Vulcan 25 vz wildcat 25: which one ?!!

I've joined this forum in October when I got serious about buying my 1st pup.
After going around and around between the Vulcan, Cricket & Wildcat, I finally pulled the trigger on the 25 cal Wildcat. My decision came down to these things:
=> Magazine design (never liked the mag on my MROD, and dig the mag on my Sumatra)
=> Side cocking lever and the forward placement 
=> Weight and the synthetic stock 

I received my Wildcat a week before Christmas and shot ~100 pellets through it. So far, no issues ... it's backyard friendly (not sure why some are reporting that it's loud) perhaps I got lucky! My average shot string is ~900FPS with the JSB's 25.39gr. Very accurate and a sweet shooter!


--Oregun

Not only has it fulfilled my expectations...it has done so on all my previous pcp air guns, and I have owned quite a few!

The physics remain the same, slow/expand/vent excess gas pressure before it exits the shroud, and silence results!


HP

You will be, of that I am certain. I personally believe, of its kind, it is the best on the market at this time in size, performance, function, accuracy and reliability.

John Hagan ([email protected]) is one inexpensive source of the adapter that screws directly into the Vulcan shroud to permit use of an LDC. There may be others, no disrespect intended to them, but John is the only one I know how to contact.

Hi guys
i live in the UK and am new to making an entry onto this site so please bear with me.
ive been watching this site for over 12 months now and am very impressed at the wealth of knowledge regarding airguns and its associated ballistics. The UK has no other comparable detailed sites on full powered air guns.
I live in the far west of Cornwall ( on the western end of the country) and have been using air rifles since the 1990's .I have previously used a variety of spring powered rifles progressing onto PCPs in the last 2 yrs or so.
I regularly hunt for rabbits,squirrel and wood pigeons, usually out ranges of 50yards.
i currently own FX 400 Royale .22 and the latest FX wildcat .25 both at full power requiring a full firearms licence under the UK firearms law.
Having owned both guns I can categorically state the Wildcat is inferior in terms of build quality. The gun metal around the breech has shown very early signs of rust already. (Only owned it since August and regularly keep it cleaned)In fact when I collected the gun from the dealer rust was present which alarmed me to say the least. I was almost tempted to leave the gun there! I also have a slow leak on the wildcat where it loses 35bar every 10days. Is that a lot? And where's the air likely to be escaping from.
Accuracy of the wildcat is good but not sure how accurate it is at distances of up to one hundred yards. 
i hear accounts that the Vulcan .25 is very accurate at these ranges but how does it compare with the wildcat. Is the CZ barrel better at extreme ranges than the FX ST barrels. Nobody appears to have made a direct comparison in video form with both guns side by side but on the other hand FX appears to win the competitions in the USA, so what's the deal? Is the Vulcan superior than FX in terms of long range accuracy.
I'm very seriously considering selling my wildcat in favour of getting the .25 Vulcan. Your feedback would very be welcomed.
Rob

This is my personal opinion...and my opinion only.

I've owned FX airguns, and they have produced guns of both excellent quality and guns of no so excellent quality.

The Wildcat is a first generation FX bullpup in that price range, and the price range is not on the high end. Historically, it seems to me at least, all makers have problems with first generation models. FX, despite its history of quality is no exception.

The Vulcan is a different class of pcp air gun. It's been used hard, user modifications have been tested and found both to fail and to work. That being said, in the end analysis, the Vulcan is, in my opinion, currently the best quality pcp bullpup I have ever owned. It is accurate as far as anyone I know can shoot, has no major failures of function or design at this time, and the owner has shown fast reaction to suggestions made by the owners. Spare parts were sent to me immediately when I tried modifications to quiet the .25 caliber. Factory changes have since been made to further reduce this sound, and a moderator on the end renders it near silent.

A Vulcan, again in my opinion, is a step up in quality and features. One reason is because it is more expensive in build and quality. Generally speaking, one gets what you pay for in this sport.

Sell the Wildcat. It's a "beginner's" model of a mid-priced priced bullpup. I believe it will improve over time, but I also believe for this to happen the price must go up. The Vulcan is without a doubt a superior air gun, and well worth the additional cost. The Wildcat is $500 less expensive than the Vulcan, and you are experiencing the reasons why.

I'd hardly rate the Wildcat as a beginners model for $1299 it's a steal for what you get. It's not based on the FX T12 platform which is made for a lower price point and was a concern when I got the Widcat. It's as hardy as the 400/500 platform. The Wildcat is a great little bullpup and I like it. It's accurate, light, and has a great durable stock that also provides a superior cheek weld, more so than my cricket or Edgun. Carrying it around in the field is awesome. This is my 6th FX gun and I've yet to have a major problem with any of them. My Edguns, Daystates, and Crickets are all great guns too, but the Wildcat can hold its place amongst them any day. They each have their merits. 

Agreed. To get the build quality that the Fx Wildcat has for 1299 is a steal. It definitely has the accuracy and balance of any other high end pcp. Its a very solid gun.

