Panthera FX Panthera MKII .30 700mm My First FX

[Pumacarl]

Good thread. I had read another similar thread. I like the FX, but it’s a delicate Airgun. I definitely would not consider one as a utility working gun. I know everyone complains about all of the loctite. But, I’ve had the trigger weight screw creep so much that it was a safety issue. One of my trigger guard screws came loose. My rifle travels less than 50 ft back and forth from a climate controlled environment to the bench.

Bill, you should try: https://www.amazon.com/Vibra-TITE-T...sc=1&msclkid=2f914d31b5831acbb5cf273a293d3281

This stuff works longer and repeatedly (5 times) before needing a re-do. The way loctite works is a pain if it's on a part that moves a lot, or that you want to adjust.

 

[Billm]

Bill, you should try: https://www.amazon.com/Vibra-TITE-T...sc=1&msclkid=2f914d31b5831acbb5cf273a293d3281

This stuff works longer and repeatedly (5 times) before needing a re-do. The way loctite works is a pain if it's on a part that moves a lot, or that you want to adjust.

I missed this post. I’ll order some and try it.

 

[Billm]

Switched the liner back to the pellet liner today. I shot JSB 44.75gr pellets only today. I also cleaned the liner prior to installing. It was windy. But, II did get several 3-4 shot groups that were sub .7 MOA at 101yds and then the wind would kill the group. The SD went to crap. I tried velocities from 860ish to 950. I haven’t determined what I killed the SD yet. When you add the fifth shot to the group shown, it went downhill. I didn’t include it because Au t was a strong gust and I was only trying to see how it was grouping.

 

[Pumacarl]

Just from following everyone else, and a little of my own experience with those JSB pellets, I would suggest that you don't shoot them over 920fps. You can shoot some of the AEA faster, but not so much those JSB. ymmv

 

[Billm]

Well the SD went to crap after changing to the pellet liner. I’m pretty much out of JSB .30 pellets. Switched back to AEA 50.5gr. The wind is playing havoc, not to mention the humidity. Played with the micro adjuster between 850-950 fps. Settled at around 910fps. I think the Huma Reg is on deck and moving up to the plate. It does have me wondering if it has to do with the liner and pellets. The SD was a lot better with the slug liner and any slugs.

 

[Billm]

Wait a little while and then went back out and dry fired once, then three sighters off to the side and finally a five shot group. I didn’t change any setting from the previous session. 6-7 mph crosswind. I corrected for the wind horizontally, but not with elevation. I’m feeling a little more pleased. One thing that I’ve noticed, is that FX stated that they shipped it back to me tuned at 140 bar. I’ve made no changes to the reg.. it has crept down to about 135 bar. I’m trying to motivate myself to swap the Huma regulator back in. I’ve been shooting tethered.

 

[Madhatter]

Did some leak checking of my impact. Didn't find anything but it has emptied the bottle. If the pressure in the bottle gets below the reg pressure setting it will dump all of the pressure . When I unscrewed the bottle the regulated part of the rifle held pressure for days so it's a head scratcher. Between the bottle and the reg there's only 3 Orings that I know of and none of them were leaking.

 

[Billm]

Went back out and shot a bunch of 5 shot groups at 101yds. First I shot a bunch with the AEA 50.5gr pellets. Then I finished up with a few 5 shot groups with AEA 52,2gr slugs. I changed nothing on the gun. I just fired 3 sighters with the slugs and then I held .5 Mil Low and .5mil right. The SD was still less than satisfactory at around 10 for the slugs and around 8 for the pellets. But the groups were pretty good. I want to figure the SD out, but I’m a little hesitant to swap the regulator just yet. The odd flyer spoiled several sub-MOA groups. I don’t have any other experience with FX, but IMO, they seem to have developed the rifle that can shoot both pellets and slugs very well.

 

[Solo1]

Went back out and shot a bunch of 5 shot groups at 101yds. First I shot a bunch with the AEA 50.5gr pellets. Then I finished up with a few 5 shot groups with AEA 52,2gr slugs. I changed nothing on the gun. I just fired 3 sighters with the slugs and then I held .5 Mil Low and .5mil right. The SD was still less than satisfactory at around 10 for the slugs and around 8 for the pellets. But the groups were pretty good. I want to figure the SD out, but I’m a little hesitant to swap the regulator just yet. The odd flyer spoiled several sub-MOA groups. I don’t have any other experience with FX, but IMO, they seem to have developed the rifle that can shoot both pellets and slugs very well. View attachment 21831

I just don’t think you will get the low sd like the ghost im starting to think it just isn’t gona happen with the fx.

 

[Pumacarl]

I think you will get the SD down when you shoot what the gun likes at the settings it likes. Shoot H&N slugs or the AirMarksman/Zan ELR slugs. Just keep trying different things. It will happen, but hey, those are really good groups you are shooting, 10 SD or not.

 

[Billm]

The SD was decent with the slug liner. As soon as I changed to the pellet liner, it dumped. It was shooting the slugs I swaged very good with a sub 4 SD. Im going to see if I can correlate the original SD to when I swapped the pellet liner in. I swapped it back to the slug liner prior to shipping it back.

 

[Billm]

I decided to try the AEA 66.2gr pellet. Every post that I’ve seen about this pellet, states that it is not accurate and not worth the squeeze. The Sonoran can’t launch a pellet this heavy and so I had never tried it. I fired a few shots with the Panthera MKII when I first got it and didn’t think much of it. I don’t remember which liner I tried it in. I tried it again today. I left the reg at 135 bar and dialed up the Macro until I got it up to around 945fps and then backed it off until it hit 906fps. I left the sights as set for the 50.5gr pellets. I shot a few sighters and then shot a 5 shot group. I had to go down to the target and verify that it was one group. A very nice less than half inch group at 101yds. I realized that I had one pellet left in the mag and sent it down range at the same POA. Obviously the wind had changed slightly. I measured both the 5 and the 6 shot groups for transparency LOL. I only have one tin of these pellets, but I’ll be buying more and will attempt to squeeze a little more juice out of them.

 

[Billm]

The SD also shrunk with the 66.2gr pellets.