My Honnest Review On The FX Impact !

Hello ! I have to say a few things before i start this review, first of all, English isn't my native language, so i might make a few mistakes, so feel free to correct me, that's how to learn :)

Introduction :

It all starts in 2013, when i started to look at Ted's Holdover videos ! At this point, i'm 16, i've started shooting when i was 10, mainly .22lr, since in France, .22lr is really easy to buy, and 50 rounds of match grade ammo (RWS Rifle Match) is around 7$ smiley then i've shot a lot of other big bore centerfire guns, but... i realized that i liked the accuracy of a small caliber, low velocity gun.


So i started saving up for a FX Airgun carabine, by doing some small jobs, being payed 7$ an hour ^^ every week end, every holidays (or vacations, as you wish) in 2015 i got around 1800$, and i though it was good enough to buy a bobcat + the pump and some accesories, but i saw a picture of the new gun that FX presented at the IWA 2015... It was so beautiful, it looked like a gun that i could've designed in my head, it seems awersome ! i wanted this one so bad, and it was called, the FX Impact.


Back to the present, I'm now 19, and since 2 weeks now, i'm probably the youngest FX Impact owner ^^ and after a few problems at the start (the assembly tolerences on my gun were too high, and the bolt couldn't go back far enough to re arm the gun properly) i have now a second Impact (the first one got sent back to Sweden...) here is my first impressions and review : ​


Here is how i saw the gun for the first time, it's shorter, and a lot heavier than what i though ! but i love it ! (note that the bipod will be removed later since it's waaaay to high to shoot in a confortable position, the only bipods that will actualy fit, and be usable, are the Atlas bipods, and unfortunatly, they are very expensive :/ )





So i mounted my Hawke Sidewinder 30 8-32x56 mil-dot on it, and headed to the range... well in my garden since i was like a little kid that can't wait to try out his new present ! smiley first results are amazing ! that's at 30m (32.8 yards) and i was messing with the "power adjustment wheel" between each groups, the one at the top is the last one ;) 1 cent = 16mm or 0.62 inch diameter 




Anyway, since i'm not the first one to make a review of this gun, i'm not gonna talk about the specs, or the features, go watch the video that Ted's Holdover did ;)

Filling up the gun : 

Now, i live in the countryside, and the nearest scuba diving shop is 150km (93 miles) away... so i have to use a hand pump to re fill the gun ! Fortunatly enough, i'm young and in good physical condition, but i don't recommend doing this if you dislike sport or getting a little bit sweaty.

To get the pressure from 150 bar up to 250, i have to pump for around 15min, but the pump will overheat after 5min... so i have to pump 5 min, wait 10, pump 5 more, wait 10 again... and then pump 5 more minutes... it's a pain in the butt, but i don't have any other choice ^^ 

note : yes... the quick connect filling port is hard to access :/




Tips & Tricks : 

i've made a little cap that goes perfectly over the filling probe to protect it from dust 



And i had to buy a 200€ case because the gun couldn't fit with the scope mounted in the original box... (the scope is too long) but it's a lot better because i don't have to take the gun apart all the time, and i can put a small toolkit, and some pellets with it ! :) perfect ! 

note : if you have a smaller scope, the gun is shipped with a very hard and well made case ! the only "problem" is that you will have to take the gun appart, but it's made for this ;) 



Settings : 

The trigger has been ajusted by one of the best gunsmith in France, and even if Fx claims that it's "user ajustable" i don't recommend doing it yourself, everything is very sensitive, and we noticed that 1/32 of a rotation had a noticable effect on the first stage... please, don't do it yourself, this trigger can be tuned as you want, and i would place it at the same qualitty level as a Anschutz match trigger... it's THAT good ! 

And for the groups that you saw, i only turned the power wheel on the "3" power setting, and i'm using some Fx 25.4grs pellets, i will keep this post updated if i find some better settings (maybe with the regulator pressure)

Conclusion : 

This gun is just insane, and if you have the ocasion to shoot it, just do it ! I would compare it to a italian supercar, if you take care of it, it will run forever, but as soon as you don't use it properly, it will jam, and it will fail...

The design is inovative, and i love it ! the build quality is really good too ! (no cnc machine marking or anything) and i love everthing about it, it feels mecanical, it feels solid and well built, and it sounds amazing ! :)

As i said earlier, i've had a few problems, and i had to go back to the gunsmith who sold it to me, and he immediatly noticed that the bolt wasn't going back far enough before hitting the frame... ok, a problem like this might happen on a 200$ gun, but i feel like it should not happen on a 2000$ gun ! but other than that, no problems yet :)

Pros : 
Customisation 
AR - 15 standard grip
Accuracy +++ 
Compact
High shot count 

Cons : 
Price (1500$ should be the real price)
Barrel locking screw loosening up every 30 shots -_- 
Bipod mount (yes, it's a picaninny rail, so that's cool, but the only usable bipod will be a 300$ Atlas...)



Notes & Facts :

My gun came from the factory with a ergo-grip ! that was really cool ! :) 
At the shooting range, litteraly everyone asks some questions about it ^^

i will update this post, especially the conclusion and the settings ! 

