Fas 6004 v 604

[I. J.]

The 6004 is not made by the same company using the same parts and tooling as the 604.

When the 6004 was first introduced and being marketed the new business owners (two brothers if my memory serves me right) contacted myself and many others to promote their new business and their new design SSP air pistol that was intended to be a "next generation" variant of the successful and popular 604 that had been manufactured by the previous FAS company.

For what its worth, I thought that the newly designed 6004 was a good looking and nice handling air pistol that showed a strong resemblance to its highly regarded 604 predecessor and I was very tempted to buy some of them for our club as it was no longer possible to buy any more new 604 pistols due to the original manufacturers no longer being in production.

A trawl through the previous threads on the BBS regarding the various 6004 owners experience's will help you to see that these claims were certainly not bullshit but genuine concerns and disappointments from new owners who had spent their cash on these poorly executed models that had all the hallmarks of being rushed into production without being thoroughly tested

The 604 was (and still is) a highly regarded SSP air pistol. The 6004 is not so highly regarded.

I am aware of the problem mentioned regarding the fracturing of the upper shroud casting on a few 604 air pistols but I have been lucky with every Mk1 and Mk2 604 that I have owned and/or used over the years to have never seen or experienced this fault - but they did exist as the pictures on this tread clearly shows.

If the current 6004 air pistols have been revised and had the early faults corrected I would be pleased to own one as I still like the look and feel of them.

The 604 was the first air pistol that I stripped and re-sealed many years ago. I found the 604 to be a very simple air pistol to work on and I would not hesitate to strip another alongside a 6004 to compare them to see if any of the components would actually fit each other. If they did, it could provide a useful source of spare parts for the many ageing 604 air pistols that will need some replacement parts as years go by.

It would certainly be an interesting exercise.

Well, thats the final comment and end of this subject for me - and I didn't get called once!

[zooma]

Well, thats the final comment and end of this subject for me - and I didn't get called once!

Hello once!

[brucieboy]

I had a 604 years ago, that's why I bought a 6004, it was supposed to be an updated 604. Mine went in the bin. Tiny steel screws into soft aluminium, glass rear sights etc. The final nail in the coffin was the bracket that holds the barrel in the over- lever. It kept coming loose and letting the barrel move back failing to seal against the breech seal.
Nipped it up a few times and the tiny bolts stripped. There's not enough metal to drill out and re-tap for a bigger bolt so it was a write off.
Never had a problem with the old 604.

[I. J.]

Hello once!

I had a 604 years ago, that's why I bought a 6004, it was supposed to be an updated 604. Mine went in the bin. Tiny steel screws into soft aluminium, glass rear sights etc. The final nail in the coffin was the bracket that holds the barrel in the over- lever. It kept coming loose and letting the barrel move back failing to seal against the breech seal.
Nipped it up a few times and the tiny bolts stripped. There's not enough metal to drill out and re-tap for a bigger bolt so it was a write off.
Never had a problem with the old 604.

So another victim of tiny screws into soft aluminium.

[candleman]

I had a 604 years ago, that's why I bought a 6004, it was supposed to be an updated 604. Mine went in the bin..

No it didn't
Stop lying.
No one throws an item they paid hundreds of pounds for in the bin.
Now you're just making stuff up and I don't believe you ever owned one.

[brucieboy]

No it didn't
Stop lying.
No one throws an item they paid hundreds of pounds for in the bin.
Now you're just making stuff up and I don't believe you ever owned one.

Ok then, not all in the bin, I did sell some bits.

http://www.airgunbbs.com/showthread....highlight=6004

But the rest went in the bin. So there You need to back up calling someone a liar with some provable fact, your opinion doesn't matter.

[zooma]

Ok then, not all in the bin, I did sell some bits.

http://www.airgunbbs.com/showthread....highlight=6004

But the rest went in the bin. So there You need to back up calling someone a liar with some provable fact, your opinion doesn't matter.

Hi Brucieboy,

Thanks for providing the proof to "candleman" that you did own a 6004 (it was not necessary) and for showing us how much of it of any value was left after you decided to bin the rest of it.

Forty quid is not a lot of cash to have left after selling anything that could be sold. If you had years of good shooting with it and put many thousands of pellets through it I would still hope that it had a little more value left in it and that any worn or broken parts could be replaced.

Binning a modern target air pistol is almost unheard of. Target pistols usually have an easy life, are seldom taken outdoors to get wet or muddy, and are usually kept clean and very well cared for.

Was there nothing you could do to repair it or find a good gunsmith that could fix it for you?

Your experience is another of the many bad ownership experiences that worries me enough not to buy a new one at this moment. If they ever get the problems fixed it would be a really nice SSP for use at 10 meters or in the 6 yard MPL competitions.

I gave my son my last 604 mk2 several years ago and for me the 6004 would have been the ideal replacement - and it still may be, as no manufacturer can afford to ignore the feedback they must have been receiving from their importers/distributor/dealer network and customers since they started their new business, and hopefully they will respond by making the changes it needs and their customers deserve.

Sorry your 6004 experience ended so badly for you - but I am still hopeful that a mk2 may come along and that it will be made from a harder alloy and have all the known faults taken care of.

Stay safe!

[brucieboy]

I didn't buy it new and as it needed a new over-lever, the availability, if any, of which and cost would be prohibitive I imagine would be near what I paid for it. Looking online I've seen examples of the over-lever cracking with cocking
I'd lost confidence in it so it had to go. When you think they actually cost half as much as the old 604 allowing for inflation I suppose you shouldn't really expect them to be as good, but then again you don't expect them to be so fragile either. I did like the look of it and how it handled though,
It needs an improved alloy for the over-lever, thicker bolts for fastenings and a closer inspection of the finished article for fit and finish. Many won't even sight in for 10 metres, they shoot high, the elevation screw springs get coil bound. A change of springs cures it but it shouldn't be like that.