Is the FX Impact M3 worth its price?

FWIW, I have the Brocock Commander XR Sniper Magnum and I have buyer's remorse. It won't shoot decent groups at 25 yds or 50 yds let alone 100. It's been with my local vendor who is trying to see what's wrong as he can't get it to shoot well either - and that's with single shot tray. I have a FX Wildcat Mk3 sniper that shoots one hole groups at 50 yards and good groups at 100 yards in the wind. So I know what good groups are supposed to look like. 1” groups at 25 aren't worth the high price of the Brocock (IMHO).
 
I'll let you know when it arrives.

It will be my 1st PCP. I started looking at simple break barrels and 1 youtube-air gun rabbit hole later and I ordered a $2,300 Impact M3 and every accessory. 

This happened for 3 reasons.

1. I didn't ever want to MORE out of my gun and not have it 

2. am a salesmen and we are also the people who are easiest to sell. Matt Dubber, 68 Whiskey, Shooter1721, Gerhard and others make the gun seem so incredibly capable I was sold.

3. You only live once. I always live my "Buy once, Cry once" I prefer to get the best products I can afford rather than upgrading later and ultimately paying more down the line. The M3 is so new I could always sell it if I wanted to.
 
I ordered a .22 M3 Compact 3 months ago from UA and it's finally there and shipping to me. Over these past 3 months I've thought about canceling the order at least 10 times. I've researched tons of other options including other FX guns and anything good cost at least $1200-1500 anyway and still doesn't have all of the adjustability and available accessories. In the end the nerd in me won and that is why I left the M3 order going.

I've also owned a Sig Virtus .22 (hated it, sold it), .22 Air Venturi Avenger (love it, just so freaking long) .22 Huben K1 (love it, just not the most accurate sometimes, like I want to shoot pills at 50 yards), AEA .22 Carbine (was fun, but after owning the K1 it didn't impress me so I sold it). So in the end I'll have two $2k rifles, the K1 which is setup for lightweight pellets and will have either a red dot or low powered fix scope and the M3 which I will use with anything from light weight pellets to heavy slugs.
 
I look at it this way. If your going to enjoy it, then who cares what it costs. I was considering one myself, but Im not to keen on FX to be honest. Ended up with an EVOL hps. Costs a good amount more and have no regrets. Look around. There are plenty of options out there. Dont buy into the FX hype. Im not trying to get any heat from the FX fanboys here on this site. Just saying. Look around and see whats out there. Plenty of airguns that are equal to the Impact in the accuracy area. More costly or not. Adjustability could be debated. Reliability. There are far better options out there.
 
Received my .22 700mm M3 on Friday and have already done a bunch of mods and tuned it for slugs.

Here's my impressions... keep in mind I have *only* owned Edguns for the last 10 years or so... started with a .22 R2.5, then progressed through .22 & .25 R3, .22 & .25 R3M, and now a .25 R5M. Also have a Leshiy but that's not really a good comparison to the M3, while the Matadors are. I've shot and tuned several Daystates and FX rifles for friends over the years, but this is the first time I've owned anything other than an Edgun myself.

My main reason for trying the M3 was I wanted a slug gun, and my R5M doesn't really agree with slugs. The M3 offers several liners and lots of adjustments and I figured I could get a slug dialed in relatively quickly for the M3.

Initial impressions:

Coming from Edguns, the FX build and design feels somewhat fragile. It's rather light feeling, there are a bunch of parts held together with relatively small screws, there's very obvious barrel flex, etc. The scope rail is only held on with 3 screws and the fit is somewhat sloppy before the screws are tightened (be nice to see FX add 2x dowel pins between the scope rail and upper plate, 1 engaging a hole and 1 engaging a slot to positively locate the scope rail every time you removed it.) Ed's guns are built like tanks and are extremely solid (especially the R5M, where the entire frame and upper receiver is held together with dowel pins and the tensioned barrel.) Cocking action of the M3 feels very smooth and much lighter in terms of effort than the R5M (the R5M is a straight pull action so you don't get any mechanical advantage from levers like the M3.) The M3 2 stage trigger has a good break, but I can see where those who like light 8 oz triggers aren't happy with the Impact. Coming from Edguns (which have always had higher pull weight 2 stage triggers) I have no issues with the M3 trigger. The large magazine capacity of the M3 is nice, but the cutout it requires leaves a large open gap in the rear of the frame with only a small aluminum bracket for reinforcement across that opening. I'm sure if you hit the rifle hard on the bottom of the butt with the magazine removed you'd likely tweak it... someone on here who recently purchased an M3 had it arrive with a bent top plate and a pinched closed magazine cutout probably because it was dropped butt first during shipping.

