pulled the bottle, degassed and removed the reg adjusting screw to find the outer o-ring all chewed up when the reg was only ran up to 150bar. Ordered 50 sets of o-rings and installed 2 new ones on the reg screw this evening. Filled the bottle and slowly began to open the first reg. When it got up near 100bar I could hear air rushing through and filling the plenum but it never equalized. Found it leaking out the barrel. So now I assume the main valve seals have given up the ghost

I hear these guns can be iffy, but once you work out the bugs they can be reliable. However I'm so tired of fighting it already and since it's under warranty, I suppose it will be going in for warranty work. Any advice or personal experiences you guys can share would be welcomed.

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I’ve heard some nightmares about this platform also. It’s odd because it’s basically a maverick, and the mavericks have been very reliable. Friend of mine had one brand new, and it leaked out of the barrel from day one. I think his valve seat was bad. For a brand new gun, it’s totally unacceptable. I share your frustration. I think again, FX had too many new toys come out at the same time, and pushed things out the door with less quality control and testing than normal. Let’s hope this changes soon!
 
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FX is a mixed bag imo, but at the end of the day there isnt another company building to this level of performance. My biggest beef isnt the leaks and other issues that pop up on new rifles from time to time, its the price tag. I dont think they should cost as much as they do, but I just bought my third one in 6 months.
 
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There are more solid builds out there. I think I could beat a bear to death with my Kalibrgun and it would still group. But the kalibrgun isn't a easy platform to tinker with. I'm a tinkerer... I have just as much fun doing that. FX has geared a good deal of their line to us the tinkerers. But it comes at a cost figuratively and in reality.

I also heard some good info from Sub12 Airgunners, he suggests NEVER using a bottle pic adapter. He was concerned about the threads on the bottle and rifle being a weak point. It didn't stop me from buying a Maverick, but its good to know.
 
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Florida_Man said:
Good luck. I know I've read info that says not to get the reg pressure too close to the pressure they are set to.
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Everything I've seen has suggested the 1st reg be 30-40 bar above the main reg. It arrived set at 150bar at the bottle and 135bar to the gun. I wondered why.

Brian was spot on in his suggestion. Once the bottle reg pressure got high enough the valve seated. I just set the bottle reg and degassed. About to set the main reg back to the 135bar it came set at.
 
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Uggh..
I feel your pain.
I've had my dreamline for 7 months, and it's been broken down with one malady or another almost continously for 4+ of said months.
Kinda regreting buying 3 barrels, 7 liners & a box of bottles & parts some days.
My rifle is a shooter.
Crazy accurate right out the box.
It out shoots me easily, by a large margin.
All That said, The FX repair shop is full of some of the nicest, most patient people you could hope to find.
They will bend over backwards to help you out.
I know that dosent help your current issue, but it is a big help in the long run.
I'm actually in the process of boxing up mine to send over to them for repair now- 😒
Hope your fix "sticks" and she stops leaking.
 
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So, I'm not out of the woods yet but so far things appear to be going to hold. Let me give you some back story not mentioned above. So when the FX rep sent me the reg seal kit I struggled to get those tiny o-rings over the adjustment screw. Yesterday at work I machined a tiny cone shaped tool that would help me slide those o-rings into place. Having managed a very large industrial outfit half my career, buying bearings, seals and such was just part of my job. So when those seals FX sent me blew, I simply ordered 300 o-rings for the AMP regs alone. Before attempting to install those new o-rings that I purchased outside of FX, I tried using the tool made just to see if I could slide the o-rings over it. I had already done so with one of the FX o-rings and I'll attached a video of that. I lubed the non FX o-rings and began sliding it up the cone. It made it maybe half way, not even to the shoulder that mic'ed a tad less than 4mm. Snap, it broke. A second one did the same thing. So I finger wrestled them onto the screw only to run into the issue mentioned in the beginning of this thread.

If you ever need a solid airgunsmith, Brian at Veradium Air should be considered. He helped me again tonight by calling and offering advice. The main valve shut and the gun quit the major leak down the barrel after following his advice. Now to see if the regs, bottle and everything else holds pressure over night. BTW, I commissioned Brian to work me up a rifle. While it's not an expensive gun like my lady's FX Wildcat, I'll be super stoked if it holds air, holds zero, and can shoot quarter sized or smaller groups at 50 yards. After all, I've heard the Artemis M16A can be more accurate than that in stock form. Maybe with Brian's mods and tweaks it will be all that he claimed it will be.

See the attached o-ring tool installation video and know that the 2mm ID BNR90 o-rings that I purchased will not stretch to 4mm w/o snapping. So the tool is useless for the exact job I designed it for.

