N/A First PCP - FX Impact M4 or Skout EVO?
- Thread starter Kyrixa
- Start date
My thoughts on 1st gun really depends a lot on you and your situation. You have Powder burners.
Are you a reloaded or do you buy factory ammo?
The equivalent to reloading in the airgun world is tuning your gun to your ammo thus a highly tunable gun
Do you have a chronograph?
Where do you plan to shoot, backyard or range?
Caliber matters here, .30 is way louder than .22. Not just the gun but the pellet flight and target impact make a lot of noise.
How about air, How you gonna fill?
My 1st PCP was a pair of Air Arms S200’s in .22. This was 20 years ago. Simple guns but still quality, easy to fill with a hand pump. As accurate as the guy behind the trigger. Just shoot.
Are you a reloaded or do you buy factory ammo?
The equivalent to reloading in the airgun world is tuning your gun to your ammo thus a highly tunable gun
Do you have a chronograph?
Where do you plan to shoot, backyard or range?
Caliber matters here, .30 is way louder than .22. Not just the gun but the pellet flight and target impact make a lot of noise.
How about air, How you gonna fill?
My 1st PCP was a pair of Air Arms S200’s in .22. This was 20 years ago. Simple guns but still quality, easy to fill with a hand pump. As accurate as the guy behind the trigger. Just shoot.
Upvote 0
Heavyopp, I do have powder burners and I do reload for the best rounds for my specific guns, and enjoy doing so. I do have a chrono, but looking to upgrade it. As for a place to shoot, it would be at a range or out in the desert on BLM land so the noise issue will not be a problem. I do not have the room to shoot at home. I am planing on purchasing an airtank.
Upvote 0
As you already know from your shooting experience, the most important thing in good shooting is trigger time. That and (at least for me) comfort on my shooting bench for longer shooting sessions.HAHAHAA... of course not! I have already come tho that realization
I hear 'ya on the 'buy once, cry once' logic, and I fully accept and support that logic.
But both guns you are looking at are of a similar form factor. They are both great guns but they are also more bullpup than traditional rifle. For me, I could shoot a traditionally stocked rifle much better (majority of my shooting is off the bench) than I could a bullpup, at least at first. Early on, shooting a bullpup was kind of frustrating (couldn't be as consistent with it). Over time and many (1000's?) trigger pulls, my abilities with a bullpup configuration improved, and shooting them became more fun than frustrating.
So you might want to think of a more traditionally shaped rifle at the beginning?
And maybe a simpler one?
Both the EVO, and especially the Impact, are very adjustable and tunable. Which is great for one with experience. For one who does not yet have deep airgun tuning experience, they can actually get into trouble if they mis-tune a highly tunable gun. Especially some of the more 'race bred' guns, which may be very fast and accurate, but might also be on the knife-edge when you get them there.
Maybe start a little simpler and more traditionally, but still enjoy the benefits one gets with a quality, high-end gun. FX Crown (especially with the GRS stock - if you have large hands), Daystate Wolverine, Daystate Red Wolf, Daystate Revere, Air Arms S510. I might also suggest RAW HM1000x, but I am currently going through some issues with that company trying to get one of their Micro Hunters to shoot right, so I'm not suggesting anyone buy a RAW right now. These guns all shoot wonderfully, and most of them have the ability for basic tuning for your chosen projectile(s) (better yet, ask your retailer to tune them for you before shipment, and enjoy shooting them right out of the box).
Stock up big time on pellets. Shoot the heck out of your new gun. See what you like about it, and what you might want in your next air gun. Proceed from there. The journey begins...
Upvote 0
All good info TMH, thank you! You gave me something to think about with these being bullpup designs. No matter what I end up going with, you can bet I will be putting in LOTS of trigger time. I enjoy shooting, but with the costs of ammo, and the ability to get the reloading supplies, I just have not been able to do as much as I would like, hence the reason for an airgun. One could argue that a lot of reloading components can be bought for the cost of one of these rifles, while true, the costs for pellets/slugs are way less in the long run.
Upvote 0
Skout all the way if hunting isn’t an interest. Will perform equal in every way and is about 1000 times easier to work on.
Upvote 0
Eh…Skout’s support is actually better than fx support in my opinion. You deal directly with the actual company right in Pennsylvania not a distributor/importer and they use the phone. It’s great. Support etc is zero concern with Skout. Zero. I would get an evo but I already have an epoch. Close enough to each other that it’s hard to justify another. You can snag some pretty good deals on used epoch rifles and with Skout right here in the U.S. I wouldn’t worry. Not to mention Skout is working on some new barrels (sub moa) and another company I believe. They will have barrels I think that will end up being better than the fx liners.