Thoughts after installing mods but before shooting it:

When the M3 arrived I had a bunch of mods ready... Superior heavy liner, Huggett replacement shroud, nielsen slug pin probe, K&L arca rail, FX slug power kit, and an FX wika gauge for the 1st regulator pressure that matches the bottle and 2nd regulator gauge. I installed them all before even firing the rifle. Working on the FX is a mixed bag. While it's very modular and allows a lot of customization and adjustments, that comes at the cost of a very high parts count and a lot of fasteners and o-rings. Compare this to Ed's design philosophy on the matadors where there is minimal parts count and as few o-rings as possible. On the R5M you can get unobstructed access to the breech for barrel cleaning by only removing one screw and the entire pin and magazine block slides off, you can remove the entire air reservoir and regulator assembly by only pulling 2 stock screws and the 1 wedge block screw, etc. FX on the other hand has hardware everywhere. When pulling all the screws to remove the cheek rest, scope rail, and top rail to install the slug power kit and nielsen slug probe in the M3 I realized just those 3 parts had more screws than the entire R5M. The FX liner system, while I know it works, just seems very fragile compared to the Edgun. The R5M has a very solid, large OD LW barrel that's threaded both ends and tensioned between the breech block and front of the frame and shroud. It's a super solid design, always under ample tension, zero has never shifted on me even after knocks while out hunting, and the tensioned barrel also serves to tie the entire upper frame together. The FX liner system on the other hand seems like a bit of a wet noodle. The rather thinwall liner is held in the outer sleeve by o-rings and held under compression which would want to make it buckle if you tighten the retaining nut too tight or the o-rings inside bunch up (the upcoming carbon liner sleeves will help with this), the entire barrel assembly is floated in the frame with o-rings, and the entire barrel assembly is held into the rifle with only a single setscrew at the breech end. I know they shoot well but it just feels so fragile compared to the R5M... and I don't doubt that an accidental smack on a tree while out hunting might tweak the FX barrel setup and shift your zero at the best or even bend/tweak the barrel at the worst.

Thoughts after initial rough tuning:

Concerns about the durability and high parts count aside, here's where the M3 shines. When I tuned my matadors, you had to have them out of the stock and in some sort of rest to tune the hammer spring tension. If you wanted to adjust the regulator, you had to remove the air reservoir, degas the air tube, remove the regulator, adjust it, check the regulator pressure in the regulator tester, then reassmble and refill the rifle. The R5M made this somewhat easier with a detent adjustable hammer spring tension system, you can remove the air reservoir with only a single wedge block screw, and it finally added a degassing screw to the reservoir. Adjusting the reg on the R5M was much faster than the previous matadors. No real choices for barrels on the Edguns unless you have one custom made... you get what Ed ships you, and while I've never had one not shoot JSB's extremely well my R5M did not care for slugs (and I tried quite a few.) Now for adjusting the M3... on the M3 you adjust nearly everything without disassembling anything-- hammer spring tension, valve travel, 2nd reg pressure. Adjusting the 1st reg requires removing the bottle but not degassing the entire bottle and gun. It's very user friendly and very fast to try different adjustments... the rifle really lends itself to tinkering to find the best tune for your chosen ammo and power level and it has so much adjustment range you can probably get darn near anything to shoot good out of it provided you have the correct liner installed. When I was first testing regulator pressures and hammer spring tension to find peak velocities for 6 different slugs it was a simple process to play with the macro wheel to find the velocity peak for a given regulator pressure, and if that wasn't enough all I had to do was get a 2.5mm allen driver and slightly increase the regulator pressure and try again. If I had to do that on my R5M I'd have to remove the air reservoir, degas it, remove / adjust / test the regulator, then refill it and reassemble, then go shoot and retest. The M3 is an absolute joy to tune with all the externally accessible adjustments. I've only had the M3 3 days now and put ~700 slugs through it so I can't comment on long term consistency and repeatability, but so far it seems quite consistent.

