FX Impact - Hunting Specific Questions for a newbie

Many of us use our pcps as a pick-up and take-out some pests tool. If you cant rely on your equipment to make first shot hits what good is it? My FXs do that now, but didnt when I first got them. There are years worth of common issues you can read about here and other places. Namely the FX poi shifts, and first shot low fps due to reg creep overnight. I would say most people dont have any issues with their rifles, but many do.

The Taipan Veteran Gen 1 and AGT Uragan have that first shot hits reputation here. The FX DRS is showing to be capable of that too, but they are not shrouded and will be louder than anything else in the same category. Some people have had so much trouble with FX pcps they have moved on to other manufactures. I love my FX rifles mostly because I have always enjoyed tinkering. I think that is the biggest draw for some of us when it comes to FX.

A few years ago there werent really many options for high power, high accuracy, high adjustability platforms. That lead many to buy into the FX models before Covid. Then the industry kinda went nuts in 2020 and now we have several other options. Some of them really seem to do it better than FX, but not everyone would agree. There are thousands and thousands of people loyal to FX for good reason. They make some awesome stuff. Personally I love all of mine, but take issue with some of their design flaws and marketing tactics. There are other members here with a lot more experience than I do with multiple brands. Guys like @JaceSpace1369 use their rifles for a living, and in real world conditions; and have many brands they can speak to.

But Im not necessarily trying to talk you out of an FX, just want you to be aware of some possible issues you might run into. They can certainly do what you are asking, with a long track record literally all over the world. My 25Cal MK2 Impact can drill a California ground squirrel the size of a playing card at least 155yds. With a factory shroud and a Hugget Snipe it is surprisingly quiet even pushing a Nielsen 36g slug at 1005fps. I would bet money that an Uragan with any moderator would be even quieter and probably more accurate/reliable.

What would be best is to find a local range that has Air Rifle matches and hangout to see how quiet different setups can be. Its tough to relay some of this info through text over the interwebs.
I really appreciate your practical and as unbiased-as-possible feedback here. I love to tinker, but I am so busy with my business and coaching my son’s baseball team, that I am getting more and more interested in something that’s more ready to go out of the box and when we have a few hours to spare to go shoot.

The tinkering will probably happen more when he’s gone in a few years doing his thing. At the end of the day we can both get obsessed with stuff, and I want to lead him away from screens and into the outdoors.

Deer hunting is seasonal and can get boring sitting in a blind and waiting (what we do here in tx) and varmint/small-med game hunting, especially whisper quiet at night, seems like something we would both love and get to do any time of the year.

Regardless, you really made me think, and that’s what I wanted when I posted here. Thanks!
 
I really appreciate your practical and as unbiased-as-possible feedback here. I love to tinker, but I am so busy with my business and coaching my son’s baseball team, that I am getting more and more interested in something that’s more ready to go out of the box and when we have a few hours to spare to go shoot.

The tinkering will probably happen more when he’s gone in a few years doing his thing. At the end of the day we can both get obsessed with stuff, and I want to lead him away from screens and into the outdoors.

Deer hunting is seasonal and can get boring sitting in a blind and waiting (what we do here in tx) and varmint/small-med game hunting, especially whisper quiet at night, seems like something we would both love and get to do any time of the year.

Regardless, you really made me think, and that’s what I wanted when I posted here. Thanks!
Here's what I will tell you. Out of all of the guns I have owned at high power. FX is probably the quietest aside from this special gauntlet g30 and the cocking is even quieter. The Uragans are great guns but the cocking is very mechanical, and the shot has some ping to it. It's not crazy, but you'll notice it if you've never shot a pcp that had it before. Everything else I've mentioned still stands.

I like you don't have time to tinker like I used to. I do iguana removal in South Florida 5 days a week up until last week I was doing around 50-60 hours of it a week on top of security on the weekend. Now it's just going to be around 40hrs plus security. So my time to tinker and mess has been none existent. I time I do spend working on guns is fixing my own guns, and my teams air rifles and if for whatever reason I can't. I bring it in to Joel at @PalmBeachAirguns and he has it ready for me fairly quickly.
 
