FX Impact Pellet Spiral - Possible Root Cause Found

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So far, I have shot 3 different pellets:
  1. JSB Heavy MK I 
  2. JSB Heavy MK II
  3. FX .25 gr Domed
    [/LIST=1]
    I also have some 25 gr JSB Kings which I haven't shot yet.

    By the way the root cause behind the spiraling is/was a faulty FX magazine. You see the magazine was being too rough on my pellet skirts so Big D over at A to the O to the A gave the magazine casing a good reaming over which has all but eliminated the problem

    The scope cam footage I took was impressive. I'll upload tomorrow.

    ✌
 
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Be aware that the spring in the FX magazines can also be too tight, which can damage the pellets because it's cycling with too much force.
Thus, the pellet's skirts might get oval when slamming in position to chamber the pellet. Try to empty a mag by pushing out the pellets with an allen key, and you'll know what I mean☺
I always disassemble my FX magazines to decrease the spring load.
 
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@travels4fun: I corrected it some when I bought it like that second hand, but only noticed just recently that it was still misaligned. Do not know how it could have happened, unless the previous owner was Andre the Giant :) I know that the 5.55mm pellets are very hard to load but not where they would bend the pellet probe.

I fixed it when I was doing a partial rebuild by replacing the transfer port o-rings, the pellet probe o-ring, realigned the barrel with the breech, and added an o-ring inside the shroud to the end of the barrel fork. I took the stock off, separated the action from the lower trigger assembly and used a vice grip with plastic shims on the jaws secured with electric tape, and carefully bent the probe to the center position. To make sure the probe is really centered I used a large 5.55mm pellet and pushed the head inside the barrel, slowly closed the probe on it. Checked for the mark that the pellet probe left inside the pellet skirt cavity to ensure it was in the middle.
 
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"fe7565"@travels4fun: I corrected it some when I bought it like that second hand, but only noticed just recently that it was still misaligned. Do not know how it could have happened, unless the previous owner was Andre the Giant :) I know that the 5.55mm pellets are very hard to load but not where they would bend the pellet probe.

I fixed it when I was doing a partial rebuild by replacing the transfer port o-rings, the pellet probe o-ring, realigned the barrel with the breech, and added an o-ring inside the shroud to the end of the barrel fork. I took the stock off, separated the action from the lower trigger assembly and used a vice grip with plastic shims on the jaws secured with electric tape, and carefully bent the probe to the center position. To make sure the probe is really centered I used a large 5.55mm pellet and pushed the head inside the barrel, slowly closed the probe on it. Checked for the mark that the pellet probe left inside the pellet skirt cavity to ensure it was in the middle.

Click to expand...
Funny thing because I recently had my MCT apart after the bolt pulled out free from the action while I was cocking. The pellet probe set screw had sheared in half and I was able to service the gun myself with some help from AOA. While mine was apart, I noticed my one of the transfer port o-rings was worn down so I replaced them and got a 2 fpe increase as an added bonus!

Anyway, I’m glad to hear you were able to sort out the probe misalignment on your rifle.

Scott

PS – JSB pellets with head size 5.52 load like butter.
 
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"weatherby"Be aware that the spring in the FX magazines can also be too tight, which can damage the pellets because it's cycling with too much force.
Thus, the pellet's skirts might get oval when slamming in position to chamber the pellet. Try to empty a mag by pushing out the pellets with an allen key, and you'll know what I mean
I always disassemble my FX magazines to decrease the spring load.
Click to expand...
I held off on taking the magazine apart as it was a brand new magazine and doing so may have voided the warranty.
 
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Glad to see the cause was found,even if the fix is a little agricultural.I said it in another thread(Ernest's video of the Impact)that FX need to up their QC.They are minor issues that really shouldn't leave the factory.And it seems to be across a lot of products.Time taken away from having a gun in your hands is what annoys me most.
And I agree with others,You should get a new replacement mag gratis.Cheers Paul.
 
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I had this same problem with my Daystate Wolverine .22 when it was new. Accuracy at distance was all over the place and variable.

In my case recovered pellets all had telltale damage along one side - with further investigation it turned out that there was a burr on my transfer port. (I later learned that pushing a pellet out with a cleaning rod is an easier way to confirm this).

My other symptom at the time was unusual hard resistance when loading pellets into the "chamber" - especially harder thicker and heavier pellets.

Kip at AOA store corrected this problem for me and now my Wolverine is an absolute tack driver. Pellets load into it with silky smoothness.

Robert
 
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"Kip at AOA store corrected this problem for me and now my Wolverine is an absolute tack driver. Pellets load into it with silky smoothness."

Robert, how did they correct it? My Daystate barrel must be 5.51/5.52mm because pellets that are 5.55mm load very very hard (and shoot lousy as well). I assumed that the head size difference is the issue, but is there another explanation? I am using the Rowan Engineering single loader.
 
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@air_bastard The FX impact's removable barrel made it easy for me to inspect the transfer port when this started. In my case, it was nice and smooth. I have found JSB pellets are the smoothest pellets in the .22 cal DayState rifles I have owned. H&N pellets require more effort, even in head size 5.50, and 5.51. EunJin can be super easy or super hard with no in between LOL.
 
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"fe7565""Kip at AOA store corrected this problem for me and now my Wolverine is an absolute tack driver. Pellets load into it with silky smoothness."

Robert, how did they correct it? My Daystate barrel must be 5.51/5.52mm because pellets that are 5.55mm load very very hard (and shoot lousy as well). I assumed that the head size difference is the issue, but is there another explanation? I am using the Rowan Engineering single loader.
Click to expand...

I was chatting to Kip a couple of weeks ago when I bought my FX Boss. He told me that it was him who had worked on my Wolverine - he used special tools to get in there and to gently "lap" and polish the burr off. I'd suggest very strongly that you have them do it for you under the warranty.

Kip also told me that they had experienced a "run" of these burrs around the same time on some Wolverines (mine was just the first they'd seen).

So... Daystate apparently had received a batch of actions with badly finished transfer ports - it sounds to me like you have one of those rifles.

The good news - AOA are very familiar with the problem and exactly how to fix it. My rifles accuracy is amazing now (thank you Kip!) - send it to them and get them to fix it. Without the fix accuracy is all over the place.

This is one repair I feel is best left to the pros given the price tag on a Wolverine (I don't mind replacing seals and o-rings myself)

Robert
 
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BTW, it is worth confirming that you really HAVE the transfer port problem.

In my case I recovered shot pellets from some deep water and I noticed the same pattern of gouging on one side of every recovered pellet (as thought they had been scraped over a file or rasp). That is in addition to the normal rifling marks of course.

But you can also try pushing a loaded pellet back out of the chamber with a cleaning rod - might be easier.

Look for consistent damage on one side of the pellet. If you see that you probably have the burr.

Robert
 
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@air_bastard: Thanks for tips. I do have a Daystate but it's an older Airwolf MVT (same as the MCT but with a chrono). I had the rifle apart a few times and it has improved significantly since the last partial rebuild. It shots now 1.2 inch at 50 yards, 3/4inch at 75 yards, and 1.5-2 inch at 100 yards (still working on the 100 yard). I looked at the transfer port closely last time and didn't see anything out of the ordinary however 5.54-5.55mm pellets are extremely difficult to load. I will look closer if it's the head or the skirt that makes it hard.
 
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