FX FX Impact MK4

I have some very sad news for you. Two of my three M3‘s wear real barrels. It changes things. But the guns can still be finicky. I’m talking strictly slugs here. For pellets, if you waste your time and money on a real barrel, it’s foolish. If your pellet shooting Impact gets whacky, it would have still got whacky if it had a solid barrel on it. I’m currently testing a barrel I just built. I put I on my pellet shooter so I wouldn’t have to poke my other two Impacts that seem to be happy right now with a stick. Things started out like I was making a slug shooting highlight reel. Now I’m having weird velocity swings and am starting to go in circles. The thing about an Impact and why I’ve owned 6 of them is because they will let you extract the most out of a barrel and projectile. But the fly in the ointment is it might only be for a day, a week or month If your standards are high. My sole purpose is to figure out, if possible, how to make the gun long term. I have one that’s about as good as it gets but it’s almost a powder burner. That’s why I’m working on a barrel and components right now to get back to a safer friendlier slug shooter. My little .22 slug shooter is my favorite. When it’s happy, it’s insanely accurate. But sometimes it gets an attitude for no reason. So I slap it around until it behaves again. Full time job with these things. Pellets no. Stellar with them.
I dont bother with pellets. :)

I am a "Powder Burner" user from way back and my passion is ELR ( out to 3000yds) and Precision shooting.
I got the M3,s as something to relax and enjoy at closer ranges ... and set it up for slugs . 100yds is the closest distance i will shoot ...out to several hundred yards.
As i have said, the M3 can be amazingly accurate!!! Its just the complete lack of consistency that is a pain in the ass..

My next mod is in fact a "Real Barrel" ..... so, like yourself i will see if its possible to turn the M3 into something slightly approaching "Consistent" !!:)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Florida_Man
"Tuning" or lack thereof seems to be the copout a lot of users put forward as the reason for the Impact M3,s , inconsistency..

It isn't that hard to "Tune" an Impact M3 !! What is hard...and Very Very frustrating is the Imapct M3 will NOT "consistently" perform even when the optimal "Tune" is achieved !

My M3,s have produced some amazingly small groups from 100yds all the way out to 300yds in perfect conditions....will they do this consistently and without POI changes....... NOT on your life !!

The sorry excuse for a "Barrel" and the means by which it is interfaced with the chassis is just a complete joke......there is just so much potential for tolerance variation with the barrel setup.
I don't think some understand just how much influence some of these "small" tolerances can effect the overall performance........ and ...consistency!!

Barrel harmonics are very very finicky at times, with the way FX designed the barrel system on the M3 you are is basically doomed before you start.

There are other known issues with the M3 as others have pointed out, but for me the "Barrel" is the biggest issue i have in relation to the M3..
Wait a minute!

Are you this guy:

"I ended up bonding the FX liner and inner carbon tube permanently to the steel barrel tube. I then got a piece of 25mm OD heavy wall carbon tube, machined some spacers . This assembly was placed over the 20mm carbon tube that comes with the FX Tensioning kit.
Again this was bonded permanently in place . the whole barrel assembly is now effectively one piece.
"


And now your claiming that FX has a quality control issue with THEIR barrels?

C'mon man!
 
Wait a minute!

Are you this guy:

"I ended up bonding the FX liner and inner carbon tube permanently to the steel barrel tube. I then got a piece of 25mm OD heavy wall carbon tube, machined some spacers . This assembly was placed over the 20mm carbon tube that comes with the FX Tensioning kit.
Again this was bonded permanently in place . the whole barrel assembly is now effectively one piece.
"


And now your claiming that FX has a quality control issue with THEIR barrels?

C'mon man!
Yep...
Have one fully modded M3 and one bog standard...

Modded barrel setup poops on the standard effort..
 
Been trying to read this... from every possible angle...

". . .tuning for 1 job and if you change 1 thing you have to tune again...."

I wouldnt call the FX M3 impact perfection...
. . . hours & hours tuning it for 1 job and if anything changes you have to re tune it again. Thats not perfection far from it
That's your complaint, Lancer? ... Really ?
You really-really consider that even an argument?
You really-really consider that a shortcoming on the part of the gun ?
Shortcoming of a physical thing like a gun ?

In that case :
Contradictio in terminis is what you re aiming for.
You re proposing something not of this world.
The fallacy of proposing such a thing like 'a single gun with a single setting for all ammunition'...
is like screaming you 'd only be content if you could buy a circle with corners that would fit every hole you encounter, big or small.

When talking guns, grains, bullet shapes, calibers and tuning, there's physics implied. There 's no outrunning that. Nobody on this earth can.

Appears you 'd only be content if and when you could just ignore this earth's physics.
If you want to escape earth's physics, you will have to leave this planet and go looking for another kind of reality far away amongst the stars, hoping that different laws or physics might apply there.

However,
The thing i find most surprising and even very much disturbing at one level, is that it appears there 's 7 other people applauding you from the sideline, in doing so declaring themselves equally ignorant when it comes to circles with corners, fitting any holes at any giving moment in time.
Sign of the time i guess.
But just plain sad.

