FX gages vs soft rifle cases.

[jbird22cal]

Hello all, hope your weekend is going well.

I'm almost done setting up my fx dreamline Tactical (different scope will be ordered in a few weeks) and I'm coming close to needing a case. I've been rocking the original box so far.

I have rimfire and centerfire powder burners. There's a muzzle stuffer around here somewhere as well. So.... I have cases! Both hard and soft. I hate hard cases.... they don't fit well in all vehicles and are awkward. I've put a lot of fun tokens into this project and need something to protect it bouncing around in the truck bed, strapped to the ATV, sitting in the corner, etc.

While there are a myriad of options for both hard and soft cases around. Im trying to way to pros and cons of each type to get the best for this situation.

I started out thinking something like the Pelican 1750 would be the best. That thing is 23 pounds-ish empty and I still need to carry a few things. I just have not measured the thickness of the rifle to see if that ones is the model I need for sure.

I've been looking at the Eberlestock sniper sled drag bag. I own a few things from them and they've lasted pretty well over about 10 years. It has an additional pad for "carrying 2 rifles" that I thought might help protect the Wika gages. So far its main appeal is the pocket setups. I do not care to carry 250 count pellet tins in an AR mag pouch.... especially a velcro one.

I have another square bag that has a fold out half mat that holds 2 rifles similar to something like the eberlestock. I like the idea... I dont like the weight it gets to ... I got that for carrying deer rifles on the farm when rifle cases were mandatory, after that it was just in a steel bed side by side.

These gages are my biggest concern. I'd hate to get a heavy case just to protect them but the gages are expensive and I have had bow sights knocked off in cheap soft cases... during peak rut with 2 hours to sunset... I dont want to ruin any more hunts over silly things like this.

Anyone have luck keeping the reg and bottle gages safe in somewhat adverse conditions with these soft cases?

I could not find anything exact when I searched the forums.

 

[rcs9250]

I often use soft cases for my powder burners. Main reason, the barrels on powder burners are extremely stiff and durable compared to PCP rifles.
My air rifles are another matter. I have an FX Impact with a 700mm barrel, a Wildcat with a 700mm barrel and a Crown Continuum. They of course came in the handy FX molded hard case.
I like those cases for them because they do a good job of protecting the barrel. The FX hard case is very trunk and back seat friendly in my Civic. The Crown will not fit in its case with the 700mm barrel, but I have only had it on once just to shoot a couple pellets through it. With the 700mm barrel installed, the rifle butt is on the floor and the receiver leans against the front of my front seat. Yeah, it looks like a shotgun in a cop car. But nothing is touching the barrel.
I really don’t know how durable the barrels are with respect to what can happen in a soft case while in the trunk or back seat.
The Impact or Wildcat are a little more robust because they are bullpups but the Crown is a whole different matter, its barrel, especially the 700mm is pretty vulnerable in my opinion.
When I’m hunting with my PCP’s and need to set my gun down I lay it on the ground so that the barrel isn’t touching anything so as not to disturb the barrel.
It would really tick me off to lean the rifle against a tree and my POI get disturbed.
So I prefer hard cases. Fortunately the FX cases aren’t bad, size wise. I will have to figure something out for the Crown with 700mm barrel. I’m thinking a 1x6 or 1x8 with supports for the durable parts of the gun and maybe a soft support near the muzzle.

 

[jbird22cal]

I often use soft cases for my powder burners. Main reason, the barrels on powder burners are extremely stiff and durable compared to PCP rifles.
My air rifles are another matter. I have an FX Impact with a 700mm barrel, a Wildcat with a 700mm barrel and a Crown Continuum. They of course came in the handy FX molded hard case.
I like those cases for them because they do a good job of protecting the barrel. The FX hard case is very trunk and back seat friendly in my Civic. The Crown will not fit in its case with the 700mm barrel, but I have only had it on once just to shoot a couple pellets through it. With the 700mm barrel installed, the rifle butt is on the floor and the receiver leans against the front of my front seat. Yeah, it looks like a shotgun in a cop car. But nothing is touching the barrel.
I really don’t know how durable the barrels are with respect to what can happen in a soft case while in the trunk or back seat.
The Impact or Wildcat are a little more robust because they are bullpups but the Crown is a whole different matter, its barrel, especially the 700mm is pretty vulnerable in my opinion.
When I’m hunting with my PCP’s and need to set my gun down I lay it on the ground so that the barrel isn’t touching anything so as not to disturb the barrel.
It would really tick me off to lean the rifle against a tree and my POI get disturbed.
So I prefer hard cases. Fortunately the FX cases aren’t bad, size wise. I will have to figure something out for the Crown with 700mm barrel. I’m thinking a 1x6 or 1x8 with supports for the durable parts of the gun and maybe a soft support near the muzzle.

Interesting thought. Something I did not whole heartedly consider. The 500mm barrel with stock moderator is rather long and it will not fit in a 38-44 inch case which is where I guess the cases mentioned above would fall.

One would hope FX barrels would infact have some immunity to this but I have read in other threads people having this problem. Mostly from barrel droop and moderator changes. I'm unsure if it is still a problem. There is also a lot of low end optics being used which when I used them on PB in the past have acted the same way as a barrel tension issue. So it is hard telling from a forum readers stand point. Im not disagreeing with anyone, I just wait for my own observations accordingly.

