The FX IMPACT M3 first appealed to me for four reasons:
A. It was a bullpup. The breech is closer to the shoulder of the shooter reducing the arc at the muzzle for any movement at the shoulder. Allowing the rifle to be more accurate and the shooter more precise when shooting from a bipod.
B. The M3 trigger system is much, much smoother and crisper than the IWI Tavor X95 and absolutely awesome compared to the Tavor STAR-21.
C. It utilizes the Kalashnikov SV-99 straight-pull bolt design which doesn't move the rifle around anywhere near as much as a standard bolt allowing the shooter to remain on target to a much better degree.
4. I did not need to hand load rounds to achieve the proper internal/external ballistics for different projectiles. All my hand loading equipment was replaced by the rifle itself with the adjustable plenum regulator, Macro adjuster, Micro adjuster, and Air Valve.
BUT, out of the box, it was a COMPLETE JOKE for four reasons:
A. As a hunting rifle it had absolutely ZERO DURABILITY. Drop it one time striking the barrel system and your time in the field was over.
B. Mounting a bipod just in front of the trigger increased the arc at the muzzle to nearly the same arc at the breech decreasing the accuracy potential of the rifle when shot off a bipod.
C. No adjustable butt plate to establish the correct length of pull or the correct contact with the shoulder.
D. No adjustable cheek piece to establish the correct eye to scope or iron sights alignment.
HOWEVER, with aftermarket components from Kraford & Lypt and Saber Tactical, I upgraded my M3 to a pneumatic version of the Knight's Armament SR-25 E2 which made the M3 durable, functional, and, from a bipod, consistently accurate.
Now that my .177 M3 was durable, functional, and accurate, reliability became the question.
My M3 has been very reliable with all internal parts still original because:
A. Once the barrel system was installed and clocked, it has NEVER been removed. I clean the liner using a cable or by removing the butt plate and pellet pusher and using a cleaning rod. The rifle is cleaned after every use before leaving the range.
B. The 600 mm M3 is soft tuned for 9.57 grain domed diabolo pellets to less than 12 ft-lbs with the regulators at 120/70 bar, Macro at 1, Micro at 1.5 and Air Valve at the high side of 3 using a maximum tank pressure of 200 bar.
The rifle is a joy to shoot, I don't need sighters, I have had no POI shifts caused by the rifle and I haven't touched the elevation or windage settings on the MTC S.W.A.T Prismatic 10×30 scope for months and I shoot an average of 3 times a week outdoors from April through October and indoors from November through March.
A. It was a bullpup. The breech is closer to the shoulder of the shooter reducing the arc at the muzzle for any movement at the shoulder. Allowing the rifle to be more accurate and the shooter more precise when shooting from a bipod.
B. The M3 trigger system is much, much smoother and crisper than the IWI Tavor X95 and absolutely awesome compared to the Tavor STAR-21.
C. It utilizes the Kalashnikov SV-99 straight-pull bolt design which doesn't move the rifle around anywhere near as much as a standard bolt allowing the shooter to remain on target to a much better degree.
4. I did not need to hand load rounds to achieve the proper internal/external ballistics for different projectiles. All my hand loading equipment was replaced by the rifle itself with the adjustable plenum regulator, Macro adjuster, Micro adjuster, and Air Valve.
BUT, out of the box, it was a COMPLETE JOKE for four reasons:
A. As a hunting rifle it had absolutely ZERO DURABILITY. Drop it one time striking the barrel system and your time in the field was over.
B. Mounting a bipod just in front of the trigger increased the arc at the muzzle to nearly the same arc at the breech decreasing the accuracy potential of the rifle when shot off a bipod.
C. No adjustable butt plate to establish the correct length of pull or the correct contact with the shoulder.
D. No adjustable cheek piece to establish the correct eye to scope or iron sights alignment.
HOWEVER, with aftermarket components from Kraford & Lypt and Saber Tactical, I upgraded my M3 to a pneumatic version of the Knight's Armament SR-25 E2 which made the M3 durable, functional, and, from a bipod, consistently accurate.
Now that my .177 M3 was durable, functional, and accurate, reliability became the question.
My M3 has been very reliable with all internal parts still original because:
A. Once the barrel system was installed and clocked, it has NEVER been removed. I clean the liner using a cable or by removing the butt plate and pellet pusher and using a cleaning rod. The rifle is cleaned after every use before leaving the range.
B. The 600 mm M3 is soft tuned for 9.57 grain domed diabolo pellets to less than 12 ft-lbs with the regulators at 120/70 bar, Macro at 1, Micro at 1.5 and Air Valve at the high side of 3 using a maximum tank pressure of 200 bar.
The rifle is a joy to shoot, I don't need sighters, I have had no POI shifts caused by the rifle and I haven't touched the elevation or windage settings on the MTC S.W.A.T Prismatic 10×30 scope for months and I shoot an average of 3 times a week outdoors from April through October and indoors from November through March.
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