Let's hear it from Fortitude owners, the good, the bad and the ugly.

[BackStop]

I own a .177 Gen2 Fortitude and am very happy with it. It shoots CPUM 10.5 grain pellets at ~750fps with accuracy of 1 moa out to 50-60 yards. Or it did when I last could shoot to 60 yards. Now I am limited to a max of about 30-35 yards and my targets (pesting) are usually between 15 and 27 yards in my back yard. There is still some room for increasing the hammer spring, but for me ~13 fpe is more than enough.

It took me a while to narrow down the problems I had with POI shifts. Turned out nearly all of them were due to me trying to alter the gun. The Fortitude has a floating barrel... that is, if the shroud does not touch either the pressure tube OR the barrel ring. Out of the box, the barrel ring was touching the shroud which I did not notice and made some, reversible, modifications to try and stabilize the barrel. The POI shifts, of course, continued. Once I removed the mods and adjusted the barrel ring to allow the shroud/barrel to actually float, I started getting my 1 MOA results.

(Early in my ownership of the Fortitude I fell victim to some stupid mod recommendations involving the shroud which nullified the floating barrel and caused POI shifts depending tube pressure. I tried to find the video(s) that recommended these mods, but apparently the person who made them took them down... due to embarrassment I am sure.)

In any case, at least the .177 version is an accurate platform out to ~60 yards (maybe more?) using CPUM pellets at ~750fps. It might be more or less accurate at higher or lower fps using the same pellet, but I have not done an extensive test to find out. 1 MOA from 25 to 50 yards is good enough for me. Especially with cheap pellets!

 

[BackStop]

Forgot to mention the LOP is SHORT and the butt is slippery. There is no cheek rest without modification. The trigger SUCKS, but can be made "better".

Added a slip on butt extension to add to LOP and stop slipping from slick stock butt plate. Added screws to adjust trigger, but made no modifications that would nullify 5 year warranty. I made a cheek rest from pipe insulation and duct tape. Don't laugh! It works and works great! I have had comments about how it must be "so soft", but those people must never have used pipe insulation tubes. LOL!

Cost of all modifications less than $20.

More than ~5000 pellets down the pipe and it is doing well.

I have to say it is NOT the tack driver that the Nova Vista Freedoms I have were, but then again the Fortitude still works and the Freedoms are dead unless I can convert them to bottle guns and I am not sure I want to spend the money for that...

Since I always shoot from some sort of rest, the lightness of the Fortitude may have something to do with it being less accurate than the Freedom. It took me a while to get used to such a light gun. (grin)

 

[Ripper]

I have one in 22 caliber and no problems at all with it in 1 1/2 years of owning it.I didn’t like the trigger either so I did a little work to it and now it is not bad at all.Mine will shoot 3/8” Groups at 30 yards. That’s the furthest I’ve shot So far.

 

[BackStop]

I have one in 22 caliber and no problems at all with it in 1 1/2 years of owning it.I didn’t like the trigger either so I did a little work to it and now it is not bad at all.Mine will shoot 3/8” Groups at 30 yards. That’s the furthest I’ve shot So far.

I thought about a .22 Fortitude, but the early reviews said it was under powered for .22. If the regulator could be adjusted, I would own a .22.

In any case, ~13 fpe in .177 is more than enough for me.

What pellet are you shooting?

Thanks for the reply!

 

[Ripper]

That’s Because they have The regulator adjusted for shot count. I shoot H&N 14 gr. FTT. It’s giving me about 19 fpe.

 

[BackStop]

That’s Because they have The regulator adjusted for shot count. I shoot H&N 14 gr. FTT. It’s giving me about 19 fpe.

Where does your .22 fall off of the regulator? I am not sure about my .177 as i usually pump it back up to 3000psi long before it hits 2000psi. 

Easier on me, the gun and the hand pump! (grin)

Usually only about 30 to a max of 40 pumps.

 

[Ripper]

I don’t know where it falls off the regulator. Without a gauge, the only way I would be able to tell is when the pellets start to hit lower on the target.I usually shoot mine down to 2000 psi exactly, then fill it back up.I’m a hand pumper too.But my next purchase is got to be a compressor because I just bought a Daystate that goes to 3626 psi And I can only pump it up to 3000 psi with the hand pump. So with that gun I can only shoot two magazines before it drops off the regulator. After spending that much money,The compressor is going to have to wait a while.

