Yes definitely not worth upgrade to 20 fpe
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the Daily hi thread
FAC Air
- Thread starter chris888
- Start date
Pelletpinger
Super member
My take on it.
Sub 12 user for ages and got the itch for FAC as one of my golf courses was a bugger to shoot as the rabbits were twitchy, forget all the “oh you need more field craft” simply needed more legs.
Went through the process and bought a .25 FAC Impact, lovely bit of kit, would shoot MOA off a bench etc and took the odd 100yd rabbit when conditions allowed.
BUT to get it to that point took many hours of tuning, tweaking, testing etc and i became obsessed, lived at the range, worried about leaks, reg creep blah blah if i wasnt shooting it i was running it over the chrono. Not only that i had to lug a 12 litre bottle around with me to test, wether it was the range or out on permissions.
Then as the drug of FAC kicked in i bought an HMR which was an altogether better tool for clearing rabbits and found the Impact was staying in the cabinet more often so i sold it, got lucky and moved it on quick.
To fill the gap where noise was an issue bought a full 22lr outfit, scope, mod and 400 rounds for £175 yes £175!
That gun just sits happily in my cabinet and i pick it out whenever i want in the same condition i put it away in, none of the 16 orings in the impact to worry about, no concernas about the first shot being on zero, no bottle to worry about, its lighter and quieter and will kill rabbits out to 120yds., any further than that its HMR or Hornet fodder.
A FAC air rifle 50-70ftlbs is going to cost a grand minimum plus and upgrade to a bigger bottle even second hand and what are pellets these days £15/£20 for 250?
22lr second hand £200 and six quid for a box of ammo.
You pays your money and takes your choice.
Sub 12 user for ages and got the itch for FAC as one of my golf courses was a bugger to shoot as the rabbits were twitchy, forget all the “oh you need more field craft” simply needed more legs.
Went through the process and bought a .25 FAC Impact, lovely bit of kit, would shoot MOA off a bench etc and took the odd 100yd rabbit when conditions allowed.
BUT to get it to that point took many hours of tuning, tweaking, testing etc and i became obsessed, lived at the range, worried about leaks, reg creep blah blah if i wasnt shooting it i was running it over the chrono. Not only that i had to lug a 12 litre bottle around with me to test, wether it was the range or out on permissions.
Then as the drug of FAC kicked in i bought an HMR which was an altogether better tool for clearing rabbits and found the Impact was staying in the cabinet more often so i sold it, got lucky and moved it on quick.
To fill the gap where noise was an issue bought a full 22lr outfit, scope, mod and 400 rounds for £175 yes £175!
That gun just sits happily in my cabinet and i pick it out whenever i want in the same condition i put it away in, none of the 16 orings in the impact to worry about, no concernas about the first shot being on zero, no bottle to worry about, its lighter and quieter and will kill rabbits out to 120yds., any further than that its HMR or Hornet fodder.
A FAC air rifle 50-70ftlbs is going to cost a grand minimum plus and upgrade to a bigger bottle even second hand and what are pellets these days £15/£20 for 250?
22lr second hand £200 and six quid for a box of ammo.
You pays your money and takes your choice.
Don’t know where you are buying your pellets from I pay about £15-17 for 500
And only pay £12 for 200 slugs delivered which is far cheaper than .22 lr ammo
Pelletpinger
Super member
It was a guess as i haven’t bought any for ages, the point i was trying to make was, if you shoot say 500 rabbits a year (1 shot 1 kill) ammo for the 22lr would cost 60 odd quid, so if you took the £200 intitial outlay for the rifle into account it would take nearly 15 years of shooting with the 22lr to get near the initial outlay of a decent FAC air rifle before you even start to think about ammo and refill costs for it.
you picked up .22lr for 175 which is brilliant then you said over 1k for FAC air , but you can pick up FAC air in the region of £400-450 . Most who go FAC air would have a bottle any how ,so at the end of the day not a lot in it
Pelletpinger
Super member
You are talking about outperforming 22 lr, shooting stuff at 180yds with slugs, theres no £400 air rifles that will do that, you need suitable regs adjustment, tunability and liners etc which only the top end FAC air rifles have costing upwards of a grand.
The figures ive stated relate to having all the above features, not just a bit more poke than sub 12 which is what your £400 gets.
Keep moving the goal posts
You can buy 40 + ftlbs FAC air for the price Iike said and it doesn’t have to be fx with different liners or tuning either
Huntsman will shoot at 40 fpe ,
You can buy 40 + ftlbs FAC air for the price Iike said and it doesn’t have to be fx with different liners or tuning either
Huntsman will shoot at 40 fpe ,
chris888
Proactive member
It seems to be a bit of a minefield regarding fac air. There’s lots of pros and cons. They seem to have their place in the cabinet.
Every gun will have pro & cons even the rimfire, although some of the rimfire boys will say it’s the holy grail.
To me FAC air specially the likes of FX, AGT and daystate , are the most versatile gun you can buy . I have rimfire.22 & 17hmr but the most used is my FX Crown .22 using pellets and slugs and shooting out to 120 + yards with slugs and shoot 16 gr pellets at 880 fps for any thing under 100 yards , but normally around 70 yard
To me FAC air specially the likes of FX, AGT and daystate , are the most versatile gun you can buy . I have rimfire.22 & 17hmr but the most used is my FX Crown .22 using pellets and slugs and shooting out to 120 + yards with slugs and shoot 16 gr pellets at 880 fps for any thing under 100 yards , but normally around 70 yard
Pelletpinger
Super member
Lol, im not changing the goal posts at all, im talking about the high end air rifle that ive owned and sold on for £1200 and the ones that you have quoted throught this thread.
