FX Impact .357 a few observations

[drumie]

I just received my FX Impact 357 yesterday. I have had a 357 barrel kit for a few months now, but I wanted a actual 357 from FX to see if there are any differences, and I think there are. First thing I notices is the 357 barrel from the factory comes very dirty. I don't know if it is from testing or from the manufacturing process, but it is bad. With my barrel kit I just shot it without cleaning it. I got poor accuracy and when I cleaned it I thought it was fouling very badly. Now I believe it is just due to how they come from the factory. I cleaned this new barrel right away. It was very dirty and felt very rough when I was cleaning it. I thought " oh no, I am going to have to polish this barrel" but after a whole lot of cleaning patches it cleaned right up and felt nice and smooth like all of my other FX smooth twist barrels. I have not shot this gun for accuracy as of yet. I just shot it over the chrony to see what speed it was shooting. 

I believe that there is more going on inside the 357 from the factory than what you get with the barrel kit. With the barrel kit I was able to get around 905 fps with the 81gr JSB pellets, that was with the reg set at 170 bar and with the power kit that comes with it. This gun came from the factory shooting the 81gr JSB at 900 fps at just 133 bar!!! That is a huge differences. And it sure seems to be shooting much smoother than my other one. This makes senses since the gun isn't working as hard. 

My barrel kit did not like the Nielson 79 gr slugs at all but it shot the 93 gr great. It shot those at about 830 fps. I will be trying both slugs in this new 357 when the weather gets better here and I can find time. I also have some of the Griffin slugs coming that I will try out and let everyone know how they shoot. 

 

[vmaxpro]

Good to know! 

 

[Guest]

Cool info thanks for the post

 

[Bogview]

I had the idea that the 357 barrel kit and the Power Plenum would make my X the same as the new 357.

Interesting.

 

[drumie]

I did too. It gets it close, but not the same as one right from the factory. 

 

[TeOh1776]

I actually just shot the .357 in South Carolina visiting some family and it did amazing with pellets. But after doing quite a bit of research, until FX releases a slug liner with a faster twist rate better suited for slugs, slugs are probably going to be a hit or miss in this caliber. Even so the .357 hit like a semi-truck. the Poor soul that gets hunted with this caliber. 

 

[drumie]

A number of people have reported that the 93gr Nielson slugs shoot good out of these guns. They do out of my 357 barrel kit. I will test them with my new gun soon.

But yes, I can't wait for them to come out with a heavy liner for it.

 

[Bogview]

I just ordered a 357. Having the Superior liner in it will be a good start. I have 22 and 25 barrels for an Impact X with a power Plenum and can set it with the power wheel and regulator pressure. 

 

[Daystateredwolf21]

On the Nielson 93gn slugs, for the FX Impact X 35 cal, which is best size to purchase? 356, 357, or 358? I'd like to try them in my Impact. Thank you in advance.

 

[drumie]

I am using the 357 ones.

 

[Bogview]

Any updates on the shooting accuracy with your new gun. Also interested to know which moderator you have and how loud the rapport is.

Thx.

 

[drumie]

I just got to do some shooting with it. I left the gun as it came from the dealer, except I gave the barrel a very good cleaning. It is shooting the JSB 81 gr at 900fps. It grouped these well at 50 but I think if I turn it down a little these will group better and be very accurate. The Griffin 68 gr shot ok, but not what i liked, the 85 gr shot very well and so did the Nielson 93gr. The 93 and Griffin 85 gr shot equal. I think both of these will be great after more shooting and some tweeking of the gun. The Griffin 85 were shooting 870fps and the 68 were 950 fps. I didn't chrony the 93 but going by my other gun i think it would be about 830fps. This gun is shooting way better than my barrel kit did when I first got it. I don't see where I will need to sleeve the barrel with carbon fiber, unless I get some POI changes from day to day. This testing was just at 50 yards and no adjusting the gun yet. For a shroud I have a Donny FL the FX version for it. It is kinda small for a 357 but it does take a lot of bark off of the gun. With nothing on the gun after 2 shots your ears will start to ring. With this on I can shoot and have not issues. The Ronin would make it quieter but I don't want all of that weight at the end of this long barrel. I also got a barrel band for this gun that I will see if it helps out. I will post my findings on it on here also.

 

[Bogview]

You're off to a good start. Did you get it from UA? 900 s pretty fast, they must have had the regulator cranked up a bit for that. Allot of what I have seen says that 850 is the sweet spot for accuracy, but that still has allot of variables - pellet size, hammer setting, reg pressure combinations.

 

[drumie]

I got it from another popular dealer. The target that came with it showed 1 hole at 30 yards and said 880 on their chrony. There might be a difference in their chrony and mine. When I tune it I will use my labradar. But I want to shoot it some more with some of the slugs before I start messing with it. But yes I have seen where around 860-870 for the JSB 81gr is where they are the best.

 

[Dmitch48]

In my quest to shoot slugs accurately out of the .357 I have tried different tunes and recently put a superior 800mm barrel on it. Ok we all know that slugs love to be shot at a higher speed than pellets so I tried a 85 grainer slug and got close to 900fps with the valve adjuster all the way out and the hammer spring at 18mm I think. I don't know what the accuracy is on it because I haven't had the time to test it but I'm curious. Man, I even purchased a valve and hammer spring with the balls just to find out that it comes with the springs is a slap in the face. 

 

[Marlinpcp]

Group @ 200 Yards

Nielsen .357 caliber 93 grain at 865 fps reg set to160 bar FX gage +/-. Nielsen Specialty has three different sizes be sure to use the .357 size.