HELP—UPDATE: FX Wildcat accuracy problems

Jump to latest Follow Reply
I posted that I had the same issue a few months back with my FX Royale 400 in .177. It's not you. It's the gun. I sent mine to Ernest and he tried two other barrels, making it 3 in a row that all sucked. I would get the same exact thing. 5 shots would be touching. Use same mag, or different mag, and next thing I know I have 1 inch groups at 30 yds. Was miserable. FX should not sell any .177 rifles unless they use walthar barrels since they do not know how to make the smooth twist barrel work. Just my opinion, but after 6 months of dealing with it, I sent the gun back and got a new one.....not a FX.
 
Upvote 0
What about time of day? Temperature, wind, sun or shade on you or the gun? Do you notice if this has any correlation on what you are observing of the results each time you shoot? Does it shoot well for the first few shots and then when the barrel warms up it starts spraying? Maybe a particular pressure range or so many shots after a fill? Same results at the top of a fill as opposed to the bottom of the fill? Any correlation you can predict will help narrow down the culprit.

Using the same setup each time, same fill pressure, same bench, same bag placement, etc. Any of this ringing any bells?

What about weighing or head sizing the pellets? (based on your result you mentioned of seeing the pellets with good speed tracking off target line)

You probably already know this but keeping good notes on what you try and things like time of day, temperature and wind velocities along with the variations you are trying will come in handy when experimenting.

Good luck, keep us informed.
Click to expand...

Thanks mate. The weather isn’t the problem because I was getting the same results from early morning to late afternoon. Never weighed my pellets before and I’ve shot like almost 1200+ through this gun. I don’t think a pellet weight variation for a 10.34 grain will cause this. What surprises me most is that it shoots so well for a few shots and then goes whack and that too with minimal change in FPS from shot to shot. 
 
Upvote 0
You said: "While the reg shows consistent FPS, shots that go wrong I can see the pellet flying in a different direction". (I know you meant PSI) And: "All pellets shoot just like in the pics below. 2 great groups, 4 -5 Terrible groups".

With the light at the right angle, most of us have see the pellet flight. If the velocity is consistent, and it's not your technique, Occman's Razor would indicate a mechanical problem. But WHY intermittent? If it was mechanical it would likely occur with regularity, but operator error (trigger control, differences in hold, breath control, and the list goes on), can occur randomly. 

If you have other AG's and have good results, accuracy wise, then this is a mystery.

My AG experience is mostly with HW Springers. I do plan on diving in head first this fall with a FX .22 Impact along with an AV compressor and all the other "stuff". I'll be watching to see your solution.

After rereading you said something about: "All shot string from Mag 1 to Mag 12", I'm sure you looked into this, but do you have 12 different magazines? I know you did this, but... try using just one magazine (a proven good grouper) for your groups. Good luck!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tips mate. The mags I have tried multiple now. Neither of the 3 mags I have are any luckier than the other. All give me excellent or crappy groups. I thought I was doing something wrong with the pull, breathing etc but even after maintaining the same breathing, hold— nothing changed. Also my Leshiy shoots awesomely well using the same 10.34 pellets under similair circumstances. 
 
Upvote 0
Rifles with adjustable this and swappable that are prone to misadjustment and calibration issues. (I call them Frankenstein Guns.) This is why I sold my Impact and bought a WC MK1. I prefer a fixed platform; much less to throw out of whack. You pick the one right tool for each particular task. This all-in-one concept looks good on paper from a marketing perspective, but I've found it lacking in practice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riyC8AJNQZs
 
Upvote 0
You can try to leave the barrel liner O-rings out. I have noticed on my .177 they are to small to make a tight fit into the barrel tube. I know on .22 caliber guns they are much tighter. I am speculating since they look to be just to small, they might disturb the harmonics of the barrel, rather than dampen it. I took them out on my gun when I cleaned the liner (do not know if it was necesarry to clean it, just did it to rule it out), and so far it shoots better. So it does not hurt to try.
 
Upvote 0
I have the last days adjusted the velocity slowly down on my wildcat mk2 .177. I first checked what my max velocity was, it nice to know in relationship to reg pressure. That turned out to be around 970-980 fps, with JSB exact 8 grains. Then I adjusted down to around 935fps (I know it was probably to high, but had to start somewhere), and was planning to shoot 3 groups each (8 shots, one mag), and do 1/8 turn on the hammer spring, and then 3 new groups. If I shot 1 one or 2 groups I could be lucky, but If shot 3 groups, I could probably rule out luck . Since my backyard range is 25m, I did all the shooting at that distance. I also only shot and adjusted when there was no wind, I got pretty good groups all the way to around 900fps, put still had some flyers which I did not know if it was wrong velocity, bad pellets, or simply just me not shooting good enough.

Then cleaned the barrel to rule out if it was dirty, and also removed the liner O-rings.Then it slowly seemed to improve until I reach ca 850fps. Then I looked at the 3 previous groups which seemed a litle better, and then did just 1/16 turn up again, and ended on around 880-890fps. I was happy with the result as I got good group, and few flyers. This is the 4 last 8 shot group I did. The smallest one is around 8 mm c-c, and the biggest one is around 13 mm. I am not an expert tuner, and some can probably get it even better but I am so far happy with the result.
1533753127_10179739115b6b372720ddd0.62850644_IMG_20180808_193607.jpg


It was a little hassle to take the stock of every time I had to adjust, so I did this on the stock:
1533753376_10291236195b6b3820b185b5.58362373_IMG_20180808_195134.jpg

 
Upvote 0
Well, the weight of the pellet wouldn't really matter. It is the tune that matters. So, if you put in the 10's and have to tune it up just a bit to get 905, then yes, shot count will go down a bit. But with the 10's at 905, I get 96 shots per fill.



Crusher

Click to expand...

Well it does not hurt to try. It does not take much effort to see how much I can increase on hammer spring only, and since I also has a huma reg in my gun, it is not that difficult to adjust up a few more bar (have done it before) if necessary:)
 
Upvote 0
Update : The hammer spring screw in the Wildcat wasn’t loctited (thank god for small mercies).

Adjusted it to shoot the 10.34 grain between 920-930 without the 2 orings in the barrel. Groups improved immediately. Fliers reduced significantly. Getting 0.75 inch groups now at 30 yards. Thanks to everyone who recommended trying higher speeds. 

Tuned it down to 880 then and the groups opened up a bit to about an inch at 30 yards. I think am going to experiment between 880-930 FPS and find a setting that gets me the smallest groups.

Clearly the x barrels need higher speeds than 770 FPS. Am wondering though how the sub 12 Wildcat MK2’s in 0.177 are still pulling off higher accuracy with lower speeds using the x barrels. This remains a question to be answered. Will let you guys know what the sweet spot for me turns out to be. 
 
Upvote 0
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back
Home
Forums
Resources
Menu