Applications Of The Airgun
And why Walter and Donny Love them.
Bowlers,
Donny here. I have co-opted our regular mailer while Walter is out of the office dealing with matters of encroachment on our basic freedoms. Apparently, some nihilists at the local lanes are against Walter testing his homemade shotgun shells at the indoor range. Something about magnesium shells igniting paper targets and nail-shot damaging others “perfect b8s” caused quite a stir, I guess.
I am joining you in his absence to discuss a recent addition to our arsenal, an airgun. Now we are not “new” to air rifles, and I suspect many of you aren’t either, but this FX King from Utah Airguns takes air gunning, marksmanship, and just plain fun to a whole new level. It is without a doubt my favorite ball to roll with as of late. I am here to share with you some initial impressions of the King and some thoughts on airgunning in general.
The FX King
I was thrilled to hear that the folks at Utah Airguns wanted to send us a rifle to get some reps on for a bit. I have been interested in getting a nice air rifle for quite some time, so a big thank you to them for letting us test one out. They have quite a diverse offering of not only airguns but scopes, rangefinders, NV/thermal, bipods, moderators, etc. We have had this set up for a bit over a month now, and I have to say it’s some of the most fun bowling I have done in a while.
The FX King we received came with the Nordic Wolf stock and is chambered in 22 cal but is available from .177 up to .35. It is incredibly accurate and came tuned from the shop to shoot 16.18gr pellets at just over 900 feet per second. It comes with trigger adjustments as well as a micro-tuner for the plenum that allows you to control the air pressure of each press for optimal performance. With a couple of adjustments from the microtuner, I was easily able to get single-digit SDs and one-hole groups. On the end is an impulse airgun moderator; this setup is extremely quiet and very fun to shoot. The hit on steel is often much louder than the gun itself.
The scope that came with it is the Element Optics Theos 6-36x with an APR-2D mil reticle. This is a new scope for us, and I have to say I am a fan of it in general upon first impressions. It really shines in its roll on the airgun, but I would be very happy with it on a long-range rifle. The reticle is close to the Mil-Xt that I am familiar with; it has a toolless zero stop and capped windage, which are nice features, but I have been very impressed with the parallax adjustment. The Theos features parallax adjustments from 10 to 1000, which is a new experience for me. For the most part, I have shot this within 150 yards, and the clarity at close range on high magnification has been very impressive. I can utilize the upper range of magnification on small targets and be able to see impact (or miss) on paper or steel using these 22-cal pellets.
The performance and price are nowhere near your local sporting goods store's break-barrel or pump options. This is a serious tool that can be used for hunting, pest control, competitive target shooting, a myriad of other tasks, and some real good fun. You’ll be into this exact set up around 7k, which sounds steep if you think about it outside of the context of what bowlers spend on firearms, nightvision, and all the gizmos and gadgets needed to emulate the appearance of their favorite military unit or three-letter agency. You can certainly get into airgunning for less, and the folks at Utah Airguns are happy to help steer you in the direction that purpose and budget allow.
Airgunning concepts
Now that we have discussed our setup, I would like to highlight some of our initial thoughts on the concept of airgunning and some of the benefits when compared to a rimfire or centerfire setup. I have highlighted a few factors that I find very favorable to justify jumping in the airgun game over buying your 5th mk18 clone or skipping a year of getting a brand-new hunting rifle, scope, and accessories.
Maximized Accuracy and Consistency
The FX King has been proven to be an extremely accurate system. We have our rifle shooting at about 920 fps and easily achieve a standard deviation of around 5 in a ten-shot group. It also consistently shoots one-hole groups at our zero distance of 35 yards. This takes even less guesswork out of stretching it out to distance, allowing new shooters to build confidence in a very short period. I recently took my brother (who has little to no shooting experience) out to the range and had him shooting small steel targets with ease at 130 yards and beyond with this setup.
