FX Flimsy fx impact barrel

[Troy Bakel]

Did you ever just consider a better hunting gun. There are quite a few guns out there that the barrel and POI issues are not even something you think about. An Impact can be a good hunting gun but it really shines as a toy for guys who‘s hobby is always looking for greener grass.

Give up these airgun toys and become proficient with a real rifle.

 

[Lahtide]

So I am finished with the " Flex " portion of my Impact build. I will be stalking hunting coyote, hogs, squirrels, turkey in thick fields, thick swamps and tangled oak and pine Forrest settings. Propping against whatever available and transporting on dirt bike, 4 wheeler or side by side so solid is important. Maybe a different platform to start with would have been a better choice, however; i chose Impact as i feel ten years from now I will have no issues getting parts.

I tested proof of concept with readily available scrapes laying around. After deciding it would work i did spend a few bucks on parts. I purchased an Air Marksman " Rib Cage" and some mlok bits as well as a 5.5 ring blank which measures 16.1mm ID to finish my barrel bracing.

The barrel itself is comprised of 4 parts crowned and epoxied to stiffener and a barrel block with screws was counter bored so exterior carbon fiber tube would engage and would be able to have torque applied instead of a week spot where barrel assembly meets front of rifle block. See diagram. This is just to stiffen barrel as best i could. It has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH TUNING OR MEANT TO REPLACE TUNING. Now that I feel I have a somewhat rugged tool I will step into tuning phase. I would prefer to use slugs so I can reach out to 200 yards and I am looking to keep a moa or better group without worry of point of impact change due to flex.

 

[Lahtide]

Op lit a fire under me to make sure im not selling bologna. Got the impact out I haven't touched in months except tipping it over in its case in the closet. Reg is right where I left it (only because of huma) zulus pulled a range and other than a little Kentucky windage it was right in for a 60 yard pinecone shot in the wind. I zeroed in 70 degree weather and it's 100 today. Not to shabby. I forgot how hilariously quiet that gun is. It's a 700mm impact, or at least a ton of aftermarket parts comprising one.

Best of luck op, I might suggest a lw conversion and one of the top rail ribcage things that support the barrel. It becomes fully rigid at that point, my hunting partner uses one on his slug shooting 500mm maverick. If you have a job machine shop around you can really let your ideas go wild if you don't have the tools.

I have an Air Marksman top rail and now Rib Cage to go with it. I'm wanting to go to a 700 or 800mm barrel down the road but will get an aftermarket one that's built more like a powder burner. I want to do the same as you. Lean it in a corner for months then grab it to knock out a pesky trash racoon during the summer and be able to hunt all season with out adjustments.

 

[6gun]

I have an Air Marksman top rail and now Rib Cage to go with it. I'm wanting to go to a 700 or 800mm barrel down the road but will get an aftermarket one that's built more like a powder burner. I want to do the same as you. Lean it in a corner for months then grab it to knock out a pesky trash racoon during the summer and be able to hunt all season with out adjustments.

It took a ton of research to figure out how to get my 700 not to be so temperamental. When I realized we compress the liner and then stretch the barrel tube loosening the liner effectively, i had an aha moment. Along with barrel whip and harmonic I was using a ronin and a harmonic tuner but the guns balance and feel sucked. Then I bought a yokozuna and it really sucked but was silent...... Then I dropped a baffle segment and it stayed silent and shot like I wanted. Even the south Africans mentioned in some video that the 700 whip was bad and the 800 is even worse. Makes me wish I got a 600.

As it sits I lean it up at home exclusively and throw it in my front seat in a soft case to shoot at work and it's been holding poi. Error is really amplified by my zulus and it's ballistics charts, so it took work. It's tuned for 75 fpe with 34 javs as the main tune but I can shoot 31 nsa one wheel number down and on 1 I can shoot 23 javs and monster hades well with the 1 tune. 34s, 31s and monster hades really shine. The 23 javs are out of necessity for longer shots with sensitive back drops.

I had a thought when I posted in here about the tune idea and you were on the team barrel rigidity..... This is merely a thought exercise and nothing more. "why do we chase free floated firearms barrels whether pencil profile elk stalking guns or heavy barrel target guns and rigid/supported barrels in air guns sometimes?" I started thinking it's us chasing a much finer resolution data set with air rifles than pb. Then I started to think it's projectile time in bore vs gun reaction to the shot sequence. I haven't a clue still.

