FX Sayonara M3…

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weevil

weevil

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Dec 19, 2022
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Utah
My M3 compact .22 has a new home with a guy that enjoys shooting airguns in his (50yard!) basement range - and I get to visit and shoot with him as a bonus! Gave the M3 its final tune, dialed down to 80bar, shooting Hades at 860fps. It’ll behave very well in that job, no doubt.

This was a case of one missed rat too many for me, a consequence of slow first shots after sitting for a few hours or longer. Tried a number of fixes but couldn’t get it straightened out. New owner is aware of the issue but doesn’t plan to use it for pesting. Originally, I was hoping to have a 22 pellet shooter that could stretch out to 80 in my yard, but at 80 those low shots can be off by more than a foot. The role of nailing rats at that range has been taken over by the Panthera 177 slugger and while the accuracy is there, the agility of the M3 is sorely missed. My wife sums it up pretty well “you need a crane to move that thing around!”

At this point, I’m not inclined to get another FX. It looks like a Ghost could fit that bill or maybe a Uragan compact? Perhaps I should just get better with the Huben pistol.
 
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I think the Ghost Hp is the ticket if you want to continue long range 177 slugging. I’ve been mulling those two same rifles. I know people have success with the Uragan Compact with slugs, but the short barrel scares me a little. I do love the look and compactness of the gun though. All Ghosts have LW poly barrels, which have shot slugs and pellets great for years in the Red Wolf HP. I think it’s as close to a sure thing with a Ghost HP, and more of a challenge possibly with the Uragan.

All that said, I’ll probably get a Uragan because I want a Czech rifle again
 
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Florida_Man said:
I think the Ghost Hp is the ticket if you want to continue long range 177 slugging. I’ve been mulling those two same rifles. I know people have success with the Uragan Compact with slugs, but the short barrel scares me a little. I do love the look and compactness of the gun though. All Ghosts have LW poly barrels, which have shot slugs and pellets great for years in the Red Wolf HP. I think it’s as close to a sure thing with a Ghost HP, and more of a challenge possibly with the Uragan.

All that said, I’ll probably get a Uragan because I want a Czech rifle again
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I would prefer to shoot 22 pellets in this context. For certain, a compact bullpup and 177 needs a longer barrel to juice up. I enjoyed reading about @Franklink ghost .20 and that could be the sweet spot for this job. I really need to be sure that it will hit the point of aim on that first shot after resting. The FXs have me paranoid about that. As Luis pointed out, there’s no wiggle room for rats at 80y. I’ll read up on the Uragan and the RTIs.
 
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An rti in .177 or .22 would not be a bad idea, hell the cricket 2 .22 450mm barrel length would do the trick just fine. Palmbeachairguns.com is selling a used one for $1200. Before selling mine I set it up to shoot the 17.5gr nsa at 880fps in .2155 and they were lasers. Sub moa at 100yds, I just couldn't stand the ping the gun made, not bad, but when all of yours guns dont make a ping, it gets old quick lol.
 
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I go between a Wolverine R 177 and a BRK XR 22 when night ratting. Never had a problem with the first shot with either. Always have a hard time deciding which one to use, but probably go with the Wolverine more just because it's trigger is tuned perfectly for me. Can't say I've had a rat shot at 80 yards yet, but both of these will kill a rabbit at 80! To throw another wrench out there, I also night rat with my Evol 15" 22 and I have to say that it really checks off all the boxes! I have it setup for higher power than the other 2 so it only goes occasionally, but tuned for the shorter distance, it would be outstanding!
 
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Sorry about the M3, stories like this make me paranoid about my .25 Sniper, too, but she's always been first shot right on the money since day one, never adjusted anything. Honored to have a Uragan .25, Uragan 2 .30 and Vulcan 3 .30 in my collection. Good ergonomics, quick to shoulder, simple and accurate, "go-to" guns, for sure. Taipan Veterans, .25 Long and .22 Standard, solid, dream trigger and guaranteed "dead fly" accurate @ 50 yards if lands on target. WM
 
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Good point Jace, I need a quiet action. The M3 was good in that sense. My Vet1 had a noise from the action that I couldn’t stand. Other guys thought it was fine. I wish I could have fixed that M3 but it became like a bad relationship. I was picking it up to shoot because I felt guilty ignoring it. That’s why I don’t want to go down the slug tunnel. It often ends with a gun that doesn’t quite make the grade. Maybe I should try the new Vet at UA. I just haven’t seen any reports on here. It’s like Taipan disappeared off the map with the Vet2. I just don’t see any excitement on the forums. It would be great to get something that is supported at UA because I can get there in 30 min. The Uragan, Cricket etc are worrisome in that sense. Anyway, I appreciate the ideas and help. I should just let this settle down in my head for a week.
 
