Is FX Airguns really that bad?

[KnifeMaker]

FX did indeed just re-design their Regs. So perhaps they are starting to pay attention to customer complaints and input?

[Hayfoot]

I really havent wrote it down what i need, i know what i want.

Removeable bottle: so i can carry a spare with me. High shot count and power too.

I think you seriously limit your choices with this requirement.

if you really want to bring extra air in the field you can carry a Guppy bottle and refill more then once as needed,.....that way you can look at many more guns, options are valuable

I agree with pirate here. I've got a bottle gun, and after I did the math, It's cheaper and more efficient to buy a guppy than it is to buy more bottles.

[tor47]

I can tell you categorically that 60 percent of these guns has issues out of the box that require a return to FX for repair .

It is sad to hear story`s like that. I am just curious, since 60 percentage seems like a very high number: How many guns did you actually sell? I am not doubting your experiance, but if we should use thouse numbers as statistical fact, it is important to know.

The hopefully good thing about it is that it will be better. Any company with that return numbers would lead to bad sales numbers, if it can be proven as a reliable statistical fact.

[PeterC]

Bought a FX Impact .30 cal last April.  Not a "x" model but the later version of the standard which I hear they fixed some of the earlier problems.  Bought a .22 X-barrel kit and have had no quality issues.
Only problem has been operator caused - did a double load when configured for .30 cal and didn't realize it and loaded another pellet (3 in the barrel). 
Only mod I have done is changed the barrel fixing thumb screw to a M4 set screw.

[BSJ]

Put me on the list of bad from the box Crown owners. My .22 would not shoot any pellet with any accuracy. Spiraled everything. No reg setting worked. No hammer spring setting worked. Best it did was about 2" at 50 yards. Most were in the 5-6" range.


I was looking for where to send it to get fixed and discovered I had 5 days left on the warranty! I debated between asking for a refund or a replacement. Went with a replacement. With winter arriving I have not been able to even test fire the replacement and won't be able to until after the warranty expires. So I'm stuck with it no matter what.


I think now that I should have gone with a refund...

[Nutter Buster]

I just want to chime in with my FX experience. I bought a used crown .25 around august last year because there was no way I could shell out 2k for an air rifle. It is one of the first production guns. When I received it, it was missing the rear stock screw. I called FX USA and I had a new one within 3 days. With everything on Max and the reg at 135, it will shoot almost pellet on pellet at 50 yards. I can shoot 4 full mags before it comes off the reg, 64 shots at 920 fps. I use the gun mostly for pigeon shooting at a cattle farm. Before I got the crown, my farthest pigeon kill was 78 yards. The first time out with the crown, I dropped one at 151 yards. I have taken it squirrel hunting several times and have yet to miss a squirrels head with it. I can say my experience has been nothing but stellar. Maybe I am the exception and not the rule??

[Marc In Iowa]

Crown .22
... test fire the replacement and won't be able to until after the warranty expires. So I'm stuck with it no matter what.


I think now that I should have gone with a refund...

Well, there are many positive reviews of this rifle. Let's hope that when you do get around to testing it ... You'll be very happy!

[anti-squirrel]

I just want to chime in with my FX experience. I bought a used crown .25 around august last year because there was no way I could shell out 2k for an air rifle. It is one of the first production guns. When I received it, it was missing the rear stock screw. I called FX USA and I had a new one within 3 days. With everything on Max and the reg at 135, it will shoot almost pellet on pellet at 50 yards. I can shoot 4 full mags before it comes off the reg, 64 shots at 920 fps. I use the gun mostly for pigeon shooting at a cattle farm. Before I got the crown, my farthest pigeon kill was 78 yards. The first time out with the crown, I dropped one at 151 yards. I have taken it squirrel hunting several times and have yet to miss a squirrels head with it. I can say my experience has been nothing but stellar. Maybe I am the exception and not the rule??

I don't think anybody is debating whether or not they are accurate airguns.  People in a number of occasions are having reliability problems and general QA issues.  Given how complex some of their designs are, is it a major surprise?