1 thing I learned on my 700mm journey, we chase power in airguns more than we need to or should. After I got 75 fpe I realized it's still taking critters like my 30 fpe is, but i can't shoot my impact at home much with anything but heavy hades. The critter is still just as dead, but i didn't have to spend 3 grand to do it and a year of testing and making parts and a dozen fine tune changes. But the impact is giggle factor fun as a death ray however, it just took really careful tuning to group. 145.3 bar, not 144 or 146 Consistency+zulus=calculator gun.

I hope you find your recipe to ded trash pandas

 

[Lahtide]

I never worried with barrel flex on my powder burners, they are all really stout.
I have an array of free floated bolt actions. 8mm, 7mm, 30.06, 270, 243. I have a couple lever guns which are dump truck tough and a few single shots just as sturdy.

Maybe I'm putting too much thought in it, yet I just can't get past a it. Before starting I could literally move the end of my barrel 14mm,s. In my mind I could not come up with a scenario where that would work. I am rough on my stalking guns, as they go where I go - I go where the game is. I want to be confident in stalking a hog for a few hours, when I finally get a chance to squeeze one off it lands squarely in an ear hole. With an antenna for a barrel I didn't have that warm fuzzy. Since I have quite a few cheese burgers in the initial purchase then 1/4 again in aftermarket bits the couple days testing/ building and less than $100 usd to complete i feel really comfortable with my possible overkill on the issue.

With this being only my third pcp and first for actual field stalking small game, I've learned a lot.

1st I really wish I would have chosen a lighter gun to start with.
2nd I could have gone with a shorter barrel.

3rd I am still happy with purchase despite the downfalls.

The season is right around the corner now, so by January I will have many miles on this gun with plenty of "data" for next purchase.
I'm leaning towards a Edgun2. Any thoughts on that particular gun would be enjoyed. Thanks in advance for info on such.

 

[6gun]

A close but not good enough group came down to barrel resonance for me. Or that's the best way I can describe it. I have 1 pb with an impossibly thin and light pencil barrel in 280ai and I worried it wouldnt hang with my bull barrels, yet it did.

The valve adjuster, a smooth shot sequence, a moderator I could change the weight and length of and minimizing muzzle blast brought it in for me after thinking on the compression/tension thing.

I don't claim that this is gospel, it's just what I've noticed on my journey with one of the long problem barrels.

 

[6gun]

I never worried with barrel flex on my powder burners, they are all really stout.
I have an array of free floated bolt actions. 8mm, 7mm, 30.06, 270, 243. I have a couple lever guns which are dump truck tough and a few single shots just as sturdy.

Maybe I'm putting too much thought in it, yet I just can't get past a it. Before starting I could literally move the end of my barrel 14mm,s. In my mind I could not come up with a scenario where that would work. I am rough on my stalking guns, as they go where I go - I go where the game is. I want to be confident in stalking a hog for a few hours, when I finally get a chance to squeeze one off it lands squarely in an ear hole. With an antenna for a barrel I didn't have that warm fuzzy. Since I have quite a few cheese burgers in the initial purchase then 1/4 again in aftermarket bits the couple days testing/ building and less than $100 usd to complete i feel really comfortable with my possible overkill on the issue.

With this being only my third pcp and first for actual field stalking small game, I've learned a lot.

1st I really wish I would have chosen a lighter gun to start with.
2nd I could have gone with a shorter barrel.

3rd I am still happy with purchase despite the downfalls.

The season is right around the corner now, so by January I will have many miles on this gun with plenty of "data" for next purchase.
I'm leaning towards a Edgun2. Any thoughts on that particular gun would be enjoyed. Thanks in advance for info on such.

Oddly enough I'm on both sides of your wishes. My brush gun is the shorty dreamline 25 and it doesn't shift on me. If it were a small hog it's going to be the impact, from far away on high ground. I feel confident in what my impact can maintain to put it in its ear as far as 150 for now with level of confidence and practice with this setup.

I have a tubular steel tower at 95 yards I shoot at and try to get in a 3/4 inch hole with a 19 degree incline. You see the lead smears if you don't make it. It does it now with the bad storage I relayed previously. Usually first shot too. Only my huma swap with the heavy hammer at the same time (2x variables) got the first shot back for me. I practice on starlings going in and out of a cross arm on it too with heavy hades. It's fun practice knowing I'm helping the native songbirds out at the same time.

Bird headshots help build confidence in the wiggle barrel platforms for me.

Your post purchase thought mirror mine. I wish I got a bunch of dreamline for the money in, but wouldn't give up my impact now. Shorter barrel, less mods, lower power 55 fpe will do it all for me including suckling pig.

 

[villaman]

Just fit a solid barrel