A Highly Effective Long-Range Teaching Tool
Walter and I hear it time and time again in comments and in DMs. "Man, I wish I had a place to shoot long-range like you guys." Well, bowler, buy yourself an airgun. After confirming zero at 35 yards, we began to stretch the Kings Legs. Using our homework for slow bowlers, we gathered data from the FX chronograph and True Ballistics app. We easily made shots on a 4-inch plate at 80 yards. Now, many of you would not consider that distance “long range," but here is the beauty. Our pellet is dropping just over 2 mils at that distance, meaning that we must dial or hold in the reticle to make an impact. Once more, the wind at headquarters varies day to day. On a breezy spring afternoon, we are holding about half to full mil for wind at this distance. Our pellets are getting pushed around by the elements a lot, and we need to apply these fundamentals to get strikes. Those of you who only have regular access to a 100-yard range get to develop new skills with an airgun that you would not have to consider shooting a centerfire cartridge.
Inexpensive Range Time
Currently we are rolling 16.18gr pellets in.22cal out of the King. These can be had for about $16 for a 250-pellet tin, or about 6 cents a pellet. As far as the air tank, we filled it at a local dive shop for $12. The tank we have will allow for a couple dozen fills of our 480 cc air cylinder, allowing for up to 128 shots (in .22) before refilling. Rough math here, bowlers, but that’s a few thousand shots per $12 tank fill. All-in, you are pulling the trigger for way less than you would be in an accurate rimfire setup.
Reduced maintenance and safer bowling
A huge benefit of airgunning is that bowling devices come without the requirement of deflagrated powder to push their projectile down range. There is significantly less cleaning and upkeep than needs to be done with an accurized centerfire or rimfire rifle. No powder fouling leaves solvents, lubricants, rags, and bore brushes out of the picture (or at least with significantly less frequency). Allowing you more time to get some frames in. The lack of powder burn also reduces the health hazards of lead exposure associated with bowling, which is a great benefit for teaching children the fundamentals of our beloved pastime. Additionally, the King isn’t close to breaking the sound barrier. Ear protection certainly isn’t required while using this air rifle; the only reason you see us pictured wearing them in some photos is because of our range rules.
Walter and I both rolled some of our first frames with air rifles in our formative years. The principles of firearms safety, acquiring a proper sight picture, applying a disciplined trigger press, and even holding for elevation or wind were all applied with the airgun just as effectively as with live ammunition. While they are still fully capable of doing bodily harm and should be taken just as seriously as a firearm, I find them much more approachable to shoot, especially for the layperson.
Ease of Purchase and Low Regulation
As nihilists encroach on our basic bowling freedoms more and more each day, I believe it is important to highlight again that these bowling devices are not firearms and are not subject to the same regulation. Many states allow hunting of at least some kind with an airgun, from varmints all the way up to pigs, deer, and mountain lions in some places (and yes, the larger caliber options are very capable). For those looking to hit the lanes without the archaic process of going down to the FFL and filling out paperwork, airguns are a great option. A few clicks and a couple days of shipping, and you’ll get it straight to your door. Airgun moderators fall under the same condition, so you can skip the ATF nonsense.
Final thoughts
The airgun is a capable tool that is very accessible from multiple perspectives. They are highly accurate, have a low impact on health and hearing of the user, are inexpensive to maintain and keep fed, and are generally less regulated than firearm use or ownership. Bowlers can maximize available range distances to learn long-range fundamentals. I know that I have said it a few times here already, but here it is again. Precision airgunning is extremely fun. It brings me back to my younger years of running around in the woods trying to hit cans from a distance. Now I have a tool that reduces the chance of a miss because it allows for repeatable accuracy.
I hope this ramble wasn’t too boring for you bowlers that prefer Walter’s expletive laten rants about his time in the bush. After all, not everything has to do with Vietnam. I’m sure he will be back next week, referencing his time eyeball-to-eyeball with Charlie, after the situation at the lanes is handled, of course.