 
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As I mentioned in the other thread, those tiny rings are so painful. I’m of the opinion that FX has taken a step backward with its regulators. First, the Panthera demonstrates that there isn’t a need to have two. Second, they are much smaller than the majority of regs found in other guns, which are often as wide as their air tubes. It’s a lot of stress to place on tiny pieces of rubber. Furthermore, having two high power Pantheras, with their gauges facing me as I shoot, I can tell you that the refresh rate with the FX reg is sub-par. I can dry fire 5 quick shots and drop the reg reading by 25 bar. Yet a Leshiy 2 (and presumably other semi-autos like the Huben) can hold it together during rapid fire?
 
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IRBent said:
So, I'm not out of the woods yet but so far things appear to be going to hold. Let me give you some back story not mentioned above. So when the FX rep sent me the reg seal kit I struggled to get those tiny o-rings over the adjustment screw. Yesterday at work I machined a tiny cone shaped tool that would help me slide those o-rings into place. Having managed a very large industrial outfit half my career, buying bearings, seals and such was just part of my job. So when those seals FX sent me blew, I simply ordered 300 o-rings for the AMP regs alone. Before attempting to install those new o-rings that I purchased outside of FX, I tried using the tool made just to see if I could slide the o-rings over it. I had already done so with one of the FX o-rings and I'll attached a video of that. I lubed the non FX o-rings and began sliding it up the cone. It made it maybe half way, not even to the shoulder that mic'ed a tad less than 4mm. Snap, it broke. A second one did the same thing. So I finger wrestled them onto the screw only to run into the issue mentioned in the beginning of this thread.

If you ever need a solid airgunsmith, Brian at Veradium Air should be considered. He helped me again tonight by calling and offering advice. The main valve shut and the gun quit the major leak down the barrel after following his advice. Now to see if the regs, bottle and everything else holds pressure over night. BTW, I commissioned Brian to work me up a rifle. While it's not an expensive gun like my lady's FX Wildcat, I'll be super stoked if it holds air, holds zero, and can shoot quarter sized or smaller groups at 50 yards. After all, I've heard the Artemis M16A can be more accurate than that in stock form. Maybe with Brian's mods and tweaks it will be all that he claimed it will be.

See the attached o-ring tool installation video and know that the 2mm ID BNR90 o-rings that I purchased will not stretch to 4mm w/o snapping. So the tool is useless for the exact job I designed it for.

Click to expand...
Be aware that those little ones are N90's not N70 and trust me you do not want to use the N70's. Your cone is something that is available, they call it a witches hat, somewhere, but it needs to be REALLY thin walled, .005" or so, frankly I use a really fine reverse tweezer to expand it a little , put on the outer one then the inner one, zero issues. I wish I still have my machine shop and my Studer CNC grinder available, oh the fun stuff I could make.
 
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HogKiller said:
Be aware that those little ones are N90's not N70 and trust me you do not want to use the N70's. Your cone is something that is available, they call it a witches hat, somewhere, but it needs to be REALLY thin walled, .005" or so, frankly I use a really fine reverse tweezer to expand it a little , put on the outer one then the inner one, zero issues. I wish I still have my machine shop and my Studer CNC grinder available, oh the fun stuff I could make.
Click to expand...
N70 vs N90, if you watched my video you saw me roll one of those o-rings onto the reg screw with ease. That particular o-rings is one that the FX dealer sent me in the repair kit. The o-rings I purchased, marked Buna-N 90 would not stretch far enough to even make it down the cone without popping. Maybe the first leak was a fluke and the second was due to it being a N70 durometer o-rings. The gun held with the bottle at 265bar all night.
 
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IRBent said:
N70 vs N90, if you watched my video you saw me roll one of those o-rings onto the reg screw with ease. That particular o-rings is one that the FX dealer sent me in the repair kit. The o-rings I purchased, marked Buna-N 90 would not stretch far enough to even make it down the cone without popping. Maybe the first leak was a fluke and the second was due to it being a N70 durometer o-rings. The gun held with the bottle at 265bar all night.
Click to expand...
IRBent said:
N70 vs N90, if you watched my video you saw me roll one of those o-rings onto the reg screw with ease. That particular o-rings is one that the FX dealer sent me in the repair kit. The o-rings I purchased, marked Buna-N 90 would not stretch far enough to even make it down the cone without popping. Maybe the first leak was a fluke and the second was due to it being a N70 durometer o-rings. The gun held with the bottle at 265bar all night.
Click to expand...
NICE tool. Did you lube the o-ring first? Where did you get the o-rings from? I've used McMaster-Carr and Global O-Ring, for breech O-rings I get as close a tolerance o-ring as i can, the tolerance stack and have the i.d's too large to seal nicely. All that said, you could retire nicely on selling those tools, among others to FX owners. I know I'd buy a few. Oh back to your first question, my first Maverick had a leaking front reg, that bottom o-ring was shredded from the factory, so even they have an issue assembling them.
 
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The first reg really is set it and forget it. You want to maintain the 25 to 30 bar difference at least. Having more is no problem. I think I set mine at 145 bar as it’s a compact and I don’t plan to shoot massive projectiles out of it so I will never run a very high second reg. What caliber is yours and what are you shooting out of it ?
 
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