Aside from that, shipping out a screw is a non-issue.  Providing end users with airguns that should not have passed a QA check is another thing entirely.  But I also think most airgun manufacturers are having QA issues.  I can live with that (to a point) on a SPA or Crosman.  But not on an airgun pushing $2000. 

Lucky for us end-users we have some retailers, such as Vince, that take customer service seriously, so anything slipping through the cracks can be caught before the end-user takes ownership.

[Motorhead]

Have been following this thread observing & reading just to see how the general FX product consumer / owners / sellers really feel
What is obvious, folks want a gun that meets or exceeds the marketing hype surrounding said air gun.  Accept what that cost will be and go about ordering said gun expecting it to operates as advertised w/o any issues.

From what I've been reading ... The factory makes a gun that REQUIRES ultimate retailer to "Prep & Service" prior to delivering to a customer .... Huh ?
This Time & Effort comes at a cost to the seller, headaches of issues found & there repair, unhappy customers waiting on there guns stalled by this process all fall on the reputation of the seller first !! .... It reads as if FX sorta gets a get out of jail free card leaving the final retailer to take the brunt of the product being ready for use in the real world.

If I were a Retailer placed in such a situation .... said manufacturer would be No More !

When you have such a competitive market with folks wanting the most for the least cash outlay .... there is very little if any incentive for the final retailer to do the factory / manufactures QC checks and repairs.

JMO
Scott
 

[BSJ]

I just want to chime in with my FX experience. I bought a used crown .25 around august last year because there was no way I could shell out 2k for an air rifle. It is one of the first production guns. When I received it, it was missing the rear stock screw. I called FX USA and I had a new one within 3 days. With everything on Max and the reg at 135, it will shoot almost pellet on pellet at 50 yards. I can shoot 4 full mags before it comes off the reg, 64 shots at 920 fps. I use the gun mostly for pigeon shooting at a cattle farm. Before I got the crown, my farthest pigeon kill was 78 yards. The first time out with the crown, I dropped one at 151 yards. I have taken it squirrel hunting several times and have yet to miss a squirrels head with it. I can say my experience has been nothing but stellar. Maybe I am the exception and not the rule??

Maybe the previous owner got everything fixed before you got it...

Speaking of screws. The stock screws on my replacement rifle were (lightly) rusted...

[BEN342R]

My first PCP was a new Streamline in .22.  When I got it, it had no pressure on the gauge at all.  It was a leaker.  Sent it back for a refund, bought a new custom shop Marauder, LW barrel, regulated, and with the Camo stock in .177.  Never looked back and now 3-4k rounds later(just guessing), it still does what I need it to do.  I have to say I like the FX guns, but have to admit I'm somewhat jaded on them now. This would not be the case if this were a rarity(receiving faulty guns).  It is common with FX and that is unacceptable to me.

Do the authorized dealers ever do a once over on air rifles before they ship them out like to verify pressure on PCP's?

[BSJ]

My first PCP was a new Streamline in .22.  When I got it, it had no pressure on the gauge at all.  It was a leaker.  Sent it back for a refund, bought a new custom shop Marauder, LW barrel, regulated, and with the Camo stock in .177.  Never looked back and now 3-4k rounds later(just guessing), it still does what I need it to do.  I have to say I like the FX guns, but have to admit I'm somewhat jaded on them now. This would not be the case if this were a rarity(receiving faulty guns).  It is common with FX and that is unacceptable to me.

Do the authorized dealers ever do a once over on air rifles before they ship them out like to verify pressure on PCP's?

Some will if you pay extra...

[wimpanzee]

My first PCP was a new Streamline in .22.  When I got it, it had no pressure on the gauge at all.  It was a leaker.  Sent it back for a refund, bought a new custom shop Marauder, LW barrel, regulated, and with the Camo stock in .177.  Never looked back and now 3-4k rounds later(just guessing), it still does what I need it to do.  I have to say I like the FX guns, but have to admit I'm somewhat jaded on them now. This would not be the case if this were a rarity(receiving faulty guns).  It is common with FX and that is unacceptable to me.

Do the authorized dealers ever do a once over on air rifles before they ship them out like to verify pressure on PCP's?

Some will if you pay extra...

It always seemed odd to me that handling returns is less expensive for a company that quality control.

