Buy once, cry once.

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A great discussion! There are a few things here I would like to dig into in no particular order. And yes, I have the right to bad-mouth Impacts because I used to own one.

I think starting off with something more conventional would be beneficial. One would learn the inner workings of valve, regulator etc...
It would be best to have them inline so to speak, like in the very first design and to learn about their inevitable symptoms. Mr A in his wisdom designed the Impact to accommodate a very different hammer system, and the regulator by it's placement can't be the easiest to figure out.
If you are one of the lucky ones starting off with an Impact with success, congrats! Personally I would only want to see them sold to clocksmiths or people with pcp driving license.

A first timer with a complicated pcp? Sure, everything is working great. Shooting lights out. Just wait until something lets go and you're in a world of pain. Maybe the onboard regulator pressure gauge is key when overhauling stuff.

Buy locally.
Do not adjust anything.
Maintain warranty and vendor's good will.

As months go by your aspirations change. You want more power out of it or You feel like You need to shoot slugs.
I don't know, maybe document the working setup. Everything that's easily measured. Pellet weight and reg pressure should carry a lot.

It's a good thing people are finding their way here but I believe there are thousands of said Impact owners at loss out there. They only turned one screw and now they can't shoot s#*&.

It's great to see people trying to help. Everyone agrees there's no ill will here on the forum.
 
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I think a lot of people dont realize there is such thing as budget pcp regret out there. Like any other hobby, its easy to spend way more buying incremental upgrades. Nothing wrong with starting out with an Impact, or a Notos.

I normally subscribe to the "Buy Once, Cry Once" mentality because of my hobby history. I learned a long time ago I am an overly picky consumer, so I figure out what I want/need. The few times I try to cheap out, I end up spending double or triple what the goal thing was to begin with. So I try to avoid that, and I know for a fact this pattern is common in humans.

I have like 10 budget pcps I very much regret buying in a short period of time, only to end up with several of the better setups anyway. What should have been $5k was more like $10k. They are great pcps, but I only really have time to focus on 2 or 3. And as my pcp skill increased I really needed the higher performance of the more expensive rigs. I knew that was going to happen from the start, freakin burned myself lol.
 
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As a noob I wanted something from a reputable company that would have support for years to come with a decent history of the fun itself. I bought a kratos at about $700 + scope. Well so much for that since they got discontinued. There is something to be said about cheap stuff that works ie notos but also a quality well made piece. I love my bench style shooting but I'm thinking about a Notos hard.
 
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brokeasajoke said:
As a noob I wanted something from a reputable company that would have support for years to come with a decent history of the fun itself. I bought a kratos at about $700 + scope. Well so much for that since they got discontinued. There is something to be said about cheap stuff that works ie notos but also a quality well made piece. I love my bench style shooting but I'm thinking about a Notos hard.
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Notos are fun and make a great carry-all-day gun!
 
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Buy once cry once is very apropos & applies to virtually everything. Insofar as PCP guns go he should have been prepared for the learning curve. It isnt insurmountable, is part of the process & something he would have had to do with any PCP rifle. The other aspect is tuning. Some ppl love to tinker & tune to squeeze every bit of performance they can out of something. Others (I am numbered in this catagory) just want it to work as advertised.

Yesterday I took delivery of a FX Wildcat MKIII. It is my 1st PCP rifle & in the short term I have no plans to do a thing to it, save shoot it. I like the idea of chucking slugs so might venture down that path at some point but in that instance I am growing with the gun. I could have grown with a Marauder or a some other far less expensive PCP gun but I elected to "cry once". If for some weird reason I decided this PCP game isnt for me I own a gun that is worth something & somewhat saleable that will allow me to recoup a portion of my expense. I wouldnt have that option if I had bought a "cheap" PCP.
 
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Firewalker said:
No other quip raises my hackles quite as much as, "Buy once, cry once".

I just counted 9 instances of a n00b buying an M4 as a first air gun and they are completely lost in the tune and setup.

What good does it do to push n00bs to high end guns?

Discuss....
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As has been approached here, it might be difficult to know which is the "buy once, cry once" airgun till you've owned/experienced some. I started with a VERY pos Crosman 760. It may have taken years to understand the level of pos that it was except that I was introduced to the BEEMAN brand when he was well established. i chased the power and next great airgun for a good while before understanding that each was great at what it was designed for. Many here take for granted the performance we are getting now but I attribute a large part of it to the ammo. The ammo was iust SO BAD for a while unless you could find or knew about the European stuff.
Anyway, it's easy to see how the advertising and ego get caught up in it.
The BIG area I don't understand that has had many threads lately is the first time airgun purchasers who want a $250 rifle that they can hunt deer or other medium game with. Talk about misunderstanding... First thing that comes to mind when I see these is an AI generated query for gun control data but I'm sure that at least some are real... I just don't see the reasoning...
Bob
 