Thoughts after fine tuning and shooting more:

Worked up some promising slug loads at 50Y in the backyard the other night and took the rifle out to 100, 125, and 150Y today to fine tune. Extra distance quickly showed that a couple of the slugs that looked pretty darn promising at 50Y weren't so hot at 100Y+... specifically the .217 diameter slugs. The .217s grouped tight at 50Y and had higher velocity peaks than the .218 slugs being they fit a little looser in the bore, but the .217s opened up to about 2 MOA at 100Y and liked throwing flyers. The .218 diameter slugs of the same weight had about the same group sizes at 50Y compared to the .217 slugs, but the .218s immediately shrank group sizes at 100Y and were grouping about 0.75-1 MOA at 100Y without any fine tuning. Did a little fine tuning with the micro wheel to test groups going up and down in about 6fps steps and got them dialed in fairly quickly... had a couple of 0.5-0.75 MOA 5 shot groups at 100Y when the breeze stopped. The whole time I'm fiddling between 3 different slug weights and quickly adjusting the hammer spring tension in between shot groups to test the effect of small velocity changes on group sizes without even getting up off my shooting mat I was thinking to myself "I'd have to take the R5M apart every time to do this." Once I found what the rifle liked best (NSA .218 27.5gr slugs) I set up the hammer adjustments so that 16 on the macro wheel is the highest tuned power at 965fps, and dialing the macro wheel all the way down to 1 yields about 720fps if I ever want to dial the power down. I also tried some JSB 18.1's with the macro wheel on 1 and they were going 930fps, and what surprised me is how accurate they were at 50Y even with the faster twist superior heavy liner. I forgot to try to close down the valve adjuster to see if I could get them down to about 875-900fps and improve accuracy even more-- but I could. I need to try some JSB 25.4 redesigned monsters when I can find some in stock. Something else that was made obvious while shooting is that the M3 cocking effort is very easy and smooth and the 28 shot mag capacity is great coming from my .25 R5M with 9 shot magazines. I do miss the ambidextrous cocking levers on the R5M though, sometimes while shooting from a tripod I like to cycle the rifle with my left hand and the R5M let me do that. With the M3 I have to choose between right hand or left hand-- can't have both.

Summary:

While I'm not 100% satisfied with the overall design of the M3 when it comes to perceived durability (so many little screws to loosen up and so many o-rings to leak) I can't argue with how it shoots. It's damn accurate and being able to adjust nearly everything without disassembly or degassing the rifle is great. If you like tinkering you can probably get everything you want out of the rifle and your desired ammo. That being said, with all the adjustments readily accessible it's also easy to get turned around and end up with a tune that's past the power curve if you aren't paying attention or don't know what you're doing. The micro and macro wheel for the hammer spring adjustment also move somewhat easily and could easily get disturbed bouncing around in a carrying case or if you rub them on something while carrying the rifle, so keep an eye on them. For a "grab and go" rifle that I can always count on to be ready to go right out of the safe, I still give the nod to my R5M... for now. It always holds zero, the velocity is always dead on, the regulator doesn't drift or stick, and it just flat out works. Time will tell on the M3. My takeaway for now is if you are one of those people that's never satisfied with a rifle out of the box and like being able to adjust everything and dial the rifle in with your chosen ammo, the M3 offers a lot-- it's by far the most "tuning friendly" rifle I've ever messed with. If you just want to take a rifle out of the box and shoot it with pellets the manufacturer set it up for and not have to worry about adjustments, you might want to look elsewhere at a rifle with a simpler and more durable construction.