[nervoustrigger]

For sure.  Handling returns is not only expensive but also damaging to brand loyalty. I suspect the company would need the good fortune that 4 out of every 5 in-warranty failures be repaired by the customer just to break even.

[dan_house]

There's people with agenda blasting them. 

Not sure it is an "agenda" more likely people shell out $2k+ thinking they are going to get like you said flawless out of the box....with FX there is a very good chance you will not get that.

the "agenda" started just after the 2013 EBR match..... a certain airgun forum owner began to be openly hostile to a "desert vendor" and some how FX was involved, and that forum had forbade any discusion of that vendor, and to a degree FX themselves, for their placement in the match and their sponsorship of the match (some said it smelled funny).

That attitude permeated that forum for a while, and some members of it helped maintain that perception that the "desert vendor" and FX were perhaps engaged in some back room dealings related to pricing and distribution.....

I wont speak to the specifics--publicaly or privately--so dont ask    But I will say "the agenda" had more to do with business dealings than quality issues......

not trying to open old wounds or canned worms, just agreeing with the perception that there is/was some disgruntlement that has nothing to do with FX quality....

[Vee3]

It always seemed odd to me that handling returns is less expensive for a company that quality control.

Decades ago I recall one of my mentors telling me about "The factor of 10" or some such related to the importance of good mechanical engineering. Paraphrasing...

"If a flaw is corrected at the design level, it may cost the company $1 to fix.

Caught during production, it may cost $10.

If it gets to a distributor, it may cost $100.

If it gets to the customer, it may cost $1000."

In other words, it's cheaper to design quality/reliability into a product than it is to clean up the mess that poor quality creates. Toyota and Honda have pretty well figured it out.

In my experience, short-sighted bean counters are usually the ones who end up throwing a wrench into the process of good engineering.

[Vee3]

From what I've been reading ... The factory makes a gun that REQUIRES ultimate retailer to "Prep & Service" prior to delivering to a customer .... Huh ?

This Time & Effort comes at a cost to the seller, headaches of issues found & there repair, unhappy customers waiting on there guns stalled by this process all fall on the reputation of the seller first !! .... It reads as if FX sorta gets a get out of jail free card leaving the final retailer to take the brunt of the product being ready for use in the real world.

If I were a Retailer placed in such a situation .... said manufacturer would be No More !

How exactly would the retailer even go about doing that? If he knows that some percentage of regulators creep, what the heck is he prepared do about it? Seals might fail a month after a customer gets his gun? Is a retailer gonna replace o-rings before he sends the gun out, "just in case?" 

Prep, Shmep.... In most cases a dealer can't afford to cut into slim profit margins by fixing guns before he ships them.

[Gertrude]

It always seemed odd to me that handling returns is less expensive for a company that quality control.

Decades ago I recall one of my mentors telling me about "The factor of 10" or some such related to the importance of good mechanical engineering. Paraphrasing...

"If a flaw is corrected at the design level, it may cost the company $1 to fix.

Caught during production, it may cost $10.

If it gets to a distributor, it may cost $100.

If it gets to the customer, it may cost $1000."

In other words, it's cheaper to design quality/reliability into a product than it is to clean up the mess that poor quality creates. Toyota and Honda have pretty well figured it out.

In my experience, short-sighted bean counters are usually the ones who end up throwing a wrench into the process of good engineering.

and projecting the 10 factor here,
I agree 10,000 %  ! ! !

[CaptVideo]

Scott is right.

I was ready to purchase a streamline. After seeing the issues posted about FX here and airgunnation I became leery. I contacted FX to confirm their warranty, it was 1 year. (this has just changed) I felt it wasn't worth the risk of getting an FX that wasn't faulty, especially at the pricepoint. At that time the 1 year warranty was a concern as well.

[Glem Chally]

Scott is right.

I was ready to purchase a streamline. After seeing the issues posted about FX here and airgunnation I became leery. I contacted FX to confirm their warranty, it was 1 year. (this has just changed) I felt it wasn't worth the risk of getting an FX that wasn't faulty, especially at the pricepoint. At that time the 1 year warranty was a concern as well.

Lots of problems with the streamline?  Where?