Everyone's experience will vary...that's inevitable.

Bob's negative experience, and remarks, cannot be overlooked! His usage may be more vigorous than others who chose to comment, and that may result in wear others may not have experienced. Many "usage/maintenance variables" must be considered in drawing a solid conclusion based on comments, in lieu of personal experience.

As for my "beginners" remark...admittedly a poor choice of words. At second glance, "Generation One" of that bullpup model would have been a more accurate statement.

I can only speak from Vulcan ownership experience, and from reading various posted FX Wildcat remarks on other forums. Most posters are sincere in their opinions regarding the pcp's they have owned, and seldom do they all concur. We all have our favorites and personal opinions.

Let the Wildcat owners speak their mind, as short of actual ownership, this will help other readers draw an informed conclusion.

"FastEddie"To get the build quality that the Fx Wildcat has for 1299 is a steal.

Click to expand...

I see AoA has increased the price to $1399 (I wonder what this is about?)

Vulcan .25: $1595

Thanks for your response guys, it's certainly a refreshing change to be able to air ones concerns on such a forum( forgive the pun), with people who know what their talking about.
I certainly cannot hide my disappointment of the wildcat in terms of build quality and leaking problems. These are basic problems that should have been picked up during QC. At nearly £1000 (1425 dollars approx) that to me is no small amount to pay and expect. What I've already got in the FX 400 Royale and it is in my opinion of very high quality , and operates faultlessly. Having said that the wildcat does perform quite impressively and is accurate at medium distance which is generally what I operate at, but as I previously asked is it capable of long distance accuracy such as the Vulcan?has a direct comparison been made. I would like to be able to have the option of hunting at extreme distance if the situation warranted it.
in the light of the above comments I'm certainly warming to the idea of the Vulcan in respect to build quality/accuracy. Who would have thought a Russian PCP would be better than the long established history of fine Swedish engineering in the shape of current FX , perhaps it's the fact Swedish workers are paid more than their Russian counterparts , and so less goes into the actual product. How knows.

Having been a former Lean Six Sigma Manager for a large company, Voice of the Customer should be of the utmost importance to any of the manufacturers.

My Wildcat meets and exceeds expectations in many cases (form, fit & function). What would be interesting is to see the number of sales for top 3 bull pup players and compare their defect rates.

I would luv to have a Vulcan, Cricket and Wildcat and test them myself.... And if I hit the lottery, I will do just that.

Lol you win the lotto ,you could buy your own airgun factory and show them a real bullpup.I mean ambidextrous, interchange barrels,power adjuster,cf bottle ,switchable cocking lever,regulated,case included,fully shrouded,cf stock and less than 5 pounds. price 1300$
I think I just blew my own mind.

Russians make fine guns for sure. You got to find them when you have a problem if there's a serious defect, although the dealers are helping with that issue to some degree. If long range was my main criteria, I'd definitely look at the Vulcan based on what owners are saying, heck I might have to special order a .177 for backyard pesting but I couldn't ignore the FX Impact if I was going to throw down for something in the $1600 range. 

Tex,

I, too, was impressed with the Impact. However, $2000 cooled my impression in short order.

My neighbor, who is into firearms, can't believe what we pay for the upper end pcps. He points out 
that amount of money would purchase a very very nice top of the line shotgun or rifle.

I can't deny what he says. We pay a tremendous markup on these guns.

I can see why you would be upset with rust on the gun right out of the box! I think you are looking a warranty issue?

I've had my Wildcat .25 for two weeks and I'm very happy so far. When I opened the box I did not see any rust and found the metal finishing very nice.

If I spent $500 more for the Vulcan i would expect it to be a better gun. My two cents

Mark

I've watched a bunch of airgun trick shots on utube and aside from a couple daystates the harder trickshots were with the fx wildcat and bobcat. Fx Wildcat shooting aspirin one after another at 50, fx wildcat shooting small water baloons at 125, fx wildcat splitting a pellet to pop two baloons at 50 and just look at what doogie does with his bobcat. So for those of you who doubt the wildcats accuracy go see for yourself. I haven't seen one trick shot video with a cricket or vulcan. I'm not saying they can't perform well, but there's video proof of how accurate the wildcat can be.

The question of accuracy of bullpups come up a lot, I have a Bobcat 22 and from what I have seen it seems like the FX400 is inherently more accurate or maybe just easier to shoot. I live in AZ so the only real competitions I see are here, extreme benchrest etc. From all the results FX Daystate and Raw seem to be the hands down winners in fact it seems like nothing else even shows up. I ask this because I want to purchase a 25 also, I like that in a bullpups I can get a 24 inch barrel and not have a 40 plus inch long rifle that doesn't fit in the backseat of an average car.or be 10 plus pounds to carry in the field. My question is I know how accurate my Bobcat is and I know how my friends FX400 are, I'm trying to decide if the length of say an FX500, would be worth it compared to say a Wildcat or Bobcat with its compactness and maybe less accuracy.