N/A First PCP - FX Impact M4 or Skout EVO?

spiners 1.pngThese homemade spinners are 4" steel electrical box covers, you can see the dents at 100yds out from my ghost plus 22 cal.
solid build, great accuracy, and you can change the cals. Who doesn't love a happy ghost.
 
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@Chuck26287 thank you for all of that great information. I actually read through your posts before you posted on this thread when looking for info on Skout. Very informative.

Up until your post I was really leaning towards Skout, and now my mind is made up. Skout it is. I do wish they kept the adjustable buttpad stock on the Evo though.

Is getting the Evo over the Epoch worth it?
Yeah, I really want the adjustable benchrest butt pad as well.

"Is getting the Evo over the Epoch worth it?"

For me, when getting my FIRST Skout I definitely think so, but that's because of one of my priorities... solid barrels. The electronics upgrade features (larger OLED screen, more accessible charging port, etc) are also worth having. I've said this before, but I think it's worth repeating. If I already had an Epoch, I don't think I would sell the Epoch to upgrade, but I would consider getting the EVO in ADDITION to the Epoch to have the redundancy, if it was financially possible. Skout had enough respect for the Epoch platform to make the new solid bull barrels backward compatible. So, you don't have to buy an EVO to be able to use the new barrels. However, my logic is if you buy a new Epoch at a slightly lower cost, then add a solid barrel, you're at or higher than the buying the EVO new and getting the other newer features, in addition to a solid barrel.

Hope this helps.

Chuck
 
This pic shows where Skout is leaps and bounds ahead of the competition. EVERY gun over the price of $1000 SHOULD come with some type of Oring/parts kit. Sending a new gun back (for a 1or2 month turnaround time) for a bad Oring is completely unacceptable and really just shows a lack of courtesy for the person that just bought a product.

View attachment 510367
Well said. Such a basic concept missed by so many.
 
Yeah, I really want the adjustable benchrest butt pad as well.

"Is getting the Evo over the Epoch worth it?"

For me, when getting my FIRST Skout I definitely think so, but that's because of one of my priorities... solid barrels. The electronics upgrade features (larger OLED screen, more accessible charging port, etc) are also worth having. I've said this before, but I think it's worth repeating. If I already had an Epoch, I don't think I would sell the Epoch to upgrade, but I would consider getting the EVO in ADDITION to the Epoch to have the redundancy, if it was financially possible. Skout had enough respect for the Epoch platform to make the new solid bull barrels backward compatible. So, you don't have to buy an EVO to be able to use the new barrels. However, my logic is if you buy a new Epoch at a slightly lower cost, then add a solid barrel, you're at or higher than the buying the EVO new and getting the other newer features, in addition to a solid barrel.

Hope this helps.

Chuck
Thanks Chuck. I asked because I found a decent deal on an .25 cal Epoch with the 34" barrel. As for a solid barrel with me, that would need to come much later as I need to still get the support equipment. I'm glad to hear that the new solid barrels are backwards compatible with the Epoch line.
 
I can't help but chime in on this one, as I just went through this. I won't repost it all here again, but here are a couple links to my very recent posts on this very subject.

https://www.airgunnation.com/thread...pany-and-support-like-ive-never-seen.1321267/

and some EVO test targets after barrel polishing and accuracy coming back in after polished barrel lead-in:

https://www.airgunnation.com/threads/for-those-wanting-to-see-some-skout-evo-stuff.1321897/

Clearly, for reasons stated, I am in the "buy the best you can the first time" camp. I do believe when it comes to PCPs, you generally get what you pay for. However, like most things in life, there are always situation-based exceptions. I also believe the person has to have some basic aptitude for what they are getting into, or maybe they do indeed need a "learner rifle".

You won't go wrong or be disappointed with either an Impact or a Skout (Epoch or EVO). However, after years of high-end FX Impact air guns with liners (in all fairness, FX has good liners, but they're still liners), what I felt was a falsely claimed "match-grade" trigger (Impact M4 finally has what I might consider a competition trigger), and the logistics of a foreign manufacturer, I finally jumped ship for solid bull barrels, an electronic trigger, and an American Manufacturer in the USA. Along with supporting an American company, parts are as available as is possible. For FX, if Utah Airguns, or one of the smaller mom-and-pop shops has the parts, you'll probably have them fairly quickly. If not, think "weapons parts coming into the country through US Customs". Might be a couple weeks from Sweeden, might be a few months. I personally experienced the few months for an Impact receiver once.

Working on the Skout is simply put... simple. FX Impact... organize your work space, and set some time aside if you're going into it.

I will close with my opinion on tuning these two rifles. I can't believe how much easier it seems to be to tune the Skout EVO. I don't recall even seeing a shot string yet whose extreme spread was in double digits. I'm sure it happens, but I would say it is much simpler to tune the Skouts than an FX Impact. Aside from the differences in the valves themselves, I believe this is largely because a solenoid whose dwell is controlled to the ms and very repeatable is more consistent than a mechanically tensioned hammer opening a valve. Just my opinion.
I can't say that I disagree with you on any of it. A solenoid fired impact would pretty much own the market if they pulled that off. Instead the impact is more like a carburetor than fuel injection.


