FX Impact - major faults reported

[Steyr]

The FIRST rule of buying a new bit of product is HOW MUCH DO I REALLY WANT TO BE THE COMPANIES LIVE R&D bunny.

The Impact is a switch barrel and variable power output rifle and therefore has a selection of additional hurdles to jump over rather than a new rifle that is a one trick pony.

These are not simple bits of engineering and getting consistancy V's meeting production commitments are ALWAYS going to create these issues. Its just some can be fairly minor like the early HW100,s cylinder dethreading.....others can be really shit timing like AA's dropping of the RN10 and Pro Target for the EV2 which took years and Daystates Airwolfs breeches that ate more pellets than it shot......BSA R10 Mk1's pretty much all had to be blue printed.......Mk2 were much better......

It wont be the last.

As for the smooth twist....its no better or worse than any barrel. It made by crushing the outside of the barrel so the internal face is hardly going to get smoother. The hype from Taylor that it would revolutionise the face of shooting was just unadulterated bullsheet but that doesnt mean it isnt capable. You just have to read between the lines.

I am still interested in this rifle but you just have to bear in mind that its never a good idea to rush out and buy the Mk1.....you dont get a discount for being a paying R&D and its as simple as that.

BAR are an honest and upfront outlet.
FX is also a decent manufacturer and I am sure they will address and iron out the bumps and twists in due course.

Its a case of watch this space.

[Bebund]

Sad ti hear about 😐

[Bebund]

Congratulation mate 😀

[Amac]

I bought a new .177 Impact five or six weeks ago. I was of course well aware of the negative publicity surrounding the gun, but decided to proceed with the purchase anyway. I am glad I did.

The gun has now digested a sleeve of pellets with absolutely no faults whatsover. It is an enjoyable gun to shoot, and with a clean barrel is mega accurate. Without a clean barrel the accuracy does deteriorate, but the same can be said with any gun/barrel combination.

I have enjoyed the gun so much that I have now purchased the .22 barrel kit. Once again, superb to shoot with an extremely smooth cycle of the action. This is just as well due to the amount of lead that I am able to deposit downrange in short order. Speaking as a former target shooter used to pondering the delivery of one telling shot, this is quite a turnaround in my shooting habits. My mate Dave advises me that it is similar to being sat next to somebody shooting a gun in semi-auto mode. However it sounds, I can confirm that it remains good fun, particularly for somebody as childish as me.

I would agree that the magazines, if not slotted in perfectly square, might cause an issue with some shooters. However, when you finally work out that this is required, everything works perfectly as designed.

Regarding the barrel issues. I can confirm achieving sub one inch groups in both .177 and .22 calibres at 53 yards is achievable. I am sure that further indoor range distance would confirm the ability of the gun and its JSB pellet combination to group at further distance, but that is the maximum range I can currently use at the excellent Leigh indoor range. Targets at more sensible airgun ranges for sub 12 shooting confirm the guns ability for extreme accuracy.

I would comment that if you do decide to purchase an Impact, clean the barrel after every tin (at least) in .177, and every 250 in .22. Full accuracy is then assured.

Yes, I am glad I bought an Impact. I actually look forward to shooting it and it has helped to fully rekindle my interest in fast fire fun. Highly recommended!

Andy

[pruddasfinest]

I got mine two weeks ago after being on order for nearly a year.
Despite being told all the problems were fixed it went over 12ftlb within two days and it was appallingly inaccurate so it went back for a refund.

[bucketboy]

I really want one, not necessarily to shoot or look at but to tear it apart and see how they can get such a high shot count, so that I can modify all my other guns accordingly.

As to the accuracy, I set the pressure of the Reg on one of my rapid very low, swapped out the valve to one that allows more air through and although I did get more shots per charge, accuracy was no where near as good, in my barrels at least, it takes a short blast of higher pressure air to seat the pellet better than a longer slow blast.

[Artfull-Bodger]

I really want one, not necessarily to shoot or look at but to tear it apart and see how they can get such a high shot count, so that I can modify all my other guns accordingly.

As to the accuracy, I set the pressure of the Reg on one of my rapid very low, swapped out the valve to one that allows more air through and although I did get more shots per charge, accuracy was no where near as good, in my barrels at least, it takes a short blast of higher pressure air to seat the pellet better than a longer slow blast.

Try a different pellet , that's not uncommon at all when you alter the pulse pressure and duration.

[lensman57]

Try a different pellet , that's not uncommon at all when you alter the pulse pressure and duration.

This is excellent advice. A few weeks back my Lowly HW 100 running at 11.6 ft.bs was doing 3/8" groups at 50 yards with JSB 4.53s. I changed the power to just under 11 ft.lbs for shot count in comps and the gun/pellet combination is not so hot anynmore. Still accurate, about 3/4" at 50 yards but nothing like before and it seems to throw a few more fliers out now.