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Heres my experience after owning Airforce condor&texan, AGT vulcan&uragan, Brococks, Daystate deltawolf, several FX Impact mk2 and M3, FX Maverick, Avengers, Gauntlet, etc.

The most consistent, accurate, reliable, great trigger, easily externally adjustable(regulator), overall package for Hunting and some other applications. The most versatile with barrel change kits going from .22 to .30. Left or right side cocking, lefty or righty shooter. The most aftermarket accessible parts. Has huge following and support for user friendly youtube guide for parts, repairs and tuning. Factory shroud, non existent ping, slug or pellet gun.
..and the winner Is FX impact M3 by far.

I would buy used for the value. Let the original owner take the hit and loss 2300 new vs Buy used and reap the benefits for 1000 to 1400 depending on market and upgrades. Good deals arise from time to time.
There are some mk2 and M3 for sale on the forums. If your and don't have the ability to message try other AG forums until you have enough posts and time on this forums.

You'll need to decide what caliber and if your wanting to shoot pellets or slugs. Each manufacturer generally offers configurations for barrels that's are more for slugs or more for pellets or both
There are decent deals on used on here and on other AG forums.
This just posted on AG worriors(the old yellow forum)

Impact M3
 
The honesty about fx reg creep is true once you exit the pellet only regime, but huma regs fix the big issues as does the m4 amp-2. The m4 impact is the first gen to address the top strap innacuracy on reassembly. My m3 needed the 1 piece top rail to fix its poi shift after a hammer swap. I machined my own bits to make this work but I use the carbon stiffener, carbon tensioner, and carbon shroud with harmonic tuner on mine and had it shooting 34gr at 1040 for a while but I couldn't shoot anything else subsonic. So down into the 900s we went so the power wheel on 1 could shoot 1040 fps 23 slugs at rodents And 31 nsa at coyote on max.

When i was younger cb long could take a coyote and that was 20 grain at 800 fps or so from a 22lr rifle. Not ideal but pre pcp affordability that was the cheap quiet option. My gun is likely to end up 25 eventually for all the reasons covered in your thread too.
 
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The honesty about fx reg creep is true once you exit the pellet only regime, but huma regs fix the big issues as does the m4 amp-2. The m4 impact is the first gen to address the top strap innacuracy on reassembly. My m3 needed the 1 piece top rail to fix its poi shift after a hammer swap. I machined my own bits to make this work but I use the carbon stiffener, carbon tensioner, and carbon shroud with harmonic tuner on mine and had it shooting 34gr at 1040 for a while but I couldn't shoot anything else subsonic. So down into the 900s we went so the power wheel on 1 could shoot 1040 fps 23 slugs at rodents And 31 nsa at coyote on max.

When i was younger cb long could take a coyote and that was 20 grain at 800 fps or so from a 22lr rifle. Not ideal but pre pcp affordability that was the cheap quiet option. My gun is likely to end up 25 eventually for all the reasons covered in your thread too.
great info. Thanks!
 
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I wasn’t going to weigh in on this topic but I’m taking a short time out from a .30 that is perplexing me. In your situation, just go with a .30. If you go .25, you’re leaving stuff on the table. Because in no time you’ll , in your situation, be trying to push it to 30 caliber levels. With a .30, you will always know you bought enough gun. You’re gonna be in the sicks in Texas with a broad size range of animals you would like entertain yourself shooting.

Next decision is pellets or slugs. Pellet life is a simple enjoyable one. Slug life can be frustrating, no matter what gun.