Best advice in the pcp world. Buy once, cry once. Fwiw I have never had an oring fail on my impact yet but my buddies maverick extruded some orings when drunk tuning took the 2nd reg to 190 bar. (i wasn't there to supervise). I rebuilt his gun and it isn't as daunting as it looks.
 
Very nice! Congratulations! I'm sure you'll be very happy with your choice. I will give you two pieces of advice, based on my small amount of personal experience thus far with a Skout air gun.

First, I think the digital gauges I upgraded to may have been a significant factor in the repeatability and low extreme spread numbers I've been seeing. I noticed the original analog gauges were of pretty low resolution, so setting the needle back to where it was during a previous condition accurately, or watching them for a refreshed reading is a little more difficult and variable. A statistical rule of thumb is you can reasonably estimate a setting to half of the smallest graduation on the measurement scale. 200 psi on the tank/supply gauge and 100 psi on the High Pressure Regulator (HPR) analog gauges. It's not real important on the supply, but that means with the analog gauge for the HPR, you're looking at roughly an estimated accuracy/repeatability of 50 psi. When I was shooting my strings, the digital HPR gauge allowed me to monitor my HPR psi to ensure I was shooting most of my shots within a 10 psi range on the HPR. This still allowed a reasonable amount of time for taking my next shot. You can't do that with the analog gauges... you just have to trust a consistent HPR refresh time between shots.

I also just felt after going to an electronics-based platform and the precision it provides it was kind of a step down to stay with the analog precision of the original gauges. Just me, as I'm a very analysis-based quantitative personality.

The gauges I bought were from a company called Outgun Airgun Accessories.

www.outgun.shop

This is a new company, and I THINK they are a sister entity to Sekhmet. The thing I liked about them is they were the only gauges I found that were 25mm, BSPP threads (the Epoch is not BSPP if I remember correctly), and would display in BOTH Bar and PSI. I wanted to stay in PSI since that's the preferred language of Skout Airguns. Either way, it's not a critical upgrade, but maybe a slight functional improvement. Most sustained improvements in accuracy in the PCP world come from an accumulation of small reductions in the variability of our shooting system's processes. Remember, variability is always additive, and reducing it is almost always a good thing.

Secondly, and not specific to a Skout, is I would get some form of fixed support for under the supply tank (the Epoch has one available). It might be able to withstand it just fine, but I cringe at the thought of using the tank as the support point for the gun. Any flex forces from doing so are focused right where there is a critical air seal between the tank and the main body. There's a good reason most people have some form of extended rail under their PCP's tank.

Good luck deciding on and getting your support equipment, and I'm really looking forward to seeing your first targets. Enjoy!

Chuck
 
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Thanks Chuck! Much appreciated. I will look into those digital gauges you provided. I was actually thinking of going digital anyway (eventually). The idea of having better resolution is a clear winner with me, be it in BAR or PSI. I do plan on getting the ARCA mount from Skout to mount a bipod. Oh how the dollar signs add up..... hahahaha. <---Not a complaint!
 
Thanks Chuck! Much appreciated. I will look into those digital gauges you provided. I was actually thinking of going digital anyway (eventually). The idea of having better resolution is a clear winner with me, be it in BAR or PSI. I do plan on getting the ARCA mount from Skout to mount a bipod. Oh how the dollar signs add up..... hahahaha. <---Not a complaint!
That really bright round circle you see when looking up above you is not the sun shining through a thick and dark overcast, it's the opening to the rabbit hole my friend and you have fallen down it! Don't worry, though, there's a ton of us down here, and we all know how to get back out... we just like it here.
 
If you are getting the Epoch, there is one piece from Skout that i would reccomend getting.
The air adapter .
The little o-ring in the shut-off valve is prone to getting clipped ..where the majority of the leakage happens in my rifle
The air adapter uses a pin valve instead of orinrs to close off the bottle to the rifle .100% better!
Congrats on your purchase
Mike
 
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I was not familiar with the Skout so I've been doing some googling. It appears to be an amazing rifle! The build quality seems top notch, lots of adjustment, and innovative improvements to the mechanics of air rifles.
I was trying to decide which air rifle (s) to get a few months ago. I ended up with a Taipan Vet 2 standard in .25 and just recently a BRK Ghost Plus in .22. I considered the FX M4, Western Hunter Sidewinder, and a few others. I went with BRK on that second purchase and I love it.

My only concern with the Skout is the weight. I e-mailed the company today and within 15 minutes they got back with an answer to my "minimum" weight question. With the skeleton butt plate and no ARCA rail under the bottle the 25" version weighs 8.5 pounds. That puts it 1.5 pounds heavier than my Ghost. Since I am solely a hunter, weight concerns me.