Took delivery of my full power FX Royale in .22 Cal recently, it is regged and walnutted, so thought I would share my initial impressions of it - particularly as when I was looking to take the plunge on ordering it I found it hard to find all the difinitive up to date info that I wanted.
I haven't had a chance to take it out in the field at all yet so my observations are based on the look, feel and some pellets over the chrono.
Action, barrel, finish of the metal etc are very pleasing indeed.
It balances nicely even with a 6-24 x 50 Bushnell atop.
Side lever is really very smooth and crisp.
The power adjusting feature is amazing, from shot to shot the muzzle velocity doesn't miss a beat.
Magazine feels a bit lightweight and plasticky in the hand, but it cycles very well and all feels tight and reassuring once in the action, it is a little fiddly to reverse load the first pellet so this takes a bit of getting used to.
Consistency over a shot string I haven't done yet but I'm sure it will live up to the kind of awesome results that we see time and again from regged FX guns these days.
The info that I found particularly hard to come by was what actual power I was going to get out of this gun from factory. The FX site used to say 36ftlb and now says 30ftlb, but does not specify whether this is regged or not and with what weight of pellet, and when I ordered it regged, the official UK importers questioned my decision to get a regulator fitted as they said it reduces the power from 36fpe to 28fpe... So in very brief the muzzle velocity results, at full power, that I have got so far direct from the box - and this is just from a few shots of each at around 200bar not full strings - are as follows:
16gr produces 28fpe at a velocity of 880fps
18gr produces 29.5fpe at a velocity of 860fps
21gr produes 31.5fpe at a velocity of 820fps
30gr produces 34fpe at a velocity of 715fps
So far so good...
Now the stock. My current disappointment with this feature of the Royale cannot be overstated, especially as I was expecting something very different from what was delivered. I went for the walnut stock (+£200) because I wanted the more ergonomic thumbhole and thumb-up position option which the synthetic version doesn't have. So I was expecting the righthanded stock as pictured and videod pretty much everywhere but most notably on the FX website http://www.fxairguns.com/rifle/the-royale-400/ to this day... But what arrived after a 2 month wait was the new "ambidextrous" stock!
I am absolutely gutted that on writing my first review of the gun that I have been thinking about getting for the best part of year I am expressing negativity about this... I promise you I do not relish it as I am a great arigun enthusiast.
I called my supplier, who had ordered this direct from the aformentioned FX importers in the UK, and they said it was "the way things were going across the industry" and that they were surprised because the ones they had in before had been dedicated right/left-handed so clearly they have had no warning from FX of this change either, and there really was no option of getting a right handed one at this point. To rub salt into the wounded heart of the boy who didn't get what he wanted at Christmas, the instruction pamphlet that came in the Royale box still has glossy photos of a luxurious thumbhole and scalloped thumb-up walnut stock, that he won't be getting, on its front cover!
I am sure that when I get to see how this gun performs all will be forgiven... maybe... (-;
So apologies for the rant - except to FX, update your website!!! - reckon I needed to get this off my chest. I intend to put up some results of what this gun can do with various pellets/ranges etc also have a single shot tray to see how much that effects things as compared to the magazine and hopefully will do a video at some point.
Cheers,
Asa.
I haven't had a chance to take it out in the field at all yet so my observations are based on the look, feel and some pellets over the chrono.
Action, barrel, finish of the metal etc are very pleasing indeed.
It balances nicely even with a 6-24 x 50 Bushnell atop.
Side lever is really very smooth and crisp.
The power adjusting feature is amazing, from shot to shot the muzzle velocity doesn't miss a beat.
Magazine feels a bit lightweight and plasticky in the hand, but it cycles very well and all feels tight and reassuring once in the action, it is a little fiddly to reverse load the first pellet so this takes a bit of getting used to.
Consistency over a shot string I haven't done yet but I'm sure it will live up to the kind of awesome results that we see time and again from regged FX guns these days.
The info that I found particularly hard to come by was what actual power I was going to get out of this gun from factory. The FX site used to say 36ftlb and now says 30ftlb, but does not specify whether this is regged or not and with what weight of pellet, and when I ordered it regged, the official UK importers questioned my decision to get a regulator fitted as they said it reduces the power from 36fpe to 28fpe... So in very brief the muzzle velocity results, at full power, that I have got so far direct from the box - and this is just from a few shots of each at around 200bar not full strings - are as follows:
16gr produces 28fpe at a velocity of 880fps
18gr produces 29.5fpe at a velocity of 860fps
21gr produes 31.5fpe at a velocity of 820fps
30gr produces 34fpe at a velocity of 715fps
So far so good...
Now the stock. My current disappointment with this feature of the Royale cannot be overstated, especially as I was expecting something very different from what was delivered. I went for the walnut stock (+£200) because I wanted the more ergonomic thumbhole and thumb-up position option which the synthetic version doesn't have. So I was expecting the righthanded stock as pictured and videod pretty much everywhere but most notably on the FX website http://www.fxairguns.com/rifle/the-royale-400/ to this day... But what arrived after a 2 month wait was the new "ambidextrous" stock!
I am absolutely gutted that on writing my first review of the gun that I have been thinking about getting for the best part of year I am expressing negativity about this... I promise you I do not relish it as I am a great arigun enthusiast.
I called my supplier, who had ordered this direct from the aformentioned FX importers in the UK, and they said it was "the way things were going across the industry" and that they were surprised because the ones they had in before had been dedicated right/left-handed so clearly they have had no warning from FX of this change either, and there really was no option of getting a right handed one at this point. To rub salt into the wounded heart of the boy who didn't get what he wanted at Christmas, the instruction pamphlet that came in the Royale box still has glossy photos of a luxurious thumbhole and scalloped thumb-up walnut stock, that he won't be getting, on its front cover!
I am sure that when I get to see how this gun performs all will be forgiven... maybe... (-;
So apologies for the rant - except to FX, update your website!!! - reckon I needed to get this off my chest. I intend to put up some results of what this gun can do with various pellets/ranges etc also have a single shot tray to see how much that effects things as compared to the magazine and hopefully will do a video at some point.
Cheers,
Asa.