I will explain the big difference between most guns and a FX Impact. When you test most other guns, without going into detail about the procedure, a projectile is either a go or no go. Then you move on. With an Impact, you feel if you just keep spinning knobs or buying liners or hot rod parts, you’ll get it to shoot. Then when you get it to shoot, especially with slugs, it can be tricky keeping it there. With pellets, once any gun is dialed in, they are solid performers. But some guns are tougher than others. The Impact is not a tough guy, it’s a ladies man. But I’ve spent plenty of time in the field with mine. No complains. Just make it as bulletproof as you can and take care of it.
 
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I wasn’t going to weigh in on this topic but I’m taking a short time out from a .30 that is perplexing me. In your situation, just go with a .30. If you go .25, you’re leaving stuff on the table. Because in no time you’ll , in your situation, be trying to push it to 30 caliber levels. With a .30, you will always know you bought enough gun. You’re gonna be in the sicks in Texas with a broad size range of animals you would like entertain yourself shooting.

Next decision is pellets or slugs. Pellet life is a simple enjoyable one. Slug life can be frustrating, no matter what gun.

I will explain the big difference between most guns and a FX Impact. When you test most other guns, without going into detail about the procedure, a projectile is either a go or no go. Then you move on. With an Impact, you feel if you just keep spinning knobs or buying liners or hot rod parts, you’ll get it to shoot. Then when you get it to shoot, especially with slugs, it can be tricky keeping it there. With pellets, once any gun is dialed in, they are solid performers. But some guns are tougher than others. The Impact is not a tough guy, it’s a ladies man. But I’ve spent plenty of time in the field with mine. No complains. Just make it as bulletproof as you can and take care of it.
I respectfully partially disagree on keeping it shooting slugs, if you dump the delrin piston amp regs life gets really simple. The impact is the reloading bench and the gun all in one and the temptation to spin knobs is the great destructor of decent tunes. Fully agree that pellet life is a simple happy fun one 😁.

There's a guy that shoots coyotes that you can find on here and he saves the skulls and polishes them up like the predator movie, but shows the entrance and exit winds for different projectiles.

Until that data and doing some things myself that werent the peak of ethical hunting, i wouldve said just get the 35 and you can barrel down later and have the hammer for big power already installed. I never went much beyond 75 ft lbs in 22 because I was shooting thru our back stops(aluminum road sign and 1.25 inch cdx plywood). A shooting buddy with a 500mm 25 was knocking on 100 ft lbs door but it was ungodly air wasteful, needed a custom hammer I made loaded with tungsten, not sneaky enough and technically voided it's warranty (who needs those, Moar power) 😂.

Vetmx has a good point tho, if you do an impact, start big and barrel down since fx puts different internals in for power and it saves you disassembly imho. You can easily turn knobs and regs to dial it back instead of deep surgery to do a hammer. The maverick is miles easier to hammer swap but I wouldn't give up my valve adjuster for it.


350 legend subs and a can still nags at me for the pigs, i wish I had your density of critters for the grill.
 
I wasn’t going to weigh in on this topic but I’m taking a short time out from a .30 that is perplexing me. In your situation, just go with a .30. If you go .25, you’re leaving stuff on the table. Because in no time you’ll , in your situation, be trying to push it to 30 caliber levels. With a .30, you will always know you bought enough gun. You’re gonna be in the sicks in Texas with a broad size range of animals you would like entertain yourself shooting.

Next decision is pellets or slugs. Pellet life is a simple enjoyable one. Slug life can be frustrating, no matter what gun.

I will explain the big difference between most guns and a FX Impact. When you test most other guns, without going into detail about the procedure, a projectile is either a go or no go. Then you move on. With an Impact, you feel if you just keep spinning knobs or buying liners or hot rod parts, you’ll get it to shoot. Then when you get it to shoot, especially with slugs, it can be tricky keeping it there. With pellets, once any gun is dialed in, they are solid performers. But some guns are tougher than others. The Impact is not a tough guy, it’s a ladies man. But I’ve spent plenty of time in the field with mine. No complains. Just make it as bulletproof as you can and take care of it.
I appreciate your feedback, and thank you for taking the time to weigh in. I am weighing all the input everyone has been gracious enough to share.
 