 

[farina243]

verry happy with mine

 

[fdales17]

Very happy with mine as well. It's in .177 and very accurate with hades pellets. Haven't shot it farther than 25 yards (maximum my yard allows). Perfect power for backyard pests.

 

[BackStop]

I don’t know where it falls off the regulator. Without a gauge, the only way I would be able to tell is when the pellets start to hit lower on the target.I usually shoot mine down to 2000 psi exactly, then fill it back up.I’m a hand pumper too.But my next purchase is got to be a compressor because I just bought a Daystate that goes to 3626 psi And I can only pump it up to 3000 psi with the hand pump. So with that gun I can only shoot two magazines before it drops off the regulator. After spending that much money,The compressor is going to have to wait a while.

If you can pump to 3000psi with a hand pump, then you can pump to 3626 with one easily.

I actually blew a 4500psi relief seal (can't think of that it is actually called right now) using a hand pump on a Nova Freedom. And, it didn't take too long.

To each their own, but I don't think I will ever own a HP compressor or tank. I simply don't let the gun get so low that I have to pump (hand pump) that much.

BTW, which Daystate are you getting? I dream about the Delta Wolf, but will never own one at $3000...

 

[BackStop]

verry happy with mine

Thanks! Is yours .177 or .22 and what pellet does it like? 

 

[BackStop]

Very happy with mine as well. It's in .177 and very accurate with hades pellets. Haven't shot it farther than 25 yards (maximum my yard allows). Perfect power for backyard pests.

I have not tried the Hades pellets, but as I said in the OP, I can get 1 MOA (1/4 inch groups at 25 and 1/2 inch groups at 50) from 25 to 50 yards using CPUM 10.5 .177 pellets. Makes me happy! (grin)

 

[fdales17]

It's close to the perfect pesting combination, I get very few pass throughs, and the rifle is insanely quiet. The hammer ping resonating through the stock and the thwack of the pellets impacting the pests are the only sounds it makes

 

[CornPop]

Do you recall what size screws you used to add the adjustments for the trigger? I tried a couple of M3 screws but they seemed too big for the factory holes there. 


just replacing the return spring with a softer one had a significant effect.

 

[BackStop]

Do you recall what size screws you used to add the adjustments for the trigger? I tried a couple of M3 screws but they seemed too big for the factory holes there. 


just replacing the return spring with a softer one had a significant effect.

I don't know the size, but I used the screws from either an electrical outlet or switch and they worked perfectly. These are not the screws that hold on the cover plate, but the screws that hold the outlet/switch in the junction box. YMMV

 

[BackStop]

It's close to the perfect pesting combination, I get very few pass throughs, and the rifle is insanely quiet. The hammer ping resonating through the stock and the thwack of the pellets impacting the pests are the only sounds it makes

I have to agree, especially for the money. Although, at least for me, it does have 3 problems that have to be addressed, LOP, very low cheek rest and a REALLY BAD Trigger. I fixed or made "better" all of these problems for less than $20. The cheek rest isn't pretty. I still wish I had a little longer LOP and the trigger still is no where near "good", but I can get used to just about anything when it comes to guns. I do have to keep "the basics" in mind much more with this AG than I would with a fine tuned AG, for sure! LOL!

Do you have .177 or .22?

 

[BackStop]

One thing I recently realized is that the stock is truly flimsy.

I always "rest" my AG when I shoot. Always.

However, I only recently noticed the reason why sometimes my shots went high and sometimes low.

The Fortitude suffers from a pressure tube that is inherently too close to the shroud/barrel.

Add to that, that the stock is so flimsy that if you put a bipod on using the only viable link (the forward sling-ring ) you will have problems as the pressure tube WILL come in contact with the shroud/barrel causing POI shifts with no other "apparent" reason. Even resting the far end of the stock (where the sling-ring is located) can cause POI impact shifts from up and down to left and right and all combinations.


Not bashing the gun, but pointing out one of the problems I have had with mine. Sometimes I even have a fix... not always or often. LOL!

Before I figured this out, I was already getting 1MOA from 25 to 50~60 yards. I don't have access to shoot that far now, but I will test at 25, 29, and 35 yards and get back to you. (grin)