Panthera FX Panthera MKII .30 700mm My First FX

[Solo1]

To me there is a lot of luck in the gun biz. I know ive had just so so 22 lrs then bed the action well and their great shooters

 

[Billm]

To me there is a lot of luck in the gun biz. I know ive had just so so 22 lrs then bed the action well and their great shooters

I won’t argue that. It’s worse in the airgun world in my opinion. The airgun barrel lottery is like winning Megamillions lol. Up until my neck surgery, I had over 30+ firearms and only one didn’t shoot well. But, in fairness, accuracy expectations for airguns is a lot higher. I didn’t ever grade my REM 700s or ARs on whether or not they could consistently shoot sub-MOA or not.

 

[Billm]

I did find that the liner lock is supposed to be tightened to 3lbs according to AI.

 

[Pumacarl]

But then look at his barrel woes he’s getting there with them but he struggled there in the beginning.

My barrel is a TJ's and it does just fine as it is,. His new barrels, and anybody's, are a somewhat work in progress; some have podiumed already.

 

[Billm]

I increased it to 139ish bar and switched to AEA 50.5gr pellets. At max hammer it was launching them at 1005fps with a slight bark. I backed the micro hammer setting to around 948fps. It’s not doing too bad. Below are 3, 5 shot groups. They were shot consecutively , with a crosswind - uncorrected for wind. Electric front rest, rear Protektor bag. The SD is better, but terrible in comparison to my BRK rifles. Not Sub-MOA groups, but getting closer. Of course, I’m not blaming the rifle for the group size. It’s a team effort: me, the rifle and the rests. The only place the rifle is slacking is the spread. No one is going to convince me that 15fps velocity swings is helpful. So it’s basically a 95% tune. I usually settle on 96.5%. The velocity seems a little high for pellets, but the question is: at what point does lowering the hammer spring become detrimental, 94%, 92%? I guess I’ll find out. HUMA, HUMA! lol. The flip side is that it’s all geared for high power and slugs.

 

[Solo1]

I increased it to 139ish bar and switched to AEA 50.5gr pellets. At max hammer it was launching them at 1005fps with a slight bark. I backed the micro hammer setting to around 948fps. It’s not doing too bad. Below are 3, 5 shot groups. They were shot consecutively , with a crosswind - uncorrected for wind. Electric front rest, rear Protektor bag. The SD is better, but terrible in comparison to my BRK rifles. Not Sub-MOA groups, but getting closer. Of course, I’m not blaming the rifle for the group size. It’s a team effort: me, the rifle and the rests. The only place the rifle is slacking is the spread. No one is going to convince me that 15fps velocity swings is helpful. So it’s basically a 95% tune. I usually settle on 96.5%. The velocity seems a little high for pellets, but the question is: at what point does lowering the hammer spring become detrimental, 94%, 92%? I guess I’ll find out. HUMA, HUMA! lol. The flip side is that it’s all geared for high power and slugs. View attachment 20879View attachment 20880View attachment 20881View attachment 20882View attachment 20883View attachment 20884

Use the big wheel and go down a click at a time 5 shots and watch your sd don’t think of tuning like the ghost these are more sensitive go thru a range and let the gun tell you what it likes go slow too to let it fill

 

[Pumacarl]

I was just going to say something similar to what @Solo1 said; make speed changes mostly with the Macro wheel and tweak groups 0-15fps range with the micro.

Are you still shooting with any slug components in your gun? If you're using a pellet probe with a pellet liner, with the light hammer weight and the standard sized transfer port, you are shooting a gun designed for pellets. They are what you make them but you can't make the same gun be great at both slugs and pellets at the same time, or even really high or really low power at the same time. Lots of choices, but they are actually very clear, and once done, that's what you've got.

I don't think I'd go over 920fps, and would try a lot less, with those AEA 50.5gr pellets.

 

[Billm]

I was just going to say something similar to what @Solo1 said; make speed changes mostly with the Macro wheel and tweak groups 0-15fps range with the micro.

Are you still shooting with any slug components in your gun? If you're using a pellet probe with a pellet liner, with the light hammer weight and the standard sized transfer port, you are shooting a gun designed for pellets. They are what you make them but you can't make the same gun be great at both slugs and pellets at the same time, or even really high or really low power at the same time. Lots of choices, but they are actually very clear, and once done, that's what you've got.

I don't think I'd go over 920fps, and would try a lot less, with those AEA 50.5gr pellets.

I changed the liner and nothing else. I’m shooting at 890-900fps for now. It’s doing pretty good.
My method has been to use the Macro to find the general velocity I’m looking for and note the power scale. Then set it back to 13 and set the micro so the power scale is at the noted setting and then fine tune the micro from there. I wish a U.S. dealer had the Huma reg in stock. I’m going through a ton of pellets right now, I’ll add some more JSB .30s to the next order and try those as well.
I had to stop so my grandson could shoot his Daisy Powerline lol. It was cool to see him take a $70 air rifle and hit his bell target at 36yds. Right after I told him the bell target was too far and that he’d never hit it. The Daisy pumper has a similar SD as the FX LOL.

 

[Billm]

The rifle started slam firing today. I’ve never done anything to the trigger. I’m guessing the sear set screw has loosened. I have shot it a lot in the last two weeks.

 

[Billm]

No wonder I was really liking the Panthera trigger. It had crept down so much that the trigger gauge couldn’t measure its pull weight and the 1st stage had become nonexistent lol. Quickly made some adjustments and had it back to 8ozs and then slightly tuned it. Back on track.

