FX Impact M3 in .22 cal: 325 Yard Golf Ball Shot & The 3 Beer Question

Jump to latest Follow Reply
UpNorthAirGunner

UpNorthAirGunner

Member
Oct 19, 2017
422
182
MI, United States
https://youtu.be/5e30KOsuylk


Gear Used:
FX Impact M3 in .22: https://utahairguns.com/fx-impact-m3-1/
FX STX Superior Heavy Liner 700mm in .22: https://utahairguns.com/fx-stx-superior-heavy-liner/
Patriot Javelin Slugs: https://utahairguns.com/patriot-javelin-slugs-22-caliber-200-pcs-pre-order/
Atlas Super Cal Bipod: https://utahairguns.com/atlas-super-cal-bipod-w-qd/
DonnyFL / FX Suppressor: https://utahairguns.com/donnyfl-fx-moderator/
Element Optics Nexus: https://utahairguns.com/element-nexus-5-20x50-ffp

The FX Impact M3 in .22 caliber is now my all time favorite long range airgun shooting platform. PERIOD. I have big bore airguns that can slings slugs with higher BC, but not even close to the accuracy and precision shot to shot like this. To demonstrate how the Quick Tune System paired with the new FX Integrated Harmonic Barrel Tuning System and Carbon Fiber Sleeve perform at extreme long range, I set out to hit a golf ball at 325 yards.

For this test I took about a magazine's worth of shots to confirm my ballistic solution and make corrections for the slight wind I was contending with. I will tell you that these 34 gr. Patriot Javelin slugs zipping at over 1000 FPS just slice through the wind like nothing I have ever seen in a small caliber airgun slug. The accuracy at 100 yards was MOA and many sub MOA groups. Pushing out to 325 yards they held up amazingly well as you will see in this video.

I will tell you though that winding the FX Impact up this high with the hammer spring maxed out and the Power Plenum at 165 bar isn't this peaceful pellet pushing creature I normally use in a competition set up. For 100 yard benchrest, my preferred set up is .30 call JSB 44 grain shooting around 850 FPS and is this nice gentle shot cycle. This set up on the other hand is much more like the pop of a .22LR powder burner. It is a noticeable difference and I found my hold was critical to keep those groups in that MOA zone.

The research we have been doing to find this amazing combination of barrel harmonic tuning, damping, and stiffening has been an amazing journey. Working directly with FX to develop this magic combination of the integrated harmonic tuner and damping system has been an awesome experience, but it has been a long journey. I have been obsessed with this topic now since 2017 when I first got into this sport and I have learned so much talking with people within our sport and within the precision firearm shooting sector. One of my favorite interviews was a conversation with Ian Klemm, 2020 F-Class National Champion. I had been watching his successes over the last few years and when I saw he was running a barrel tuner on his championship F-Class rig, I knew he would be a great shooter to chat with about drawing parallels from precision firearms to precision airguns.

I had about a dozen things I wanted to talk with him about, but I knew this was my chance to get his thoughts on barrel harmonics specifically. Like Ian points out in this interview though, this is a deep and technical topic and is the 3+ beer question and will take further discussions. At the end of the day, we are all still learning the dark magic of internal ballistics and barrel harmonics, but as a student of empirical evidence, I have seen the results first hand and know these factors are controllable. It was validating to hear Ian confirm many of my own findings as he too is a student of empirical evidence and single variable testing. If you are serious about precision airgunning, this interview is a MUST watch!
 
Interesting video Chris. I’m a bit confused over how the “new” CF liner sleeve differs from the ones we’ve been getting from Ernest and gluing to our liners before we index the liner? Thanks and keep up the good work. 
Mike
Click to expand...

I know FX went through a few versions before settling in on the final specs. I will see what I can find out. 
 
Upvote 0
These are very interesting for sure, i would like to see someone take it from raw gun and to the best tune in a single session.

I am also contemplating how the hell these actually work, by brain already come up with a few ideas that i could imagine would have some form of impact on the barrel aside for hanging a sledgehammer on a noose from the tip of the barrel.

In the 80ties they build some tanker ships here, not super large but okay a bit under 1/8 mile long, on the test runs when the engine got to some RPM settings, the Damn ships almost jumped out of the water and people could barely stand up.And remember this are huge diesels topping out at around 90 RPM.

So in the end a balance weigh / damper of sorts was put on the flywheel and things evened out nicely, i know cuz i have sailed on one of those tankers.

That was also a lesson in harmonics however on a larger scale.

Same ships could pound waves just fine too, until you got the timing wrong, and messed up the front of the ship so bad the front 25 M or so of the entire ship had to be replaced.

Which happened for a sister ship on a run across the pacific from the US to Japan with bead weather, no one noticed before they left Japan and people got down in the tanks to clean them, and saw the otherwise flat tank sides warped severely, these was of course dual hull tankers. ship had to do a 180 and head for nearest open ship yard to get a new "nose"
 
Upvote 0
What CC said!,members on here are really Confused about Tension, Compression and just stiffening a barrel.
Click to expand...

They way I understand it, the way they have it inside the barrel kit it is stiffening the barrel kit through the sandwiching the CF sleeve between the liner and the outer shroud like you mention - getting rid of the o-rings. The way it was described to me is there is also a tensioning element in how it is tightened within the barrel kit, but I could be wrong and getting clarification. I will tell you 100% the barrel is waaaaaay stiffer due to the lack of barrel droop I am seeing in my POI when adding on a heavier Ronin vs. the smaller FX DonnyFL suppressor vs. without the CF sleeve. 
 
Upvote 0
Thanks. At about 3:30 in the video you talk about “tensioning” and “sandwiching” the liner with the CF sleeve. Maybe you just misspoke, since I know with the ones we currently use they do stiffen the liner and allow us to not use the orings between the liner and outer barrel, but they in no way tension the liner. Thanks again.
Click to expand...

Ok I got clarification on the difference. The new sleeve kit is something Ernest is calling "friction fit". I is extremely tight against both the barrel liner and the housing. So I should clarify it isn't like a PROOF Research CF tensioned system but I was just told it is way tighter fitting and much stiffer than the epoxied version. Hope that clarifies. 
 
Upvote 0
OK, cool. So it is a very small clearance fit acting between the barrel housing and the liner, making it kind of a "one piece" using the liner, CF tube and housing to act as one stiff unit. I think the "tension" was just something said, since that surely would make it stiff, but not tensioned. I know the CF tube I glued on my liner, plus the 3mm thick CF tube I used to replace my shroud really stiffened the assembly up nicely. I do not tension mine much but only very lightly between two orings, just enough to make it hard to rotate the 3MM thick CF shroud replacement and not like Ernest did on some of his videos. I have an aversion to heavily tensioned barrels...
 
Upvote 0
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back
Home
Forums
Resources
Menu