What makes the impact so unreliable, yet so desirable?

[Pale_Rider]

The general consensus appears to be that the impact is more hype than reliable tool. Modularity, adjustability, and strategic advertising making it stand out from the rest. The “superior” accuracy can be had with a multitude of guns, nothing special there.

I believe the majority of complaints about the impact, on this forum, are coming from experienced airgunners who put hundreds of tins through their guns, putting the gun through its paces, exposing its weak points. The same experienced airgunners rarely have as many issues with other reputable guns. 

This is my favorite part about this forum: it’s a helpful tool to determine the long term reliability of a particular model/brand

*Here's an actual general consensus and the answer is a resounding YES happy with their impact. I think just as many people as experienced are inexperienced and get it as their first PCP get in over their head and stuff up their own gun. Then piss all over the brand, LOTS of those guys around too. Its not for everyone and I get it.

https://www.airgunnation.com/topic/how-many-impact-owners-here/

The amount of people buying impacts does not directly correlate to reliability. I don’t doubt that it’s a “cool” gun or that it can shoot lights out accurate when the stars align.

The impact is a lot like a Harley Davidson; many sales, many fan boys, cooler than the fonz, but reliability is not what they sold. 

Hats off to FX though. Top notch marketing

Well if you read the first post it asks "are you happy with it yes or no". The overwhelming majority like 95% are happy but feel free to keep up your bias. I think youre confusing the word marketing with results.

OP: “What is it with the impact? It’s like a love/hate relationship. It’s considered THE airgun to own, yet common issues continue to occur and they are known as UNRELIABLE guns. 
what are the appeals of this platform, and what are the flaws. Are they still worth buying if you don’t want to tinker and repair them all the time? 
There’s a lot of other brands out there, but non seem to be as popular. I’m fascinated!”



@glem.challot I think you’re confusing posts. Feel free to comprehend it. Reliability and whether it’s worth tinkering is the main point of the OP. The comments in this thread speaks for itself. 

 

[Glem.Chally]

The general consensus appears to be that the impact is more hype than reliable tool. Modularity, adjustability, and strategic advertising making it stand out from the rest. The “superior” accuracy can be had with a multitude of guns, nothing special there.

I believe the majority of complaints about the impact, on this forum, are coming from experienced airgunners who put hundreds of tins through their guns, putting the gun through its paces, exposing its weak points. The same experienced airgunners rarely have as many issues with other reputable guns. 

This is my favorite part about this forum: it’s a helpful tool to determine the long term reliability of a particular model/brand

*Here's an actual general consensus and the answer is a resounding YES happy with their impact. I think just as many people as experienced are inexperienced and get it as their first PCP get in over their head and stuff up their own gun. Then piss all over the brand, LOTS of those guys around too. Its not for everyone and I get it.

https://www.airgunnation.com/topic/how-many-impact-owners-here/

The amount of people buying impacts does not directly correlate to reliability. I don’t doubt that it’s a “cool” gun or that it can shoot lights out accurate when the stars align.

The impact is a lot like a Harley Davidson; many sales, many fan boys, cooler than the fonz, but reliability is not what they sold. 

Hats off to FX though. Top notch marketing

Well if you read the first post it asks "are you happy with it yes or no". The overwhelming majority like 95% are happy but feel free to keep up your bias. I think youre confusing the word marketing with results.

OP: “What is it with the impact? It’s like a love/hate relationship. It’s considered THE airgun to own, yet common issues continue to occur and they are known as UNRELIABLE guns. 
what are the appeals of this platform, and what are the flaws. Are they still worth buying if you don’t want to tinker and repair them all the time? 
There’s a lot of other brands out there, but non seem to be as popular. I’m fascinated!”



@glem.challot I think you’re confusing posts. Feel free to comprehend it. Reliability and whether it’s worth tinkering is the main point of the OP. The comments in this thread speaks for itself.

I'm not confused at all. I'm talking about the thread I linked in which it asks if you own an impact and if you're happy with it. The OP of this thread has stated his bias in the title of his thread and you're taking his opinion as fact. It is not a fact it is his opinion, and I think it's oh so cute you quoted his words like bible verses.

I'll take my opinion and the 100 or so in the thread I started asking whether you're happy with the gun or not. You take yours, the OP and the negative few in this thread. Easy. Would the VAST majority of people in the thread I linked be happy with an unreliable gun? No.

 

[Rj]

@legionair. I am not seeing what you are. Unreliable? The first gen had there teething problems from what I've read. Second gen has been fantastic in my experience. Well over 6000 rounds down range without a hiccup. No tinkering, magic voodoo. Stays leaned in a corner, rides on the floor of my truck. Shoots spot on every time. Heck, my undies were in a knot the first month of ownership from reading what you are trying to preach without even owning one. No doubt bad ones slip through. Just go to a Chevy or ford forum. You would think every other one is going to throw a timing chain or blow up from what you read. Yet there's millions of them on the road doing just fine. 



