How likely am i to end up with a Wildcat with indexer issues?

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draconian

draconian

Member
Jun 10, 2015
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New York, United States
I hope this is the right sub forum

I own an old beeman super .20 cal so i am not unfamiliar with PCP air rifles and have been looking into purchasing a wildcat .25 because it is something i can easily handle myself with my disability. As loading the mag and air on my beeman is too much of a struggle. A number sources including this forum state that some wildcats have an indexer issues as detailed in this fix video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOxE58IIuCQ.
The problem is i cant do a fix like this and have no one i trust to do it so what are the odds of this issue and is there any dealer who would check this issue for me before shipping? i have been unable answer on this issue out of airguns of arizona who i am told are the warranty center for FX purchased in the US.

Thank you in advance for you time.
 
Well there's an extremely good airgun tuner named Ernest Rowe who actually has a lot of great videos on YouTube and he even has FX Wildcat videos showing detailed instructions on how to fix it. He's very busy from what I've gathered but he might find some time for a nice guy who is struggling because of a disability. I actually just traded my Vulcan.25 for an FX Wildcat.25 today. I literally just got back from the post office. Here's a picture of the Wildcat that is due to arrive on Thursday and below is the gun I traded 
 
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How to fix it.... Ok you chunk out $1,300 plus shipping and tax and the thing leaks and wont index the mag? The $2,000 Impact has known issues of leaking down. I think FX has some of the most innovative ideas of any manufacturer, but at that price point I expect very few warranty issues and that is not what I am seeing. What happens after the warranty expires? My next buy is currently an FX Streamline, but only after I am convinced they have the bugs worked out. I am a Marauder shooter and the Streamline covers all the shortcomings of the Marauder at twice the purchase price. Still at $1,000 for the synthetic stock it is a great deal. But only a great deal if it holds air and works.
 
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Chances are high you'll get the scarring on the magazine but it shouldn't affect the loading of the pellet. Agree with Dan25...this quality control issue should have been caught before the first one left the factory! My magazine was scarred when I got it just from the few rounds that were put thru it during testing. If you want any info out of AoA...call them! My first few email questions went unanswered...so I stopped emailing.
 
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Draconian

I wrote to FX a few months ago. Although they would not give me a specific number of units sold, they said that they have shipped several thousand Wildcats worldwide. The number of FX bullpups sold far exceed the number of any other bullpup sold. Why is this important?

Say for example that 1 out of every 100 units has some type of flaw that the factory missed (any brand). If AGT sells 100 Vulcans a year, then you’re only going to hear about 1 problem. If Kalibrgun sells 500 Crickets per year, then you’re only going to hear about 5 problems. If FX sells 1000 Wildcats per year, then you might hear about 10 problems. See a pattern?

You also have to consider how some forums are monetarily invested in certain products, and only allow positive topics on certain products, and encourage negative talk about others. Add to this that less than 10% of the people that visit forums actually have an account and choose to participate, and you’ll start to see the bigger picture. 

What am I trying to say? The greater the volume, the greater the chance you will hear about a product, any product. Couple that with the fact that many people only participate on a forum when they need help with something, and you don't hear about all the people that are happily shooting their products without any problems at all.

So chances are that if you load the pellets properly (making sure the head/skirt isn't protruding outside of the magazine) and you don't operate the unit like a ruthless maniac, then you shouldn't have any of the so called "indexing" problems that you've read about.

You could also voice your concerns to the retailer you choose and ask them to thoroughly test the indexing mechanism before shipping it out.

Good luck with your decision


 
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I can't think of any air gun brand that has a particularly low chance of avoiding problems. It's an industry with poor quality control. 

imo, there is a difference in how certain brands and sellers deal with issues when they arise and what they consider to be issues. I know that AOA won't fix cosmetic issues (e.g. If they send you an air gun with a big scratch on it) but PA will replace a gun if you just don't like it. 

Maybe you cwn set your mind at ease by finding out how much a replacement part would cost if you have an issue that cant be fixed under the warranty. 

Kalibrgun sent me a replacement indexing piece for my Cricket for free under warranty and told me it would cost $35 to replace it again after the warranty period. Always good to know your worst case. 

As as long as replacement parts are available and affordable, it's not usually a huge problem with any brand. The nightmare is being stuck with an expensive broken air rifle that can't be fixed at all. That is a rare problem.

 
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"TKA87"I watched the Ernest Rowe YouTube video about the Wildcat indexing mod and the indexing arm is machined with a very sharp edge thus allowing scarring on the mag. When I receive my Wildcat.25 tomorrow I'm immediately grinding the sharp edge off and polishing it to index very smooth.
Click to expand...
to prevent scarring, only dull the edge-----> if you remove to much it will not advance the mag then your warranty is void. only way to fix that is by heating it red hot and bend just enough to cover (cast aluminum--they brake if force to bend) what you lost or buy a new cocking lever. 
 
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Draconian,
I received my Wildcat and the 1st thing I did was check the indexing lever for the infamous razor sharp edge, which causes the gouging of the magazine. Well, it was already sanded smooth, no sharp edges. I'm only guessing, but by now, this is something I think they are well aware of and checking before shipping.
AOA is excellent with returning phone calls. Don't email them, but rather call them, and put yourself on the call back list. They will call you back shortly. Explain your concerns and ask if they can check that out, if you bought a gun.
 
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An answer to you question... I believe based on my person experience with my .25 wildcat is No. The indexer mechanism is very simple. I have over 8000 rounds through it with not 1 indexing problem. The mags are easy to load with pellets and easy to load and index in the rifle. The sharp indexer issue is mainly noticed on the .22 magazine which I believe is anodized black, where as the .25's is bare metal. I agree with Michael. FX sells many more guns than most pcp manufactures so take some of the complaints against it with a grain of salt. It's a fantastic rifle; easy to handle, load and cock. The indexer is a non issue especially with the .25 mag. Just buy it and quit fretting.
 
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