In my preliminary testing I have not had to much of an issue and have even left the barrel resting on the cardboard box it came with without to much problem. Admittedly accuracy testing has been at closer ranges (18-51 yards) since I will be changing optics anyway and need to figure out a different tune.. I also have to wait for the temperature to change some to finish out my strelok set up and tune my table.

The design of the barrel is similar to a lot of rimfires I've worked on and shot over the years and I can see the potential problems with this manner of attachment. I once actually fixed a rifle for someone that the stock would warp and push the barrel over just enough to prevent the striker from engaging the rim of the rifmire cartridge.

I'm not sure if the eberlestock would or would not effect this with its thick foam sides or its fold over buzzle protector.

I am still waiting on Eberlestock to return my email as far as how the case would work for the rest of the kit and am pretty certain the Pelican 1750 would fit but to keep the gages upwards in a manner to quickly check the tank gage the rifle would be upside down when carried by the handle.

Thank you for your thought. I may have to lean the rifle up in the corner for a day and see if the POI changes.

 

[rcs9250]

Thank you for your thought. I may have to lean the rifle up in the corner for a day and see if the POI changes.

Yeah, one of these days when I get bored I may do that too.
My FX factory Crown case is a foam that’s contour cut out for the rifle. It sits in the cut out with little to nothing touching the barrel (I think). I have another Doskocil brand case that’s egg carton design foam. When that case has a rifle in it, the foam has a compressive squeeze all over. I’ll have to shoot the rifle and get a good zero, put it in case for an hour or two, then shoot it and see if the POI changes. Then leave it overnight and try again.
I would think that the stint in the case should not affect the 380mm barrel. I don’t have a case long enough for the 700mm barrel. Needless to say, the 380mm barrel isn’t nearly as rigid as even a .22LR barrel but I’d be hard pressed to believe the barrel could be bent even a tiny bit where the liner inserts into the receiver. We’ll see.
Randy

 

[MileHighAirGunner]

I don’t like hard cases either but for my PCP air guns I have resorted to using them for more piece of mind so the barrels don’t get knocked around as easily. I use a hard case for my compound bow also because I had the same concern about my sight getting knocked around or damaged in a soft case. The piece of mind, at least for me, is worth more than the inconvenience of the hard case.
Those Pelican cases are nice but pricey, at least for my needs. I think Pelican cases are like the Yeti cooler of the gun case world. More about brand name recognition and prestige than anything. Plenty of other much cheaper rotormolded coolers that are just as good as a Yeti for half the price. Same goes for gun cases IMO. I didn’t like the idea of the egg crate foam type hard cases that would compress down on the gun and potentially the barrels so I’m using the Plano All Weather Tactical case with the cut out type foam insert. They seem to be plenty durable for what I need and not so expensive. I’m sure there are other brands similar to the Plano that might be just as good just sharing what I personally use.
Maybe there’s a bigger comparable difference with the Pelican cases to others if I was traveling all over hill and dale with my airguns every week or flying all over the country to hunt or shoot in competitions and such. But I’m not and for my limited local traveling needs with my air guns the Plano case works just fine. And I can buy a couple for the same cost as one Pelican case. To each their own though.

https://www.amazon.com/Plano-Weather-Scoped-Rifle-Shotgun/dp/B07B7SB486/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?crid=39T9BQNYOFBCG&keywords=plano%2Ball%2Bweather%2Btactical%2Bgun%2Bcase&qid=1662832022&sprefix=plano%2Ball%2Caps%2C120&sr=8-3&th=1&psc=1

 

[rcs9250]

MileHigh,
Yeah, I know what you mean with the egg carton foam pressing the barrel. My Impact and Crown Continuum came in the FX cut out foam and obviously holds the rifle very securely. The Wildcat Sniper came in the same FX case but with egg carton foam. It came like that because the gun needs to be on just the right angle with the buttplate touching one side of the case and the muzzle clearing the other side by about 1/4”. If the case were to be impacted on the muzzle side while closed there’s no doubt the muzzle would contact the inside of the case. The shorter Wildcat version leaves much more space.
I really like the FX cases because they’re short and easily fit in my trunk or back seat but I may look for another hard case that’s a couple inches longer and custom cut a foam interior, but my Crown with the 700 mm barrel, that might be a challenge. I’ll have to measure that and see what’s available.
I zeroed my Wildcat last week and yesterday, three days later, with it in the case the whole three days, took it to the range yesterday and it was right on the money. I’ll keep trying that case to see if anything changes till I possibly get a different hard case.

 

[landshark]

Even though for all my years as a photographer I hated any large Pelican hard cases and refused to use them. They are very strong and hold up better than most any other, yes they are expensive and yes they are heavy but they do exactly what they are supposed to do. I just discovered a Canadian hard case maker that makes a case as good as a pelican, Nanuk https://nanuk.com/?utm_term=nanuk&u...Hzz_2sKAuDvE4znxAXdW0Pf_3kJ05S1RoCneMQAvD_BwE, they are also not inexpensive and heavy, but really well made. I have and transport my air rifles in both a Palican and a Nanuk