What’s Happening At FX Airguns USA?

Within the last week or so, there has been a large amount of speculation about what’s happening at FX Airguns USA. So what’s this all about? And why now?

Here I’ll try to provide some information that may help to give you a little background on the situation.

But first a few caveats…

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Major Warning.​

I have zero personal knowledge or “inside information” about FX Airguns or FX Airguns USA.

What I cover here is publicly-available information that anyone can find on the Internet.

However, please remember that – just because it’s published on the Internet – it may not necessarily be true. So I make no representation about the truth any of the information published in the links shown here, I’m just saying that you can read it online too.

Also, given that legal action is in process, anyone commenting on this article needs to be very careful what they say. If not, YOU could end-up being sued, too! HAM Community Moderators will delete anything that we feel is inappropriate for this reason.

Remember the legal process in the USA and most other countries works under the base assumption that any person (or entity) involved in legal action is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law – NOT the court of Social Media, television, airgun forums, our own opinion or anywhere else!

Finally, this is EXTREMELY complex and the situation is changing daily.

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What Is FX Airguns USA?​

FX Airguns USA has been the distributor and service center for products from FX Airguns in the USA since November 2017. You can read the announcement Press Release here.

Prior to this, FX Airguns had been distributed in the USA by Precision Airgun Distribution.

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Why Now?​

On October 3, 2023, a law suit was filed in the General Court of Justice, Superior Court Division, State of North Carolina, County of Wake. Case Number 2023CVS27939. In it, the plaintiff requests that a general receiver be appointed for FX Airguns USA, to take control of the company.

So now we have a court case and this is public record. We can all read it here: Public Access You’ll need to type “FX” in the search box to find the case.

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What’s Happening At FX Airguns USA, According To This Case?​

Court documents are shown in the “Dockets” tab. The “Complaint” is the document that outlines the plaintiff’s case against FX Airguns USA.

It’s a PDF file and you can read it. But be prepared, it is very complex and runs to no less than 63 pages. Get a coffee first!

One major allegation is that FX Airguns USA is in default to FX Airguns in Sweden for over $5.5 Million. There are many others as you’ll find out if you read it to the end…

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Is FX Airguns USA Still Providing Distribution And Service Support In The USA?​

My phone calls to the company were met with a recorded message stating that – due to the high volume of calls – they will send the caller a text message, to which you can reply.

However, the the FX Airguns corporate site lists Utah Airguns as the USA retailer, not FX Airguns USA.

Utah Airguns confirmed this on October 9, 2023 in Airgun Nation.

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Is The $5.5 Million Plus Claim A Big Deal For FX Corporately?​

Most airgun companies are small businesses. That makes it generally difficult to establish their financial situation. However a Swedish website gives information for FX Airguns AB (the Swedish company).

The most recent data presented here covers the year ending December 2021. Click on the “Closing Figures” tab for detail. (The figures are in Euros. Today 1 Euro converts to 1.06 US Dollars, so the numbers are very similar in Dollars, too).

This shows the turnover of FX Airguns AB to be about $30 Million in 2021, with earnings of about $6.8 Million.

So yes, most business professionals would probably argue that $5.5 Million represents a very significant claim for a company of this size.

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But, It Gets Worse…​

The court “Complaint” claims there’s multiple Millions more in exposure for FX Airguns USA in other ways too. Plus legal and accountancy fees add-up very fast, as everyone knows.

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What’s Happening At FX Airguns USA In Future?​

I have no idea! But given the complexity, I’d guess that this case will run for some time before there’s a resolution.

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Is Element Optics Caught-Up In This Situation?​

Dunno. It’s not mentioned, so maybe not.

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Please Remember!​

What I cover here is publicly-available information that anyone can find on the Internet.

However – just because it’s published on the Internet – it may not necessarily be true. Again, I make no representation about the truth of the information in any of the links shown here, I’m just saying that you can read it online too.

Furthermore, legal process in the USA and most other countries works under the base assumption that any person (or entity) involved in legal action is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law – NOT the court of Social Media, television, airgun forums or our own opinion!

Again, given that legal action is in process, anyone commenting on this article needs to be very careful what they say. If not, YOU could end-up being sued, too! HAM Community Moderators will delete anything that we feel is inappropriate for this reason.


The post What’s Happening At FX Airguns USA? appeared first on Hard Air Magazine.

 

[Florida_Man]

I sold my Maverick Compact and jumped on the Daystate bus a month ago. While I had a good experience with FX USA warranty service, I’m happy to deal with AoA. In my pervious personal experiences I prefer AoA over Utah Airguns. I hope that UA can find good staffing, because they are about to be a whole lot busier.

 

[Solo1]

I find this whole affair quite disconcerting. It’s a shame that things like this happen but in my personal opinion at least part of this is fx’s own doing by trying to grow a bit too fast like with their advances with their guns- people just start to get them then they already have upgrades. Don’t get me wrong im all for progress but perhaps do a little more homework first.