Empty tinsel as of last month, got my impact in march. Haven't even had to replace a breech oring yet.

 

[Glem.Chally]

@legionair. I am not seeing what you are. Unreliable? The first gen had there teething problems from what I've read. Second gen has been fantastic in my experience. Well over 6000 rounds down range without a hiccup. No tinkering, magic voodoo. Stays leaned in a corner, rides on the floor of my truck. Shoots spot on every time. Heck, my undies were in a knot the first month of ownership from reading what you are trying to preach without even owning one. No doubt bad ones slip through. Just go to a Chevy or ford forum. You would think every other one is going to throw a timing chain or blow up from what you read. Yet there's millions of them on the road doing just fine. 



Empty tinsel as of last month, got my impact in march. Haven't even had to replace a breech oring yet.

Oh but didn't you read the title of the thread? It says everyone knows they're unreliable. It is written so it is true. @legionaires says so.

Your hand on experience is WRONG, just ask a few guys who don't own them. 

 

[Pale_Rider]

@glem.chally what are you talking about man. This is what you said:

“Well if you read the first post it asks "are you happy with it yes or no".

Forgive my poor eyes I’m having a hard time finding where it says that in the OP.

Look I’m not gonna go back and fourth with you about your belief that the impact is a reliable gun. If you want to keep believing in things like Santa Claus, do your thing.

 

[Pale_Rider]

@legionair. I am not seeing what you are. Unreliable? The first gen had there teething problems from what I've read. Second gen has been fantastic in my experience. Well over 6000 rounds down range without a hiccup. No tinkering, magic voodoo. Stays leaned in a corner, rides on the floor of my truck. Shoots spot on every time. Heck, my undies were in a knot the first month of ownership from reading what you are trying to preach without even owning one. No doubt bad ones slip through. Just go to a Chevy or ford forum. You would think every other one is going to throw a timing chain or blow up from what you read. Yet there's millions of them on the road doing just fine. 



Empty tinsel as of last month, got my impact in march. Haven't even had to replace a breech oring yet.

I don’t need to own an impact to read all of the complaints about them from experienced members on this forum. Are they all full of crap??
I will never buy an impact. I must admit before I came to this forum, I was amazed at what guys like Ted and Matt were doing with theirs. Then I came here and got introduced to the good, bad, and the ugly. After reading multiple threads on the impact(because I don’t buy guns off HYPE), I decided I would never buy a gun that would have me doing more tinkering than shooting. Or buying “upgrades” that should already be on the gun for it’s price point. Compared to guns like the RAW HM1000 & Redwolf the impact is not anywhere near as reliable. I’d pick up a Wildcat or Crown before an impact. 
Of course FX will pump out impacts with no problem, I never claimed that every impact was a money pit. It’s just not as reliable as other contenders in its price range

 

[mike4406]

My Impact Mk2 is a year old, well over 10,000 pellets through it, and not one part or oring has failed. I do however replace the breach oring every 4 months just to be proactive. Servicing the gun and installing the upgrades has been easy and enjoyable for me. I live for more performance upgrades!!! lol The gun gets better and better. Can't wait for the MK3, what ever that brings, so I can start all over again.

 

[Glem.Chally]

The general consensus appears to be that the impact is more hype than reliable tool. Modularity, adjustability, and strategic advertising making it stand out from the rest. The “superior” accuracy can be had with a multitude of guns, nothing special there.

I believe the majority of complaints about the impact, on this forum, are coming from experienced airgunners who put hundreds of tins through their guns, putting the gun through its paces, exposing its weak points. The same experienced airgunners rarely have as many issues with other reputable guns. 

This is my favorite part about this forum: it’s a helpful tool to determine the long term reliability of a particular model/brand

Then I show what an actual consensus looks like. 

The general consensus appears to be that the impact is more hype than reliable tool. Modularity, adjustability, and strategic advertising making it stand out from the rest. The “superior” accuracy can be had with a multitude of guns, nothing special there.

I believe the majority of complaints about the impact, on this forum, are coming from experienced airgunners who put hundreds of tins through their guns, putting the gun through its paces, exposing its weak points. The same experienced airgunners rarely have as many issues with other reputable guns. 

This is my favorite part about this forum: it’s a helpful tool to determine the long term reliability of a particular model/brand

*Here's an actual general consensus and the answer is a resounding YES happy with their impact. I think just as many people as experienced are inexperienced and get it as their first PCP get in over their head and stuff up their own gun. Then piss all over the brand, LOTS of those guys around too. Its not for everyone and I get it.

https://www.airgunnation.com/topic/how-many-impact-owners-here/

The amount of people buying impacts does not directly correlate to reliability."

