FX .25 cal 700mm “Superior Slug” liner

[Centercut]

I bought one of these over a year ago, and recently was planning on installing it in my Impact.
I cleaned the liner, and looking at it I can see the pressed in grooves on the outside, but looking inside the liner it appears to be smooth bore with just a hint of rifling. Definitely nothing like all the other FX liners I’ve looked at.

Has anyone else ran in to this issue? I know this Superior Slug was made after the Superior Heavy and before the Slug.
I’m guessing it won’t shoot very well.

Since FX never publicly admits their mistakes, is this something that happened and was brushed under the rug?

 

[jbravo103]

I have the 0.25 Superior Slug liner with 1:16 twist. I agree the rifling ifs very subtle on mine as well. Haven’t had much luck getting it to shoot accurately. 2-3 MOA typical and I’ve tried almost all ammo, weights, diameters, varying reg pressures, hammer settings, etc. But the accuracy just isn’t there. Others may have had better luck with the liner lottery. If I can’t get it to work this year then will probably go back to .22 cal or just shoot pellets and use a CZ 457 or Bergara B-14R for slug shooting.

 

[Centercut]

I have the 0.25 Superior Slug liner with 1:16 twist. I agree the rifling ifs very subtle on mine as well. Haven’t had much luck getting it to shoot accurately. 2-3 MOA typical and I’ve tried almost all ammo, weights, diameters, varying reg pressures, hammer settings, etc. But the accuracy just isn’t there. Others may have had better luck with the liner lottery. If I can’t get it to work this year then will probably go back to .22 cal or just shoot pellets and use a CZ 457 or Bergara B-14R for slug shooting.

Yeah, it is a lottery... This one isn't just "subtle" rifling, its closer to a smooth bore... The Superior Heavy .25 that came with my Panthera is totally different, clearly discernable rifling... And the older Slug A in .25 had obvious rifling also...

 

[jbravo103]

I’m starting to wonder if FX had a bad batch of liners and some of us unlucky ones ended up with them. I got mine last summer direct from FX USA. I hate to buy another one just to see if there is any improvement. I wish I could take a picture of the bore in my liner. If definitely looks like a smooth bore. I knew something was up. On previous liners my cleaning rod would turn with the rifling while pushing a bore mop. This new liner doesn’t turn my cleaning rod at all. Things are starting to add up here, hmmm.

Also important to note, when I push a slug through the liner there are no visible rifling marks imparted on the projectile.

 

[Centercut]

I wondered why they went from Superior Heavy to Slug quickly, and only produced the Superior Slug for a short time. It would be easy for FX to make it right, just recall the bad ones and replace with good ones. Easy day. But that would involve admitting a poor production run, and FX isn't very good at admitting a mistake was made - even though its very obvious when looking through the bore with a naked eye...

 

[Gerry52]

Every day & almost every FX post makes me more & more happy I ONLY own Original Smooth Twist barrels!!! There are other brands of airguns that seem to shoot slugs with less complications & more dependability. Since I don't care about shooting slugs I'm completely OK with having some of the best pellet barrels made & the consistent accuracy that comes with them. More options, more to go awry! K.I.S.S. is a great tenet to live by (AND produce airguns! ).

 

[Centercut]

Every day & almost every FX post makes me more & more happy I ONLY own Original Smooth Twist barrels!!! There are other brands of airguns that seem to shoot slugs with less complications & more dependability. Since I don't care about shooting slugs I'm completely OK with having some of the best pellet barrels made & the consistent accuracy that comes with them. More options, more to go awry! K.I.S.S. is a great tenet to live by (AND produce airguns! ).

Gerry, you remember a year ago when shooting at 200 yards with the FX Panthera 600mm Superior Heavy how good that gun was with the Altaros ATP Smooth 49.5 grain. You also remember the Impact with the Superior Heavy shooting very well at 200 yards with the 37 grain and 41 grain ZAN, and how the 37 grain was better out to 150 yards, and the 41 grain was better further than that. I ended up wanting to try the Superior Slug, and that is the one I'm talking about. It shoots the 37 grain like a shotgun, and the 41 grain has trouble getting five into a quarter at 50 yards. Not good... Unfortunately, I gave away the Superior Heavy that was in there when we did the long-range testing.

 

[Gerry52]

Gerry, you remember a year ago when shooting at 200 yards with the FX Panthera 600mm Superior Heavy how good that gun was with the Altaros ATP Smooth 49.5 grain. You also remember the Impact with the Superior Heavy shooting very well at 200 yards with the 37 grain and 41 grain ZAN, and how the 37 grain was better out to 150 yards, and the 41 grain was better further than that. I ended up wanting to try the Superior Slug, and that is the one I'm talking about. It shoots the 37 grain like a shotgun, and the 41 grain has trouble getting five into a quarter at 50 yards. Not good... Unfortunately, I gave away the Superior Heavy that was in there when we did the long-range testing.

OOPS! That SHOULD HAVE been a keeper! (That was a memorable day for me) You'd think FX QC would have a better way of monitoring the depth of the inner pressed rifling before sending them out!

 

[FelixS]

I wondered why they went from Superior Heavy to Slug quickly, and only produced the Superior Slug for a short time. It would be easy for FX to make it right, just recall the bad ones and replace with good ones. Easy day. But that would involve admitting a poor production run, and FX isn't very good at admitting a mistake was made - even though its very obvious when looking through the bore with a naked eye...

I would think that a call to Utah air guns (FX) would be in order and perhaps even end up with a replacement. It doesn't hurt to ask.

 

[Centercut]

I would think that a call to Utah air guns (FX) would be in order and perhaps even end up with a replacement. It doesn't hurt to ask.

Eventually I will…. But I have a suspicion this mistake might be a very good pellet liner. So I’ll try it out with pellets before I work to get it refunded.

 

[MEC17670]

Every day & almost every FX post makes me more & more happy I ONLY own Original Smooth Twist barrels!!! There are other brands of airguns that seem to shoot slugs with less complications & more dependability. Since I don't care about shooting slugs I'm completely OK with having some of the best pellet barrels made & the consistent accuracy that comes with them. More options, more to go awry! K.I.S.S. is a great tenet to live by (AND produce airguns! ).

I have a highly modified Hw100. AZ put an original STB on it and tuned it to shoot 18.1 gr pellet at 890- 900 fps. The best pellet gun I own .

 

[Vetmx]

Eventually I will…. But I have a suspicion this mistake might be a very good pellet liner. So I’ll try it out with pellets before I work to get it refunded.

Maybe you ought to try a round ball out of that liner. Maybe FX had a run of BB gun liners and you got one.