Get your coffee...or brewsky...
Well...while hunting with my brother with his semi-auto .22 PB, he dropped the PB in a sandy puddle of water down south. What a mess it was to get that gun to shoot again. I wouldn't recommend dropping the Impact in a puddle of sandy water.
That said, I purchased a used MKII off of here about six months ago (thanks AGN). Since then I have installed a PP kit and a slug kit in it. Today I rebuilt the AMP regulator. I have had this gun apart about five or six times now trying hybrid valve mods and different things, just to see what this thing can really do. It's my first experience with an FX product.
I have been begging this thing to leak through all of this abuse so I can replace the rest of the O-rings so I know where I stand with them all, but no leaks as of yet with anything, just some reg creep that wasn't there when I first got the gun. That was caused by me cranking on the reg adjustment a lot checking this baby out with a good bit of age on the reg O-rings. I have been to this rodeo before with other guns, too.
I just checked the reg for any creep just now after about five hours of sitting. She's dead on where I left it. I mention this because this is the first regulated gun I have had that I can count on the first shot with for hunting. When I first got this used gun, I checked it every morning for any first shot of the day droop in velocity. It was spot on like it didn't even have a reg. This gave me total confidence that I could hunt with this regulated one, finally.
It's a little fragile with the all aluminum build. It's not built like an army tank like my simpleminded Marauders are, but it's lighter, more compact and shorter with a much longer barrel (for power) with its innovative design, even when adding on an 8-inch Shogun silencer, and more powerful than most any that try and compete with it. I'm pushing 70 FPE in .25 cal and 100 FPE in .30 cal. It'll do a just little more than that. This brings up another plus. You can change calibers in mere minutes, and turn a dial to adjust power really quick externally for the swap.
This gun is also the most accurate and consistent I've ever seen. You just can't miss. The accuracy is only limited to your shooting abilities. Give it its favorite slugs and man O man this thing is something. The best part of figuring that out is the external adjustments, including valve dwell. I don't know of any other gun that can do this. A major plus for a tuner/tinkerer. No more "that's the valve spring tension you have, so live with it". I cast my own slugs and pellets, so having all of these features is a must really.
Anyways, it's not perfect. I had some trouble with the innovative 28-shot magazine feeding slugs, but a $20 aftermarket insert took care of those woes. Pellets no issues.
I like the gun. It's not friendly to left-handers like myself, but with the innovative forward cocking that is so easy on cocking force requirements, I actually like it this way for speed shooting fun. I could switch it to a lefty with aftermarket offerings, but don't really need to.
Some haters have referred to this gun as a Lego set. I can see why they would crap on another mans gun like that not ever having one. It kinda is the way you put it together, but it has a solid rail all the way across it that ties it all together in the end. Just like my Air Arms .357 Slayer build is, and you wont find a better built gun out there than that gun. Ask anyone.
If you are just worried about it being tough enough for all that you can think of to abuse it with, you'd better look at some of the tank builds out there instead. If you are a sensible fella with some common sense and can appreciate some really needed innovations in air gunning for a tinkerer, then take a second look at the Impact II. It will be hard to beat overall in that regard.
Happy hunting!