 

[Tulku91$$$]

My understanding is that FX Sweden replaced Precision Airgun Distribution (AoA) as its distributor with FX Airguns USA in 2017. Now in 2023, FX Sweden (Rumpgarden LLC) has filed a claim against FX Airguns USA for $5.5 Million for non-payment of goods received from FX Sweden in 2023.

I believe that AoA and FX had a profitable relationship for many years. Today FX Sweden claims to have lost $5.5 Million and ended-up with a costly law suit. FX Airguns USA is being placed into receivership and may be closed for business.

It seems that FX Sweden has appointed another US airgun dealer, Utah Airguns, as its official US distributor. So what did FX Sweden gain by ending its distributor relationship with AoA?

As the saying goes: “What goes around comes around!”

 

[MountainSportAirguns]

When you have such a high percentage of returns under warranty it cuts into profit, especially for a distributor. While the manufacturer might cover parts, they don't always cover the labor of employees having to provide the service/repairs. I have a feeling Utah Airguns will be quite busy and I wish them the best.

 

[Florida_Man]

When you have such a high percentage of returns under warranty it cuts into profit, especially for a distributor. While the manufacturer might cover parts, they don't always cover the labor of employees having to provide the service/repairs. I have a feeling Utah Airguns will be quite busy and I wish them the best.

Regulators are a common issue. And they doubled that on a lot of their models.

Might be a good time for FX to partner up with Huma. I have huma added to rifles that didn’t come with regs, and a revere regulated. No problems with Huma. My Maverick Compact never had a reg issue, but I only kept it for a few months. But I sure did read about a lot of issues with the AMP regs.

More parts, more potential problems. That’s a fact. Just look at a schematic of a modern FX.

I loved my simple original Royale 400.

 

[MountainSportAirguns]

Regulators are a common issue. And they doubled that on a lot of their models.

Might be a good time for FX to partner up with Huma. I have huma added to rifles that didn’t come with regs, and a revere regulated. No problems with Huma. My Maverick Compact never had a reg issue, but I only kept it for a few months. But I sure did read about a lot of issues with the AMP regs.

More parts, more potential problems. That’s a fact. Just look at a schematic of a modern FX.

I loved my simple original Royale 400.

I spent the entirety of my first day in AZ "tuning" an FX Crown because the so called professional tuner it was purchased from never even shot the gun. It had so many issues out of the box including a moderator that was included for an extra $300 that was clipping. I felt bad because this gentleman is a new shooter and paid a ton of money to have a reputable dealer in fact tune it to compete in the EBR event. I was only able to solve a small portion of the problems this gun had without needing much more time, ultimately the gun stopped functioning and sprung a leak during his first match at the EBR, seeing his disappointment was very disheartening. The abundance of intricate parts, orings and adjustments are in my opinion the cause for most serious problems. Some people would rather be out competing in events instead of sorting out problems that really shouldn't exist. This is unfortunate but to be expected when you allow the end user so many twisty turnies to unknowingly screw up.

 

[Florida_Man]

I spent the entirety of my first day in AZ "tuning" an FX Crown because the so called professional tuner it was purchased from never even shot the gun. It had so many issues out of the box including a moderator that was included for an extra $300 that was clipping. I felt bad because this gentleman is a new shooter and paid a ton of money to have a reputable dealer in fact tune it to compete in the EBR event. I was only able to solve a small portion of the problems this gun had without needing much more time, ultimately the gun stopped functioning and sprung a leak during his first match at the EBR, seeing his disappointment was very disheartening. The abundance of intricate parts, orings and adjustments are in my opinion the cause for most serious problems. Some people would rather be out competing in events instead of sorting out problems that really shouldn't exist. This is unfortunate but to be expected when you allow the end user so many twisty turnies to unknowingly screw up.

I had a similar experience with the Mav Compact I had. My frustration was the constant POI shifts. The more I thought of it and how important torque settings are the more I doubted the design. If you take a moderator off to put it in a case, then return it, the torque on the barrel jam nut could change slightly. And that has a result in harmonics. I quickly found out I preferred shooting to tuning. I have a PP700 that has a barrel that will rotate, and it’s more consistent. It is a more solid barrel and won’t rotate once it’s barrel jam nut is installed. I can toss that Chinese special around and it will be on target every time.

I’m thoroughly happy with selling the Mav and buying a Revere Safari. I’m not a brand guy, but I can notice issues. A Notos fills my tinkering needs, and the Revere is always ready to shoot a 30y challenge target.
Next Airgun, Brocock Atomic 177.

