I have been meaning to find the right time to start this thread & review as it will be long and involved. In the end, I think it will be best to just start it and go from there. This review will probably/hopefully take the form of different "chapters" if you will. It will also spill over into the new "PCP Tuning" section as my journey took me very rapidly into that arena.
First and foremost I want to give a huge shout out to our very own @bigragu . I owe him much gratitude and appreciation for all the help, advice, and sharing of knowledge. Thank you brother! from the bottom of my heart. I also want to give a huge thanks @greenarrow for all the advice, feedback, and lending an ear to my frustrations.
Another note before I start. I know that FX has a lot of fans out there. I know that they have won competitions. I know some of y'all have FX guns that can shoot inside a dime at 100 yards. This is not a pissing contest. This is MY experience with A gun.
I purchased this gun from the Classifieds section on AGN not too long ago. I really wanted to wait until next year to even contemplate another purchase, but I have been really wanting a .177 PCP. The WC2 in question was good package deal and was shooting almost single hole groups at about 30 yards as per the seller. I received the gun and set out to shoot it at 20 yards immediately. Using my favorite .177 pellets, JSB 10.34s the gun printed an 8 shot group that looked like a single blast from a 12 gauge shotgun using buck shot. I tried several other pellets, no go, same results. Must be dirty, yeah....must me dirty. Removed liner, cleaned thoroughly, re-installed with care, same results, possibly worse. Contacted seller and he said that was very weird, gun was shooting very well before. Seller offered to make things right and re-fund, but I decided to work with him and try to get the gun shooting straight.
Right off the bat we tested the regulator and noticed it had major creepeage. So, a new Huma reg was ordered, installed, and tested. The gun started performing pretty darn well, and was shooting 1/4" groups with JSB Monsters at 30 yards with very consistent speeds. I told the seller I would keep the gun and he refunded for the cost of the Huma on the spot. After that I was even picking off sparrows at various distances with the utmost confidence.
Honeymoon was over the next time I take it out to shoot. POI is WAY off and throwing flyers all over the place. Added a plenum from 910 Airgun Tuning, the short one, but it was leaking after installation. A bit of Teflon allowed me to test it, and the gun is shooting great!....until it went back to it’s old self. Plenum removed, Reg pressure increased from 100 to 115. All of a sudden it’s shooting great again........until it reverts to a 12 Gauge Shotgun again.
Tear down again, made sure all measurements are in spec, got on phone with FX and got a tech on the phone to walk me through different issues. Everything checks out. I ask about the caliber in particular and was told “They are hit or miss” Obviously the gun is out of warranty and I’m out of luck. I polished the barrel, not clean mind you, polish! Mirror polish. Same story repeats, except now different pellets are single hole that previously were not grouping, until they don’t again....
10-11-20 Update. A little more tuning done yesterday as noted in the tuning section. Gun is showing a lot of promise this morning. Will try to show groups later, too much rain right now. Tried the CPHPs and for a minute or two they were pellet on pellet. Actually shooting way better than the JSB 10.34s, this gun just does not like them, period, and will not longer test with them as it's a waste of time. The Monsters still show to be the best ammo for this gun and are groping really well now. Will test further if/when rain lets up a little and try to post pictures etc.
Posting pics at end of thread. I hope I have cracked this nut. Interestingly, with the regulator increased to 120, max speed with Monsters is 750, but shooting best at 700. Under 1/4” at 28 yards.
10-13-20: POI off again. Groups not as tight again. More tuning required. Took gun apart & will try again tomorrow.
THE GOOD: General ergonomics and feel in hand. Good, well thought out cheek rest. Magazine, even though it could use at least 2 more rounds, this is my kind of magazine - not complicated, no putting first pellets backwards, etc. It's a hunting gun, I don't need a magazine with 73 shots. Relatively easy to work on with available videos from FX themselves on how to take apart and re-assemble. Trigger, I'm not a snob, so can't tell how it compares, but works well, no complaints.
THE BAD: Finicky AF, Having to "index" the liner barrel. Pellet picky. The actual fact that it took an act of God to get it to shoot well, seriously, you pay well over $1000 for an airgun, it aught to shoot straight, period, no questions asked, no having to tune the thing so much. Hammer spring adjuster moves if you look at it wrong unless you use a bit of Loctite on it. Can't just hot swap the pressure gauge for an Wika if you have one on hand and need one. It will not fit properly due to height, you will have to purchase an proprietary FX gauge.
THE UGLY: Unable to adjust hammer spring unless you remove the stock or mod the stock by drilling an access hole into it. Want to remove that pressure gauge? No problem, so long as you have a specialized tool, or make one yourself because a standard one off the shelf will not work.
