"Cliff_Allen"I'm one of the guys that had some problems with the Daystate Wolverine recently. I'm also a long time owner of the FX Royale and I'm on my second one. I can tell you my experience with them but it's hard to translate intangible's over a forum, especially when different things will be important to different people. Also, after having both I greatly prefer the Royale over the Wolverine so my following sentiment is likely to sound really biased, but I like talking about the differences in guns I've owned so here it is none the less.
Overall, what I like about the Royale platform:
1) Consistency / accuracy. Accuracy in spades. Here is a video that I made recently of me shooting a 33 shot group at 51 yards with the Royale. (fair warning, video editing sucks lol) That's JSB 25g picked straight from the tin. I can't tell you how accurate the Wolverine is because both of mine had a problem out of the box that prevented me from being able to see what it's capabilities were.
2) Regulated, and regulated very well. Here is something to consider. They get about the same amount of shots. The thing is though that the Royale 400 does this with only a 400cc bottle, where the Wolverine has a 480cc bottle. The Royale is clearly more efficient and will use less air to accomplish the same thing.
3) Regulated. Didn't I already say that? Yes, but that was in regards to shot count. Now I'm referring to consistency. In .22, if you shoot a full string of 80 or 90 shots or whatever it is from both guns, your extreme spread will be much higher on the Wolverine. Even with the Harper valve system there will still be a larger bell curve to your shot string. If you shoot an entire string into one single group, you will notice your group will start to go higher on the paper as the bell curve increases with the Wolverine. Also, when the bell curve drops, so will your shots / POI.
Here are pics of a full shot string from both guns. (Both these guns were in .25 by the way, not .22)
To be fair, I've had my Royale adjusted so that it's shooting at around 890fps so it might get a few less shots now.
4) Noise. The Wolverine in .25 was noticeably louder than my .25 Royale. I don't think this will matter as much for either gun if you're sticking with a .22. I'm pretty sure they're both fairly quiet in that caliber.
5) Side lever cocking on the Royale is much much much smoother than the bolt on the Wolverine. I can't stress this enough. I've had 2 AA S-510's and the Royale is even smoother to cock than those. The best I can explain it is that when I'm shooting groups and want to maintain a consistent eye relief / line of sight through the scope, I have a much harder time with the Wolverine. I have to alter my position to "brace" the gun a bit so that I can pull the bolt back and then cycle it forward again.
Build quality I would say is a draw. Each gun has exceptional machining and there are no rough edges to be found anywhere on either gun and both feel solid.
I really enjoy the smooth twist barrel and the fact that I almost never have to clean it.
The Wolverine is a "prettier" gun I think. It has very sexy lines and is visually very well laid out. The stock is gorgeous but for the cost of the gun one would think it would at least come with an adjustable butt pad.
The Royale is less expensive right now with the recent price drop a few months ago. Granted, the Wolverine has a special going on where you get a hawke airmax scope with it, but it's still $610 more than the Royale.
The Royale weighs about a 1/2 pound less.
I prefer the magazine system on the Royale better, but that may just be due to the fact I've been using it for a few years and I'm very comfortable with it. Also after thousands of rounds through the 3 mags I have, none have ever given me a single hiccup or glitch or misfire or anything.
I like the trigger on the Royale. Not only do I prefer the way it feels, but it is much easier to adjust than the one on the Wolverine. For that matter, I've had my Royale completely apart, regulator out, etc and it is a very simple and easy gun to work on if the need ever arises.
Did I say this was going to make me sound like I'm biased? lol.
Anyway, there it is. I hope you enjoy whichever one you end up selecting. As slanted as my opinion is, they are both nice guns in their own right.