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My experiences with "buy once cry once"/BOCO have varied.
I remember a particular time in my life when all I had were inexpensive to not quite mid priced riflescopes. These worked fine for years. But as I progressed as a competition shooter I discovered the need for FFP, tracking reliability, and as I got older and my eyes got worse so I felt the need for higher image quality.
For long range centerfire matches I got to the point that I bought a Horus Predator 8-26 but it didn't track well so I was restricted to holding over and off only, and glass wasn't very good.
Then I remember getting my first Nighforse NXS 3.5-15x50. Glass wasn't much better but it tracked well.
Then tried IOR, USO, other NF, Vortex, March, etc, and all of them had aspects that were disappointing enough that I sold them.
It wasn't until I bought a S&B PMII 5-25x56 with H59 reticle in MIL that I finally had everything I wanted. I still have this scope and it's mounted on my Thomas HPX currently.
So I could say that I wish I had bought one of these fine scopes to begin with which would have actually saved me a lot of money. I fought doing this for half a decade until I gave in but I was glad I did in the end.

All that being said I've owned other high end scopes which I had hoped were buy once cry once items and they had things about them that made me want to sell them, so I did.
Sometimes the BOCO philosophy doesn't turn out as hoped. Expensive things aren't perfect and definitely have faults, perceived or actual. They can also fail soon after purchase and can have annoyances in various ways.

The same thing as above happened with guns of many types, it's long long story.
I've had a FX Impact and no I don't want one again.
Above that even the best of the best guns are not perfect but some are keepers because they are that good.

Research, research, and research again, to find what others find as faults in something and if possible try out the item you want before you buy it.
 
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Vetmx said:
What I find kind of interesting is that guys in this topic are or seem to be considering the FX Impact a top tier airgun. I’ve had a bunch of them and while I think they are definitely a $2k airgun, I don’t consider any of them top tier. I know what guns are up there. I own one of them and maybe someday when I thin the herd of expensive Lego Impacts, I’ll buy one or two legit quality aggravation free airguns.
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You do know the impact is the gun that won most of the competition right? Nuff said lol
 
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Firewalker said:
No other quip raises my hackles quite as much as, "Buy once, cry once".

I just counted 9 instances of a n00b buying an M4 as a first air gun and they are completely lost in the tune and setup.

What good does it do to push n00bs to high end guns?

Discuss....
Click to expand...

I‘d like to see all n00bs considering a $2k FX Impact as their 1st PCP to use an unregulated Daystate Revere for a week, lol. (Currently $900 at AoA)

After seeing the accuracy and handling of the Revere out to 50 yards (with zero adjustments), I wonder how many would still feel the need for an FX Impact M4?

Until you have owned a variety of PCPs, its hard to understand the differences in adjustability & maintainability - and the “impact” on long term satisfaction.
 
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Feinwerkbau 900
Anschutz 9015
Walther LG400
Thomas Benchrest
Thomas Field Target

The only PCP rifles known that out of the box will win a world championship until you pick it up.

These are the best Precision Target rifles made, each has a simple, best designed, best crafted powerplant, best trigger systems, with the most accurate barrels available, and each will last you a life time.

Buy one of these and you won't have to cry at all.
 
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EPG said:
I‘d like to see all n00bs considering a $2k FX Impact as their 1st PCP to use an unregulated Daystate Revere for a week, lol. (Currently $900 at AoA)

After seeing the accuracy and handling of the Revere out to 50 yards (with zero adjustments), I wonder how many would still feel the need for an FX Impact M4?

Until you have owned a variety of PCPs, its hard to understand the differences in adjustability & maintainability - and the “impact” on long term satisfaction.
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agree as one of the best pcp's on the market
 
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N00b here. I bought my Airacuda based on YTube videos and while it is a fine rifle with a really good trigger I wish I had come here first and bought something with more air capacity. Now I have it and don't know if I could sell it to upgrade. The flip side of that is that I asked about a Guantlet SL30 and many/most of the replies were negative. I bought one anyway when Pyramid had their 20 off sale and I love that thing.
 
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I've noticed it several times that the noob doesn't ask for suggestion or opinons on making that first purchase of a somewhat complicated gun but I've noticed it over and over that noob asking how to tune it or problem solve an issue. It's their option and right but just the observation that urks me a little as well. To each there own as they say....

Similar thing is the purchasing of an air compressor. There is enough information out there to help steer new purchasers in the right direction but over and over again.... well you all know the rest of the story.
 
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Buy alot cry alot ... but hopefully over soon with these 2K plus monsters. IMHO, there are just little things that can trip up feature rich air rifles. Some things one just never considered when moving from pcp to pcp. The taipan veteran was a rock solid-reliable grab and shoot air gun ... it ate any pellet or slug I could shove into the barrel.
 
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