Yes! My FX Impact Compact is a backpackable gun

On the Impact I think most of it is luck. It was the 7th week since I put in my order for the FX Crown Continuum in 22 cal, so I started looking at options. I saw some different options, called up the local dealer I was working with, and asked him if he could get me this Impact Compact in .22. The distributor had one left and there it is, so I got the Impact and cancelled the order for the Crown. Just to note, I got the one I wanted, bronze and it was the first Impact Compact the dealer had seen in bronze, most people want black.

However, on my outdoor clothing and some of my other gear I do have connections or use to that got me a discount through friends in the outdoor clothing industry, or professional mountaineers I knew. Or I hit the outlets when I don’t need the clothing and if I see a deal I buy it. As a result of the two former reasons combined my friends say I look like a walking Patagonia clothing & equipment commercial.

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Thanks for reply. It is nice to have luck once in awhile! And even better to have friends!!! Maybe I will get lucky and get that FX continuum you don’t need anymore. 

@Blackpaw, yes and no on the backpack hunting I got into this hobby because I wanted to get rid of the ground squirrels in my backyard and ultimately go do some actual hunting one day. I've managed to dramatically reduce the ground squirrel population around my house since then but have not gone on a real hunt yet. I go through lots of rifles and went all bullpups about 5 years ago as I like the shorter length. I have the Lelya 2.0 that runs about 25" with the swap to the BAT moderator and that could fit in a backpack but it's bulky. I had the original Leshiy that I loved and was much easier to tote around - but I sold it a couple of months ago thinking that my pre-ordered Leshiy 2 would be in my hands by now but it's still delayed for at least several more weeks. So this conversion of the Impact to a Compact was something to hold me over until the Leshiy 2 arrives - whether it will ever make it into a backpack is unknown

The Impact you see above is about the 6th or 7th one I've owned since they were initially released. Up until this week, it had the 480cc bottle and 600mm barrel. I was planning on going in the other direction and putting the 580cc bottle on it for more shot count and what I thought would be better looks. I liked the shorter 500mm barrel but didn't like that it limited my moderator options with the 480cc/580cc bottles so I just wanted to see what the 300cc bottle would look like. I was literally minutes away from listing the 300cc bottle for sale in the Classifieds but am glad that I took the time to try it out. I like the lighter weight and, of course, the ability to use whatever moderator I want so it'll probably stay on for day to day use. 

If/when I do take it out in the field, I question the reduced shot count of the 300cc bottle. I have 2x 480cc bottles and 1x 580cc bottle and the thought would be have multiple bottles in the backpack for more air as needed (although I'd be impressed if I could have an outing where I could actually shoot through one full 480cc bottle). With the 300cc bottle, there's more of a likelihood that I'd run low on air but wouldn't be able to swap to one of my other bottles unless I had one of the skinnier (KOI or Huggett) moderators installed. Or I could pack my smaller SCBA tank but that would be more bulk. But again, all this speculation for a field hunt that may or may not happen anytime in the future! When the Leshiy 2 gets here, that would be my ideal backpacking gun (provided it functions well given that it's a new and unproven design).

For now, I'll probably end up with the Sumo on the Impact when using the 300cc bottle. The big/heavy Hawke will probably stay too because I like the higher magnification and, like you, may also switch back and forth to the 600mm setup as well. I'll play around with the various combinations and see what I like best - but thank you for starting this thread and convincing me to try on that 300cc bottle . . . otherwise it would have been sold as of yesterday and I would have never known how cool the Compact set up is!



Edit: I just shot it with the Tatsu and that's a no-go - a little too loud with the 500mm barrel pushing the 25.4g JSB's at about 915fps. I put the Sumo on and it looks better proportionally but it's now 31" overall instead of 29". I'm still very curious as to what the 580cc bottle would look like with the 500mm setup but have to wait to get another FX valve to install in it before I can use it.