Which implies you never read the first post IN THE THREAD LINKED NOT THIS THREAD. Not very complicated pal, its not simply a list of owners its asking "are you happy with the gun". If you're still in a state of confusion send me a PM.

I don't think everyone has had a good experience, I don't think they're perfect. I do own one and love it, but I hate blanket statements like "the Impact is a known as unreliable". When you read about all these problems do you also read about the owners that love them? That thread I linked (again NOT this thread) is an example of it, if you look beyond the surface I think you'd have a more open opinion but sounds like your mind is made up and that's fine. Enjoy what you enjoy and I'll enjoy what I enjoy.

 

[mercado]

I could buy anything I want I have shoot my friends impact...I will never buy anything aside from the adjustable rings from FX ..simply not the guns for me ..I'm not the kind of person that likes change barrels and like to be tuning ..I'm not retired so when I have a little spare time to shoot ,that's is what I want to do not to be tuning a gun ..the only honest review I have seen for the impact is the Steve review and he personally said the if he has to choose ..the Wildcat will suit better he's stile of shooting..it basically said that if you dont compete you dont need a impact..but the YouTube world with all the hype -- you tight this and grind that change this n file that shows to people how easy is to do everything in your impact, people are encouraged to work in their guns because they to whant to hit a bird at 400y like the youtubers ..n that is the biggest problem because it really looks so easy..but is not...and after I have shoot birds at 200+ yards with a compact cricket n 17.5 g slugs ..and shoot 240y + soda cans with a .22 condor externally regulated I find anything those gurus have to say worthless ... after seeing all that YouTube crap the last 6 years and be able too go to my own conclusions , I will never own one..but for those that are having fun with their impacts -- good for them..

 

[RonT]

I think FX should raise the Impact price.

I think I see a few others trying to copy the concept.

Awesome piece of engineering.

 

[2L8]

legionair

"I don’t need to own an impact to read all of the complaints about them from experienced members on this forum. Are they all full of crap??
I will never buy an impact. I must admit before I came to this forum, I was amazed at what guys like Ted and Matt were doing with theirs. Then I came here and got introduced to the good, bad, and the ugly. After reading multiple threads on the impact(because I don’t buy guns off HYPE), I decided I would never buy a gun that would have me doing more tinkering than shooting. Or buying “upgrades” that should already be on the gun for it’s price point. Compared to guns like the RAW HM1000 & Redwolf the impact is not anywhere near as reliable. I’d pick up a Wildcat or Crown before an impact. 
Of course FX will pump out impacts with no problem, I never claimed that every impact was a money pit. It’s just not as reliable as other contenders in its price range"

legioniar, Your lack of experience with the FX Impact establishes your position. Your opinion of it follows the OP question.

We have moved on to share real world experiences with our FX Impacts (note: you don't have one), the good and the not so good, in an effort to have positive dialog for all to learn from and better this and all platforms, not being "Brand Bashers" . We now your point. Now move on. We have important dialog to share.

Be happy my fellow airgunner...

Patrick

 

[Pale_Rider]

legionair

"I don’t need to own an impact to read all of the complaints about them from experienced members on this forum. Are they all full of crap??
I will never buy an impact. I must admit before I came to this forum, I was amazed at what guys like Ted and Matt were doing with theirs. Then I came here and got introduced to the good, bad, and the ugly. After reading multiple threads on the impact(because I don’t buy guns off HYPE), I decided I would never buy a gun that would have me doing more tinkering than shooting. Or buying “upgrades” that should already be on the gun for it’s price point. Compared to guns like the RAW HM1000 & Redwolf the impact is not anywhere near as reliable. I’d pick up a Wildcat or Crown before an impact. 
Of course FX will pump out impacts with no problem, I never claimed that every impact was a money pit. It’s just not as reliable as other contenders in its price range"

legioniar, Your lack of experience with the FX Impact establishes your position. Your opinion of it follows the OP question.

We have moved on to share real world experiences with our FX Impacts (note: you don't have one), the good and the not so good, in an effort to have positive dialog for all to learn from and better this and all platforms, not being "Brand Bashers" . We now your point. Now move on. We have important dialog to share.

Be happy my fellow airgunner...