 

[Pumacarl]

No wonder I was really liking the Panthera trigger. It had crept down so much that the trigger gauge couldn’t measure its pull weight and the 1st stage had become nonexistent lol. Quickly made some adjustments and had it back to 8ozs and then slightly tuned it. Back on track.

You know, I had forgot that your trigger is the upgraded trigger, no wonder why you like it. I know mine is not that great. It works but it is a little heavy, I don't want to turn it down because the sear is the smallest that I have ever seen and just looks weak to me. I don't trust it just looking at it. Maybe over time I will, but not just yet.

 

[Billm]

You know, I had forgot that your trigger is the upgraded trigger, no wonder why you like it. I know mine is not that great. It works but it is a little heavy, I don't want to turn it down because the sear is the smallest that I have ever seen and just looks weak to me. I don't trust it just looking at it. Maybe over time I will, but not just yet.

It is very nice. I’ve always had two stage triggers, but I actually liked it with no 1st stage and a hair trigger. But, I couldn’t keep it that way. It does seem to keep creeping down though. That’s the part that befuddles me with their statement that they cannot discuss how to adjust the trigger weight or travel due to liability. But, you can sell a rifle that creeps to a hair trigger and hope that the end user has enough experience to adjust the trigger on their own. You and I both know that some buyers have no mechanical/gun aptitude. I guarantee the trigger was at less than an ounce , with no first stage. It started out at 8-9oz.

 

[Billm]

If I can just get the SD to be consistent, the rifle is on fire. I do feel like the1:40 is more sensitive to the wind with 45-50gr pellets. But, it could be my imagination. I went out as it was getting dark and shot 23 shots. Finishing with 3 consecutive 5 shot 100yd groups. As always the first 3 shots were lower velocity. I disabled those shots from the spread and SD. The last photo shows the first shots at the bottom right bull and you can see the first shots at the lower left. You can see the velocity spiking and the resulting shots climbing. Other than the SD, the Panthera is doing its part, now I just have to become more consistent and learn how to turn the wind off . I am going to ask FX to replace the regulator or at least give me a rebuild kit. If not I’ll take it aptanyway and if I have to replace it with a Huma. I forgot to measure the fourth group.

 

[Solo1]

Id order a huma right now. You can talk to fx in the mean time. You will probably get the huma by middle next week if you order now

 

[Billm]

I had to redo one of the group calculations , it dropped a shot.

 

[Billm]

Id order a huma right now. You can talk to fx in the mean time. You will probably get the huma by middle next week if you order now

I’ll probably do that.

 

[Pumacarl]

I’ll probably do that.

If you do, I would suggest that you use some 1000-2000 grit sandpaper on the bellville washers a little bit. Mine had some sharp edges on them and I smoothed them out. I want to apologize now for being blunt, but your SD numbers really do suck. You will be over the moon when you get a decent reg. I am glad that I just pulled the Amp first thing. I have not shot any pellets though so I don't know if that's why my SD's are so low. I will say this about the Huma though, I still have to wait at least five seconds between shots for total consistency. I'm not getting 2 second refresh times. I have to try the reg butter at some point.

When you were shooting the groups above were you figuring for the wind or do you just shoot for the bullseye? If you are not figuring for wind those are quite excellent groups. I often wonder when I see group shots how they were shot. Most people don't say. I always assume that if they are shooting match cards that they are figuring for the wind like you'd do in competition and when they shoot groups they hold one point of aim, but I don't know. I think both ways are valuable.

 

[Billm]

If you do, I would suggest that you use some 1000-2000 grit sandpaper on the bellville washers a little bit. Mine had some sharp edges on them and I smoothed them out. I want to apologize now for being blunt, but your SD numbers really do suck. You will be over the moon when you get a decent reg. I am glad that I just pulled the Amp first thing. I have not shot any pellets though so I don't know if that's why my SD's are so low. I will say this about the Huma though, I still have to wait at least five seconds between shots for total consistency. I'm not getting 2 second refresh times. I have to try the reg butter at some point.

When you were shooting the groups above were you figuring for the wind or do you just shoot for the bullseye? If you are not figuring for wind those are quite excellent groups. I often wonder when I see group shots how they were shot. Most people don't say. I always assume that if they are shooting match cards that they are figuring for the wind like you'd do in competition and when they shoot groups they hold one point of aim, but I don't know. I think both ways are valuable.

shot for the center. No wind correction. The longer I wait between shots the higher the velocity and yet the reg pressure stabilizes after about 15-20 seconds. On two of those groups I hate to say it but I got giddy and pulled a shot in each one lol.
I ordered a Huma reg and a rebuild kit. I watched several Viking Airgunner videos. He's done several on the Amp vs Huma regulators. He had the same issues as me. I've only posted some of my chronograph data. I'll get a pretty good SD and then 3-4 sessions with large swings.

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[Pumacarl]

shot for the center. No wind correction. The longer I wait between shots the higher the velocity and yet the reg pressure stabilizes after about 15-20 seconds. On two of those groups I hate to say it but I got giddy and pulled a shot in each one lol.
I ordered a Huma reg and a rebuild kit. I watched several Viking Airgunner videos. He's done several on the Amp vs Huma regulators. He had the same issues as me. I've only posted some of my chronograph data. I'll get a pretty good SD and then 3-4 sessions with large swings.

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Yeah, I watched everyone's reg videos, and most were getting 2 second refresh w/Huma and 5 second w/Amp. Thinking on it, they were all using digital guages. I'm not, there could be lag there. Now that I'm monitoring speed each shot I still know that I do have to wait a five count or the speed will be down, and any down with this gun is indicative.

 

[Billm]

Last group shot yesterday. I’d like to tighten them up just a little more. They’re all hitting the 9 and 10 rings.