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I respectfully partially disagree on keeping it shooting slugs, if you dump the delrin piston amp regs life gets really simple. The impact is the reloading bench and the gun all in one and the temptation to spin knobs is the great destructor of decent tunes. Fully agree that pellet life is a simple happy fun one 😁.

There's a guy that shoots coyotes that you can find on here and he saves the skulls and polishes them up like the predator movie, but shows the entrance and exit winds for different projectiles.

Until that data and doing some things myself that werent the peak of ethical hunting, i wouldve said just get the 35 and you can barrel down later and have the hammer for big power already installed. I never went much beyond 75 ft lbs in 22 because I was shooting thru our back stops(aluminum road sign and 1.25 inch cdx plywood). A shooting buddy with a 500mm 25 was knocking on 100 ft lbs door but it was ungodly air wasteful, needed a custom hammer I made loaded with tungsten, not sneaky enough and technically voided it's warranty (who needs those, Moar power) 😂.

Vetmx has a good point tho, if you do an impact, start big and barrel down since fx puts different internals in for power and it saves you disassembly imho. You can easily turn knobs and regs to dial it back instead of deep surgery to do a hammer. The maverick is miles easier to hammer swap but I wouldn't give up my valve adjuster for it.


350 legend subs and a can still nags at me for the pigs, i wish I had your density of critters for the grill.
So helpful to know. I never thought about the go big and throttle down philosophy, but it makes total sense. You are the second person to metntion the cayote guy on here. Any chance you know his member name? I'd like to read up.

Yes, we have critter density, but it's all private land (for the most part) here, and it can be REALLY hard to get access to a place to hunt without spending big $$. Fortunately, I recently got access, which is why I am getting back into the shooting game. I get bored just going to the range. I want to hunt!

350 legend is devastating inside 100 yards!
 
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So helpful to know. I never thought about the go big and throttle down philosophy, but it makes total sense. You are the second person to metntion the cayote guy on here. Any chance you know his member name? I'd like to read up.

Yes, we have critter density, but it's all private land (for the most part) here, and it can be REALLY hard to get access to a place to hunt without spending big $$. Fortunately, I recently got access, which is why I am getting back into the shooting game. I get bored just going to the range. I want to hunt!

350 legend is devastating inside 100 yards!
Powder burners and reloading/casting, rimfire competition was my obsession before pcp airguns. I bought the m3 sniper when it came out an proceeded to modify it like crazy. It didn't need all that in hindsight. It's personal preference, but i wish I went 25 on that gun (owning 2 other guns in that caliber already) because of its power, precision and tuneability the impact and 25 slugs seems like a fun rabbit hole.

Here's the coyote dude.

Post in thread 'Coyote #9 - finally' https://www.airgunnation.com/threads/coyote-9-finally.1313465/post-1752518
 
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You don't need an Impact or slugs to shoot a coyote. A coon is tougher than a coyote. The skull on a coyote is super thin. It's being either more accurate or having some power and/or expansion on the ammo which will assist to blow the brain out on head shots that helps. If you want or think you might want to take body shots then go 30 or bigger and be prepared for the dog to run a bit every once in a while.

The Uragan and a whole host of other guns on the market will get the job done.

If quiet is a priority then something like the Uragan in 25 or 30 would be ok. I have shot the 22 and it was quiet for a 22 so I am thinking that it will transfer over some of that into larger calibers.

You don't need slugs but they do have their benefits in retaining energy and many will have hollow points to expand better once they hit hard tissue or bone. As long as you understand that and weigh that knowledge with the caliber and power you are sending down range at a given distance you can make smarter shots count and get good results.

I have seen some pretty good expansion into the brain with the NSA slugs and many others will work. Usually blood coming out the eyes , eyes blown out , eyes bulging or blood out the ears are good signs. Sometimes they just blow right through the head. All this at 70 ft lbs in close range < 30 yards consistently
 
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