Upvote 0
Could throw Panthera and Ghost to your list.
I’m not so sure I’d go M4 right away. Only reason is it just came out, too new. Fx USA customer support? Not so sure how that is playing out now, after the breakup. Fx USA customer support used to be awesome, maybe it still is, I don’t know.
I do have an M3, great gun for me as a reloader was fun to tinker with. That was my 2nd pcp, about 18 years between my 1st - Air arms and 2nd - Impact. Change to bullpup didn’t faze me and is now preferred just for the compactness.
I’m not so sure I’d go M4 right away. Only reason is it just came out, too new. Fx USA customer support? Not so sure how that is playing out now, after the breakup. Fx USA customer support used to be awesome, maybe it still is, I don’t know.
I do have an M3, great gun for me as a reloader was fun to tinker with. That was my 2nd pcp, about 18 years between my 1st - Air arms and 2nd - Impact. Change to bullpup didn’t faze me and is now preferred just for the compactness.
Upvote 0
Funny, I was originally wanting to go with the Panthera.... The biggest downside, for me, with the Panthera, is the air capacity. I looked at the Dynamic for more air, but lose the adjustability. I have not looked at Ghost. I'll have to check that one out also.
The biggest downside, for me, with the Panthera, is the air capacity. I looked at the Dynamic for more air, but lose the adjustability. I have not looked at Ghost. I'll have to check that one out also.Upvote 0
Ghost seems like a solid platform for sure. I personally would feel violated after buying wondering where my extra 300 bucks went. Then again wonder where my 300 bucks went when I wanted a barrel kit. At least with Skout you can see where the money went.Funny, I was originally wanting to go with the Panthera....
Upvote 0
Unless you are looking for a "brand (spanking) new" gun, AoA has some really nice used Daystates for sale in the $2k range. I got my Redwolf from them and have been EXTREMELY happy with it.
Upvote 0
Depending on your use the Panthera may still be a great option. I built up a fantastic Panthera for hunting and long range target shooting. I started with a Panthera .22 600mm. I added the front bottle adapter and 480cc bottle out front along with an arca rail to protect the bottle and provide an arca mount for tripod use. I now have 780cc of onboard air. With an Athlon Helos scope and a Donny FL Sumo out front it is not a compact rifle at all, but she is a beautiful performer. I wouldn’t want to carry it through the woods all day but off a tripod or a bench my Panthera is one of the best rifles I have ever shot.Funny, I was originally wanting to go with the Panthera....
Kenny
Upvote 0
One recent personal data point here. I bought a pre-owned DRS Classic (.22 cal/600mm) from UA towards the end of September. While I don't know its history or what the original owner did with it, it just didn't shoot well - General poor accuracy with 18.13's and pretty slow muzzle velocity. A little better accuracy with 15.89's, but ES over a 12 shot string was like 40 fps (and that was after burning the first 2-3 really low velocity shots).
Contacted UA for warranty service on 10/9. Same day response from them with a service ticket number. Next day they provided a paid return label. 6 days later (4 business days) I received notification that my gun had been received, and that current lead times for repairs were in the 3-4 week range.
23 days later I received an email that the no-charge warranty work had been completed, and a couple of days later I received the DRS back. They had replaced the reg and the valve components, and since I had mentioned it, had tuned the gun for 18.13 gr pellets.
For someone new to our sport, this may have really seemed to be a long time for warranty service. Especially if it was their only gun. I felt that the communication and turnaround from FX's US Service Center (now Utah Airguns) was great. And all communications were very friendly, upbeat and apologetic - even though I was not the first owner of this gun.
My single data point says that Utah Airguns is doing a very good job as the FX US Service Center.
Upvote 0
That’s great to hear about UA. I’ve been looking heavily on their site the past week from new and used.
Upvote 0
If you are interested in accuracy, my suggestions would be two:
Vulcan 3 .25 Cal ( confirmed super accuracy at 300 mts).
FX Panthera .25Cal. ( extreme accuracy at 100 mts).
Vulcan 3 .25 Cal ( confirmed super accuracy at 300 mts).
FX Panthera .25Cal. ( extreme accuracy at 100 mts).
Upvote 0