Fx impact M3 700mm Blast of air to the face

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charlie99

charlie99

Member
Feb 24, 2022
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Portland, Oregon, multnomah
Hello all. So I have finally decided that I want a high end air rifle, so I purchased a brand new fx impact m3 700mm .22 from pyramid air. Wow this thing is awesome. So I started shooting it and it shoots great. I have about 200 pellets through it or there about. I have noticed that all of a sudden I'm getting what I can only describe as a blast of air on my cheek when shooting it and seems much louder than when I first shot it. I have not taken anything apart except for lowering the first regulator pressure as it was around 165bar when I first received it. It is currently around 135bar and 95 bar for the second regulator (have not touched that one). Seems that they shot it for the 10 shots for $10 using 11.9 gr pellets at 1090 fps average for the 10 shots. This thing is awesome to shoot but i don't enjoy the blast of air that kind of stings. Any advice? Should I contact them and send it in? I have only had it for about 5 days including today. I looked in the barrel where the pellet probe goes into and the (breech seal?) seems to still be there.
 
Even though the O-Ring appears to be in place, it still can be damaged enough to not perform as intended and leave you with a blast of air to the face. It seems unlikely with a new rifle, but it absolutely sounds like the breech O-Ring needs replacement.
Does the probe move smoothly into the breech opening, or does it hang up? The probe could be damaging the O-Ring when inserting the pellet. You can try tightening the very small Allen screw on the side of the probe block (through one of the openings in the outer shell at around half-cock), but DO NOT try to overtighten, you will ruin the Allen screw (it should have some Loc-Tite on it from the factory I would think?).
mike.
 
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I don't have one of these but is it possible to that you forgot to close the breech or fully lock the detent mechanism before pulling the trigger at least one time as @Moses888 mentioned? I don't have one of these but I think you want to be sure that the cocking lever is pulling into its fully forward detented position before firing. It should feel like it's snapping closed in a tactile way when going forward. I only have one FX rifle, an Independence that is built on the older Royale 400 action and you can definitely feel a detent when the lever is returned fully forward.

Not sure if the M3 design allows the hammer to hit the valve if the probe isn't fully closed but this happens to my brother-in-law occasionally on his gen 1 Marauder if he doesn't lock the bolt fully after running it forward.

GL,
Feinwerk
 
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Try a search of the forum for breech o-ring for M3, or you can look at or download schematics which will show you the sizes of O-rings in the construction. Somebody may chime in here with the information you need but try the search function for sure.

Yes you should easily be able to do this yourself but you will need an O-ring pick. If you can't fit an off the shelf nylon o-ring pick into the space, you can cut off the long handle or you can use some hobby pliers and custom bend a paperclip into a suitable o-ring pick, but be careful to fully smooth and round the edges of the pick so that it does not scratch the breech bushing. Hook the ring and twist the pick to get it started and then pull it out of the groove, don't scrape with the end of the pick to avoid gouging. You may need some magnifying glasses to inspect the O-ring groove carefully to verify that it is even there or not. Depending on whether or not you have old eyes like mine, you might need some ocular assistance. I bought an optivisor and added their LED light kit for doing fine work on small things close up. You could just be seeing the groove in there and thinking that there is an O-ring or it may have just been cut or blown out or have a chunk missing.

While you are peeking in there with your super eyes and a light, you can inspect the edges of the transfer port opening in the barrel breech sleeve for any burrs that might need to be cleaned away. If your pellets are gliding into place and you can't feel any dragging when you close the bolt, then this is probably already okay but it doesn't hurt to inspect for yourself.

You can buy metric O-rings online from theoringstore.com, oringsandmore.com, for instance and you will usually have to buy a minimum quantity. While you are buying rings, you might want to pick up some others, since you will probably pay a flat rate shipping, perhaps some extra O-rings for your fill probe if used? Others can recommend. Oh I see that someone has posted the size already for you while I was typing, cool. Standard Buna N rubber in 70 durometer should work just fine for most purposes.

A helpful trick that I have myself learned from reading here, is to insert a dowel or cleaning rod from the muzzle end all the way into the bore just behind where the breech o-ring groove is. Then you can gently tamp the new o-ring in place from the breech and and it will orient against the face of the dowel/rod and pop into the groove.

GL,
Feinwerk
 
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Hopefully you didn’t bend the pin that the cocking linkage is attached to under the cocking block. Doesn’t take much, but it does take pulling the trigger with the cocking handle not fully closed forward to do so.

If after replacing that o ring in the breech it’s still doing the air blast then you’re going to have to disassemble the gun to replace the 2 x 1 o ring on the valve rod tip
 
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Ok I have gotten home from work and removed the barrel and looked at the O-ring. I have carefully removed it and there does not appear to be any damage to it whatsoever. I put it back in and applied a slight coating of silicone grease on it before putting it back. I have decided to contact pyramid air and see what they say. It was doing the same thing after putting everything back together.
 
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See if air is coming from here by placing a piece of a$$ wipe against it
E081FAA7-FDCA-4533-A957-04D8B5AE3197.jpeg

If you’re getting a pop of air from there, which you will feel against your face, it’s the tiny 2x1 o ring that has failed.

Full disassembly required, and if I were you, now is a good time to down load the fx schematic/parts diagram and pull all the o rings off of the list, and order them from oringsandmore.com.

You’ll get 25 of each o ring, so that equates to approx 25 complete reseals for the entire gun, for approx $25(I say approx cause certain o ring sizes are used not just at one spot on the gun, like 10 x 1’s)
Don’t forget to go to the barrel section on the fx’s site, along with the bottle section, as those have their own o rings separate from the gun’s o rings

First number called is the ID(inside diameter) and second is the thickness. Pay attention to the DURO rating if the o ring is a 70 or 90.
If you see an o ring listed as 2,84 x2,62, just replace the commas for periods.

Get yourself some silicone oil and silicone grease, some o ring pick tools, and a good set of metric allen wrenches.

Good luck man. Let us know if air is coming from that area
 
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check the spots spots listed above for an air leak. Being that you just bought the gun 5 days ago, I would send it back unless it is a simple breech seal. If you decide to take it apart just watch the disassembly videos on you tube and make sure you know what you are getting into.
The Impact is not a simple gun with only a couple of orings, but after you have it apart the first time you will find out it is not that bad to work on.
Again,being a brand new gun I would send it back.

Butch
 
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Butch said:
check the spots spots listed above for an air leak. Being that you just bought the gun 5 days ago, I would send it back unless it is a simple breech seal. If you decide to take it apart just watch the disassembly videos on you tube and make sure you know what you are getting into.
The Impact is not a simple gun with only a couple of orings, but after you have it apart the first time you will find out it is not that bad to work on.
Again,being a brand new gun I would send it back.

Butch
Click to expand...
Yes, why take apart a new gun? It’s understood that at some, hopefully far off point. You’ll need to work on your gun… But not in the first few weeks or months even, of ownership.
 
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Ok so i just checked exactly where the air is coming from. It is coming from where the probe goes into the barrel. I also placed a piece of blue tape where the other post says to check and there is no air coming from there. It could be that the O-ring is damaged but cannot be seen with the naked eye. I'm pretty good with taking things apart and working on them. I play around with remote controlled cars electric and nitro powered and have a good set of tools for such things. I do however agree that I should not have to take apart a $2200 item after only having it for 5 days. Forgot to mention that when the bolt is closed there is about a 1mm gap between the bolt face and the frame/receiver. I don't know if that is normal or not.
 
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