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I’m thinking of getting and trying a ghost myself. I however do love my M3. I do agree a 2k gun shouldn’t have that first shot problem but everything else is soooo damn good. My work around is when I set it up I make sure I leave room at the top of the power wheel for extra hammer tension. I have my 600mm .25 set where the speed I like my heavies going is on wheel 13. If the gun has set I dial the first two maybe three shots on setting 16. Doing this creates speeds not much lower than on 13 even on the first shot. I forget exact number but I want to say within 10-15 fps which for my hunting needs 15 fps won’t be noticeable. The huge plus with the gun is I can shoot 33.95 on 13 at 900-910 fps. Dial it all the way down to 6 and shoot hades at 900 with even a better extreme spread than the 33.95. Anywhere in between can be useful for different light slugs while maintaining great consistency. No other gun I have owned has come close to tuning as wide as the m3 and maintain a small ES and accuracy on a single reg pressure.
 
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Trucker3573 said:
I’m thinking of getting and trying a ghost myself. I however do love my M3. I do agree a 2k gun shouldn’t have that first shot problem but everything else is soooo damn good. My work around is when I set it up I make sure I leave room at the top of the power wheel for extra hammer tension. I have my 600mm .25 set where the speed I like my heavies going is on wheel 13. If the gun has set I dial the first two maybe three shots on setting 16. Doing this creates speeds not much lower than on 13 even on the first shot. I forget exact number but I want to say within 10-15 fps which for my hunting needs 15 fps won’t be noticeable. The huge plus with the gun is I can shoot 33.95 on 13 at 900-910 fps. Dial it all the way down to 6 and shoot hades at 900 with even a better extreme spread than the 33.95. Anywhere in between can be useful for different light slugs while maintaining great consistency. No other gun I have owned has come close to tuning as wide as the m3 and maintain a small ES and accuracy on a single reg pressure.
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First shot is not a problem when shooting targets.

First shot is THE UNIQUE shot when hunting.

No prey will be so comprehensive to let your rifle be ready to take it.

You have only one shot !!! .......... You hit or you miss ....... And the opportunity is gone.

In this case we are talking about small critters...... But if you are hunting deer, or turkeys or coyotes, you need to be confident that your projectile will hit where you aim ALWAYS !
 
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Emu said:
First shot is not a problem when shooting targets.

First shot is THE UNIQUE shot when hunting.

No prey will be so comprehensive to let your rifle be ready to take it.

You have only one shot !!! .......... You hit or you miss ....... And the opportunity is gone.

In this case we are talking about small critters...... But if you are hunting deer, or turkeys or coyotes, you need to be confident that your projectile will hit where you aime ALWAYS !
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Over powering the hammer on the first shot of my gun gets the speed close enough to hit what I’m aiming at. Some People’s experience may certainly be different and I guess my gun could get worse. For now it works.
 
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Trucker3573 said:
I’m thinking of getting and trying a ghost myself. I however do love my M3. I do agree a 2k gun shouldn’t have that first shot problem but everything else is soooo damn good. My work around is when I set it up I make sure I leave room at the top of the power wheel for extra hammer tension. I have my 600mm .25 set where the speed I like my heavies going is on wheel 13. If the gun has set I dial the first two maybe three shots on setting 16. Doing this creates speeds not much lower than on 13 even on the first shot. I forget exact number but I want to say within 10-15 fps which for my hunting needs 15 fps won’t be noticeable. The huge plus with the gun is I can shoot 33.95 on 13 at 900-910 fps. Dial it all the way down to 6 and shoot hades at 900 with even a better extreme spread than the 33.95. Anywhere in between can be useful for different light slugs while maintaining great consistency. No other gun I have owned has come close to tuning as wide as the m3 and maintain a small ES and accuracy on a single reg pressure.
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It’s gone so I don’t want to revisit the issues, but mine was too variable to invoke an adjustment band aid. On a good day, 20-30fps slow, on a bad day 70fps down. Jekyll and Hyde. As you say, it’s hard to beat on many other fronts. I guess I can narrow things down based on those characteristics and the first thing to note is the small size. <25 OAL. I don’t need all the power but it needs to be small and quiet, and quiet really just translates to running it at a comfortable power level. I checked on the new vets and the compact is no longer made. Also lost the anti double feed. After the M3 hijinks, I’m really leaning towards a conventional (non-balanced) valve. There’s no need for a balanced valve in a compact 40fpe .22. That narrows it down a bit more.
 
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Trucker3573 said:
I’m thinking of getting and trying a ghost myself. I however do love my M3. I do agree a 2k gun shouldn’t have that first shot problem but everything else is soooo damn good. My work around is when I set it up I make sure I leave room at the top of the power wheel for extra hammer tension. I have my 600mm .25 set where the speed I like my heavies going is on wheel 13. If the gun has set I dial the first two maybe three shots on setting 16. Doing this creates speeds not much lower than on 13 even on the first shot. I forget exact number but I want to say within 10-15 fps which for my hunting needs 15 fps won’t be noticeable. The huge plus with the gun is I can shoot 33.95 on 13 at 900-910 fps. Dial it all the way down to 6 and shoot hades at 900 with even a better extreme spread than the 33.95. Anywhere in between can be useful for different light slugs while maintaining great consistency. No other gun I have owned has come close to tuning as wide as the m3 and maintain a small ES and accuracy on a single reg pressure.
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Just curious. What reg pressure are you at to do this and factory hammer I take it?
 
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