Patrick

 

[DBax8496]

Edgun matador or lelya... Complicated guns. If i remember right because I've had my mk2 apart many times there is a longer valve pin than normal guns and a linkage to pellet probe which are both needed to accommodate its world class trigger and design. But both these things lend themselves to a huge plenum that wouldn't be as simple or ergonomic on traditional gun. Other than that the failed parts are rubber o rings, one of which the c3, is upgraded to delrin and last thousands of shots. I have few guns and they all need o rings from time to time so I keep every possible assortment I've ever seen for sale on hand and never once haven't had the right o ring and maybe have 50 bucks spent on them all. I agree there is a cult following but it's for a reason the guns capabilities w minor mods are unavailable in most platforms. Also the stx liner system is awesome its like a new gun and new tuning experience every one that comes out which I love as a tinkerer and it's what 100 bucks? They win everything but require some attention like any other high end purchase. The maintenance on all competition winning things from cars to skis to whatever require extreme maintenance. That being said also huge fan boy and if I could just get my hands on one of those smooth twist tumblers Matt has my life would be complete! 

 

[Jlacouturec]

i have had 5 FX guns... 2 impacts... 2 bobcats, and 1 wildcat..... al of them came to me with problems .... leaks, C3 bumper destroyed, scratches in valve housing, regulator creeping, very bad gauges (especially on my impact mk2 which was supposed to be one of the improvements, front gauge was leaking and at the same time it exploded on my face.... and the reg gauge was 25bar off)......I tried several times with the brand because of what you see in the advertising but as you can see I was not very lucky, I do not recommend them because of my own experience, as a lover of this hobby, I think they should improve their quality control

That’s some insanely horrible luck. Did you buy all of them brand new?

yes, all of them!! first one in 2014 and last one in 2019....

Don’t try skydiving. With your luck the chute won’t deploy

If the parachute is FX, for sure I’ll never jump

 

[jps2486]

We are also partially responsible for FX's lapses in QC. They field a new rifle at events such as EBR and win a lot, then the demand for these products skyrockets. We constantly pester them to release these rifles on the market. They succumb to our demands and send them out without fully developing them and work out the bugs. The Impacts have gone through at least three generations, MKI, MKII and PP. If you look at the parts sheets, you'll note that there are many parts have changed during production because of design deficiencies. Case in point is the probe carrier. The original had a M3 grub screw which siezed causing problems. The carrier was replaced that had a larger grub screw. Same thing with the C3 bumper. It's little crap like that that's an annoyance to us. Agreed, the Impact is more complex than most air rifles, but for the fiddlers and tinkerers, it's heaven. In most cases, if you bought the rifle and just shot it out of the box without attacking it with your tools, you'd be ok. BTW, I don't jump out of airplanes. I don't care who made the parachute!

 

[airgunmik]

If you get an impact might as well get lathe machine for modifying internal parts.

 

[Jlacouturec]

We are all lovers of this beautiful hobby and that is why we are here reading this, rather than criticizing and arguing, I think we have to be grateful that in the market we have rifles that fit the needs of each person, I think that most of the time the error is in buying without first getting good advice

 

[8thman]

I believe that the impact offers the most adjustability for tuning not to mention liners calibers and barrels. I have been lucky enough to only have one problem the third week after I received it , but nothing else so far. I shoot daily and when I get the power plenum that’s just another plus.

 

[ChRiSiS]

Frankly much of this thread is ridiculous. It is full of people who have never owned an Impact, or never want to won one, saying that the gun is crap. Yet somehow the Impact keeps selling hand over fist, out of stock almost everywhere despite the $2000 price tag. Come on guys, don’t be ridiculous. It has been years since FX introduced the Impact. If it was even 1/4 as bad as the naysayers would have it be then they would not be still selling tons of them. The market doesn’t lie, at least not like that. No amount of “marketing” and “hype” can maintain sales if the product is a dog. Just ask the many auto manufacturers who have tried this, or those in every other field. There is a reason people buy these things and it’s not just hype, or marketing. If a thing is desirable then there is a reason. If a thing is desirable for a long time then there is a good reason, and a big reason and an enduring reason.



I bought my first FX, a Crown Continuum, in April. Loved it. Shot it every day. Wanted more power (I had a .22) and considered a barrel kit upgrade to .25. However after experiencing the Crown I decided to go for an Impact. I purchased on at the end of June, a .25 cal with a 700mm barrel. I am absolutely in love. I picked up a .30 cal upgrade kit with the Huma double port and Huma probe and was blown away by the combination of power and accuracy, the ability to dial it up or down as needed, the flexibility to shoot in my yard at 25 and 50 yards, in my basement at 15 yards, and at the range at 100 yards. All while maintaining outstanding accuracy. Changing calibers back and forth, tuning as needed, dialing power up and down, the thing is just magic. I could not be happier. 

I still love my Crown, but am now seriously considering a second impact so that I can have a .30 cal slug/heavy pellet monster on hand all the time, with a .22/.25 target gun at the same time.

Unreliable? Not for me. Desirable? Absolutely!

As Glem.Chally points out from his original thread, all these Impact buyers can’t be wrong.



Chris

 

[RonT]

If you get an impact might as well get lathe machine for modifying internal parts.

REALLY?