I'd like to get a discussion going about the best PCP for the money that you invest, I'm specifically interested in .22 caliber for right now. I'm not saying I want an inexpensive gun or that I think a person needs to spend $4000 either, what I'm after is to get some opinions on what gun is best worth it's cost.
To give some context to why I'm thinking about this. I have an FX Maverick in .25 and a Skout Epoch in .30. They are both great guns but are expensive to buy and to shoot. I find that I have enjoyed both my .177 or .22 caliber guns much more as they are way less expensive to shoot, easier to manage the noise and generally just fun to use.
A little background for context, I've have owned or own, an Avenger .22 cal, FX Dreamline .22 Cal, Skout Epoch .22 cal (caliber change kit for my .30 cal). An Avenger .177 which I liked but didn't love and a Hatson Factor RC which I have a bit of a love / hate relationship with depending on how it's shooting (more about that another day).
I absolutely loved my .177 Avenger, I shot 1000's of pellets through it before I decided to replace it; but the .22 cal Avenger (a refurb) wasn't as good an owner experience for me, the gun just didn't shoot as good and, in the end, I returned it. Looking at resources about the Avenger, I considered doing all kinds of upgrades to it and getting a new .22, also doing the same upgrades to it; but based on my logic and thoughts it just made more sense to buy a gun that was closer to what I wanted and in the end less work and about the same money.
After a bunch of reading and videos I decided to get a FX Dreamline Compact Tact .22 cal, the gun is butter smooth but compared to my bigger guns it just doesn't have the oomph, shooting anything heavier than 15.89 pellets the gun just gets sporadic (the fps drops to low and I'm at max tune). Thinking the issue was the short barrel, I purchased the 500mm barrel kit for it (originally came with the 320mm). The 320mm barrel with 15.89 or lighter pellets or slugs works great, 1/2" groups at 50 yards. The minute I put the 500mm on the gun, my pellets go everywhere but on target (> 6" group @ 50 yrds). I've tried varying the speed, regulator, different moderators, no moderator, in the end I just gave up and put the 320mm back on the gun; I'll admit that it's likely tuning but I just don't know what's wrong with it when the longer barrel is installed and clearly I'm not smart enough or whatever to fix it.
The Skout Epoch in .30 cal is an amazingly accurate gun, its just unreal how nice this gun shoots. Converting it to .22 cal caliber with the kit is honestly a pain, trying to use the .30 cal tune results in ok accuracy and leads me to believe you really need to completely retune the gun or it shoots less than good. Based on my experience with the barrels on my Dreamline I just didn't want to risk trying to retune the Skout Epoch besides it takes 20 or more minutes to mechanically switch the caliber and I do like to shoot the .30 sometimes. So, in the end a waste of money as this isn't a good choice for me, honestly, I would only buy a caliber change kit for a gun in the future if I intended to permanently switch it over.
In the two years I've been doing PCP, I've had buyer's remorse more than once, the Avenger .22 Cal (refurb), my current .177 cal Factor RC, even my Maverick (I wish I had bought an Impact for the 100ish dollars difference, lack of experience and knowledge).
Hopefully I've painted a picture by now of how a person can make horrible choice due to inexperience and ignorance, I'm hoping that some of you with more of both will help to guide me into my next purchase. My plan is to sell my Factor RC, caliber change the Dreamline to .177 permanently and buy a new .22 cal gun.
I've been thinking about what gun I'd like to have for a .22 cal.. I really like the FX King but not really crazy about the stock or the price (> $2400), I think I'd like to own and Impact and the MK4 just released but also a big price tag, a Skout Evo or Epoch, etc... the FX DRS is an interesting option at ~$1000, same with the new Karma EQ (~$900), and we could go on and on.
This brings me back to my question, how much money should a person spend on a .22 cal PCP rifle, by extension, how does one evaluate the real value of say a FX King or Impact MK4 compared to say a FX DRS or Karma EQ or even an Avenge-X? Thoughts? What gun would you buy and why?
To give some context to why I'm thinking about this. I have an FX Maverick in .25 and a Skout Epoch in .30. They are both great guns but are expensive to buy and to shoot. I find that I have enjoyed both my .177 or .22 caliber guns much more as they are way less expensive to shoot, easier to manage the noise and generally just fun to use.
A little background for context, I've have owned or own, an Avenger .22 cal, FX Dreamline .22 Cal, Skout Epoch .22 cal (caliber change kit for my .30 cal). An Avenger .177 which I liked but didn't love and a Hatson Factor RC which I have a bit of a love / hate relationship with depending on how it's shooting (more about that another day).
I absolutely loved my .177 Avenger, I shot 1000's of pellets through it before I decided to replace it; but the .22 cal Avenger (a refurb) wasn't as good an owner experience for me, the gun just didn't shoot as good and, in the end, I returned it. Looking at resources about the Avenger, I considered doing all kinds of upgrades to it and getting a new .22, also doing the same upgrades to it; but based on my logic and thoughts it just made more sense to buy a gun that was closer to what I wanted and in the end less work and about the same money.
After a bunch of reading and videos I decided to get a FX Dreamline Compact Tact .22 cal, the gun is butter smooth but compared to my bigger guns it just doesn't have the oomph, shooting anything heavier than 15.89 pellets the gun just gets sporadic (the fps drops to low and I'm at max tune). Thinking the issue was the short barrel, I purchased the 500mm barrel kit for it (originally came with the 320mm). The 320mm barrel with 15.89 or lighter pellets or slugs works great, 1/2" groups at 50 yards. The minute I put the 500mm on the gun, my pellets go everywhere but on target (> 6" group @ 50 yrds). I've tried varying the speed, regulator, different moderators, no moderator, in the end I just gave up and put the 320mm back on the gun; I'll admit that it's likely tuning but I just don't know what's wrong with it when the longer barrel is installed and clearly I'm not smart enough or whatever to fix it.
The Skout Epoch in .30 cal is an amazingly accurate gun, its just unreal how nice this gun shoots. Converting it to .22 cal caliber with the kit is honestly a pain, trying to use the .30 cal tune results in ok accuracy and leads me to believe you really need to completely retune the gun or it shoots less than good. Based on my experience with the barrels on my Dreamline I just didn't want to risk trying to retune the Skout Epoch besides it takes 20 or more minutes to mechanically switch the caliber and I do like to shoot the .30 sometimes. So, in the end a waste of money as this isn't a good choice for me, honestly, I would only buy a caliber change kit for a gun in the future if I intended to permanently switch it over.
In the two years I've been doing PCP, I've had buyer's remorse more than once, the Avenger .22 Cal (refurb), my current .177 cal Factor RC, even my Maverick (I wish I had bought an Impact for the 100ish dollars difference, lack of experience and knowledge).
Hopefully I've painted a picture by now of how a person can make horrible choice due to inexperience and ignorance, I'm hoping that some of you with more of both will help to guide me into my next purchase. My plan is to sell my Factor RC, caliber change the Dreamline to .177 permanently and buy a new .22 cal gun.
I've been thinking about what gun I'd like to have for a .22 cal.. I really like the FX King but not really crazy about the stock or the price (> $2400), I think I'd like to own and Impact and the MK4 just released but also a big price tag, a Skout Evo or Epoch, etc... the FX DRS is an interesting option at ~$1000, same with the new Karma EQ (~$900), and we could go on and on.
This brings me back to my question, how much money should a person spend on a .22 cal PCP rifle, by extension, how does one evaluate the real value of say a FX King or Impact MK4 compared to say a FX DRS or Karma EQ or even an Avenge-X? Thoughts? What gun would you buy and why?