As of right now the M3 looks like a keeper since it's doing so well with slugs, which is exactly what I bought it for. Might also pick up a Delta Wolf to play with, and eagerly awaiting to see what Ed comes up with for the R6.
 
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This thread so much resembles the Jeep community and the availability of aftermarket and modification. 

A very close friend of mine and I both bought Jeeps as we were struggling with our 2nd childhood. Lol

I only lifted mine and called it a day as he lifted, trussed, on board air, re-gear, Fox shocks, rhino lined, bumpers and fender flares, 37" tires and so on.

Because I like simplicity and prefer not to tinker, just want to shoot......doesn't mean a well respected friend has the same mindset as I. This guy loves to tinker and is in search of the next mod. 

Buy what you want and enjoy. 


 
This thread so much resembles the Jeep community and the availability of aftermarket and modification. 

A very close friend of mine and I both bought Jeeps as we were struggling with our 2nd childhood. Lol

I only lifted mine and called it a day as he lifted, trussed, on board air, re-gear, Fox shocks, rhino lined, bumpers and fender flares, 37" tires and so on.

Because I like simplicity and prefer not to tinker, just want to shoot......doesn't mean a well respected friend has the same mindset as I. This guy loves to tinker and is in search of the next mod. 

Buy what you want and enjoy. 




A stock Jeep? I didn't know such a thing existed. I thought there was a law requiring that any Jeep sold has to be modified within the first 72 hours of ownership or the owner gets cited and fined and the vehicle gets repossessed. :)
 
This thread so much resembles the Jeep community and the availability of aftermarket and modification. 

A very close friend of mine and I both bought Jeeps as we were struggling with our 2nd childhood. Lol

I only lifted mine and called it a day as he lifted, trussed, on board air, re-gear, Fox shocks, rhino lined, bumpers and fender flares, 37" tires and so on.

Because I like simplicity and prefer not to tinker, just want to shoot......doesn't mean a well respected friend has the same mindset as I. This guy loves to tinker and is in search of the next mod. 

Buy what you want and enjoy. 




A stock Jeep? I didn't know such a thing existed. I thought there was a law requiring that any Jeep sold has to be modified within the first 72 hours of ownership or the owner gets cited and fined and the vehicle gets repossessed. :)

No fines yet for me and they can't repo if it's paid for, 😂. Hence my screen name Ram 2 Jeep! Went from the 1500 Hemi to my Jeep JL and only changed the bumpers, added some lights, some minor suspension stuff but no 37's or long arm kits.....yet.
 
Worth is what someone is willing to give for it,so if you bought one it was worth the 2k plus or you would not have purchased it.

There will always be buyers remorse with some people thats just being human.

Airguns have came a long way in a short time so dont be surprised that one day they are lumped into the firearms category somehow or regulated by law.

The power creep into slugs may just change the game for everyone. 
 
FYI. Currently an M3 is worth more than retail since you can find a buyer that would be willing to pay more than MSRP for it so they don't have to wait until potentially next year to get one otherwise. For me that means I can get my M3 Compact, try it out for a while to see if it is worth $2k to me and if it's not I should be able to get all my money back.
 
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I have been shooting my war flex for sometime now but lately the new airgun bug has gotten to me.Ive been looking at a m3 a little but i seem to sway to a dreamlite tac for the $.i dont hunt or compete just plink paper and steel.Im sure the dreamlite will fill my wants but that doesnt mean i wouldnt like the m3 .This is where worth gets me 1100$ sure but 2k plus let me ponder on that a bit.

Fear of the wife also plays a part,hehe.
 
FYI. Currently an M3 is worth more than retail since you can find a buyer that would be willing to pay more than MSRP for it so they don't have to wait until potentially next year to get one otherwise. For me that means I can get my M3 Compact, try it out for a while to see if it is worth $2k to me and if it's not I should be able to get all my money back.



True. That's a big part of the reason I snagged the one off the classifieds last week... Given the lengthy preorder and backorder list I figured if I didn't like it I could sell it asap and probably not be out any money other than shipping costs. As time goes on and the backorder list dries up, the price of used ones should drop.