---
Next is the opposite : reason and common sense.
Airguns 101.
.177 requires different settings than a .25.....
30 pellet requires different settings than a .30 slug, etc.
1 platform + many options = perfection.

But then again :
FX Air Rifles should work very well out of the box, (But not so, average at best)
I have no explanation why you would claim that 'FX rifles don t work well out of the box', as a rule.
My experience with 6 very different FX airguns along the years has been quite the opposite.
Took my (at the time newly bought) MK1 Crown out of the box/its case : perfect balance in factory settings/tuning. Set for lighter .22 ammo at vairous distances.
My Streamline out of the box : perfect for 25 grain at 50-60 meters. Later on somewhat 'rescheduled' it, now it's doing bullseye with 34 gr at 85-90 m.
Bought a MKII Impact. Sheer heaven in its factory tune. Later on 'worked it up' to where i wanted it for 'heavy duty'. Equally fantastic.
My .22 MKII Crown came with a 'special' factory setting at 95 bar reg. Was very surprised to see that 95 bar reg gauge when the store keeper handed it over to me. Came home and immediately shot it. From the first mag on shooting 18 grains at a max of 292-293 m/s. Could almost not believe it. Turned it somewhat down tot 285-286 m/s and the 18 grains immediately went moa.
Then there's my M3. While mine and all of my shooting friends' M3 Impacts are performing flawless at the 100 m range, i have to admit there 's one guy over there having had some serious trouble with his M3 from the start.
He's been the exception to the rule. Is it the gun? Is it the way he goes about with the gun ? Don t know for sure. But all of his other guns (FX's and other) do a much better job. So i m inclined to go assuming this particular M3 has some 'inner defect'.
However, none of the guys here at the club will ever go claiming that -as a rule- FX guns don t work well out of the box. Quite the opposite.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Airgun Al
Then there my M3. While mine and all of my shooting friends' M3 Impacts are performing flawless at the 100 m range, i
By what definition are you referring to as "Flawless" ?
Your M3 and your shooting friends M3,s hold circa MOA AND POI at 100mtrs with 100% consistency ? ( under good conditions of course)

I have 2 M3,s myself and have access to 3 other M3,s.....NONE of them perform flawlessly !!
 
By what definition are you referring to as "Flawless" ?
Your M3 and your shooting friends M3,s hold circa MOA AND POI at 100mtrs with 100% consistency ? ( under good conditions of course)

I have 2 M3,s myself and have access to 3 other M3,s.....NONE of them perform flawlessly !!
Dude!
Please stop with the FX bashing!
At this point, I think its fair to say you are no longer useing a FX barrel, your using your own barrel!

In my opinion, you have permanately altered YOUR barrel, by performing your own vodoo magic on it!
Its no longer a FX product when you have no intention of ever trying to disassemble , so you "fixed" by useing loctite 680 HS to permanately bond a carbon sleeve from a tensioner kit over the original FX sleeve, machined your own spacers, and then use loctite again, to permanately bond the jamb nut!

You mentioned that you ended up bonding the FX liner and inner carbon tube permanently to the steel barrel tube. I then got a piece of 25mm OD heavy wall carbon tube, machined some spacers . This assembly was placed over the 20mm carbon tube that comes with the FX Tensioning kit.
Again this was bonded permanently in place . the whole barrel assembly is now effectively one piece.



At this point, I think its fair to say you are no longer useing a FX barrel, your using your own barrel!

So to bash FX for an inconsistant barrel, is beyond reasonable!
 
By what definition are you referring to as "Flawless" ?
Your M3 and your shooting friends M3,s hold circa MOA AND POI at 100mtrs with 100% consistency ? ( under good conditions of course)

I have 2 M3,s myself and have access to 3 other M3,s.....NONE of them perform flawlessly !!
I ve heard of some .30 M3 shooters experiencing POI shift. My buddies and i stick to .22 . Indoor range. MKII and M3 as well as MKII Crown. (next to some other brand guns of course) Shooting various slug weights in .22. Most of us doing moa with 23 and 25 grain slugs. (meaning : mostly that is, anyone of us can have a lesser day sometimes). One of us prefers the new Red.Monster. Also moa (on 'regular days')
We have the luck of having a very skilled gun smith in the house. Have your guns gone through the hands of a qualitfied gun smith yet ? (To find out what might be the cause of your problems).
 
  • Like
Reactions: Airgun Al
Mate .... do you not read OK??

I own 2 M3s one modded AND one bog standard. ...I have 3 friends with M3,s ( bog standard) , who shoot with me regularly...

If 5 M3,s isn't a reasonable sample to make an assessment on then ...well ..:rolleyes:
WTF is bog standard? Is that some kind of firearm term? Sorry to hear your glue project still didn’t get the gun to where it needs to be. Hats off to you for trying. Bonding all that stuff together showed commitment. But it also showed you what you are probably still in for when you machine a real barrel for it.
 