If you want to chuck a £400 Huntsman in to the mix then that is a completely different story.
A more pertinent question would be does FAC air any advantages over sub 12, we all know the answer to that!
Teutchter Boy
Super member
Fac air definitely has many advantages over sub 12. The two most obvious are range and trajectory. I won't hunt with a sub 12 beyond about 35 yards but I will happily take a rabbit at 90 yards with my fac Crown. Appreciate everyone likes a good argument but there is now a lot of cross over between the 22lr and fac air. Having said this I am content to accept a 22lr is a much cheaper and straight forward option, however I like airguns and also enjoy the flexibility they provide at FAC levels. I use both so like a proper woke person I am calibre/propellent fluid......
Igotknobblies
Super member
Exactly my thoughts. I have flat shooting pcp 177 sub 12 for general vermin, squirrels rats and bunnies to 30 or so yards. The fac 22 pcp at 31'Lbs will kill out to 60yards and the rimmy to 100 yards for bunnies or a well placed head shot for Charlie out to around 40 yards. Some leeway on all of these but I use them all regularly. 2 hares the other day with rimmy at 70 and 80 yards. I wouldn't trust either of the others with this task. (Severe crop damage reasons....I don't actually seek to shoot them but the farmer is as happy as my dogs!). I think the 3 guns cover every need I have so it's time I shoved some of the old springers onto the sales page!
Infinite Scroller
Proactive member
It depends what you want it for is the bottom line
I only paper punch, only have, only ever will. I have 6 FAC air rifles and 2 RF's plus CF. The FAC rifles are much more interesting to shoot then the RF's ok so one is a SA 15-22 , so ignore that one, my benchrest RF rifle is lovely to shoot but the adaptability and tunability with the air rifles is much more interesting to shoot at paper targets then any RF.
Regardless if that is a .177 13gr or a .35 82 gr , pellets or slugs. But if you are hunting and want a cheap easy answer then FAC air is not your bag. You use a lot of air, the good pellets aren't cheap or easy to get hold of and a solid FAC air rifle for shooting slugs is not cheap, you'll want an Impact realistically or a 65HP Redwolf / Delta Wolf (but even then they don't shoot slugs that well)
Sure people go on about Vulcans and this that and the other, but realistically in FAC power you're looking at a Redwolf , a Crown or an Impact in the UK - and with the cost of a steady supply of air, specialist pellets / slugs and the rifle itself it is not a cheap sport.
And that is before you even look at pellet and slug testing... and at £12+ per pack of slugs just to try weights that mounts up quick!
I only paper punch, only have, only ever will. I have 6 FAC air rifles and 2 RF's plus CF. The FAC rifles are much more interesting to shoot then the RF's ok so one is a SA 15-22 , so ignore that one, my benchrest RF rifle is lovely to shoot but the adaptability and tunability with the air rifles is much more interesting to shoot at paper targets then any RF.
Regardless if that is a .177 13gr or a .35 82 gr , pellets or slugs. But if you are hunting and want a cheap easy answer then FAC air is not your bag. You use a lot of air, the good pellets aren't cheap or easy to get hold of and a solid FAC air rifle for shooting slugs is not cheap, you'll want an Impact realistically or a 65HP Redwolf / Delta Wolf (but even then they don't shoot slugs that well)
Sure people go on about Vulcans and this that and the other, but realistically in FAC power you're looking at a Redwolf , a Crown or an Impact in the UK - and with the cost of a steady supply of air, specialist pellets / slugs and the rifle itself it is not a cheap sport.
And that is before you even look at pellet and slug testing... and at £12+ per pack of slugs just to try weights that mounts up quick!
The above is a load of nonsense.
The Burpster
Super member
Yes it is - and as illustrated in the 4 pages it is an emotive subject.
If you have a valid reason for it (like any S1) it is probably the best tool for the job (espeicially pest control).
If you are doing it on a whim for playing at the range, then fun can be had with cheaper or more expensive options. Leaving the decision up to you and you alone.
What are you on about specialist pellets when FAC air will shoot big standard pellets .
Trying slugs is just the same as finding the right bullet for your .22
20 ft lb is the power region for a well converted springer, such as an HW80 (or a .177 PCP, which few use for that reason). It's low for a PCP and you should be looking for a minimum of nearer 30 ft lb. In my opinion 30-40 ft lb is the best power range and the natural home of FAC air. Standard pellets will work just fine, sure you can play with slugs but there is no need. If you want to shoot springer that's a different ballgame but go for it. There are others on here who will advise you on FAC springers better than I can.
I use a Huntsman in .22 at 30 ft lb with JSB 16 g diabolos. It doesn't go to the range, it's purely a hunting rifle. It stays in the cabinet and comes out only when needed. It is superbly accurate to all the ranges I use and has never been apart or tinkered with in that time so I know every time I take it out I can trust it completely. It is my go-to hunting rifle.
For the times when I need more power or the extra range, the rimfire comes out.
No, it isn’t. It’s opinion and just as valid as your opinion calling it nonsense. At least it was some advice unlike your rather unhelpful sentence. Explain why you think so…
edit: Thank you, just seen your post above.