If you had to choose, which would you buy, an Impact or Crown Continuum

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I concur with the Continuum, but I have never shot an Impact so cannot truly rule that out. I can safely state that yesterday while ground squirrel hunting in SoCal, a Swift lizard about 1" wide and 6" long was on a rock at a clocked 80 yards. The Continuum in .22 took it out with a single, rested shot.

Pretty sure that the Impact can do the deed equally as well, but I can't verify that personally.
 
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A good question and very timely for me. I had finally convinced to myself to go ahead can get an impact MK2 in spite of the fact that I've always thought it was really ugly. I finally convinced myself based on function rather than form.

That was all good until yesterday when I discovered the Airgun Depot video about the Crown continuum... my God what a beautiful rifle and a real stroke of Genius eliminating that old Barrel housing the liner and getting rid of a half pound of weight!

So right now I'm sitting very uncomfortably on the head of a pin forced to decide for one or the other. I taught myself how to give the Crown more power but I'm forced to admit that I really don't need a ton of power to make a hole in the target.

So for the time being I am left agonizing over the decision.


 
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A good question and very timely for me. I had finally convinced to myself to go ahead can get an impact MK2 in spite of the fact that I've always thought it was really ugly. I finally convinced myself based on function rather than form.

That was all good until yesterday when I discovered the Airgun Depot video about the Crown continuum... my God what a beautiful rifle and a real stroke of Genius eliminating that old Barrel housing the liner and getting rid of a half pound of weight!

So right now I'm sitting very uncomfortably on the head of a pin forced to decide for one or the other. I taught myself how to give the Crown more power but I'm forced to admit that I really don't need a ton of power to make a hole in the target.

So for the time being I am left agonizing over the decision.

Click to expand...

I'm with you on agonizing on the decision. These are big buck decisions, so want to make best possible. Maybe the real problem is there isn't a bad decision?
 
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Well, if you get the Crown you'll sit and think that you should have gotten the Impact. And again, if you got the Impact, you'll ponder that you should have got the Crown instead. So, the only sane thing to do is just get both and then you'll never have to be in a state of ??? I hope you are pleased with your choice without buyers remorse. Good luck!
 
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Whenever the impacts get back in stock again I'll likely get one in 30. Just to buck the wind and have a little larger caliber for raccoons and badgers. Frankly, it's been really hard to pick up my other PCP guns after adding the FX to the gun safes... quality drop off is noticeable. Once you drive a Porsche it's hard to drive a Toyota... The Crown Continnium Yellow Jacket in 25 I got two weeks ago has been more than sufficient and efficient for what I use it for. 25-100 Yard bench shooting and the occasional squirrel or Collared Dove etc.... It's accurate as can be and the two barrel system easily affords a shorter barrel that is both accurate and maneuverable for anyone that wants to go hunt squirrels or similar game in the woods without having to worry about banging the barrel on everything in the woods. 100 Shots before any drop off straight out of the box no adjustments made shooting JSB heavys and it's hole in hole at 50 when I do my part off of bags and off sticks it's equally impressive. Ethical ranges come into play here as well. Not possible ranges--Ethical ranges. Arguably, an airgun's accuracy after 100 yards regardless of caliber minus maybe a 45-50 is moot when it comes to hunting in my view albeit it hitting a target at over 100 with a tiny pellet powered by air is a rush and great fun.... 

Practicality comes into play as well. Once you start getting into 30 and 35 caliber you're really talking about calibers designed to hunt and kill things. Accuracy as such is measured very differently. A 35 caliber pellet need not perform hole in hole to be accurate in terms of kill zone and therefore expecting hole in hole accuracy from a 35 isn't generally realistic. 30 Caliber fits in the middle somewhere because some makers do make guns that perform nearly hole in hole in 30 caliber... but shot count is reduced dramatically from the 22 or 25... so if you shoot in your backyard at paper or steel 90% of the time and 10% of the time you are shooting a pest animal do you really need a 30? Likely not... 

Of course the beauty here is that FX lets us roam between calibers with a feww hundred dollars invested as opposed to a couple thousand having to buy a rifle in every caliber we use or need for varying task and purposes... which, is awesome.


 
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So much depends on YOUR use. The Crown is for me as I shoot some type of rest most of the time. I've been know to sit in the same spot all day shooting on a bench(portable) that swivels 360. Will be ordering a second Crown soon the synthetic Continuum in .22. With the 700mm I should increase my bullet weight from 18.13 to 25 and keep the speed up. I can reset the tune, speed in 20 seconds from 500+ to 900 fps. 
 
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 Both.