A.G

[Amac]

I must be lucky with my own gun by the sound of things. I was advised that mine was from the "second batch" and told that previous issues had been resolved. I can only advise as I have found my own personal experience. The gun is great to shoot, particularly from the standing position. I can also confirm that the shot count is ridiculously high and almost totally silent in .22 with the silencer extended. I have two scopes set up, one for each calibre, and simply change one for the other on the rails when I change barrels. The zero for each scope remains unchanged when I do this, no doubt partly due to the guns amazingly consistent velocity in each calibre and on all power settings.

The group sizes I mentioned earlier were on the large side of what is possible with the gun, but I didnt want to enter into a "my gun can group 8mm or less at over 50 yards" type comment. Not that it can, but its a lot less than an inch! Strangely, the groupings appear to get tighter the further out you go, although I do appreciate that this must be impossible!

I am sorry that Pruddasfinest did not have a good experience with his new gun. It would appear that issues with some guns remain. Let us hope that the manufacturers manage to resolve these sooner rather than later as the Impact is genuinely a great gun to actually shoot and own.

I also own other PCPs which perform well, including a nice 100 which is as we all know a cracking gun. However, and I dont know why this is, I honestly enjoy shooting the Impact more than any of the others. I have also owned many Steyrs over the years. When set up correctly, my own target rifles were probably the most accurate to shoot that I have experienced to date. But, and its a big but, I never actually enjoyed them particularly in my quest for ultimate "serious" accuracy, particularly when engaged in competition. That is one of the reasons I no longer shoot HFT, it can all get a bit too serious, particularly if you are only ever on the fringes of success as I occassionally was.

Well, this has turned into a self phsyco analysis type post so I had better sign off here!

Andy

[krisko]

the quick fill fitting, cant get on get off
magazines need filing to align with the action, pellet probe and barrel
barrels wont fit back when removed, too tight
brass bits end of barrel deform too easily, the v notch
the knurled screw holding the barrel unscrews
pellet probe screw breaking, pellet probes blowback, dont lower the stock or it will hurt your shoulder or worse.
the o rings in regulator adjustment fail often
10 other o rings will fail randomly
pellets spiral almost from all barrels
fx cant keep up with demand so run machines with blunt tools, poor finishing
gauges off by a lot
the cam on the power adjuster wears, also its travel set screw needs locktighting not holding position.

who can add more? some of these were addressed. maybe

i wanted one too.
there is a good video from air fective when the guy talks about how to finetune shot to shot variation etc.

[oneseven]

Yeesh!

[Amac]

It is interesting reading about the many faults that some owners have reported about this particular gun. Clearly, something must have gone very wrong with the quality control of some guns during the production run in which the manufacturer was struggling to meet the demand.

However, I can only report that my own experience has not included any of the listed issues described above by Krisko. I have now been through over 5,000 rounds of the guns preferred diet of .177 Webley Mosquitos and have removed the barrel several times for cleaning and also to swap for the .22 barrel and probe assembly. The gun has had no leaks and as yet no issues at all with leaking o rings or barrel security. I haven't even bothered to change the barrel o rings which should be done regularly according to an item I read elsewhere.

I have absolutely b----r all to do with any manufacturers or importers so have no vested interest in exaggerating or talking bull.

I also very much doubt if my own gun is the only one in the U.K that appears to be performing as originally designed. Still, it would appear that for the time being I must be very much in the minority in enjoying a gun that is for me personally great fun to shoot.

Andy

[MartynB]

For me personally, I don't own one nor have handled one, but just reading some comments (from the negative side) alot of it is frustration, which I can understand, equally, Andy has had no problems so possibly a batch problem

[aj]

Well I may as well give my experience of owning an Impact (.25 FAC). Rifle was purchased just before Christmas and performed well for a couple of months then developed a leak so was returned to ASI to be repaired and has been ok since returning. I also found that by turning the power down (from 48ft lbs to 40 ft lbs) the groups tightened up considerably, but still aren't as good as I'd like so I think that I will eventually replace the barrel with a Lothar Wather or BSA one as I'm not sold on the whole 'smooth twist' concept. It may seem a bit extreme to some to re-barrel a £1600 rifle but of all the different types of pellets I've run through the Impact only AA field will group and I'd like to be able to use a wider range of ammo. Plus I got my Impact for a really good price from my RFD so even after re-barreling it won't have cost me the full rrp of the gun.

[oneseven]

It would be very interesting to hear whether you find an improvement on swapping to a quality rifled barrel.

Perhaps FX will make their new full length smooth twist barrels available for other rifles in the range.