 

[Solo1]

I had a similar experience with the Mav Compact I had. My frustration was the constant POI shifts. The more I thought of it and how important torque settings are the more I doubted the design. If you take a moderator off to put it in a case, then return it, the torque on the barrel jam nut could change slightly. And that has a result in harmonics. I quickly found out I preferred shooting to tuning. I have a PP700 that has a barrel that will rotate, and it’s more consistent. It is a more solid barrel and won’t rotate once it’s barrel jam nut is installed. I can toss that Chinese special around and it will be on target every time.

I’m thoroughly happy with selling the Mav and buying a Revere Safari. I’m not a brand guy, but I can notice issues. A Notos fills my tinkering needs, and the Revere is always ready to shoot a 30y challenge target.
Next Airgun, Brocock Atomic 177.

Ya know i think everyone should have a revere it just seems to be the least troublesome and most very accurate airgun straight out of the box that I’ve ever had! One of the best looking too in my opinion! But i still love my ghosts!

 

[Florida_Man]

Ya know i think everyone should have a revere it just seems to be the least troublesome and most very accurate airgun straight out of the box that I’ve ever had! One of the best looking too in my opinion! But i still love my ghosts!

100% agree.

 

[AtlasAirguns]

Regulators are a common issue. And they doubled that on a lot of their models.

Might be a good time for FX to partner up with Huma. I have huma added to rifles that didn’t come with regs, and a revere regulated. No problems with Huma. My Maverick Compact never had a reg issue, but I only kept it for a few months. But I sure did read about a lot of issues with the AMP regs.

More parts, more potential problems. That’s a fact. Just look at a schematic of a modern FX.

I loved my simple original Royale 400.

That is not possible because Daystate/Brocock BRK are the only ones permitted to have them factory installed. Part of Daystate 's brilliance is the fact that their rifles are built with the Huma regulators in mind. But no, they will not be partnering with FX unless whatever contract expires with Daystate.

 

[AtlasAirguns]

I spent the entirety of my first day in AZ "tuning" an FX Crown because the so called professional tuner it was purchased from never even shot the gun. It had so many issues out of the box including a moderator that was included for an extra $300 that was clipping. I felt bad because this gentleman is a new shooter and paid a ton of money to have a reputable dealer in fact tune it to compete in the EBR event. I was only able to solve a small portion of the problems this gun had without needing much more time, ultimately the gun stopped functioning and sprung a leak during his first match at the EBR, seeing his disappointment was very disheartening. The abundance of intricate parts, orings and adjustments are in my opinion the cause for most serious problems. Some people would rather be out competing in events instead of sorting out problems that really shouldn't exist. This is unfortunate but to be expected when you allow the end user so many twisty turnies to unknowingly screw up.

I was out next to him filming when his Crown took a dive . He was on the 5th tent so last 20% of the EFT course when it broke and he wasn't able to complete the course. He had a magazine jam, a breech leak, and a broken hammer and/or locked spring but that was my in the field assessment. That rifle was messed up.

 

[CTAirgunner]

I was out next to him filming when his Crown took a dive . He was on the 5th tent so last 20% of the EFT course when it broke and he wasn't able to complete the course. He had a magazine jam, a breech leak, and a broken hammer and/or locked spring but that was my in the field assessment. That rifle was messed up.

That sounds absolutely terrible

 

[Alan]

This probably isn't the place for this....

I did have my FX Impact Mk III fail due to hammer spring failure. This after sending down over 15,000 rounds in less than 2 years. Rare thing I'm told. I should add my Impact Mk II is nearing 35,000 rounds, without a hiccup.

 

[jps2486]

This probably isn't the place for this....

I did have my FX Impact Mk III fail due to hammer spring failure. This after sending down over 15,000 rounds in less than 2 years. Rare thing I'm told. I should add my Impact Mk II is nearing 35,000 rounds, without a hiccup.

Metal fatigue can happen at any time. All metals are subject to this and even the best choices of materials and processing cannot prevent it.

 

[Madeintheuk]

It sucks that it happened, but it’s not isolated to FX.

 

[Frankly]

I've owned FX, mechanical Daystate, Raw, Steyr and others. Modern FX guns are unnecessarily complex and over designed. I remember an Impact requiring many dozens of bolts of all different sizes to be removed to do basic troubleshooting. Seems like they have ten times the potential failure points, swore them off after owning several. Their simpler guns were decent but never any better than a RAW or Daystate.

I also detest the big push by FX especially to keep pushing into larger calibers and more power. All this does is ensure that airguns get further regulated while attracting more gullible, ignorant fools.

 

[Alan]

Frankly, in regard to large calibers, I do agree. And doubly so for so-called replica CO2 pistols. Even more so for anything fully automatic. I keep asking myself why? We've already seen FBI statistics regarding miscreants using replica pistols to hold up businesses. Even the police can't tell that these airguns aren't real firearms. All of this will result in eventual regulations covering airguns. Sad really, as almost no one wants to talk about this subject.