Have a nice day ;)
 
"Alan"You're certainly not the first FX owner with the trigger/bolt problem. As I've said before, when you spend $1,500 for an airgun, this sort of thing should not happen.
i really feel like Fx didn't tested the gun that much, maybe they wanted to release the gun as quick as possible ? or maybe they just don't have enough money to shoot and break a few rifles during some intense testing ? i don't really know, but they have a problem here ;) 
 
Glad you're getting some time to shoot in and having fun with it! I have the same grip on mine. I swapped it out for another AR grip during a video shoot but, then swapped it right back because I liked it better.
Try out the JSB heavy pellets, if you can get them over there. They are giving very good results so far. 
You might be able to get a plastic zip tie around the foster fitting. That might help you out a little. 
Tom
 
I was an Impact future buyer until I read about the milti-barrel platform. I was never really interested in different calibers on the same gun and I figured the means to conveniently remove and add another barel might be the weak link. But after 30 rounds the set screw needs to be tightened? That doesn't sound good at all, and very happy I went for the Wildcat. However, glad all you Impact owners are happy cause it's a pretty cool air rifle, just not for me.
 
"Verve"Nice review Wellgun.

The blue marker line on the valve knob, is that something you added or it came standard like that? Or that's a reflection of some sort and the line is actually not there.

What's the FPS for the 25.4gr (.22 pellet?) And at what's regulator pressure set at?



I had to check the pictures to see the "blue mark" but yeah, it's probably a reflection of something ^^

And I keep you updated for the speed, I just tried to shoot at 50m but the accuracy is insanely bad (like 15cm group -_- I I will have to change my settings

edit : ok so... since i was shooting from a indoor position, on a outdoor target, i was so excited that i totally forgot that the wind was blowing like crazy... :D so i tried again at 50m and 16 shots basically fits into a 1€ coin, keep in mind that i'm shooting with a small homemade sand bag at the front, and no support at the back of the gun ! ^^ anyway, i'm really happy now :) it's time to get rid of these house sparrows that woke me up this morning, and chased every other birds away :)
 
HI,
Who makes the case that you purchased? And which model is it? I'm getting a new FX in .25 cal and have been told that the new case is bigger than the first cases so you don't have to break down the gun to transport it. We'll see about that. I've looked before when I purchased a FX Bobcat and could not find a case that just fit without a lot of 'extra ' case so to speak.
Thanks,
John
 
Hi wellgun
Nice review,what part of france do you live in?beautiful countryside in the south,,anyway the impact is amlovely gun still playing with the settings in my 25,keep us updated
Bon chasse..

Hotair
I have the new style case with my impact, it will take the gun with scope attatched no probs and places cut out for tins of pellets and mags, great thinking by fx
Rgds steve
 
I would just like to add a thing that has been annoying me, When ever a impact has a problem its always yadyadya 2000€$£ shouldnt have these problems. No not really but the impact is a 1st gen product. With a lot of new features that has never been on Fx guns before. Why would you think they could get everything 100% right the first time? poop like that doesn't happen in real life.

If you want something 100% reliable then go buy a Air Arms s400 thats been around for 10s of years and that they havent updated in ages.

Cutting edge and reliability has never been partners.
 
"Deja"I would just like to add a thing that has been annoying me, When ever a impact has a problem its always yadyadya 2000€$£ shouldnt have these problems. No not really but the impact is a 1st gen product. With a lot of new features that has never been on Fx guns before. Why would you think they could get everything 100% right the first time? poop like that doesn't happen in real life.

If you want something 100% reliable then go buy a Air Arms s400 thats been around for 10s of years and that they havent updated in ages.

Cutting edge and reliability has never been partners.
One thing has nothing to do with the other.

No one expects a 1st gen product to be "perfect", or people to be "perfect". But from what I can tell, many of the flaws and issues this gun had, could have been avoided/fixed before it even hit the market. Easily.

R&D, including product testing, done by a manufacturer should always be way more extensive than what the consumer will end up doing. Kind of like in architecture. If you design a balcony and you know that not more than 20 people will ever even fit on it, it still needs to hold the weight of 40. (I am not an architect so don't quote me on that. I am sure you are getting my point).

Have you ever seen how cars are being tested?!

That said. If the Issues with the Impact would have occurred after month of use, I would say, OK. But not after days of use!? What the "F" did the R&D team do at FX?! Shoot the guns for 2 days and call it a day?!

"Yeah, this is a great gun!"

"Did you test it?! Is it working right?!

"Sure. I shot 2 mags and I had no issues!"

"Well, that is 1 mag more than I would have shot!"

Both laughing...

Again, no one is perfect, and no one expects people to be perfect. But looking at the design and issues this thing had, something did not go as planned... Clearly.

Kmd
 
Guys you can face such quality issues with worldwide companies like toyota, samsung or volkswagen which owns thousand of engineer and high level quality department (surely much more paid than FX people).

Seriously how can you expect to get such intensive engineering and quality testing with such small companies????? Do you still believe in Santa???

On my side whatever is the product I simply never buy the first version on the market even if it is a pain to wait for the rev 2 to pop.