To be continued when I have a few more minutes....
First and foremost I want to give a huge shout out to our very own @bigragu . I owe him much gratitude and appreciation for all the help, advice, and sharing of knowledge. Thank you brother! from the bottom of my heart. I also want to give a huge thanks @greenarrow for all the advice, feedback, and lending an ear to my frustrations.
Another note before I start. I know that FX has a lot of fans out there. I know that they have won competitions. I know some of y'all have FX guns that can shoot inside a dime at 100 yards. This is not a pissing contest. This is MY experience with A gun.
I purchased this gun from the Classifieds section on AGN not too long ago. I really wanted to wait until next year to even contemplate another purchase, but I have been really wanting a .177 PCP. The WC2 in question was good package deal and was shooting almost single hole groups at about 30 yards as per the seller. I received the gun and set out to shoot it at 20 yards immediately. Using my favorite .177 pellets, JSB 10.34s the gun printed an 8 shot group that looked like a single blast from a 12 gauge shotgun using buck shot. I tried several other pellets, no go, same results. Must be dirty, yeah....must me dirty. Removed liner, cleaned thoroughly, re-installed with care, same results, possibly worse. Contacted seller and he said that was very weird, gun was shooting very well before. Seller offered to make things right and re-fund, but I decided to work with him and try to get the gun shooting straight.
Right off the bat we tested the regulator and noticed it had major creepeage. So, a new Huma reg was ordered, installed, and tested. The gun started performing pretty darn well, and was shooting 1/4" groups with JSB Monsters at 30 yards with very consistent speeds. I told the seller I would keep the gun and he refunded for the cost of the Huma on the spot. After that I was even picking off sparrows at various distances with the utmost confidence.
Honeymoon was over the next time I take it out to shoot. POI is WAY off and throwing flyers all over the place. Added a plenum from 910 Airgun Tuning, the short one, but it was leaking after installation. A bit of Teflon allowed me to test it, and the gun is shooting great!....until it went back to it’s old self. Plenum removed, Reg pressure increased from 100 to 115. All of a sudden it’s shooting great again........until it reverts to a 12 Gauge Shotgun again.
Tear down again, made sure all measurements are in spec, got on phone with FX and got a tech on the phone to walk me through different issues. Everything checks out. I ask about the caliber in particular and was told “They are hit or miss” Obviously the gun is out of warranty and I’m out of luck. I polished the barrel, not clean mind you, polish! Mirror polish. Same story repeats, except now different pellets are single hole that previously were not grouping, until they don’t again....
10-11-20 Update. A little more tuning done yesterday as noted in the tuning section. Gun is showing a lot of promise this morning. Will try to show groups later, too much rain right now. Tried the CPHPs and for a minute or two they were pellet on pellet. Actually shooting way better than the JSB 10.34s, this gun just does not like them, period, and will not longer test with them as it's a waste of time. The Monsters still show to be the best ammo for this gun and are groping really well now. Will test further if/when rain lets up a little and try to post pictures etc.
Posting pics at end of thread. I hope I have cracked this nut. Interestingly, with the regulator increased to 120, max speed with Monsters is 750, but shooting best at 700. Under 1/4” at 28 yards.
10-13-20: POI off again. Groups not as tight again. More tuning required. Took gun apart & will try again tomorrow.
THE GOOD: General ergonomics and feel in hand. Good, well thought out cheek rest. Magazine, even though it could use at least 2 more rounds, this is my kind of magazine - not complicated, no putting first pellets backwards, etc. It's a hunting gun, I don't need a magazine with 73 shots. Relatively easy to work on with available videos from FX themselves on how to take apart and re-assemble. Trigger, I'm not a snob, so can't tell how it compares, but works well, no complaints.
THE BAD: Finicky AF, Having to "index" the liner barrel. Pellet picky. The actual fact that it took an act of God to get it to shoot well, seriously, you pay well over $1000 for an airgun, it aught to shoot straight, period, no questions asked, no having to tune the thing so much. Hammer spring adjuster moves if you look at it wrong unless you use a bit of Loctite on it. Can't just hot swap the pressure gauge for an Wika if you have one on hand and need one. It will not fit properly due to height, you will have to purchase an proprietary FX gauge.
THE UGLY: Unable to adjust hammer spring unless you remove the stock or mod the stock by drilling an access hole into it. Want to remove that pressure gauge? No problem, so long as you have a specialized tool, or make one yourself because a standard one off the shelf will not work.
To be continued when I have a few more minutes....
