Which came first? (Impact style rifles)

[CyberDyneSystems]

I've been lumbering along assuming that the FX Impact MkI (2014/15) introduced that "style"or layout of rifle that is now being mimicked by the likes of LCS SK19/17, Delta Wolf, Profit, to name a few.. (even the Sapsan and others with a nice piece of wood underneath)



For the recent historians here, is this an accurate assessment? Did the Impact start it all? Or is there a less memorable ancestor that should get some credit?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Saltlake58]

Good question. I personally don't remember anything quite as ugly as an Impact prior to its launch. You could consider the AR-16 / M16 type guns being just as ugly, and perhaps the "Lego" gun mentality was adapted by FX, but like I said, don't remember anything quite like it in the past.

 

[Elis5173]

Some people love the tactical design of the impact and others love the classic wood stock. I like the design of the impact but to me nothing compares to my mk4 from daystate. The stock is just amazing. 

 

[heavy-impact]

If you ask all the top management at FX each one will tell you a different story... but the owner would say he was working on it many years before anyone else thought of it and the fanboys will swear he had shown them examples way before anyone else thought of it. No one can think of anything before Fredrik because "he was working on it".

 

[Motorhead]

Tactical mid cocking alloy frame bull pup .... IMPACT was the first of it's kind.

 

[TDK]

I was following airguns at the time it was announced and there was nothing like it around. The bullpup that didn't look like a bullpup, and with a very unique look and feature set on top of that.

Anyone that is going to claim the impact was a copy of another design, all you need to do is post the name of that design. Easy to look up on archive.org and we'd all be interested.



What I'm more curious about is what was the first forward cocking bullpup? Was it the impact? 

 

[Blackpaw]

Okay I can’t find the specific video on @fieldsportcymru but he went through and showed a 50s something air arms “tactical” rifle. AKA who was first with the tactical look. https://youtube.com/channel/UCRp3CzI42iIMEfXhdOPMcbg It was not FX, for the look wise. 

 

[CyberDyneSystems]

Hi Blackpaw, thanks for that.

However, personally, I am not considering a "black tactical look to be specific enough." I mean, Airforce meets that description, and looks nothing like the Impact. The design aspects are more specific. The "lego" look seems more what I am talking about. Pieces of rifle function stuck together, with nothing holding it in one piece, seemingly incomplete. Low bottle, long plenum back to the weird area where a shoulder stock should be, but there really isn't one,. just the rubber pad on the end of whatever that part of the rilfe is called when the stock isn't there. Housing the chamber and mag,. it's pure function. Who knew you could make a rifle and not even consider where to put your cheek? Or a foregrip? It's as if everyone else was just wasting time and parts.

I too am a "wood" man. My favorites will always have that classic sporter feel. (Elis, your Daystate is drool worthy!) That said I can certainly admire the efficiency of the Impact design,. and can understand why it has become so often copied. It'd modular bits and pieces design clearly lends itself to ignoring aesthetics and focusing on precision.

 

[Guest]

Yep, bottle Bullpup with minimalistic alloy frame, mid section cocking Impact is the first I've seen,.....after that the Priest, then a variety of others copied the general design, even the Cricket Tactical can be viewed as a derivation of the Impact design.





Funny thing is that in the early Bullpups days Frederick was gang ho with " We will never make a bullpup !!! " ...shortly after the Bobcat was born and the rest is history  

 

[CyberDyneSystems]

Cricket is definitely on that list! It's got some wood on it, but it's that same idea underneath.

 

[TDK]

I still couldn't find any pictures of this mysterious Air Arms, however I suspect it is just black with a pistol grip, which is hardly innovation.

One of things about the Impact that is still unique today among bullpups is its low bore-axis. Meaning the distance between the barrel and where you grip. The impact sits much lower in your hand which I think makes any gun feel/handle better, but also contributes to the unique look. With other bullpups, most of the business/weight sits above your hand. Just compare the Impact to Maverick and see how much more top heavy the Maverick looks and how much more balanced and streamlined the Impact looks. On the Impact, your hand is much more in the middle of the gun, and the overall height of the gun less. Then there's the fact that the magazine is flipped upside down on the impact that keeps the topside clean and allows for larger capacity.

The lower receiver/trigger housing of the impact was obviously designed to be as compact as possible. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if design started with a shape/size that was chosen for aesthetics and then "how can we fit the guts of an airgun in here?"

 

[Removed]

Only so many ways you can configure a tactical style with bottle. One can only admire those who can take a good design and make it better...it's progression. 

 

[Glem.Chally]

Impact is the first, others followed. 

 

[BigTinBoat]

Impact is the first, others followed.

Tactical mid cocking alloy frame bull pup .... IMPACT was the first of it's kind.

While technically not a "bullpup" (more semi-bullpup) , I think you will see that FX was NOT the first in this "style" air rifle. Swivel Machine made a gun known as the Airrow Stealth back in the 1980's

They still make them for shooting Arrows, .177, .22 and ,25

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airrow_A-8S_Stealth

https://www.pyramydair.com/blog/2015/09/pneumatic-arrow-shooters/

 

[Glem.Chally]

Impact is the first, others followed.

Tactical mid cocking alloy frame bull pup .... IMPACT was the first of it's kind.

While technically not a "bullpup" (more semi-bullpup) , I think you will see that FX was NOT the first in this "style" air rifle. Swivel Machine made a gun known as the Airrow Stealth back in the 1980's

They still make them for shooting Arrows, .177, .22 and ,25

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airrow_A-8S_Stealth

https://www.pyramydair.com/blog/2015/09/pneumatic-arrow-shooters/

Yeah definitely some similarities there.

 

[Guest]

Well, that is really an AR copy with a bottle, might look similar but the concept is vastly different.

 

[Motorhead]

Impact is the first, others followed.

Tactical mid cocking alloy frame bull pup .... IMPACT was the first of it's kind.

While technically not a "bullpup" (more semi-bullpup) , I think you will see that FX was NOT the first in this "style" air rifle. Swivel Machine made a gun known as the Airrow Stealth back in the 1980's

They still make them for shooting Arrows, .177, .22 and ,25

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airrow_A-8S_Stealth

https://www.pyramydair.com/blog/2015/09/pneumatic-arrow-shooters/

as to a semi - pup ..... Have to disagree on that one.

Receiver is at the Butt, barrel runs near full length of entire rifle chassis, Pistol grip is near mid point of overall length.

* Not sure what in your eye defines a Bull Pup ? but being were talking AIR RIFLE it is about as "PUP" as you get by attributes.

 

[BigTinBoat]

Impact is the first, others followed.

Tactical mid cocking alloy frame bull pup .... IMPACT was the first of it's kind.

While technically not a "bullpup" (more semi-bullpup) , I think you will see that FX was NOT the first in this "style" air rifle. Swivel Machine made a gun known as the Airrow Stealth back in the 1980's

They still make them for shooting Arrows, .177, .22 and ,25

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airrow_A-8S_Stealth

https://www.pyramydair.com/blog/2015/09/pneumatic-arrow-shooters/

Maybe it's didn't come across exactly as I had planned in my delivery, but I was referencing the Airrow Stealth. If you look at the pics it's appearance (ie style) is that of the Impact, but it (the Airrow) is in fact not a "bullpup", agreed?

It was the same discussion when the War Flex came out (around the same time) and people were comparing it to the Impact. The Flex is NOT a bullpup.