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🤘
 
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They're pretty much on par with eachother. With some small variances. My continuum is tuned to 65fpe in 22 caliber. I don't believe you could do much better in the impact. But you could do it at lower pressure. Shot count would still be almost the same. But that is the main bonus I see aside from the smaller package. My crown does weigh less, but I dont have a sensible option to add any volume to my action. Volume makes it easier to shoot larger calibers at higher speeds. Not that the crown doesnt already have enough power. It does. Just that some of the slugs are picky, and really need a good push to shoot well. But I do also see that some of my slugs depending on weight and design are not picky about what speed they're shot at....

If you do opt to get an impact, try and wait for the 357 model, and get a different barrel if you want to shoot 22 or 25. I have a feeling that gun will have some nice features as far as flow is concerned. But for me, I just wanted a 22 caliber. And the internals of the crown... porting, and valve size is very well optimized for 22.
 
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Long_Gun_Dalla - Your advice is good. I think the difficulty is that both guns are on par, just different shapes. My current thought is to buy an Impact MKII with the 700mm barrel. The :plenum allows for higher air flow and shoots .22 and .25 slugs very well. I have an original Smooth Twist, and an X Barrel, so will have an extra X Barrel in 600 mm to share between the guns. Thought is to setup the 600mm as a slug barrel, and keep the 700 as a bench rest pellet barrel. Use the Gen 1 as a hunting gun. Plenty of power for pellets out to 100 yards. Use the MKII as a slug gun for longer ranges.

I suppose I could do basically the same thing with the continuum, and just have an extra 600MM barrel for the Impact laying around. 

That's why the decision is so hard for me. I'm OCD and will analyze to the Nth degree if you know what I mean. I'll eventually make a decision, but for now, the inner debate rages!

Luckily, I don't have to make a decision for a couple months, when I have the $$ The Continuum is such a good deal!

I guess guns are like Golf Clubs. A 5 Iron will get you around the course, but you really need a driver for the 300 yard holes and a putter for the greens. I'm just filling my bag of guns one at a time!

By the time I buy, a larger caliber version of the Impact might be ready to go. We'll see!
 
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I didn't have time yesterday to add details, but here's my thoughts on the two covering the areas that are important to me:

Accuracy - tie. 

Harmonics - Crown has a slight edge over the MKII.

Weight - synthetic Crown all day long.

Power - this is where is gets complicated:

  • Out of the box, the MKII has the edge over the Crown
  • Modifying TP & Probe and adding hammer weight - my Crown has shot as high as 74FPE, and I've only been able to get my MKII up to 68FPE
  • MKII will accept a larger plenum easier and more ergonomically than the Crown, with this - MKII by a mile
  • The Crown's reg has to be cranked up high to shoot medium weight lead (27-33gr); the MKII can do it with less reg pressure, but again - I hit some upper limit already with max velocity

Length - MKII 💯. The shroud will be in the scope view at lower magnifications on the Crown, not a big deal unless you're really needing <=6x magnification. With the 700mm MKII, using a low NF unimount with my 4-32 scope - the big fat STO Mus moderator isn't visible at all at 4x.

Maintenance - Crown 💯. Less areas for leaks, less parts / o-rings.

Ergonomics - I prefer the Crown for both hunting and BR, I have also always felt the Impacts were built for BR - but this is all very subjective and everyone will have their own opinions.

Shot count - MKII. I get substantially more shots with the MKII than I do with the Crown, regardless of what I shoot.

Tunability - MKII. You get the extra valve stop feature and it's less work to mod the screw in the hammer spring tensioner.

So why did I get an MKII? Simple - I'm planning to use it with (22 cal and .257) ammo far heavier than the Crown can handle. The Crown can handle 36gr (.22) without additional plenum volume, but that's really pushing its limits.

The 700mm Crown is perfect for 24-30gr, it's just a shame that the factory 380mm barrel doesn't spin heavier ammo right, the power IS there, but it doesn't appear to be compatible for anything above 18gr pellets.


 
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I guess it all comes down to what do I want to do with the gun. Mostly, Bench with the 700mm barrel, with some hinting thrown in. I tinker. Spent two hours in 102 degree heat today with my Gen 1 Impact tuning for better efficiency. Next, I'll tinker and make it do something else. Initial goal is to shoot the 34 grain .25's. I think the MKII will handle those with no problems. Gen 1 gun tops reliably at about 850 for me. would like a touch more speed for better accuracy. Then slugs! Setting up that spare 600mm for slugs - so I really think the Impact is where I'm headed. The Crown can probably do it all as well, but I love to tinker!

Next project with the Gen 1 will be a harmonic tune. That requires an Impact as it has the valve adjuster knob up front. (Too late at night, can't remember what they call it). Anyway, looking more and more like an Impact.

Fantastic information all the way around though. I still may grab a Crown next time around. Can't go wrong with either.
 
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