  • Haha
Reactions: Airgun Al
WTF is bog standard? Is that some kind of firearm term? Sorry to hear your glue project still didn’t get the gun to where it needs to be. Hats off to you for trying. Bonding all that stuff together showed commitment. But it also showed you what you are probably still in for when you machine a real barrel for it.
In UK, bog standard = unmodified from factory.
 
:)
Some people always coming back with talking about "what Brand/Model guns won in major competitions in past years".
It is wrong, I don't think that there is a so major difference between a $3000 and $3000 rifle. The question shall be formulated this way:
"What shooters did a homework that their guns outperform the competition"
Lets start with the famous claims "the MK2 or M3 POI shift"
You indexing your liner. And what did you do? You remove it - clean it - and installing it back into barrel tube?
How?

The liner Lock has some tolerance (relatively loose in my eyes), can you wobble it on the liner? When you start tightening the Liner Nut, it will squeze to one side out of co-linear centerline, just couple microns and that is enough to project an offset of 20-30 mm out at 100 meters.
- I tried to wrap a plumbers teflon tape on tip of the liner (muzzle end), so that tightened up the co-linear a little bit.
.......... this picture show when I was testing CF sleeve on the liner, but you got the idea. Btw, I don't use CF sleeve anymore, I am back to orings.

20221206_150649.jpg


- I cut a little chamfer on tip of the liner, also made a lapping tool with same angle. Lapped (rough) first that angle into the Liner Lock, and second step lapped the liner into the LL again.

20230412_161900.jpg


20230412_161913.jpg


You can do by hand, but much better doing this on lathe, clamp the liner in a chuck and clamp the LL in another chuck, dump an amount of diamond lapping compound inside hole and push them together with a slow RPM. It will form a contacting shape on both pieces.
I didn't have a lathe, but I did mine on an arrow cutting jig, rotating the liner on bearings pushing with a palm.

20230412_161648.jpg


This way, I remove the liner for cleaning and installing it back on a gun, index it, and for sure the liner will sit constantly in a same spot, no POI wondering around every time.

20240102_131342.jpg


Also, I would assume, many people torquing the Liner Lock in a wrong way. Figure a way you will be indexing the nut in a same. If you inconsistent with a torque that will "bow" the liner every time different.

I made diy a wrench with opening for the LL, and torquing the nut consistent.

20240102_131056.jpg


No POI shift this way ;)
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Corvid_hunter
I’m thinking the POI shifts might largely be do to users pushing the power limits of the platform. I have three guns and don’t have any problems with poi. I also keep each one in its lane with power to caliber ratio. I don’t have slug kits, heavy hammers, heavy springs and I keep my regs within reason. Now I will say fx shouldn’t sell all that crap if their barrels can’t hold up to the harmonics at very high power levels 🤷‍♂️. I don’t know as I cannot attest to how they perform at high power levels. I have a compact mav that shoots 25.39 at 900. A 600 mm m3 that shoots 33.95 at 900-910. A mk2 700 that I run 44.75 between 860 and 900. At reasonable power settings all these are solid. I guess hopefully the m4 will come standard with changes at holding more consistency at higher power that everyone seeks. The other guns can be run consistently let’s not kid ourselves. The m3 has won so many high level podiums it’s crazy. People discount that but if the platform was so inherently flawed that just wouldn’t be the case.
 
If you take all the major airgun long range competitions, over the past 5 to 10 years, and focus on the top winners of each event, it dosent take long to see that 1 particular brand dominates.
Yes, dominates the brand which pumps more money in the marketing, influencers and shooters. The volume of the produced units is also important.

Take @thomasair as an example. This guy creates one of the most accurate PCPs in the world. According to you FX is better because there are more folks with FX in the ranking. C'mon, use your brain.
 
20240102_152747.jpg

My .177 M3 is completely stock internally wth a stock barrel and shroud. I shot these M16A1's today inside at 20 yards from the muzzle, off an Atlas bipod and shoulder (no rear rest.

The upper left target is the sighter. 5 sighters were shot from a freshly cleaned barrel to both foul the barrel (my pellets are dusted with boron), and stabilize the regulators.

Course of fire is 5 shots per target from hands off the gun with 1 to 5 minutes between shots and 30 seconds from the buzzer to make the shot. I start the clock with the sighters. The worst shots recorded were ME and NOT the rifle because follow through had my cross hairs on the POI.

So my M3 is extremely consistent. I sighted in the Match Pro to 20 yards and zeroed the turrets in November of this year and have not thrown any clicks since.

The gun is tuned to 11.9 to 12.2 FPE using 9.57 gr, 4.51 mm Baracuda FT pellets.

The rear pwr adjustment wheel is set to 1, the front pwr adjustment thumb wheel is set to 2 5. The front valve adjuster is set at 3/4 turn CCW from the 2nd ring. The bottle is charged to 200 bar. The first regulator discharge is set to 125 bar and the 2 regulator discharge is set to 75 bar.

These settings have remained the same for 3 years
 
Last edited: